Quad Plus - Loading EFPT patches via USB to MIDI

[Deleted]

Hi all

Those of you that have programmed a Quadraverb with EFTP will get the drift of this thread straight away. Those that wish to load the patches at some point please have a look and make notes anyway as it may be helpful to you later.

When transferring EFTP patches to a Quadraverb Plus the idea seems to be to load the files into Sysex Dump Tool and then obtain or borrow a Edirol USB to MIDI interface cable. I tried an alternative cable (that I already had) and as I was warned it did not work. There is a loan Edirol cable on the site but if available may take a few days to get to you.

I had a word with another site member (John) and said he that there are alternative Midi Dump programs that may work. To cut a long story short I downloaded a program called SysexBox loaded the QV file received from Charlie into that instead and sent it to the Quadraverb via my Logilink (off Amazon) USB to Midi Interface and it worked straight away. About 3 seconds and all done. Quad loaded with EFTP and sounding GREAT,

Here is the link.
miostools.midibox.org/

I had a word with Charlie Hall before posting this thread.
This is what he said :

Hi George,
Well done.
I am surprised that another program fixed the issue. By all means post your find on the site, it might not work for everyone though.Regards,
Charlie

So there you have it. Its worth a try but may not work for everyone. So lets keep the loan Edirol Interface in the frame.

As always many thanks to all that assisted me with resolving the issues I had loading the patches to my Quad Plus. Nothing ever straight fwd with me, always find the hard way first

All done now. Well Happy, and I did not have to borrow the Edilrol
George

[stratomaster]

Hi George, I too stumbled upon this wonderful application 'SysexBox', when I was trying to load EFTP to my Q20 acouple of months ago. The link in my post below is different, but it takes you to the same place to download the program.

What I found so good about it is that it processes information very slowly. I bought a cheap Chinese midi adaptor, and with SysexBox it works every time. What I particularly like is the when sending is that you can see the bytes and blocks counting down to zero. Loading EFTP to my Q20 takes about two minutes.

It also works very well the other way around if you want to take off individual, or banks of user programs, to store as a .syx file on your computer.
This application is also more up to date, it was developed in 2004 and is not so clunky as the mid 90's STEC dump tool, which did not like the cheap midi adaptor.

charliehall.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=general&thread=4610&post=35828

[Deleted]

Hi James (it is James I hope ?)

Good timing with that.

Once I had the SysexBox program the transfer to the Quad Plus took just a few seconds. My cheap USB Midi cable worked fine as yours did.

You said that it works the other way by copying from the quad to the computer

I was thinking of putting the original programs back on as I like the large and small hall reverb effects and one or two others. I guess I would have to restore factory reset, take them off and then reload EFTP as before using SysexBox. Then add the reverb patches in the spare places on the Quad. Do you know if it can do individual patches in the way or is it just in blocks?

Cheers George

[stratomaster]

Jul 19, 2010 11:10:35 GMT hankypanky said:

Hi James (it is James I hope ?)

Good timing with that.

Once I had the SysexBox program the transfer to the Quad Plus took just a few seconds. My cheap USB Midi cable worked fine as yours did.

You said that it works the other way by copying from the quad to the computer

I was thinking of putting the original programs back on as I like the large and small hall reverb effects and one or two others. I guess I would have to restore factory reset, take them off and then reload EFTP as before using SysexBox. Then add the reverb patches in the spare places on the Quad. Do you know if it can do individual patches in the way or is it just in blocks?

Cheers George

Hi George, I should think that most if not all Alesis functions are very similar. I recently acquired one of the last of the Q2's produced which had both user banks (0-99 & 1-99) loaded with some really great factory programs. I didn't want to lose any, so I created a .syx file on my PC, and using SysexBox I transferred them all to my PC.
To double check, I loaded them from my PC on to my Q20, and there they all were ;D

Since being a Midi 'know nothing' a couple of months ago, I'm climbing up the steep learning curve with cramp-ons ;D
My young nephew put me on to Cakewalk Sonar which I tried and subsequently bought the licence.
There is a great feature on that called 'SysEx view', where you can take out user programs directly from an Alesis model (and very many more manufacturers models), and put into a file created on your computer.




I'm almost looking forward to those long winter evenings ;D

James.

[Deleted]

Thanks James
I will look into that. I have Cubase so will look to see if it has the same or similar faculty.
Thanks
George.

[harley]

Hi George

Jul 19, 2010 11:10:35 GMT hankypanky said:

You said that it works the other way by copying from the quad to the computer

I was thinking of putting the original programs back on as I like the large and small hall reverb effects and one or two others. I guess I would have to restore factory reset, take them off and then reload EFTP as before using SysexBox. Then add the reverb patches in the spare places on the Quad. Do you know if it can do individual patches in the way or is it just in blocks?

Cheers George

am i not right in thinking you can restore individual quad patches to any location?
store - page up - enter the number of patch you want to restore and the destination?

regards Ian

[harley]

and HAPPY BIRTHDAY btw ;D ;D ;D

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Ian,
I just checked the GT manual, page 31, and it is possible to restore individual factory programs to any location. This probably applies to the Plus too.
Regards,
Charlie

[Deleted]

thanks for the Happy Birthday wishes

[richie]

hi george all the best mate
richie

[pauldb38]

Hi guys just to jump in here i just bought a interface of the well known auction site and just purchased Charlies patches for the Qaud plus now the interface is supposed to work with xp win7 and the Mac but can i get these patches loaded not a chance, i have followed charlies instructions ie factory default the machine enable sysx the only machine that seems to do something is a xp machine when i click send the light lights up for a few seconds. After i have done this should i be doing something else to the qaud ? I seem to just have 00 to 89 with the orgional patches ? I presuming the patches are renamed to charlies when the program is complete ? I suspect it not programed as the manual states 91 programs and i only have 89 ? Once the transfer is taken place do i have to do something else ? I feel as thought the interface is doing something but not sure if i have missed something ?

Kind regards

Paul.

[grip]

Hi Paul,

I think you will find that the problem lies with your interface. The Quadraverb's seem to be rather sensitive to quality of MIDI interfaces. I bought a cheap one that failed no matter what settings I changed in the sysex program.

I only resolved it by installing an M-Audio 24/96 sounbdcard with built in MIDI port.

There are some good quality interfaces which do work, and hopefully someone will point you in the right direction.

Kind regards,


Chris

[Charlie Hall]

The factory programs have blank programs from 90 to 99 so it looks like nothing is being transferred.
The cheap adaptor off the well known auction site is most likely too slow, using generic Windows drivers. This is why we recommend the Cakewalk adaptor as it is known to work.
There is a different program you might as well try and that is SysExBox. It can be set to transfer the data at a slower rate. Then if that doesn't work, go for the recommended adaptor.
It is possible but not a common problem, that the optical MIDI chip in the Quad Plus has failed. In that case, no adaptor will get it to work, it would be a repair job instead.
Regards,
Charlie

[pauldb38]

Oh my goodness lets hope its not a repair job then, i'm now worried it took everything to buy the unit and the patches etc. I'm signed of work and after a MRI scan i have now been registered disabled so the money is tight but thought getting setup to learn the shads would take things of my mind. Best not do the lottery by the sounds of things lol.

Paul.

[Charlie Hall]

Paul,
Just try the SysExBox program first. It might work.
Regards,
Charlie

[pauldb38]

Hi Charlie i have tried it in the open window at the bottom when i click send i get ||: for a split second ,It did report the sysex file as unknown format ?

Totally confused and praying my qaud is ok.

Paul.

[Charlie Hall]

Paul,
I forgot to ask, did you set the MIDI in and out ports in the program (whatever program you used/are using)? Data cannot transfer unless those ports are set to the USB to MIDI device.
Regards,
Charlie

[pauldb38]

Hi charlie yes i set the ports to use usb-midi lol

[Charlie Hall]

Paul,
OK. The .syx file should be recognised in SysExBox. Did you receive the data file as a .syx file or was it part of a zip file? Some email systems do not transfer the files exactly as they were sent.
If your computer does not show file extension names then you may not be able to see what kind of file it has turned into, if it was changed on its way to you.
Regards,
Charlie

[pauldb38]

Hi charlie the files was sent as is and does have the correct file extension i wonder if i ask for it to be resent just in case what do you think?

Paul.

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Paul,
The file size should be about 15KB (when you hover the mouse over it). The extension name of the file should be .syx.
I don't think I can do much more from here. Can you phone me on XXXXX XXXXXX?
Regards,
Charlie

[cheyanne]

Hi Charlie

I am a total newcomer to this equipment and am desperate for some assistance. I have a computer, an Alesis USB to MIDI cable, a .syx file (containing Shadows like sounds) and an Alesis QuadraVerb Plus.

In summary I want to send a .syx file, which is on my computer Desktop, to the QuadraVerb Plus unit.

Is there any information around, that you know of, that will assist me? I have tried Alesis (now called something else) but without any luck. What I need is someone to be kind enough to

a. Advise me on the cable connections e.g. does Midi In, on the cable, actually go to Midi In on the QuadraVerb - don't laugh but I have found people, on the Internet, with some saying YES connect to the Midi In (on the QuadraVerb) whilst others say NO it should be connected to the Midi Out the unit.

b. To point me in the direction of suitable software (currently I have two programmes installed MIDI-OX and Stec Dump Tool.

c. To offer me a line by line instructions on how to use either of the above programmes (or any other recommended) so that I can finally get the .syx file from my Desktop onto my QuadraVerb.

I do live in Spain so I am unaware of any such specialists here.

Please assist if you can

Thanks

Peter Woodall - Valencia  

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Peter,
I might be able to help, but not if you are trying to load an EFTP file unless the unit is registered with EFTP.
You can email me charliehallATntlworld.com (replacing AT with @) and let me know the serial number of the Quad Plus (don't do that here), or if you can confirm that the file is other than one written by me. I will reply after I arrive home next week as I am currently away.
Regards,
Charlie

[stratomaster]

Resurrecting this thread, I had to re install patches to my repaired Quadraverb 2.
I remembered that with my cheap Chinese midi transfer cable that it had to be used with a slow block count.
I used Sysexbox to successfully complete the task. To ensure that the block count was slow I set the block delay to 880 ms.