Just finished refurbishing an SY-77. Absolute nightmare to work on, 40 screws, three boards, two metal attachment pieces, just to remove the keybed. Went through that process about 10 times while getting the keybed refurbished... but now thats all done and she's got a brand new display and usb floppy replacement and plays like a dream. I was just thinking about getting some of these cards and went looking for info on which might be good cards to get. This video was the PERFECT thing for me. Thank you so much for this!
I have all the foreign TG77 OEM cards and sold the standard card sets. I also had all the RY30 cards but sold the RY30 years ago and subsequently the card. Great video, thanks.
Great stuff. As in all old gear there is a lot of dust collecting in holes. Midi holes: Why is there no sound? Data holes: The data card has holes in it, so the receptor has sticks that protrude upwards, well, not under a cover, like in the DX7, but they tend to become "greasy" at least after not cleaning them up. Nobody cleans them up, when cleaning the rest of the visible machine. It was never an issue, until some nerd thought to buy very expensive cards.
Great info, thanks for the info. You might want to rethink the WD 40 use though. A lot of people think it should be used for lubricating and cleaning anything. Over time it will congeal and turn gummy. Better to use deoxit or some such contact cleaner meant for cleaning electronics. Water Displacement 40 (ie WD40) is meant to stop oxidation of mainly metal. It's greasy and oil like, short term lubricating? It's not a good choice for plastics or locks or electronics long term.
I wouldn't recommend WD-40 for cleaning the card contacts at all. It leaves a sticky residue that attracts dirt so you don't want to get it into the connectors inside the machine. There are many specialist contact cleaner products (including one from WD themselves) designed for that specific task. I have a TG-77 from new around 1991 and had toyed with the idea of making my own "soft" waveform card almost from day one and had done some preliminary hardware investigations, but other things took priority. It would be far more feasible now with the availability of prototype manufacturing at affordable prices, but the TG has been in the loft for about 15 years now, and sector 101 has already done the hard work!
Good point. When I cleaned the card I was careful not to leave any residue. Everything was bone dry on the contacts. But yes a proper contact cleaning product would be advised.
I have the TG55 as well, with some of the standard wavecard sets, but a number of the other OEM cards - I can try those with the SY77 this weekend and let you know.
Didn’t someone make a PCMCIA to SD replacement ? I know there are adaptor cards too , wonder if they work for the synths , samplers , and groove boxes that unfortunately used these things ?
Fun.... I went this way as you mention at the end, to buy Brian Allen's (Sector 101) brill Wave Blade programmer, where you can UL any of these cards as the raw data ihas been made available for everyone inc. the RY set...... go spend!!!! 😎👍🎹🎵
The most amazing programs are on the JSPA cards. They basically turn the SY77 to an Oberheim synthesizer. One has to keep in mind, that the main selling point of the SY77 were the PCM samples. Analog synthesizers were considered obsolete at the time the SY77 was introduced. Even FM was no longer desirable. However, JSPA (Japan Synthesizer Programmer Association) went ahead and created Moog/Oberheim style patches. So, I hardly recommend the cards coming from JSPA.
Great, informative and enjoyable video to watch. Thank you for sharing. I have subscribed to your channel and will have a look at more of your videos as well as your music. Ps: Although the SY Series advices to turn off the device before inserting a card, putting ROM/RAM cards in and out of the D-50 while it is turned on shouldn’t be a problem, I hope? I do it all the time without any problems occurring (so far). Again, thank you for sharing and have a good day. Greetings from the Netherlands. -Devin
Looks like on the Sax Card there are only 4 multi-samples of sax sounds. Tenor soft and hard and alto soft and hard. Do other cards have as well so few additional samples to the internal array?
I think there is a limited amount of data due to the size of the cards. You might be able to find the information you want here sector101.co.uk/waveblade.html
I have all seven Yamaha WAVE + DATA card sets for my SY55 keyboard, and I was thinking of sending via Royal Mail the ones Sector 101 did not have, so they could dump the WAVE data from the cards and then sell me one of their Waveblade cards with all seven card sets data preloaded on it; maybe I should do a deal and get a discount on the Waveblade in return for my card data. The guy who makes the Waveblade is over in Ireland if I recall and I am in England. He also has the complete EPROM wave data for the SY77 and SY55 keyboard, and seeing what that guy Nil did with his Kawai K1v VST emulation in 2020/21 using extraced waveforms from his K1m EPROM chip, I thought Nil might consider making a VSTi for the SY55. The K1v took him a matter of a couple of months if that, to get up and running and released for others to install and use, and he perfected it over the course of the following year.
Hi, yes i think that would be a decent thing to do. Re: vst i think nils was looking at the k4, but like the sy55, you have the added work of emulating the filter. Still it would be good if it happened.
@@RunningonairMusic Yes the K4v would be great if he found time and energy for it. The SY shall remain a small pipedream for now! I was also thinking of sampling everything using SampleRobot v6. I need a bit of practice on something easier first, so the little Casio CSM-1 is a suitable candidate, as it has no controller wheels, filters or aftertouch etc and not many presets and waveforms. Nil has a maths background and used that to help with the K1v VST. So I expect he would apply the same methods on other synths. His development blog for his VST was interesting to read.
after changing the battery, I got an ERROR WAVE CARD NOT READY, tried a factory reset, hold voice, bank d and then press 8, but didn't work, can i restore the factory sounds using a wave card?, Thanks, Anthony
The wave data will be in the synth ROM so you just need the patch data. You should probably look into why the factory reset didn't work. You can also import data via midi.
@@RunningonairMusic First off Thank you for your Reply!, much appreciated!, you'll have to dumb it down for me, where can i get the patch data?, where can i find the procedure?i have not dabbled with midi, i understand i'm asking a lot, i suppose i could download the data on my mac then how do i transfer to keyboard?, Thanks in advance for all your help!
Can I just clarify. Are you saying you have no presets at all? if so, there is a fault with the unit. After a factory reset the internal voices default to the preset 1 voices anything else is lost. If you changed the battery, you should check if you put it in the right way round. If you have got it the wrong way round, there could be damage, but hopefully not. If you do resolve the issue you can check here for information about other patch data and midi transfer bobbyblues.recup.ch/yamaha_sy77/sy77_patches.html
J'ai encore mon sy77 mais franchement c'était une machine trop compliquée. Avec la facilité de créer ses propres sons sur ordinateur je n'ai plus envie d'utiliser cet instrument.
Just finished refurbishing an SY-77. Absolute nightmare to work on, 40 screws, three boards, two metal attachment pieces, just to remove the keybed. Went through that process about 10 times while getting the keybed refurbished... but now thats all done and she's got a brand new display and usb floppy replacement and plays like a dream.
I was just thinking about getting some of these cards and went looking for info on which might be good cards to get. This video was the PERFECT thing for me. Thank you so much for this!
I am wondering, of the cards you got, once you got them working which ones were the best?
Glad it helped!
I think the syn ones i like the most but they're all a bit of a mixture.
I have used the RY30 Dave Weckyl card on my SY77 for many years.
thanks, I wasn't aware of that range!
I have all the foreign TG77 OEM cards and sold the standard card sets. I also had all the RY30 cards but sold the RY30 years ago and subsequently the card. Great video, thanks.
Thanks!
Great stuff. As in all old gear there is a lot of dust collecting in holes.
Midi holes: Why is there no sound?
Data holes: The data card has holes in it, so the receptor has sticks that protrude upwards, well, not under a cover, like in the DX7, but they tend to become "greasy" at least after not cleaning them up. Nobody cleans them up, when cleaning the rest of the visible machine.
It was never an issue, until some nerd thought to buy very expensive cards.
Just a bit of contact corrosion in this case.
Great info, thanks for the info. You might want to rethink the WD 40 use though. A lot of people think it should be used for lubricating and cleaning anything. Over time it will congeal and turn gummy. Better to use deoxit or some such contact cleaner meant for cleaning electronics. Water Displacement 40 (ie WD40) is meant to stop oxidation of mainly metal. It's greasy and oil like, short term lubricating? It's not a good choice for plastics or locks or electronics long term.
Yes, I wouldn't use it now but I did make sure it was fully dried off before putting it in the slot, so there won't be any build up in this case.
I wouldn't recommend WD-40 for cleaning the card contacts at all. It leaves a sticky residue that attracts dirt so you don't want to get it into the connectors inside the machine. There are many specialist contact cleaner products (including one from WD themselves) designed for that specific task. I have a TG-77 from new around 1991 and had toyed with the idea of making my own "soft" waveform card almost from day one and had done some preliminary hardware investigations, but other things took priority. It would be far more feasible now with the availability of prototype manufacturing at affordable prices, but the TG has been in the loft for about 15 years now, and sector 101 has already done the hard work!
Good point. When I cleaned the card I was careful not to leave any residue. Everything was bone dry on the contacts. But yes a proper contact cleaning product would be advised.
I have the TG55 as well, with some of the standard wavecard sets, but a number of the other OEM cards - I can try those with the SY77 this weekend and let you know.
Thanks
Didn’t someone make a PCMCIA to SD replacement ?
I know there are adaptor cards too , wonder if they work for the synths , samplers , and groove boxes that unfortunately used these things ?
Do you mean PCMCIA? It's not the same format on either card, although it's similar to the data cards but with 2 rows of pins instead of 1.
@@RunningonairMusic I did my corrective type didn’t evidently . Too bad that’s a shame .
Fun.... I went this way as you mention at the end, to buy Brian Allen's (Sector 101) brill Wave Blade programmer, where you can UL any of these cards as the raw data ihas been made available for everyone inc. the RY set...... go spend!!!! 😎👍🎹🎵
This could be a great option and a lot cheaper than buying the original cards.
The most amazing programs are on the JSPA cards. They basically turn the SY77 to an Oberheim synthesizer. One has to keep in mind, that the main selling point of the SY77 were the PCM samples. Analog synthesizers were considered obsolete at the time the SY77 was introduced. Even FM was no longer desirable. However, JSPA (Japan Synthesizer Programmer Association) went ahead and created Moog/Oberheim style patches. So, I hardly recommend the cards coming from JSPA.
Thanks for the tip!
but there are a few JSPA cards , which ones do I need?
Great, informative and enjoyable video to watch. Thank you for sharing. I have subscribed to your channel and will have a look at more of your videos as well as your music.
Ps: Although the SY Series advices to turn off the device before inserting a card, putting ROM/RAM cards in and out of the D-50 while it is turned on shouldn’t be a problem, I hope? I do it all the time without any problems occurring (so far).
Again, thank you for sharing and have a good day. Greetings from the Netherlands. -Devin
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! And thanks for the comment!
Looks like on the Sax Card there are only 4 multi-samples of sax sounds. Tenor soft and hard and alto soft and hard.
Do other cards have as well so few additional samples to the internal array?
I think there is a limited amount of data due to the size of the cards. You might be able to find the information you want here sector101.co.uk/waveblade.html
I have all seven Yamaha WAVE + DATA card sets for my SY55 keyboard, and I was thinking of sending via Royal Mail the ones Sector 101 did not have, so they could dump the WAVE data from the cards and then sell me one of their Waveblade cards with all seven card sets data preloaded on it; maybe I should do a deal and get a discount on the Waveblade in return for my card data. The guy who makes the Waveblade is over in Ireland if I recall and I am in England. He also has the complete EPROM wave data for the SY77 and SY55 keyboard, and seeing what that guy Nil did with his Kawai K1v VST emulation in 2020/21 using extraced waveforms from his K1m EPROM chip, I thought Nil might consider making a VSTi for the SY55. The K1v took him a matter of a couple of months if that, to get up and running and released for others to install and use, and he perfected it over the course of the following year.
Hi, yes i think that would be a decent thing to do. Re: vst
i think nils was looking at the k4, but like the sy55, you have the added work of emulating the filter. Still it would be good if it happened.
@@RunningonairMusic Yes the K4v would be great if he found time and energy for it. The SY shall remain a small pipedream for now! I was also thinking of sampling everything using SampleRobot v6. I need a bit of practice on something easier first, so the little Casio CSM-1 is a suitable candidate, as it has no controller wheels, filters or aftertouch etc and not many presets and waveforms. Nil has a maths background and used that to help with the K1v VST. So I expect he would apply the same methods on other synths. His development blog for his VST was interesting to read.
You can use the data cards with the internal samples, you just have to edit the voice.
Sure, I guess that's an option.
after changing the battery, I got an ERROR WAVE CARD NOT READY, tried a factory reset, hold voice, bank d and then press 8, but didn't work, can i restore the factory sounds using a wave card?, Thanks, Anthony
The wave data will be in the synth ROM so you just need the patch data. You should probably look into why the factory reset didn't work. You can also import data via midi.
@@RunningonairMusic First off Thank you for your Reply!, much appreciated!, you'll have to dumb it down for me, where can i get the patch data?, where can i find the procedure?i have not dabbled with midi, i understand i'm asking a lot, i suppose i could download the data on my mac then how do i transfer to keyboard?, Thanks in advance for all your help!
Can I just clarify. Are you saying you have no presets at all? if so, there is a fault with the unit. After a factory reset the internal voices default to the preset 1 voices anything else is lost. If you changed the battery, you should check if you put it in the right way round. If you have got it the wrong way round, there could be damage, but hopefully not. If you do resolve the issue you can check here for information about other patch data and midi transfer bobbyblues.recup.ch/yamaha_sy77/sy77_patches.html
I didnt had such a problem with string cards i got, it all worked as intended.
They normally do.
How to Reset Yamaha S77 To Factory Setting? Thank you
Check the manual, it's online. Cheers.
Interesting video. Thanks! :-)
Welcome!
maybe there was a lot of dust deep down in the actual card slot as well
Maybe, but the other cards worked fine. 😃
@@RunningonairMusic oh yeah good point
WOW it really is in mint condition
Yes, a lucky find indeed!
J'ai encore mon sy77 mais franchement c'était une machine trop compliquée. Avec la facilité de créer ses propres sons sur ordinateur je n'ai plus envie d'utiliser cet instrument.
Sure, i understand.
😂👍
👍