EII Tuning Problems

[AllDataLost]

Hello. I have an Emulator II + HD that works just fine except for one thing. When I turn the EII on and start playing everything is fine, then after about 30 seconds or so (sometimes up to a few minutes) it goes out of tune or rather transposes to another key where it settles. When I press the tune button to get it back to normal I don't even have to touch the fader to set it in the right key, it transposes back just by me pressing the tune button. But when I press the button again to get it out of the tune mode it is again transposed.
Anyone who recognizes this problem? Anyone who have any clue as to what the problem is?

Grateful for help. Thank/C

[dr.c]

What happens if you manipulate the pitch wheel ? After then, does it come back to normal value ?

[AllDataLost]

Thanks for your swift reply and sorry for my late response. I haven't been able to get to the studio until now.

Well, the pitch wheel works like it should, infact the EII behaves exactly like it should except that it is out of tune about + 50 cents, that is,  A detunes to A# and so forth. When go into Tune-mode it goes back to normal without me even touching the fader like I said. When I detune - 50 cents (so that A drops to G#) and then go out of the Tune-mode, the keyboard is in the correct tuning/pitch.
Weird. Any theories to what needs to be done?

[who]

Hi All DataLost,

Did you ever resolve your tuning issue?  It appears I have the same problem:  One minute the keboard play the correct pitch and the next it's a half step sharp.  Power cycling the EII clears the problem...very annoying.

[dr.c]

I bet he did...

[moellhoven]

My Emulator developed the same issue. Anybody found out the cause yet?

[dr.c]

Same question again : what happens if you manipulate the pitch wheel up and down ?
Does it come back to normal tune ?

If not : there are two adjustable resistors on the front panel circuit (in the inside). One is for the pitch and the other is for the LCD contrast. They are cabled as follows : one side on the + 5V, the other side on the 0V and the cursor goes to the pitch adjustment circuitry.
Take note of the position of the center of the two, rotate them back a forth a two times and put them back in original position.
Try.

If it doesn't work : its maybe a 5V volts fluctuation.
Dismount the power supply, resolder the connectors under, put it back in place, take a look at the connectors on the multicoloured cable to see if it has been over geaten. Clean, put back in place, verify, and try.

Let us know...

[moellhoven]

Thanks for getting back to me.

The pitch wheel works as expected and does not bring the pitch back to normal.
As my PSU is a fairly new Mean Well replacement i will check the pitch adjustment circuitry.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

I hope to find some time for the repair next weekend.
I'm planning to replace the LCD with a nice OLED anyways.
The backlight died a couple of weeks ago.
 

[80sboy]

Good luck with trying to get an OLED to work. I've tried 2 different ones and can not get then to work. I've replaced the hex interverter with 5 different ones also, but can not get it to work. I have one working perfectly in my Emax1, so I'm not sure what the problem is. I finally went with a midas LED backlit one and it works great, bot nearly as nice as an OLED display.

[moellhoven]

Sorry, i think i got an LED Display not OLED.

Got it from this ebay seller:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/E-mu-SP-12-SP-1200-Emulator-ll-LED-display-/152294983347?hash=item23757d06b3:g:1eoAAOSwG-1Wy1wL

I've used his displays for example on my EMAX 1.
There it works great!

[80sboy]

I bought the same one, and it is very finicky to fit correctly and then you have a huge brightness knob floating around you have to deal with. It is not the correct size for the EII - this one fits PERFECT -

http://www.newark.com/midas/mc21605a6wd-bnmlw/lcd-2x16-neg-stn-white-led-b-l/dp/77T3078

  Fits the holes, not weird arrangement of trying to balance a display on washers, it just fits perfect. Follow this procedure

http://www.nattvard.com/cmi/e-mu-emulator-ii-lcd-screen-change/

 Or desolder the old ribbon cable and install headers so you can swap the display out later

tom

[moellhoven]

hi tom,

thanks for the advice. Will get one of these LCDs.

cheers,
André

[dr.c]

Tuning procedure :

Open the machine, let the top cover vertical and load a sound without sustain, organ for example.

Play a note. On the front panel, press "Master" or another button. This will disable temporarily the pitch wheel, therefor the tune will be different.
Press again, you will have the pitch wheel active, and adjust the pot on front panel backside.
Redo the same to compare, and if needed, adjust finest.

[who]

I am having the problem described in this thread.  I stumbled across the following video that steps through the process I believe dr.c describes immediately above. 

https://youtu.be/Aj-fu-rCvXQ