Roland D-50 sounds reset | load patches via sysex tutorial

Let's demo how to do a Roland D50 synthesizer sounds reset back to factory settings, and a tutorial on how to load Roland d-50 presets and sound banks downloaded from the internet. We'll use Bome SendSX for transferring the sysex to the synth.
SendSx: www.bome.com/products/sendsx
Soundbanks: bobbyblues.recup.ch/roland_d-5...
Music: / mrwoofer

[@meggeskeyboard]

one millions thanks. Works so fine. Now i am einjoying my D50 after 35 years 🙂

[@benmoreau6899]

THANK YOU WOODY! You just saved me potentially hundreds of dollars to get my D-50 repaired by a tech, now I can jam out in peace!

[@WoodyPianoShack]

great, thanks for keeping an old classic alive!

[@ahipelon2527]

@woody is there any of these downloads for Mac computers ?

[@pokusolutions5240]

Thanks man it worked. My d50 was dead . Have it for almost 22 years and didn't use it longer than a decade. Needed to replace the battery. After that still no sound out of the internal memory. Did a search on the internet where i read that i had to reload the sounds through sysex. Did a search and landed on your youtube channel. Thanks to your video the d50 is back again. No midi error. Had to shut it down twice though.

[@electrowizard141]

Thank you so much. I had repaired a friends D50. The battery was at 0.7 volts, so I replaced it only to find all the patches were gone. YIKES!!. I did have problems with a Midisport usb to Midi interface. Turns out when I first connected this it must have installed a default windows driver for it which gave me a "Midi Communication Error" when I tried to send to D50. I got the box for it out and there was a driver install disk which I did and viola! no communication error, patches are downloaded, friend is happy and off to a gig. I appreciate you taking the time to make and post this, it was a life saver.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

glad to hear that i could help you out, thanks for the comment

[@michaelconverse7042]

Thank you so much. I lost my presets when I switched out the battery. I'm glad there was a 2023 fix to a 1987 problem!

[@scott6150]

My D50 just lost factory patches when I changed the battery. I'm not very computer savvy. What unit do I need to connect USB to midi? Thanks for your help!

[@gaelianlahaye5759]

This is awesome! Thank you so much for uploading those soundbanks. Good stuff!

[@fazband]

Entire internal soundbank all loaded successfully! Thanks Woody! :)

[@nahojazz]

Yay ! It worked without any error ! Thanks Woody !

[@Handcraftedrock]

If you are getting MIDI COMMUNICATION ERROR what you need to do is hold DATA TRANSFER press B.Load(while still holding "data transfer") press Enter(while still holding "data transfer") click SEND(F4) in Bome SendSX. Keep holding both buttons until it will say "completed". Kiss your fingers for doing a hard job holding 2 buttons. :) Restart your D50. DONE!! I went through 2 midi interfaces without any luck until I've read on a forum about this trick.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

cool hack, thanks for this

[@schepler2]

Same here. I had to hold the Data Transfer button during the entire time of the transfer. I used MIDI-OX.

[@brennanhales3786]

@@schepler2 For me the Data Transfer button doesn't do anything. Even after making the right changes in Tune/Function and Midi. I know it's not the Midi cable because it works fine with my other synths. Could it be a hardware issue?

[@RoyMaya]

I'm glad I came across this comment! I was wondering why it wouldn't start the transfer. Thanks again.

[@Mykovich]

Thank you! Very much! You really helped me to get it. Clearly, lucidly and to the point!

[@WoodyPianoShack]

glad that it was of help, makes it all worthwhile. thx for the comm.

[@machiwoomiapoo]

Excellent video! Thanks for the upload. I appreciate it. Take care, Sam.

[@TranceJedi]

cool video woody ! soundtrack is brilliant ! well done woody ! 😎👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅

[@JohnKGoodman]

Thanks a ton! this helped me finally get it working

[@charlieaydin1377]

THANK YOU!! so much. This would have so difficult without your gracious help :)

[@WoodyPianoShack]

glad to hear it!

[@WahidulMamun]

Hello brother, Can you pls explain how it worked with your D50 ? if it details can you mail me ?

[@stoufenatz3728]

Great great great !!! Thanks a lot, you're the best !

[@emilyeah]

1:50 helped me load the spunds back from the memory card ❤ YAY!

[@zenwhatever]

I owe you a beer. Great clear video thanks mate.

[@DigitalGamerBE]

Thank you! That's what I need! I'm a noob with my D50 x)

[@garagesixty8]

Awesome. Thank you!

[@Rawdio1]

it worked! :) yay

[@michaelmewis4761]

Top Man! Thank you so much!

[@raumskaya]

Thank you for help! Do u know where I can find other presets like Valhalla?

[@deauvillevrienden]

These are commercial banks ;-)

[@GalstyanHayk]

Can I send my patches from my D-50 Hardware synth to Roland's D-50 VST version with this method?

[@saidinstru]

what brand of midi cable you used?

[@brennanhales3786]

hey woody! for some reason when i hook it up my computer, it goes fine, but when i hit “data transfer” nothing happens... could it be a bad battery, or connection issue? also would you recommend going into the midi in and out on my audio interface??

[@coolelectronics1759]

hey I am legally blind could you please do a talking version of this and the yamaha dx7 factory reload videos. Wish these were as accessible as the dexed revue video. I just fixed a dx7 I had modded with a batery holder thanks to your videos and I plan on hopefully getting ahold of a roland d50 soon too to fix and I can't find any good talking repair videos regarding the batery and the reset.

[@waldemarii]

Thank you!

[@WahidulMamun]

Hi Woody, really sorry to say that I have failed. Pls help me. After connect the d50 with Bome sendsx it is showing that my d50 is not connected with that software.....pls help me how to connect it. I have connected the the midi cable at OUT from d50 and IN, in my sound card

[@Zezaldanian]

Abelton doesn't pick up the roland d50 midi. Will it pick it up if i use this?

[@pontusliljeblad]

Hey Woody! Nice tutorial! It totally worked! I wonder however: My d50 is a lot louder in the mid octaves. The two highest and the lowest are way more silent. Is there a way to fix this??

[@WoodyPianoShack]

i don't recognise that problem, just a guess, maybe the velocity sensitivity is broken in those octaves? try playing hard and soft to see if this is the case.

[@paypower66]

thank you very much :-)

[@squirrelsyrup1921]

Once you hold down red DATA TRANSFER key, don't release it again until the end of these steps; not until "Complete" shows. When using the shown MIDI cable setup, that is required... otherwise you get an MIDI Error message on the keyboard.

[@Pan6888]

Hi woody no luck getting the original sounds back after battery change, do i need to alter the speed settings on SENDSX ?

[@WoodyPianoShack]

worth at try, i think i got error messages on the d50, even when it actually success

[@Pan6888]

Managed to get the sounds there but i have a huge amount of distortion/noise on the synth. The titles of the patches are there so i guess my d 50 has a hardware issue.

[@synthwizplayforya7928]

Does this also work for the D5 ?

[@Amadeus1999]

Hi there! What kind of USB to MIDI interface do I need? I'm a totaly beginner im this and I have the same problem as many others😅

[@WoodyPianoShack]

one with a well known established brand and good drivers!

[@PurpleMusicPrincePianoCovers]

I see you put a midi cable in the back, but how does it connect to the computer? Is it a midi to usb cable?

[@raymonddocherty637]

Did you ever get an answer to this?

[@heyhey708]

Hi Woody! What is that cool soundtrack under your video??

[@IkoCakovec]

When I click on SEND[F4], my D-50 is still waiting. What am I doing wrong.....? I am using cheap MIDI-USB cable, is that a problem...?

[@MP-rd4fn]

Thank you so much! You saved my life!

[@randyjackson1960]

I have a roland d50 no sound just static what could it bE

[@Madison-ut6bz]

i went to music go round one time the first week i went, I saw a Roland D50. the 2nd week, they added a Yamaha DX7-II next to it. the 3rd week, They Were Both Gone Oh Jesus

[@acidorange564]

Hi there ! I’m in the bad situation .. my d50 stay in waiting mod and nothing happens.. can you help me please ? I’m on sysex librarian with usb midi m audio cable . Thank you very much !

[@rileykrischmusic]

i also have the same problem im using mac and sysex librarian also

[@ThomasJWest]

I definitely have all of this set up correctly, but the synth still says "Waiting" when I start the transfer. Any ideas?

[@Joevac100]

Thomas J. West , ditto, any responses yet? I have the same problem...

[@OscarBerglund]

same here... (Note: my D-50 isn't expanded. maybe that's why?)

[@deauvillevrienden]

Mine is not expanded either, make sure the midi connection and channel is correct.

[@ebeep]

Same problem here until I connected both "In" and "Out" midi ports to my interface and then it worked immediately. I'm guessing there's some back and forth that needs to occur during the bank load at least for this synth. My DX7 only requires the one-way connection from the computer to the synth in order to load banks, so this threw me for a minute.

[@tomdwij]

Yes when it says waiting press enter on the d50 /550

[@user-un1rd3st6n]

Good day! I We have a trouble - we cant to load factory sounds on our roland d-50. We used MIDI OX and BOME SENDSX, but without results. We have windows 7, or maybe it works with windows xp? Please, helps us.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

midi interface?

[@user-un1rd3st6n]

Yes

[@ageshero]

I cant get bulk load 0 to appear

[@felipeazcarate]

Hello is there any program to use on macbook? thanks

[@unknownid998]

SysEx Librarian

[@christophernixon8445]

How would you have done this back in 87?

[@WoodyPianoShack]

replace PC with atari, good to go! although not sure where you would find the sysex files unless you made your own backup.

[@farzadasadollahi1685]

hi my d-50 does not transfer any data it dose not show me [bulk load.0] it shows me [bulk load0] please help me

[@DamnHeadHumpers]

You need a pci\pcie card with a direct midi 5pin din connection on it. The universal serial bus controller breaks the information into chunks, so the sysex dump wont be properly interpreted by the receiving device.

[@DamnHeadHumpers]

I guess I should also add that I eventually got this to work with my 18i8 interface, but I have had issues with sysex not working through my usb to din midi converter (scarlett 18i8) on the past with older synthesizers.

[@ArtisticAutisticandAiling]

Is it possible to extract these soundbanks to a floppy disk? So I can sample it in a Roland S-50 I'm saving up for. ? :)

[@WoodyPianoShack]

i don't think so, you'll need both keyboards so you can sample yourself.

[@ArtisticAutisticandAiling]

@@WoodyPianoShack Thank You! :D

[@atozee1500]

I got one today. The thing is under the dust. Yours is really clean. Q: How do you clean your synths?

[@WoodyPianoShack]

window cleaner or kitchen cleaner, but be very careful, you always risk damaging the surface, try on small area, hot water is safest, use anything else at your own risk!

[@atozee1500]

Quick reply, Thank you i'll try adding 2 or 3 drops on a damp cloth.

[@pure-souls]

I am facing "Data Transfer Error" with my Roland D50 when i try to load patches from computer by a midi cable. It is maybe version 2 Roland D50. So what can I do?Anybody help me.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

try different usb midi interfaces if you can, only branded products with good drivers.

[@denysquinteromusica]

Muchas gracias! LIKE! Saludos y Bendiciones!

[@ramonjimenez9673]

WHAT DID YOU USE TO PLUG THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIDI

[@WoodyPianoShack]

midi interface on my audio interface

[@raymonddocherty637]

Woody: Do you mean that you have a USB connection from your PC to the interface and then a midi out of the interface to the D50?

[@fnonaka]

@@raymonddocherty637 exactly! It has a long time I don't use midi stuff anymore... I was trying to remember the other side of the midi cable lol noob I'm! So, use an audio interface between the D50 and your PC. I think that if you don't have an audio interface to do that, there's a cable with midi connection in one side, and in the other side a usb... if I'm not wrong! For midi data it's enough. I used that kind of cable in the past. I just bought the D50 today! lol 2020! Long life to D50! And it has the hcard 750! lol Did you know about this? All cards inside this multibank cartridge! It's just fantastic! You can store 4.096 patchs, in 64 banks! www.hypersynth.com/Hcard_750.html

[@ass1117]

First, thanks for this nice video. I just got a D50, now I'm trying to install the sounds. But finally I couldn't really get the sounds onto my D50. I followed the instructions but D50 wasn't "Loading..."the sounds, as shown in the video. Can someone help me out? (Im working on a Mac with Crossover)

[@WoodyPianoShack]

usually i believe issues are caused by an inferior MIDI interface on the PC.

[@thescholarscorner3825]

Went through the steps on a Mac to Roland, and sysex says it is loading but Roland just says waiting. I have tested the MIDI connection and it is working. Computer can see the D50. But also can't download the files either.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

can't help you with downloading files, but maybe better quality midi interface for data

[@JY-Lee]

SoundBank Except 00, everything else is invalid and cannot be downloaded.😢

[@jaggass]

Its causing my BomeSendSX to not respond for me.

[@WahidulMamun]

mine too

[@Phantommxr]

When I do this mine is just staying on waiting... My midi cable light flashes when I hit send in SendSX but nothing ever actually goes to the D50.. Any ideas why?

[@paulborchers5375]

There is a little trick here: Push and HOLD the Data Transfer button and select B. Load then press Enter(keypad). IT took me a couple of days to find this out.

[@Phantommxr]

@@paulborchers5375 that looks like it worked as far as loading. I replaced the battery but still getting high pitched squeals and sound output works on some channels(presets) and no sound on others. Any idea why ????

[@Phantommxr]

@@paulborchers5375 thanks!!

[@bingobaz6402]

Will need to try this on my d550. I just got that and I still have my card with he fantasia sound but the internal memory is the same sound set as my card. A bit disappointed I can't just reset it to factory get the internal. Although I wonder if the d550 came with this card as the Internal memory. I hope this works as I had my USB to midi din for a number of years, last time I tried to dump sounds it did t recognize my instrument. I suspect maybe my USB to midi din I can't get the drivers for anymore and probably need to buy a new cable. Suppose I just need to try it out and I will know haha. But thanks for the tuturial. I will try it out later on. Only other thing is the d550 rack don't know how to drop an octave on this thing.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

great box, hope you get it figured out, best of luck to you,

[@bingobaz6402]

@@WoodyPianoShack thanks sorry for late response but I was able to drop an octave using a juno di as controller couldn't get it to work with the yamaha sy22 dropping an octave... No idea why.. Odd.

[@bingobaz6402]

@@WoodyPianoShack P. S can't dump the sounds but I remebr when I did it before I used something called d50 librarian and with that I could pick my favourite sounds accoss all cards and put them into internal memory..which was great but can't seem to get it now. Can't get this Bome thing to send anything..wrll it stops at line 1/136 and never goes any further.

[@jaggass]

Ive sorted out my BomeSendSX but still getting midi communication error on my D-50 so i give up and i will let someone else do it.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

i sometimes get error on the screen too after the load, as shown in the video, but switching the d50 on and off aftewards solves it, all the patches were loaded

[@jaggass]

Woody Piano Shack My D50 doesnt get past the loading point it just stays on waiting.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

then i'm guessing it isn't receiving any midi data, check your midi cable going from synth midi-in to your pc midi-out, check the settings in SendSX so that it is sending on the right pc midi-out

[@jaggass]

Woody Piano Shack Ive read that some midi drivers don't work. I had the same problem when trying to send sysex data to my DX7. I altered the settings on SendSX to send the data really slow so i don't know. Ill sort it.

[@lukeskywonka]

Are you using a cheapo USB-MIDI interface by any chance?

[@instantknut]

You can use the online patch librarian Laser Mammoth on f0f7.net. It works in the Chrome browser and supports D-50. You also don't have to do the DATA Transfer Button Hold trick" with LaserMammoth when you connect the D-50 with two MIDI cables.

[@tomdwij]

what is the data transfer hold trick ?..im having issues the old fashion way..can't work out what im missing

[@instantknut]

@@tomdwij It's not enough to just shortly click the DATA TRANSFER button, you have to hold it down the entire time until you press enter to confirm a transmission. If you don't do this you entering handshake mode (which needs 2 MIDI cables). It's not a trick, it is in the D-50 manual.

[@tomdwij]

@@instantknut So to be clear to uploaded patches from laptop using bome send sx you have to hold the data transfer button as the data files are uploaded ??? Thanks for the advice..

[@instantknut]

@@tomdwij You don't have to hold the data button the entire time while the data is transferred. You just have to do it before you click OVERWRITE BANK on your Laptop.

[@tomdwij]

@@instantknut Thanks !

[@DavidWinterDafty]

The D50 Librarian software is an absolute must for any D50 owner. The library feature is great, no loading files or trawling through folders to find a patch. Just put all the patches you can find on the web into a folder then tell the library to scan that folder and it will skip patches that have duplicate names and can skip those with duplicate patch vales too. Once the library is built you can search for patches by name and quickly send to the D50 on the fly. Add comments and ratings against them too to find favorites later on. www.d50librarian.co.uk/#/library/4543473940

[@eyyojung]

I use Win10 and tried both "D50 LIbirarian" and "Bome SendSX". Unfortunately I have a very strange problem with the data/MIDI transfer on my D-50... I try to search anything about it and found a Facebook post from 2016 with the exactly the same issue (except I use a D-50, not D550): "Guys, having insane problems with sending and loading bulk dumps. This is for my D550, not the D50. I'm using the D50 Librarian, and have also tried using MidiOx and MidiQuest, all to no avail. I am using a brand new midi to USB interface that's working great and was bought for this exact thing because I thought the problem was routing it through a patchbay, but apparently, it's not the problem. I have the factory patches in both the memory and the memory card. I'm trying to send a different bank into the main memory. I'm also trying to save the factory sounds via bulk dump. This is what happens: I have write protect disabled. Midi channel 1, 2nd channel 2, Sysex on. I am selecting data transfer. While holding that button down, I am selecting bulk dump, and enter. The librarian is ready and waiting, and begins collecting the data. About 9/10ths through I get a message "invalid sysex data" from the librarian, and the d550 says complete. And loading to the 550 has been just as bad. I repeat basically the same steps, except choose "bulk load", and i select a .syx bank in the librarian. It begins to send, but the 550 instantly reports "midi communication error". I've shortened and lengthened the buffer delay times, still no progress. Can anyone help me out here? This is getting really frustrating. I really hate using the factory sounds and cryptic editor on the 550. I'm sure you're all aware of how much more useful the d50s are with librarian and editor software." Can anyone help of might have an idea about this^? Thank you very much

[@WoodyPianoShack]

what midi interface are you using exactly?

[@eyyojung]

Im using a simple USB to MIDI cable called "MIDIPORT 1X1" by Fame Audio. You can see it here: images.musicstore.de/images/1600/fame-audio-midiport-1x1_1_PCM0014567-000.jpg Item from the shop: www.musicstore.de/de_DE/EUR/Fame-audio-MIDIPORT-1x1/art-PCM0014567-000 I've read that some interfaces don't seem to work with the D-50. Like the M-Audio "MIDISport Uno" interface, which looks pretty similar to the "MIDIPORT 1x1" I'm using. I will test others to be sure... I have a DeepMind12 which I can connect via USB to my laptop. Is it possible to send syx files to the D-50 thru the DM12? Laptop >(usb)> DM12 >(midi)> D-50

[@eyyojung]

Update: It was the cheep usb midi Interfaces. I tried it with my DeepMind12 and it works. I finally could backup the patches from the preowner and sent new syx files to the D-50. Thank you very much

[@jamesedinger4956]

update your firmware...look on ebay...makes all the difference

[@user-bm6gw5jd5u]

надо сделать!!!

[@andresbarcaza]

"D50 librarian" es mucho mas facil para transferir archivos sysex creo yo.

[@sergiolezama3342]

hola amigo andres,,antes que nada saludos..y te queria hacer una pregunta?? aversi me podrias ayudar...yo compre un roland d50...pero me lo mandaron sin ningun sonido absolutamente mudo...la verdad me decepcione bastante con la perzona que lo compre..pero ya ni modo

[@sergiolezama3342]

le compre una tarjeta y aun si no funciona..quise meter los sonodos de la tarjenta alos internos pero tampoco....x ai me dijeron que alo mejor lo tenia que programar..pero yo no se como hacer eso,,y queria ver si tu tenes algun conociemieto sobre eso ,,y me puedas ayudar ..espero tu respuesta y muchas gracias

[@andresbarcaza]

sergio lezama si tienes facebook agregame "Andres Barcaza" para conversar y ayudarte un poco

[@unknownid998]

DOES NOT WORK FOR WINDOWS 10 USERS unfortunately.

[@markallnuttmusic]

I just got it to work on windows 10. It resulted in me having to plugin both the In and Out midi cables, to both my interface and the D50, reset the computer, and try again.

[@Doc_Random]

Get an MIDI Communication error

[@electrowizard141]

Thank you so much. I had repaired a friends D50. The battery was at 0.7 volts, so I replaced it only to find all the patches were gone. YIKES!!. I did have problems with a Midisport usb to Midi interface. Turns out when I first connected this it must have installed a default windows driver for it which gave me a "Midi Communication Error" when I tried to send to D50. I got the box for it out and there was a driver install disk which I did and viola! no communication error, patches are downloaded, friend is happy and off to a gig. I appreciate you taking the time to make and post this, it was a life saver.

[@ottokrans3896]

I have got the same problem. But I shouldn't need any drivers for the cable I'm using (that's what it says on the box). Do you have a clue what I could do? Are there some default drivers you can install for example?

[@jefflewis9771]

I see you put a midi cable in the back, but how does it connect to the computer? Is it a midi to usb cable?

[@WoodyPianoShack]

no, you will need a proper branded USB to MIDI interface box.