Naughty Yamaha - secret acoustic piano on Reface CP!

[Dr Huge Longjohns]

I suspect that it is cheaper to design a single fully featured platform and then simply disable features for the cheaper models

I was chatting to a car dealer recently and he said they are starting to do this with cars too. Build all the extra functionality in and switch it off for the cheaper models.

[The Elf]

I suspect that it is cheaper to design a single fully featured platform and then simply disable features for the cheaper models

I was chatting to a car dealer recently and he said they are starting to do this with cars too. Build all the extra functionality in and switch it off for the cheaper models.

I'm drawn back to the Yamaha DJX I mentioned recently. The MIDI control features were reputedly supposed to be disabled in favour of more expensive models that used the same underlying architecture, but someone forgot! The manual states that MIDI output from the controls doesn't work, but it does - Mk1 only.

I can see the economic sense of this approach, though I do feel a finger-wag coming on.

[ef37a]

I suspect that it is cheaper to design a single fully featured platform and then simply disable features for the cheaper models

I was chatting to a car dealer recently and he said they are starting to do this with cars too. Build all the extra functionality in and switch it off for the cheaper models.

This was standard practice with VHS VCRs. Most of them had all the bells and whistles and were maybe missing a set of RCA sockets? You just needed the service manual codes and maybe an RC overlay and Bob's yer whatsit.

Dave.

[Arpangel]

Yes, I found it, it’s a piano.....

Reminds me of what he says at 2.35...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNNFLHV6j1I

I also agree about what he says about synthesisers being works of art in themselves, which is why I get so angry when people like Behringer cut the prettiest bits off an ARP 2600.
Like getting a Stanley knife out and cropping a Monet to make it fit on your living room wall.

[DGL.]

I suspect that it is cheaper to design a single fully featured platform and then simply disable features for the cheaper models

I was chatting to a car dealer recently and he said they are starting to do this with cars too. Build all the extra functionality in and switch it off for the cheaper models.

Test equipment manufacturers do the same, that's what made one of the Rigol scope models popular, hacking it was trivial so you could buy the cheapest model and hack it.
One thing Dave Jones (EEVBlog) does when he gets certain test equipment in for review is to see how they have implemented the upgradability and see how it can be hacked if it's all in software.

[The Red Bladder]

I used to work for a Yamaha service centre in the 70s and ALL digital synths and similar boxes have 'hidden' functions.

They are of course not really hidden but are nearly always fully documented in the service docs - that only certified service centres have access to. The usual way to get to them is by holding down a specific key or button or switch - usually the function select or main selector switch - and the powering up. This gives access to the service mode. This allows permanent changes and resetting of EPROMs and other things to be done by the repair people.

BE WARNED - when you are in service mode, you can do real damage if you don't know what you are doing!

But rooting around in service mode on a cheap box like this one could prove to be fun. There might be other sounds in there.

[N i g e l]

Hi Nigel,

I am a new Reface CP owner - and, although I have zero soldering experience, I am fairly good with fiddly things.

From watching the video you posted, can I ask, if I were just to snip the pin that connects to the Toy piano, would that then simply allow me to select 'Toy' when I power up and give me the acoustic piano instead?
Guido

the essence of the mod is to enable powering up with the TYPE switch not connecting to anything, either by balancing it halfway between selections or [my preference] adding an extra unconnected switch position or by isolating one of the existing positions [and swapping access that tone for the piano] .

So, in short yes, if you cut a leg off the switch you can loose the toy piano and gain the accoustic piano when powering up.

I cannot remember which leg is associated with the Toy Piano, you may have to use a multimeter to check that out and/or have a look at the datasheet for the switch, which will describe the pinout.

double check youve got the right leg before cutting.
Measure twice, cut once !

[guidos656]

double check youve got the right leg before cutting.
Measure twice, cut once !

Thanks Nigel! According to the video, it's the leg I pointed to in the image in my post.

However, like you say, measure twice, cut once. I will double check with a meter and also the datasheet.

Thanks for your reply

Guido

[The Elf]

The 'free' piano is not great, but it would be churlish to dismiss it. For most dance music it would work fine and for something you can put in a rucksack it's nice to have.

[guidos656]

The 'free' piano is not great, but it would be churlish to dismiss it. For most dance music it would work fine and for something you can put in a rucksack it's nice to have.

And, for me at least, would certainly get more use than the toy piano!

[Arpangel]

The 'free' piano is not great, but it would be churlish to dismiss it. For most dance music it would work fine and for something you can put in a rucksack it's nice to have.

And, for me at least, would certainly get more use than the toy piano!

The toy piano on the CP was one of my favourites, if you connect it to a full range keyboard and play the lower octaves, there are glorious clangorous sounds, add some overdrive and effects and it sounds fantastic, for me, much more interesting than just another piano sound.

[guidos656]

The 'free' piano is not great, but it would be churlish to dismiss it. For most dance music it would work fine and for something you can put in a rucksack it's nice to have.

And, for me at least, would certainly get more use than the toy piano!

The toy piano on the CP was one of my favourites, if you connect it to a full range keyboard and play the lower octaves, there are glorious clangorous sounds, add some overdrive and effects and it sounds fantastic, for me, much more interesting than just another piano sound.

Ah really? I've never had much use for those kind of sounds before. I bet if I do remove it, that will be the day I really need a toy piano/bell like sound! Haha.

[The Elf]

Ah really? I've never had much use for those kind of sounds before. I bet if I do remove it, that will be the day I really need a toy piano/bell like sound! Haha.

Never used it either. It's a waste of sample memory, if you ask me. An RMI piano would have been far more useful.

The glaringly repetitive artefacts ruin the toy piano, even if a toy piano was actually called for!

[ConcertinaChap]

Like getting a Stanley knife out and cropping a Monet to make it fit on your living room wall.

Be fair, it's actually like cropping a copy of a Monet (made using a mobile phone camera at that).

CC

[Arpangel]

Anyone that buys a Reface CP isn’t going to be buying it for an acoustic piano, it’s a Rhodes.
Shame about the Refaces in general, great sounds, all of them, but I’m sure they’d have been better if in a sort of Volca format, or small half-rack, the keyboard is totally useless, and I can’t think when I would have used it, and it makes it awkward to find a space for.