vArranger Forums

Question for SD2 users:

When you are on a gig, do you use the RCA outs to your PA system or do you use the headphone jack?
Why do you connect it the way you do? What do you feel are the advantages and disadvantages of your method?

I mostly use my SD2 at home, with my sequencing program for recording only.  However, I have used the SD2 on gigs a few times.

Here is how I set it up for a live venue:
I use the RCA outs on the SD2 with an REC to 1/4" TS phono jack, to a stereo channel on my board.
I set the pans on the MIDI files to center pan. and the channel's pan to center.  The only reason I use stereo rather than mono is for the stereo effects that are on some of the samples in the SD2.
I pan files center because stereo at a gig, especially when an instrument is hard panned, will not be heard well enough on the opposite side of the room.

JazzCat

I have to disagree.
.mid and .kar are not the same.    .mid and .kar use different ways to encode the text.  Yes, you can simply change the extension from .kar to .mid and it will play but it does not convert a .kar file to a .mid file.  to change the encoding of the text one must use a program to convert the file. GNMIDI is a shareware program that has this function.
JazzCat

Many questions:

What is the latest firmware update?
The last one I know about for the SD2 is "Update_104.zip"  which contains the files:
1) SD2updater.msi
2) SD2_4.sd2

Has another update been released since then? 
I Installed this update long ago, even though I had no problems with the SD2.

I see you say it's 0.91. I would like to know where this file is downloadable and if possible I would like to know exactly what changes it makes to the SD2.

By the way, the five numbers in my serial number are 10847.

You said: The problem occurs even if there is more space between events, but after more time. 

If a freeze is not due to too many MIDI messages being sent at once then do you know exactly what it is that does cause the freeze?

I remember very old MIDI modules used to have a 'panic button' that would reset the module when it would freeze.  It looks like the panic button on the SD2 is the on/off switch. 

I wonder if you have tested this freezing with MIDI to MIDI interface through an interface that uses a serial port or only with MIDI to USB interface.  I wonder if this would make any difference?

Another thought. Is it possible that different  sequencing or sequence playing programs, and the way different programs handle MIDI data, make a difference in if the SD2 freezes or not?

JC

Quote from: Dan on September 18, 2010, 08:22:37 PM
It seems that I found the reason why some SD2/SD4 sometimes crash.
It is a very subtile bug.
You have to send like 40 midi messages in a certain order and a special timing.
Dan

I looked at the event list on this file and I sure can see why this MIDI file could make any piece of MIDI hardware crash, or freeze, or at the very least stutter like crazy!
There are not 40 MIDI messages being sent at once, but there are 31 patch changes all occurring at 002:01:000.  Not good practice for any sequencer to do!!  MIDI can only handle so much info all at once.  I'd think that the limitation is MIDI itself and not the SD2. A decent MIDI file programmer will know this and spread out the data so not too much happens at the same exact time.

Quote from: PatSar63 on September 17, 2010, 09:53:12 PM
2. As I launch the file, I don't hear anything during one mesure (about 1 or 2 sec). Then I hear several notes (from low to high) played by a trumpet. The notes are not played in a regularly fashion as they would be if I played them with croches or double croches. Maybe, the silences between some notes could be explained by the fact that some notes missed in the middle.
See you - Patrick

There is no MIDI data in the first bar, which is why you hear silence for exactly 2 seconds.  (At 120 BPM each bar takes 2 seconds to play)

You hear silence between some of the notes simply because some of the notes are extremely short and staccato.