MDS Expander...

[buzzyreed]

So, has Allen abandon the MDS expander? If you gooogle it and are taken to the Allen web page, it says, "this page has been removed" or ssomething...

[soubasse32]

Re: MDS Expander...



One theory is that it will continue to expand to infinity; another theory is that it has expanded to the point that it will start to collapse back inon itself.</P>

[jbird604]

Re: MDS Expander...



Buzzy,</P>


That is an older product and has been replaced in the lineup with the MIDI Division II and an even newer box called "Vista." I suppose the advertising page on the Allen website is no longer there because the product is no longer for sale. But Allen still supports it and will repair one if you send it in to them.</P>


John</P>
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[buzzyreed]

Re: MDS Expander...



lol!</p>

</p>

[radagast]

Re: MDS Expander...

[quote user="jbird604"]


Buzzy,</P>


That is an older product and has been replaced in the lineup with the MIDI Division II and an even newer box called "Vista." I suppose the advertising page on the Allen website is no longer there because the product is no longer for sale. But Allen still supports it and will repair one if you send it in to them.</P>


John</P>
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[/quote]</P>
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John,</P>


Actually the MDS expander was replaced by the "II" model a long time ago. And the "II" was replaced by the Allen Ensemble a few years back. The Vista is an Ensemble with a Smart Recorder built in.</P>
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Bill</P>

[dstory]

Re: MDS Expander...

Bill - I believe you are close but not totally correct. The Vista is a ENHANCED capability version of the Ensemble, i.e. it is more user friendly which is a real plus whenever you are dealing with a MIDI device I have discovered the hard way. You can select more than one voice per keyboard for instance in the Ensemble and Vista units, and in the case of the Vista you can set volume levels differently for each keyboard even when selecting the same Stop so this greatly enhances the usability of the stops in the module. A buyer needs to check out the applicability of the Vista particularly before buying one for their particular Allen. Vista is probably going to be totally compatible with a R or Q series but you may run into problems getting all the MIDI functions to work properly on MDS or older series. Don S.

[radagast]

Re: MDS Expander...



[quote user="dstory"]Bill - I believe you are close but not totally correct. The Vista is a ENHANCED capability version of the Ensemble, i.e. it is more user friendly which is a real plus whenever you are dealing with a MIDI device I have discovered the hard way. You can select more than one voice per keyboard for instance in the Ensemble and Vista units, and in the case of the Vista you can set volume levels differently for each keyboard even when selecting the same Stop so this greatly enhances the usability of the stops in the module. A buyer needs to check out the applicability of the Vista particularly before buying one for their particular Allen. Vista is probably going to be totally compatible with a R or Q series but you may run into problems getting all the MIDI functions to work properly on MDS or older series. Don S.[/quote]</P>


True, mine was oversimplified. However in terms of the soundset, the Ensemble and Vista have the same sounds.</P>

[jbird604]

Re: MDS Expander...



Bill, Don, anyone else knowledgeable about this:</P>


I have an old Allen MDS Expander, not the II version, the original one. It was on an Allen in a church and they said it was broken. They bought a newer one and gave me this one. I know Allen will exchange it for about $400, or I may even may able to fix it, don't know, haven't tried.</P>


Would that old thing be worth fixing? My use for it would be to enhance the sound of my old Baldwin D422 or the analog Rodgers at church, if and when we ever get it midied.</P>


John</P>
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[Guest]

Re: MDS Expander...



The Expander is a nice addition and has some good sounds. Input is Midi and output 2channel audio. I wanted to look at one and get an idea if new sounds can be added. BTW the Vista costs $4000.00+ and adds record/playback capability and uses smart cards. When the Tech gets my R311 playing again I will route the Expander audio through a separate amp and speakers since it has midi swell control. Probably add an Alesis reverb. I'd like to look at yours just to get an idea. Maybe it's a simple power supply problem and can be fixed very inexpensively. </P>


Al Johnson</P>

[MarkS]

Re: MDS Expander...



John,</P>


There is a battery inside that needs to be replaced periodically.</P>

[jbird604]

Re: MDS Expander...



Thanks Mark and Al for the suggestions. I'll take a look. However, the problem this one was exhibiting in the church was that it would repeatedly pop and go off, then reboot. It was kind of an endless cycle that it couldn't get out of.</P>


To make matters worse, trying to disassemble it I broke the shaft off the volume control.</P>


John</P>

[Guest]

Hello,
Just installed a newly purchased MDS 212 D in my church. Organ works and sounds great but midi expander II is doing the same thing, repeatedly popping, going off, then rebooting every couple seconds. Is there a solution to this problem? I finally just unplugged the midi expander so I can still use the organ. I checked all connections to make sure they are secure but this didn't solve the problem. Hope someone can help.
Mark

[jbird604]

Mark, I'll post here what I sent to you via PM. Perhaps others will benefit from this discussion:

Very typical symptom, have seen it many times. (See my own posts above, from many years ago, first time I ran into this problem, and back when I didn't have any idea what was going on! Neither did the Allen dealer, who simply sold them a new unit. I eventually discovered that the old one worked just fine when driven by a proper power supply. Still have it, in fact.)

The expander is drawing its power from the organ cage supply, which would be an MDS-PS-2 supply. The cage power supply should be adequate to power both the generator board and the expander, but when the supply begins to weaken, its voltage may drop a few tenths of a volt and the Expander will no longer boot up, just goes into an endless cycle, creating pops in the audio system. If you open the cage you'll see the power supply, which consists of a large transformer and a circuit board with all the diodes and caps and such, and some transistors mounted on a large heat sink.

You might be able to make the expander work by doing some serious maintenance on the PS-2 circuit board, as follows: Gently wiggle the power connectors that attach to the PS-2, making sure all of them are snugly connected. If you see anything socketed on the board, press down gently to make sure it is well seated. Use a meter to test the 5 volt output (connect red lead of your meter to the 5 volt terminal on the side or top of the cage, black lead to ground terminal). Using a mini screwdriver, turn the 5 volt adjusting pot back and forth just a quarter turn or so, then set it to the point where you get 5.15 volts output.

If you can solder, you might even try removing the circuit board from the cage and re-flowing all the large solder joints on the bottom, in case some of them have cracked over time due to heat and/or stress on the large pins.

Check and tighten up all the connections between the cage and the Expander, particularly the power cables. I think it's good practice to unscrew the terminal strips, wipe the metal surfaces under the screws with a paper towel wet with WD-40 or some other solvent/lubricant, and re-connect. Anything that plugs in, such as the 9-pin cable that takes power to the Expander, should be pulled off and then re-plugged to assure a firm connection.

If you have the ARTE module on this organ, it may also be drawing power from the cage, so if you don't use it you can try removing the power from it so that it won't be pulling down the voltage. That might be enough to let the Expander start working again.

The real cure, which Allen prescribes, and which we do for every organ when we run across in this situation, is to replace the PS-2 power supply with a newer type that provides plenty of current. Allen is now shipping a very compact switching power supply to techs for that purpose. The way they ship it, it comes as a kit that has all the necessary adapters as well as detailed instructions. But they charge a few hundred dollars for that kit. If you have good skills with electrical and electronic equipment, you can use an inexpensive switching power supply to do the same thing, but you do have to make up your own wiring harness using the existing cables in the cage.

I have done it successfully with a switching power supply that costs less than $25, available from several suppliers. But first try the maintenance and removing ARTE if possible. If that doesn't do it, you may have no choice but to replace the supply.

Good luck!