PCMCIA CARD

[grand honors]

can anyone recommend or tell me where to get this type of data card for my KORG X3.  The floppy disc drive don't function anymore, and maybe this is the only way i can access my programs. Thanks.

[KitC]

It's hard to find memory cards for these now. Yupangco used to have 512kb ram cards for the X-series but all I've seen lately were for Rolands.

If you have the X3 midi'ed to your pc and you need to find a way to store and load patches, try SoundLib. It used to be shareware but is now being given away for free. It's an old app and has the look and feel of a Win95 application. It seems to work well with WinXP.

[skin]

try cleaning your drive with a disk cleaner...might work...

[KitC]

try cleaning your drive with a disk cleaner...might work...

While it very well could work, the X3 drives are at least 10 years old. They also use a rubber belt from the spindle to the motor and the belt becomes loose over time. These belts are not user replaceable and a bit costly to service. Most disc head cleaners use an abrasive paper to clean the heads, esp. the wet/dry cleaning system. Too much use can wear down the heads and potentially expose the windings thereby ruining the heads completely.

[Centaur]

Hi there  

Here are some PCMCIA cards you might consider looking for. I don't know if it work for your Korg X3 but these might give you an idea.
Btw, I live in JP.

20 mb flash card


5 gb disc drive


128 mb compact flash + adpator
(There are also SD. MMC. Memory Stick, etc. flash card adaptors. Available at Digicam shops)

[3650guy]

if i'm not mistaken that card slot in a x3 workstation is proprietary much as
in the same way yamaha and roland data cards are compatible only with their respective products. and at that time wala pa yata pcmcia slot nung lumabas yung korg x series way back in 1992-93?

without a working floppy drive or available data card, your best bet is still
via a midi connection to pc.  or from one korg x3 to another korg x3 for
transfering program, combi and sequence files.

ung PCM card slot sa korg x3 stands for Pulse Code Modulation (another
way of calling .wav file samples)  

ung PCMCIA stands for something different - Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (hindi nag click kaya PC card na ang tawag ngayon.  to add to the confusion meron type 1, type 2 etc pa ito)

[Centaur]

Oops, old model pala yung Korg X3. (No PCMCIA slots?)

Please disregard my previous post.

[KitC]

The X3 has both Wavedata and PCMCIA slots. The wavedata slot is proprietary and for wave rom samples only (which can be accessed by the synth engine when a card is inserted), while the PCMCIA slot accepts both ROM and RAM cards. The ROM cards are just that, ROM that contains a single patch bank which must be loaded to the synths RAM replacing one of the banks completely. Usually these ROM cards come with the expansion wave sample cards. The RAM cards are 256 kb cards that have space for an additional 2 banks each of Progs and Combis - these are the C and D banks.

[3650guy]

okay my mistake. so kitc, what kind of pcmcia will the x3 accept? can it read yung mga higher capacitites? baka me pagasa pa itong x3 ni grand honors...

[KitC]

okay my mistake. so kitc, what kind of pcmcia will the x3 accept? can it read yung mga higher capacitites? baka me pagasa pa itong x3 ni grand honors...

Malamang the highest it can accept are the Korg 512 kb ram cards. I don't think it's OS will recognize higher capacity ram cards.

The problem with PCMCIA ram cards is that they come in 2 flavors, 5 volt and 3.3 volts. The X3 seems to use the older 5 volt standard while the ram cards shown above appear to be the newer 3.3 volt variety. This also means that the SD card to PCMCIA converters are unacceptable as well.

[Centaur]

Most of the current PCMCIA cards have dual voltage compatibility.

But I think 3650guy & KitC could be right -- those old keyboards might not be able to read high capacity (memory) cards.

@grand honors, if you are able to borrow a card, make sure it is formatted using the standard back then (1992?).
I had a similar problem when accessing my flash card using my old digicam. I found out that I accidentally formatted it to FAT32, so i changed it back to FAT.

[3650guy]

512kb! grabe back in '93 malaki na yan all the sequences, progs and combi's
that you could cram into it.. mahal din ata yun and at that time hard to find
pa yun. compared to the flash cards of today with capacities up to 2 gig..
times have changed.

was the x3 sequencer both pattern and linear based? kasi sa roland mc series, linear all the way except for drum patterns of course.  i remember the "avoxwah" demo had its wah wah guitar as a pattern..

i did manage to jam on a korg x2 with it's semi-weighted keys plus yung
piano patch with that extra piano wavesample ang galing.... but i don't think
nagkaroon ng x1 (88keys siguro if ever)

[KitC]

was the x3 sequencer both pattern and linear based? kasi sa roland mc series, linear all the way except for drum patterns of course.  i remember the "avoxwah" demo had its wah wah guitar as a pattern..

i did manage to jam on a korg x2 with it's semi-weighted keys plus yung
piano patch with that extra piano wavesample ang galing.... but i don't think
nagkaroon ng x1 (88keys siguro if ever)

The X-series sequencer is practically linear but you can program up to 99 patterns IIRC. The patterns worked for both drums and standard tracks and it can be fast for developing a song quick.

The only 88-key board in the line was the 01/w Pro, the X-series never had a 88-key piano feel version. You should check out the new Studiologic VMK Plus line of controllers, they even got 61-key piano action controllers.

[grand honors]

my x3 is working now after three repairs with yupangco costing me dearly, including changing of the rubber pads under the keys.  They tried to repair the floppy but they said it is beyond repair and replacement is the only option, BUT THERE'S NONE on stock EVER.   I was about to buy the PCMCIA etc with adapters i found in google search, (USD39) but i have to be sure first if it will work, thus the query.  May i respectfully request for a summary of your recommendations mga bro.  Thanks and God Bless... my Korg frequent Church activities yunno..

[KitC]

Voice Crystal is the only source I know of that carries blank pcmcia ram cards. They only carry 256k cards though (the site also seems dated so be forewarned). You could also try ebay.

[grand honors]

thank you KitC, you're the man... seems like you're a sound engineer