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ChromaTalk Archives: March 2001

JL Cooper midi interface

Daniel Benoit [21030109]

Hi

I have the JL Cooper ChromaFace. I'm trying to make it work with my Chroma(Rev.12 eproms). To this point nothing is working(in or out). I'm not using the original flat cable that came with it. The one I'm using is a straight pin to pin cable, could this be part of the problem. Should it a "crossover" type cable as it says in the Chroma's interface Manual.

Am I loosing my time, trying to make this midi interface work...? Is it worth it!

Let me know!

dbm

Murray Macdonald [21030276+]

Is it worth it? Yes and No. I have the JLC chroma interface and it works fine for note on/off and patch changes, but it does not send continuous controller data. A MIDI'ed chroma is an object to love, but if its worth it to worth you time for the JLC interface depends on if you want to adjust parameters on patches while it is playing. I know from experience that the JLC interface works fine with the V12 software, so I suspect your cable.

Good Luck.

--Murray

Fwd: Chromas for sale

Chris Ryan [21030691]

Received the following e-mail today.

Date: Sun, 04 Mar 2001 18:07:04 -0600
From: Connie Wilson
Subject: Chromas for sale

Hi Chris!!!
Just wanted to let you know that I will be posting a working Rhodes/Chroma as well as a non working Arp/Chroma shell loaded with mostly Rhodes boards on e-bay this week. I will probably list them together not sure yet, You may want to let some people know if they are looking for some great parts and a decent working Chroma.

Thanks !!

Bob Wilson

Firmware and Disassembly Info on Chroma Site

David Clarke [21030085++]

All:

Chris Ryan has recently linked in a new page at the Chroma Site containing firmware images for Rev 12 and Rev 14 Chromas (both the Chroma itself and for the Chroma Expander).

If you're looking to upgrade or to replace an EPROM or two, you've now got a source for the images.

As well, the same page contains disassembly info for the firmware revisions, a Chroma memory map, disassembly of the keyscan code and a few other goodies.

Check out: Chroma EPROM Code.

Regards,

David Clarke

Rev 14

Erik Vellinga [21010286]

Dave and others,

I have managed to update my Chroma Eproms from version 1.2 to 1.4. O, god I erased the old EPROMS in my Chroma with chicken skin all over me, what if...??? But with the new software the EPROMS are more happy than ever. The oldies still perform well ! Thanks to the Chroma site.

The beast feels different in some ways now. I did not have the time yet to give you a full explanation on this, but it sounds and plays "better". I did not play it for a long time but now I remember why I fell in love with it again... I have programmed the Z36 version 14B, the one with the correction data and it seems to have a different keyboard response. In some way it's responce is faster. I am sorry I can not give you a scientific analysis on this, it is very subjective. I mostly use the keyboard through a Kenton MIDI interface to an EMU piano module and a MIDI THRU box so timing is not always optimal.

Can some-one tell me what is the main improvement in this "new" software ?? What things have changed? Are there improvements in the keyboard algorithms as well ? Again it SEEMS that the cutting of notes problem in MONO mode is not as bad as it used to be...

Thanks to Dave for all his efforts !

David Clarke [21030085++]

I have managed to update my Chroma Eproms from version 1.2 to 1.4. O, god I erased the old EPROMS in my Chroma with chicken skin all over me, what if...???

Never to worry - I'm sure one or more of us here would have been able to help had you gotten stuck with some non-working chips.

Can some-one tell me what is the main improvement in this "new" software ?? What things have changed?

You can take a look at Rev 12 vs 14 Firmware Comparison [from August 2000] - a little writeup on some of the changes from Revision 12 to Revision 14.

JL Cooper ChromaFace vs. ChromaCult Midi ... Different Program Numbers?

David Clarke [21030085++]

What I've seen here is that if have two Chromas set up - one with a ChromaCult midi interface, and one with a JL Cooper ChromaFace - both being driven from the same MIDI source - that upon receipt of a MIDI Channel Change for, say, Program n:

  1. The ChromaFace interface will send a "change to Program n+1" command to the Chroma
  2. The ChromaCult interface will send a "change to Program n" command to the Chroma

It seems that the JL Cooper machine is always 1 program ahead of the ChromaCult machine. Can anybody out there confirm/deny if this is true in general? (or maybe I have an old PROM in my ChromaFace) ...