EIII: Two Voices Not Appearing At Main Outputs

[ditabeardmemo]

Hi Dr. C... thanks for the help. Sorry if I'm being obtuse, but I have a few more questions because I want to make sure I understand everything clearly before I proceed.

I'm in the process of tracking down the Universal Sound Test disk. I found the disk image that David/DVDBorn posted here a while back, but I don't own a Windows computer, so I need to find a way to burn the disk image.

Once I have the UST, is the procedure I need to follow described in the EIII service manual? Rokuez sent this to me a while back when I originally bought the machine. After I've calibrated the machine, I restart and then copy the OS 2.42 from my hard disk to two floppy disks, correct?

Lastly, just to confirm, the problems with voices 9 and 10 may be the result of a calibration problem and not a hardware problem? It wasn't clear from your previous post.

Thank you! And again, sorry for all the questions!

[dr.c]

Hi Dr. C... thanks for the help. Sorry if I'm being obtuse, but I have a few more questions because I want to make sure I understand everything clearly before I proceed.
I'm in the process of tracking down the Universal Sound Test disk. I found the disk image that David/DVDBorn posted here a while back, but I don't own a Windows computer, so I need to find a way to burn the disk image.

Forget it ! Useless !


Once I have the UST, is the procedure I need to follow described in the EIII service manual? Rokuez sent this to me a while back when I originally bought the machine. After I've calibrated the machine, I restart and then copy the OS 2.42 from my hard disk to two floppy disks, correct?

Absolutely correct !

Lastly, just to confirm, the problems with voices 9 and 10 may be the result of a calibration problem and not a hardware problem? It wasn't clear from your previous post.

Exactly ! Anyway, you will have to recalibrate the machine if you have to fix the output boards.


Thank you! And again, sorry for all the questions!

No problemo, mate !!!

[sys700]

Curious if you were able to fix this, because I have the exact same issue on my EIII.

[sys700]

A bit more information about my EIII's problem. When playing stereo samples, everything is fine. The notes play out of the individual outputs in stereo. But when playing mono samples, they don't play properly out the stereo outs. For voice 6, 11, and 15, the voices only come out one half of the stereo mix. The other thing that's strange is when I plug in a cable to the mono mix output on the back, I don't get any sound. But if I plug into the other output, I get sound. And when both are plugged in, the mono output works. If I put a cable in the individual mono output that isn't sounding, and apply a bit of pressure, occasionally it fixes it for that output.

I removed the nuts on the back of the synth and removed the board. I touched up some solder joints that looked a bit flakey, but still not working. I'm curious if this could be a resistor pack or cold solder joint issue. I doubt it's software calibration. Any thoughts?

[micromoog]

as you described, maybe the contacts of the individual output-plugs are bad. i think the problem depends not on bad soldering points or resitstors , maybe bad working lifts of the jack plugs (oxydation etc) - try to clean

[sys700]

I cleaned them. Still no luck. I was hoping to send my jack board to a friend to connect the ABCD cables to it to see if he could replicate the issue, but he's unwilling to open up his EIII for fear something will break on it. Anyone willing to do this for me? Anyone have the EIII technical manual or schematics so I can attempt to figure out what's wrong?

[ditabeardmemo]

No, I never resolved this issue (although that has more to do with a lack of persistence on my part than anything else.)

When you play a basic mono sample on the Emulator III, each time you press a key, it cycles to a new voice. So key press one triggers voice one, key press two triggers voice two, etc. Stereo samples and samples that overlap (like a sample with a long sustain/release phase) allocate voices in a less obvious way, but the general premise is still the same.

On my unit, a mono sample plays correctly out of all 16 1/4" individual voice outputs. When monitoring out of the stereo mix outputs, however, voice 9 only sounds out of the left stereo mix output, and voice 10 only sounds out of the right stereo mix output. All the other voices sound out of both the left and right stereo mix outputs.

Disabling voices 9 and 10 eliminates this problem.

[sys700]

At least yours are combined in one stereo voice. For me it's voice 6, 11, and 15. I have to disable 3 stereo pairs. When I plug a single lead into the stereo mono output, I get no signal. And the stereo signal doesn't seem to be spot on. One side is a bit louder than the other.

I believe it is an issue with the analog jack board. Would be nice if I could send the jack board to someone who could put it in their machine and see if the problem persists. One thing I thought about doing is desoldering a jack with a problem output, and replacing it with a jack from a good output....see if the problem follows the jack.

[ditabeardmemo]

Just to confirm, you definitely hear voices 6, 11 and 15 at the corresponding individual voice outputs, right?

The stereo signal not being "spot on" might have something to do with the voice calibration. Being that the VCF/VCA on each voice is analog, and the components change over time, they may need to be calibrated. To calibrate, you need a.) the service manual; b.) an oscilloscope; and c.) the Universal Sound Test bank. I can upload this in an EMXP-compatible format if you need it.

[sys700]

Stereo samples:

1) All voices sound out the stereo outputs if both jacks connected (but nothing comes out the mono jack if only one cable connected)
2) All voices sound out the individual outputs

Mono samples:

1) All voices sound out of individual outputs if both jacks connected (but nothing comes out the mono jack if only one cable connected)
2) For voice 6, 11, 15, voices only work on side of the stereo output (and it alternates)

[sys700]

Ok, I got it working!!!

Here's what I did:

1) Read another posting by Dr. C talking about calibration issues often result in stereo problems. So I saved two copies of my internal software to floppy disc as he recommended.
2) I went into diagnostic mode (Master > 8, 0, then 1, 3, 5, and went through a full auto-volume calibration, then VCF, then Q. After this, I saved the trim settings to my harddrive.
3) What I noticed was two of the voices were now resolved, #11 and 15, while #6 remained an issue.
4) In calibration mode, I went and disabled all but that voice and repeatedly tried to calibrate it. No luck.
5) Sprayed some cleaner in jack 6. Still no luck. Opened up the unit and removed the jack board. Checked for breaks. Still no luck.
5) Rebooted the machine. This is where it gets strange. #6 was now resolved, and 11 and 15 were back to being an issue.
6) I noticed that there was some staticky noise in the stereo jack. Moved the cables somewhat. Still not fixed. So I put some cables back and forth in jacks 11 and 15. Heard some more staticky noise. All of a sudden #11 and 15 started working

As of now they all work. But I think this was a combination of several problems: 1) stuck switches in the jacks 2) calibration issues.

The fact that it's firing on all cylinders now tells me this is a resolvable issue. Very happy!!! Hopefully the above can help others resolve a similar issue.

[Elmbeatz]

cool!
congratulations!!!

[sys700]

Thanks! It's not 100% yet. I went back down and #11 wasn't working again. So I inserted a jack again in the individual output and moved it in and out and the voice came back. I still don't have any output out of the mono stereo jack (R). Not sure what the issue could be there. Any idea?

[sys700]

Wow, it never ends with this machine. This morning the harddrive wouldn't boot up from SCSI for the longest time, then once it did, it wouldn't load the samples. Fortunately I backed up the software to floppy and the sounds to ZIP disk yesterday. Anyone have a recommended harddrive for this unit? Or should I install the CF mod? Would be nice to have a quiet synth without a harddrive.

[Zomnius]

Very helpfull stories in advance for i have picked up two beautifull looking iii' 's. One habijt only output at 9 & 10.