Connecting M1 to Sound Diver 3.0 - please help!!

[Dazman]

Hi all

I'm new to this forum (first post!) so please be kind

I recently got a copy of Sound Diver 3.0 and want to use it for my M1 sysex library. Ive run into problems at the first hurdle as the software runs into a glitch ... I get the following display when SD tries to read the prog and combi library of my M1 "Sysex Communication Error. Data requested by M1 could not be received completely".

The library display of SD shows columns of junk characters instead of rows of the content within the library.... the software can see I'm connected to the M1 but the data cant get out of the M1... the M1 either gives up the ghost as its sending the data or it's not getting out at all.

So my question is: do any of you use this software on your M1. If so, how have you set up the M1 midi? I'm set up as follows: Global Ch1, Common Ch: ON, Midi filtering Prog-AFT-CNTL-EXCL all ENA(bled), memory Protect (prog/Combi) for card and internal OFF.

For those of you who know Sound Diver, is there a buffer size that you can increase so that it can accept data at a leisurely pace (eg. like you can do with MidiOX)

many thanks for your help!
Dazman

[synthjoe]

Hi Dazman, welcome to the forum!

Perhaps you should try a different MIDI interface. I had lots of troubles with those, experiencing problems similar to yours. Once I got a known good and stable MIDI interface all problems were gone (well, as much as possible with SoundDiver which never seemed to be a very stable piece of SW, anyways).

[Dazman]

Hi synthjoe

can you recommend another midi interface? I'm at a bit of a loss...

I stumbled onto Sound Diver while searching for a sysex library software that would allow you to pick and choose individual sysex patch files as opposed to swapping out 100 at a time...

SD seems to do the job (on paper anyway...) I've got sound patches scattered all over the place and really want to make a customised database for the various songs my band plays.

Anyway for the time being I'll persevere with SD ... there must be a fix somewhere!! (anyone out there with any big ideas???)

cheers

dazman

[synthjoe]

Which OS do you use on your computer?

[jhulk]

midi sport 2x2 works great never had any problems ever with that or the 4x4
or the 8x8

they are cheap £15 on the bay

some cheap midi usb devices dont have or let full sysex implimentation

hence why people have the same problems discussed in other forums about the same situation

also slow the packets down as you system might be sending to fast loosing packets and over running the buffer of the synth so that it chokes

[Dazman]

Hi synthjoe

I'm running Windows 7 64bit ... the software seems to run just fine. The problem is that sound diver either chokes or the M1 isn't set up to send Midi data

Whatever - they are having a spat and not talking to each other!!!

jhulk has recommended midi sport ... it might be worth a go but then I might also run into the same problem ... no good throwing good money after bad, you know?

Isn't there anyone out there who has used this software and can make a suggestion??????

aaaarrrgghhhhhhhh!!!!

ahh... that's a bit better

once more into the breach...

dazman

[Dazman]

Hi jhulk

Thanks for the tip regarding Midisport 2x2 / 4x4

I'm using a cheap and cheerful no-name midi interface which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't, depending on which synth and software I'm running.

I can get the M1 to work using MidiOX and Sysexbox which I use to dump entire banks of 100 patches into my M1... the cable interface is definitely working well for that... I've used it with my old JX8P and M1 but always hit snags.

I was thinking of running the software on a really old laptop Ive got stored away somewhere... it's running a Celeron chip on Win XP so maybe that will be old-school enough to talk to my old-school synths.

(sigh) it's never as easy as what the glossy brochures say it is...

battle on ... if it all goes belly up I'll consider a new interface.

thanks again

Dazman

[synthjoe]

WinXP wasn't even on the market when SD was last updated. I remember many having problems with XP so I'd not be surprised if Win7 64 was just completely inadequate to run it.

I use it on XP and it works so-so. Try XP or lower, 64 bits for sure mess up lots of things, so I'm surprised that it starts, at all. I'm fairly sure legacy MIDI access cannot be dialed-in from under DirectX on the 64 bit platform without having to modify the original software or OS configuration seriously (which is probably not something you want to do, anyways).

Maybe someone more experienced on 64 bit platforms and MIDI will chime in.

[Dazman]

Hi all

Good News!!!

I got Sound Diver to work on my Win& 64bit laptop ... it's great!

To get it to work, you need to slow down (ie. INCREASE the time) for the timeout and send pause controls. These parameters are found in the icon of your synth on the SETUP page (also shown are various other Midi parameters such as in/out port etc).

The software installs with a value of 200ms for these parameters. To change the value, click on the numerical value, hold down the mouse and drag the cursor. The value changes up or down depending on how you drag.

I ended up setting the times to 850ms which allowed enough time for the M1 and SD to exchange data because I have to make exactly the same change whenever I run MidiOX.

So for the records - you CAN get SD to run on a Win7 64bit system ... you just install it as per the install wizard but if there's no joy, slow down (ie. increase the time) of the Timeout and Send Pause.

The only thing I have now (not sure if it's a bug) is that whenever I click on one of the parameter controls on my laptop eg. envelope controls, filters etc etc, the software send a single blip which triggers the middle C of the keyboard ... it blips every time I change a control eg. drag a slider, or click a check box so editing can get a bit noisy! No big problem though ... it's working.

I'm also using a cheap and nasty midi interface USB-Midi cable that i bought for $10 on ebay from some anonymous Chinese store ... no bells and whistles but it works. I was thinking of upgrading to an M-Audio 2x2 or 4x4 and might still do that but now it's not an urgent upgrade.

Anyway, I hope this is of interest and be helpful to any M1 users or others who may be using Sound Diver.

cheers
Dazman[/b]

[synthjoe]

Great news, enjoy your setup! I'm sure this information will be very useful for others.

I think there's an 'audition' function somewhere, that is causing the sound event as you describe. I believe you can switch that off.

Good to know that SD can work on Win7 and 64 bits platform.