Please note it is only supported on Windows XP, I don't have any '95 or '98 machines around any more. I also doubt the installer will be happy on them.

I regret that there is not currently an iMac version but this is not beyond the bounds of possibility as there is now an iMac G5 (Core Duo) resident at Attfield Towers

It has not been uploaded to Ampfea as it is off-line at the moment nor to the EX5Tech server as I wished to keep bandwith and space pressure off EX5Tech.

If people feel it is generally useful I am more than willing to add support for S1A and S1Y file formats and build in support for drum voices (subject to the intrinsic limitations of the EX in this respect).

I would appreciate it if all traffic could be contained in this thread.

Disclaimer - I am unable to accept any responsibility for any problems deemed to have been caused by installing EXplorEX on your PC so work safe - back up if you aren't sure!

You can get more details here and download it here.

[ October 08, 2006: Message edited by: Jim ]

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It's a nice complement to ex.factory as it works in a slightly different way, and it's great as a "quick hunt for the voice I need" utility.

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Renato

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...and it's great as a "quick hunt for the voice I need" utility.

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Exactly right! Thanks, Derek.

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I'd buy that for a dollar

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Originally posted by Syex: If you could get it to read all the other file types...maybe even patterns and arps!..

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Thanks for the kind words

I have designed and written it in a highly modular format with a view to adding support for drum voices, S1A and S1Y file formats so I guess I could well consider patterns and ARP's - especially if the general view was that it's a useful utility and, speaking frankly, there is enough usage out there to encourage me to commit the time and effort.

Reverse engineering the formats takes a bit of time so I doubt there are any quick fixes here but all things are possible...

Watch this space, as they say!

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Originally posted by JamesMichael:
Looks good, Jim.
Do you think it would be safe to try on W2k?

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Thanks Jim! I have just run it up on one of my W2K servers and although I don't have any MIDI ports on that one it installed OK and reached out across the network to load and display some voice file contents so I think you'll be OK, either Server or Workstation.

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Originally posted by Syex:
I checked this out the other night and was rather impressed.
If you could get it to read all the other file types...maybe even patterns and arps!..

I'd buy that for a dollar

Syex

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The only thing to think about here is that the EX MIDI implementation only allows you to fire voices and performances across MIDI. Songs, Patterns, Arps, Waves and Samples are out. So whilst Jim's utility could display them, you wouldn't be able to send them over to the EX, which may make the value of that questionable?

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In the meantime I decided to try something else ;->

It's a shame that Yamaha didn't add MIDI support for the other types, and I never really understood why not, as it could have been done via SYSEX dumps.

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Just back off hols so I'll have a look when the 'car lag' wears off

Strange though, those buttons only send simple MIDI note on/off messages and I can't imagine there would be any difference between EX5 and EX5R in this respect.

Anyone else with an EX5R tried it and can confirm the same problem?

P.S. Check you are in Voice mode, not Performance.

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Can you not plug a midi keyboard into the EX5r and test them that way?

The main reasons a voice would not sound is a) there was a problem with the MIDI sysex message in which case there is usually an error message on the EX LCD display or b) if the voice uses custom waves rather than ROM waves and none are loaded.

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As others have said, it would really be great if it could work with S1As and S1Ys.

Anyway, thanks so much for sharing ExplorEX with us all.

But if you keep asking Jim nicely ......

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But if you keep asking Jim nicely ......

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Ask, and ye shall receive!

EXplorEX version 1.0.3 now understands and will browse ALL (S1A) and SYNTH (S1Y) files. As before any user samples/waves in an S1M file will need to be loaded first to be able to hear voices based on them. Voices based on the EX internal wave rom will audition straight from the S1A/S1Y/S1V file.

To update, simply overwrite the EXplorEX executable with the new one which you can get by clicking here.

If you have not yet tried it, you will need to install version 1.0.2 first then copy the 1.0.3 executable over it. A new installer will be issued in the near future.

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Is there any way to decide how long the tone / minor / major etc should play? Might be a nice feature as some sounds can be quite slow and subtle. It seems to result in that a single tone audition is slightly lower in volume than the other alternatives.

Well, maybe not so important. I should just get myself a MIDI-router

Really nice! And I like the price too

Thanks a bunch for this Jim!

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Is there any way to decide how long the tone / minor / major etc should play? Might be a nice feature as some sounds can be quite slow and subtle. It seems to result in that a single tone audition is slightly lower in volume than the other alternatives.

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Thanks for the feedback! The notes will sound for as long as you hold the mouse key down to audition patches with longer evolving textures. The note velocity is set at max value so there shouldn't be any difference to others but I will check this out.

[ January 07, 2007: Message edited by: Jim ]

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[ January 07, 2007: Message edited by: Jim ]

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This could be due to the sound card possibly ... I really don´t know. Anyhow I am running a Terratec PHASE28 with a Mic 8 interface.

The only way to get a clearer picture of how the sounds really sound is to press "Trill" a few times in a row (as fast as possible) which keeps the EX5R playing the trill a few times in a row ...

Anyhow the mouse is pretty crappy, but as you said it should be unlikely to make much of a difference. Holding the mouse button down, as I said, does however not help the slightest.

I hope I do not confuse you all to much ... This might just be a problem that I have

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The funny thing is that (even after updating) it does not seem how long or hard or anything else I press the audition buttons, the tone is only played for a brief moment and then is cut off rather abruptly.

This could be due to the sound card possibly ... I really don´t know. Anyhow I am running a Terratec PHASE28 with a Mic 8 interface.

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It makes a kind of sense. In order to play nicely with other apps EXplorEX opens MIDI the MIDI device, sends the 'note(s) on' then closes the MIDI device, repeats this when the mouse button is released.

What I think may be happening is when the MIDI device is closed the card driver is perhaps sending controller resets and/or note off messages which is shutting down the note prematurely.

Two things you can try - make sure you have the latest drivers for your card and try increasing the Sysex and/or MIDI delay parameters.

Testing here was done on a Terratec DMX 6-Fire (which is for all practical intents and purposes the same as an EWX24/96 and EWS88) and a MIDISPORT 8x8/s however MIDI driver implementation is not consistent, MIDI drivers often prematurely report completion while buffering the output and dealing with the MIDI traffic themselves irrespective of what the program says..

My gut feel is that this is a MIDI driver issue so let's start with that.

[ January 08, 2007: Message edited by: Jim ]

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And for some synths, I need to ensure that there is a delay (about 100ms) to allow buffers to flush before closing the interface once finished.

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And for some synths, I need to ensure that there is a delay (about 100ms) to allow buffers to flush before closing the interface once finished.

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Yep, agreed. That's what MIDI delay is for, it waits for the designated number of milliseconds to prevent the buffer flushing prematurely and throwing away valid traffic when the MIDI devices are closed.

The SysEx delay is a short 'wait' to prevent problems when turning round long SysEx messages so all the traffic can get flushed to the synth before the listener thread wakes up.

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Don't forget to apply the 1.0.3 update...

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Ask, and ye shall receive!

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Ok, what begins with 'D', ends in 's' and has rum in the middle?

Thanks again for this tremendously useful program.

Don't forget though there are MIDI sysex problems on the EX that cause problems when transmitting drum voices to the EX from a computer as well as receiving.

The EX5 MIDI Issues section of the ex.factory manual gives you the details of what I found, but basically if you transmit a voice with more than 46 drum elements then the EX5 will report a MIDI buffer overflow error. To the best of my knowledge there is no way around this.

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what begins with 'D', ends in 's' and has rum in the middle?

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I'll go for anything with rum in the middle although my preference is for a Speyside single Malt

I want very much to add drums to EXplorEX, but as it is not a simple topic due to the sysex 'features' it will take a bit of head-scratching so I am afraid will have to wait a bit for some available time.

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