Roland S-550 Sampler scsi2sd Install and Multi-Drive Setup

How to install an internal scsi2sd interface and configure a scsi card with 4 80MB hard drives full of Roland library sounds.
0:00 Into
1:17 Hardware Install
6:25 Scsi2sd setup
11:16 Partitioning SD card
17:03 Formating Drives
20:07 Loading Libraries
25:05 Testing in S-550

[@Kkidzz]

I had a 760 back in the early 00's..... SCSI to a 8GB HD......greatest filters!. ;)

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

I hear the 7xx filters are really decent.

[@Kkidzz]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreams Much nicer than my E4XT Ultra I used to have. ;)

[@volt7cooltangs701]

I had an S-550 in 88 or 89. It sounded GREAT.

[@SlaserX]

I was already following you when I recently inherited a S-550, and I love these videos. I've modded mine with HDMI out and a SD floppy solution. I was going to add a SCSI2SD to it, but I wasn't finding many images for drives. I did find a SCSI2SD that just plugs into the back of the system, without any sokdering

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Nice - I guess the main thing is that you an get the sounds and patches onto the device easily, so Gotek or SCSI2SD are both good options.

[@SlaserX]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreams the only problem is time, there's too many patches! Still not as bad as a Virus TI 2 (3600ish patches?) but still too many hah

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

@@SlaserX That can be a problem for sure.

[@NachtSchreck13]

I love the S-550. One of the best sounding samplers ever made, and probably the best 12-bit sampler ever (well, next to the Emax). Blows the S950 away.

[@jdkoftinoff]

Thank you for this most awesome detailed video!!! I'm really liking this concept of being able to use these classic devices with the new storage options! I think one of the reasons why I originally got rid of my S-550 was because the floppies and HD system were unsustainable...

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks Jeff - yes it's been fun to upgrade some of this old gear with more modern storage solutions. Having the entire Roland Sound Library at a touch of a button makes the S-550 really useful in the studio - some of the sounds really work still. I know the S-550 OS isn't great but one get to know it a bit it's pretty powerful. It's basically a small workstation. Ok keep well!

[@chriswareham]

A great look at how to use a SCSI2SD on a Roland S series sampler! I've got one that I use with my Roland W-30, although it's in an external case since there's no room to mount it internally. I've also replaced the floppy drive with a Gotek running the FlashFloppy firmware, the screen with a modern one and all the front panel buttons with new ones. So far the encoders and sliders are still working fine, but I've got replacements for them just in case.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Nice - that's a great setup. ithought about getting a Gotek - I'd probably make things a bit handier for sound updates - I might do that,

[@Samplers]

Great vid. Thanks for taking the time to put this together. I went down a similar path in 2022. Was super surprised to find that you still need the floppy for booting even after copying the system to the HD. I need to get a floppy emu for it as well.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Recently I just put a Zulu Scsi into my S-770 and acutally it is way way easier - I'd suggest that path now if you are doing this.

[@falangistavaleroso9689]

I got a 770 and a 330!

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Nice - both are amazing - Id love to get a 770

[@falangistavaleroso9689]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreams I got one at 120v in case you are interested ( i got 2, a turbo and this at 120v)

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

@@falangistavaleroso9689 Where are you located?

[@falangistavaleroso9689]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreams spain, you usa?

[@PeterMilanovski]

Excellent tutorial! Now all I need is to find the HD5 board and I will be happy as a pig in shit.... Thanks for putting in the time and effort, it's one thing to read how to do it and it's another thing to see it being done.... A possible follow up to this is showing how to make a single sample and rename it and save it, then possibly a longer sample where you can slice it to get multiple samples out of it.... I have seen Paolo from synthmania play multiple samples at the same time on the keyboard but I don't know how to set it up to work like that..... The S550 is an amazing machine and is very capable which makes it still relevant today.... Sure I can simply use the two samplers in Ableton Live but there's something about using hardware that just gets me, maybe it's that the hardware puts buttons and knobs where my hands can form muscle memory and make my workflow more automatic? Who knows.... But thanks once again! Looking forward to watching more videos from your excellent channel 🙂

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks Peter - yes great idea on the Multi-Sampling. The S-50 / S-550 is actually very powerful that way - I'll see if I can make a video on that in the next few days.

[@andreievkalupniek5717]

Thanks, I just got one from a used music store in my area. This is extremely helpful and encouraged me to get it. I can’t find the HD5-IF replacement board anywhere 😢

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

I'm looking for them as well. I'll keep posted if the seller of the HD5-IF start selling them again.

[@Chevroletcelebrity]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreamsI read in a forum that you might be making some to sell 🤔

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

@@Chevroletcelebrity yes this is true! I just got the boards back yesterday and I'm doing some testing. I might do a slight change on it to support Zulu scsi better as well. If things go well this weekend I'll build out my 3 prototypes and then I'll sell them for cost. I'll then make a few changes for Rev 2. Rev 1 was made to support Scsi2sd, but I think Zulu scsi is better so I'll change the connector.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

I'll post a video this weekend showing the boards and plan for it.

[@Chevroletcelebrity]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreams thanks. keep me in mind, I really need one. I have a external scsi enclosure with a cd-drive that “might” work so I can use one with the connector.

[@BCThunderthud]

I'm curious whether the SCSI OS lets you load individual patches with their tones or if you still have to load whole blocks or sets like you do with floppies?

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

You can load individual patches, tones or you can load a 'chain' which is a set of 2 patches and tones as well.

[@BCThunderthud]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreams Specifically I mean that when you're loading from a floppy the tones associated with a patch won't come in unless you load the whole disk (set or block). I don't think it's much of a problem for people who would want to use these machines nowadays but at the time, given their amazing multitimbrality, it makes setting up a performance a lot more work than you might hope. I was wondering if using SCSI you could grab several multisampled instruments from different collections more easily.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

@@BCThunderthud Yes - you can just load sound data (Set) Only if you wish. Here a link to the CD/HD manual addition. midimanuals.com/manuals/roland/cd-5/owners_manual/cd-5_om.pdf

[@hexahexametermeter]

I have all the components, but the util just says "searching for SCSI2SD device" the SD card is even mounting on my hard drive, but seems SCSI2SD-util doesn't see it. What am I doing wrong?

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

oh yeah - you have to config the SCSI2SD board properly

[@PetraKann]

What sampling rates are available on the S-550 ?

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Hi Peter - Just 15K and 30K but they sound pretty good.

[@saren6538]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreamsthat’s interesting .. I have a cheetah sx16 and it goes to 6khz .. sounds glorious at that sample rate

[@Citracid]

Can you share all cards from ebay you use in it please ?

[@docperret]

hi johnny excellent job what is exactly the reference of your scsi card wich you plugged in your s550 ? (it's very hard to find) thx

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Sorry - just saw this post - yes - I show the details on my other S-550 tech video - I hear it's out of stock now though unfortunately. I'm on the hunt for new source for you!

[@jessihawkins9116]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreamsI need this board too. Where did you get it?

[@grandtetone]

Does anyone know where to obtain this aftermarket HD5 interface board? I found sellers with the SCSI2SD board on eBay but couldn't find any of the HD5 IF board clones.

[@grandtetone]

I just saw that llamamusic doesn't recommend the SCSI2SD board any longer but now points to the ZuluSCSI RP2040 however also requires a HD5 IF. The sellers linked via llama's site appear to not carry the HD5 IF boards any longer.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Sorry - yes the makers of the aftermarket HD5 board seem to be no longer selling it. I'm keeping a look out for them and I'll post if they become available again. And as for SCSI2SD vs. Zulu. I can confirm that Zulu is way way way easier to setup and use - I've installed Zulu on a Roland S770 and Akai S3000xl recently with excellent results. Zulu is the way to go now.

[@grandtetone]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreams Cheers for the reply, it's appreciated sir.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Hey all - I'm looking into the possibility of cloning the HD5-IF scsi board. Stay tuned in the next few months for more details.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

@@grandtetone I've completed the design for the HD5-IF clone. the Circuit board and parts have been ordered and once I've built a few and tested them I'll let you all know. I ordered on 3 test boards for now, so hoping it's perfect.