EMX-1 with SmartMedia... Future SD adapter???

oOjTgOo · Post by **oOjTgOo** » Tue Feb 14, 2012 12:35 am

Hi to all! I recently bought an EMX-1 on eBay. Thought I was getting a great deal, and I did, but the seller described it as the late SD model, which it was not. So, now I'm out $10 for an SM to XD adapter, $21 for a 128MB XD card, and $22 for an XD card reader... Fun when I have SD cards floating around here like crazy.
While looking for a solution I found a company that may start producing a SM to SD adapter: http://kdyworks.com/index.php?option=co ... &Itemid=62
I sent them an email asking if it were in production yet or if they had a estimated date or if I could perhaps buy a functional prototype, and got no reply. I figured that there has to be a bunch of you on the Korg Forums that could benefit from having this setup. I figure if enough people send an email to voice a definite interest that should get the ball rolling.
If you find the time, email them at this address: nfo@kdyworks.com
Thanks for reading!

neotechtonics · Post by **neotechtonics** » Wed Feb 15, 2012 8:11 am

personally i dont see any marketability of a SM to SD adaptor. SM is obsolete technology... so even tho there is a need/want for SM to SD adaptor.. the market for them would be so narrow that i dont see it being economically viable for any company to proceed with this regardless of a handful of people emailling them.

we've had problems like this before with the price and availability of PCMCIA cards and readers for use on industrial robots.. also compact flash cards of low memory capacity.

question is: do you REALLY need to get stuff off the 'tribe onto a card or onto pc? you only just got it so i dont see you filling up the 256 pattern banks just yet. I've had a SM EMX for over a year and havent once felt the need to get stuff off it. granted it'd be nice to save backups =P

on the other hand; if you had an SM ESX... then i'd say bite the bullet, pay a ridiculous amount of money for an SM card and reader (or whatever combination of adaptors/cards/readers works out most cost effective)

see if you can find an ancient SM-card digital camera on e-bay (with cards) haggle the person down cos its obsolete.. throw the camera away, keep the cards
I was lucky in finding compact flash cards for my SP404 and MPC cos my father is a photographer he had some old low-memory ones lying around... but no SM cards (they're as rare as rocking horse sh*t if 256MB or less)

Pastor-of-Muppets · Post by **Pastor-of-Muppets** » Wed Feb 15, 2012 5:34 pm

punpkomg wrote: on the other hand; if you had an SM ESX... then i'd say bite the bullet, pay a ridiculous amount of money for an SM card and reader (or whatever combination of adaptors/cards/readers works out most cost effective)

see if you can find an ancient SM-card digital camera on e-bay (with cards) haggle the person down cos its obsolete.. throw the camera away, keep the cards
I was lucky in finding compact flash cards for my SP404 and MPC cos my father is a photographer he had some old low-memory ones lying around... but no SM cards (they're as rare as rocking horse sh*t if 256MB or less)

I don't understand this myth. it took me about 5 minutes to find some on ebay when I got my ESX, and there are several on there now.

e.g. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kingston-128M ... 19cd91466f

roblabs · Post by **roblabs** » Wed Feb 15, 2012 7:04 pm

They're also relatively easy to find on amazon. They usually cost around 30USD or so

neotechtonics · Post by **neotechtonics** » Thu Feb 16, 2012 6:20 am

obviously i didnt look hard enough =P when i did search in the past the only ones i found at 256MB or 128MB were over 40 euros on e-bay germany (when i got my EMX-SM in austria)... which is a serious dent in my wallet with the exchange rate. might order one and a reader this weekend... then again my EMX-SM is currently out of commision due to lightning fried transformer.

Pastor-of-Muppets · Post by **Pastor-of-Muppets** » Thu Feb 16, 2012 2:30 pm

N.B. 128MB is the max supported size, so buying 256MB is pointless.

Finding a reader that supports SM is a little bit harder, but still not very difficult.

neotechtonics · Post by **neotechtonics** » Thu Feb 16, 2012 2:43 pm

I must have had 256 on the brain from the total number of patterns on the EMX/ESX
when i followed your link i searched for card reader too.. there was a SM to USB stick one there too.

I might split the costs of a couple cards and a reader with my mate who also has an SM EMX cos i can only ever see myself using it for backing up onto pc or transferring stuff between our boxes.

link to SM card reader on e-bay:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SMARTMEDIA-ME ... 4600eb1b77

Kypa · Post by **Kypa** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 7:32 am

Why do u need SM card for EMX-1??
when i had EMX-1 I used SM card once, just I had it! But u can use Midi dump in ur computer, whithout SM card

oOjTgOo · Post by **oOjTgOo** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:18 am

I know it'll take a good while to fill up the memory in the unit. But I had a drive crash on me a few months ago. It had the pics of my son from the minute he popped out until about 3 months, damn near 200g. I vowed never to lose data ever again. Never hurts having a copy out there.
Also there's other instruments that use SM cards, so the adapter would be good for those applications.
I agree with the business aspect of it. I wouldn't invest $20k in it, but I'd buy one. Their business model applies to all instruments and devices that use SM cards, which is a big list.
I've had no luck doing a dump through midi. Got my SM to XD adapter and XD card and XD card reader/usb hub, so I think I'm G2G! lolz.

thehighesttree · Post by **thehighesttree** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 6:26 pm

The advice about bidding on old cameras is dead on the money: cheapest, easiest way to get these cards. Just search "Smartmedia" on craigslist or kijiji or whatever local classified site's biggest in your area. If you're patient you can get them at way less than the $50 number people throw around.

Bassquaker · Post by **Bassquaker** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:19 am

Hi there,

i have the same problem. I emailed korg if i could send my emx to them and get an upgrade, but they are not gonna do that.

I have emailed to kdy works two for several times, but no reply's. it seems to be the only company in the world that has a prototype for this.

I've got my korg for a year now and the 256 patterns that are in the device are full now. So punpkomg you're wrong. I think smartmedia is indeed ancient, but an adapter like this would come in very handy, not just for korg but for other ancient instruments two.

thehighesttree · Post by **thehighesttree** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 3:29 pm

I'm just about to call a guy up to buy a camera with bunch of 4Mb-64Mb SM cards right now for $50. You just need to be persistant and lucky. Good luck!

oOjTgOo · Post by **oOjTgOo** » Thu Mar 01, 2012 7:12 am

@Bassquaker

http://www.ebay.com/itm/XD-Picture-Card ... 3368e843d3

There's the link to the SM to XD adapter that I bought. Took a couple weeks to arrive. I maybe wrong, but I think you have to get a 128MB XD card, no more than that. I don't know why but I read it somewhere.
Also, I've emailed just about anyone in the know and there is no retrofit kit available. Planned or maybe unplanned obsolescence.
Happy hunting.

psim210 · Post by **psim210** » Sun Jul 07, 2013 3:57 pm

I love my EMX but is unfortunately SM. I have had it for 4 years now, and purchased an SM card from Guitar Center (not hard to find stateside, however the price was jacked at $60).

I am going to try and convert to XD and then back to SD I guess because im sick of rebuilding this old lady and want to buy a new unit and play all my old stuff on it.

Anyone out there have any other/better suggestions on the most efficient way to convert to a new SD EMX?

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EMX-1 with SmartMedia... Future SD adapter???

EMX-1 with SmartMedia... Future SD adapter???

sd to smartmedia

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