mc909 questions

[ludi]

re: mc-909
These questions may have been covered in other threads, but there may be new answers:

1. has anyone figured out how to delete the presets yet?
2. why is there a forum dedicated to the mc-808 but not the 909?
3. can anyone tell me what kind of paint Roland used on the mc-909 (because I want to touch up scratches)?

Thanks.

[datapark]

If you're talking about the preset patterns I lost all of them (plus my own) when I updated to v 1.23 via USB

[ludi]

I've heard of this happening, but it is usually considered a problem. Does this leave the 909 functioning normally, just without the presets? And, is it possible then to write new patterns in the place of the old ones?

[Nord72]

1. There is a modified OS 1.23 which come with empty patterns.
But you can edit/rename/copy/move them anytime.

2. There were a dedicated site but actually its offline for a while :/ ( mc909.org )

3. I think the paint covered with lack so you can repair it with a thin layer.

[datapark]

mine still operates properly

all the preset patches are still available, but all the example patterns and RPS parts are gone

edit : the os i installed came from rolands website
i'm assuming that i either didn't install it correctly or updating via usb simply causes this problem.

here's a question of my own - is it possible to store any samples in the user section?
anything i drag over via USB is lost when power down the unit
the wavs are still there, just no longer imported and usable to build say my own drum kits

this is one of the reasons i'm looking to sell mine - with space open why the hell do i have to buy some shitty out of date SM card to store my own samples

[ludi]

Did you "create patch" after loading the waves?

[Nord72]

user ram is non-versatile (16 MB) anything else is versatile (272 MB max)

Forget those sm cards, You can "eat it" with samples via spdif (coax/optical)
And this way You dont need to convert them, its a direct loading, just needs to make patches, or a rythm kit...
Store your samples on your pc/mac in a librarian software.

[KRE8A]

Hi ludi !

You can go 1 step further than to touch up the scratches on your MC - 909.

To give you an example...

Custom paint jobs (Airbrush)

Post Edit :

This is a customized paint job done on someones MC - 909.
Just in case you might think it's mine.
It's not

[datapark]

update bump

so i recently got an SM card (128mb) via eBay and did a proper update of my unit - i'm happy to report that immediately after updating all preset patterns were present, and restoring factory defaults finished the update properly (new order of presets, newer presets, etc)

i've had my 909 listed on Kijiji for awhile but since I've updated I'm thinking of fixing some of the other problems i've had with it - sticking buttons and misfiring pads

it'd be cool to get it up to spec

[nocredentails]

OMG... U LOST ALL THE FACTORY SAMPLES?

IM NOT upDATING!!!!!!!


horrible!!!!!!


lol i often said i wanted the space for my own samples..but i def...would wanna pick and choose which ones go to crappy sample heaven with the sk1.

[datapark]

i never lost the factory samples, just preset patterns, i had "damaged" listed under rps and recall listings

actually, while playing around with it more, i realized the only thing i really lost were the factory bmps - i only have one background, instead of the 10 or so that were there originally

not that it matters

i wouldn't replace the samples at all personally - especially now that i've got another 128mb to store on

[nocredentails]

Im just having a hard time understanding why not having the preset patterns is a good thing...when you cant use that space for ...lets say...MORE SAMPLES!!!! lol I wish some one could hack this thing with out it becoming a brick and free up space for more samples....even 50mb would be great!!!!!
Also i found some sound expansion boards online....OMG seriously?
250-280 dollars?
wow . I can see why roland designed it with such small sample memory now...

[Nord72]

Such small memory ??
272 MB is not enough for WHAT ?
Some E-mu samplers and the huge Akai S6000 has a max 256 MB sample ram...
If You fiil in with hundreds of grooves it should be enough ram to make a complete master track (resampling) to save your song.
Anyway SRX cards are too expensive for the built in raw waveforms.

[nocredentails]

Im sorry man, But i personally got 16mb for User samples.
it really isnt much.
I havent upgraded...and bought the MEMORY EXPANSION from roland. which at the time of this units realease was about 250 dollars.....this unit was released at 1700 dollars!!!!
I could and will probably pick up the expansion...im just saying if you dont mod this machine with "upgrades" you cant store alot of samples.
Roland IMHO did this to sell memory expansion boards and sound expansions.
back to the original statement... I would love to choose for myself what samples i want on this machine...and i would love to be the one in charge of what i can store and where. I dont want or need any of the vocal samples, I dont want half of the effects....I would rather use that space for my own things.
You are right i could make a song with the 272mb....but i have to keep the unit on until the song is finished. If the machine is shut off...for me 16mb ..at this point anything that didnt fit in the user area is eraced and needs to be reloaded.
And i have alot of bread and butter sounds i would like to just keep on the MC 909.
Its very funny, i am imagining the evolution of man chart..you know the one where the ape changes into man one picture at a time. I see the same chart with hardware "evolving" and becoming more and more dependant upon the PC.

[Nord72]

I have to tell You, most of the samplers working this way (less ram for instant storage and temp ram for more samples)
Of course it shouldnt have to be this way, with USB pendrive support it could be no pain...
The 16 MB user space is designed for storing user patches, songs, patterns, RPS patterns, ARPs, etc (they dont want it to be filled with samples)
Anyway if you use some raw waveforms You can make very complex patches using them and if You think about a Kurzweil K2000 it has only 8 MB of ROM waveforms!
So the 272 MB is basicaly for samples which SHOULD be load at startup to use them.
The bad thing is the obsolete smart media storage system beside the slow file-system thats why the huge ram is almost useless sometimes...
The good thing is You can "eat it" via SPDIF IN (coax or. optical) and slice them, chop them, etc...
I think the design went wrong when Roland decided to make it as MIDI based groovebox with no dedicated hard disk recording capabilities, with a better file-system and the huge 272 MB RAM it could be handle easily 4 tracks at least!
And this way the RAM will be much more useable (imho)
Anyway with the resampling function it could be usable this way with the ping-pong technique...but its another story...

Since its RAM expansion is standard SIMM 256 MB RAM, no need to buy special Roland board, and those SIMMs nowadays are cheap enough (cheaper than the DDRs)

I would recommend You to store your samples on your PC and reload them via spdif, dont need to convert, import, etc....for drumsets its a working way for sure, and for long samples as well.
And those tiny samples/waveforms will be lying on the user space for instant access.