Yamaha A4000 Sampler Simple Compact Flash Drive Upgrade for under $15

Here is a stupid simple upgrade for less than $15 to add CF drive storage to the Yamaha A4000 or A5000 sampler.

[@arcologies]

Rack samplers are rising in price. Your videos are gonna help out so many people, thanks for the high quality work and sharing your knowledge!

[@jameshodson3450]

They certainly are, I bought an A4000 last year for 150 euros but interest in them and prices seem to be rising all the time.

[@WARDISWARD]

@@jameshodson3450 I bought mine in 2001 for 15000 euro , + 200 euro for a whopping 64 megabyte of ram :)

[@Abruzzo333]

Thanks, this is a very helpful video. If my current hard drive ever dies, this would be a great option. I've owned an A5000 since new, circa 2000. Will never part with it. Years ago I installed an ultra quiet laptop drive instead of the typical, much louder full size drives. I also installed the AIEB2 I/O expansion board and max RAM. A couple years ago I bought a SCSI to SD adapter for loading sample libraries and I'm loving it. It can also read Akai S, Roland S series and E-MU EIIIX sample libraries so I've been enjoying going through some newly acquired sample collections from those. The only problem is that the much documented encoder problem with this line has gotten pretty bad....but alas I have the replacement encoders and plan to make the swap very soon. In the meantime I've been using the 2001 software editor BZone as a work around to bypass using the front panel of the A5000 altogether and it works like a charm on a Windows 7 computer.

[@jameshodson3450]

The A4000/A5000 is VERY fussy about which CF cards it will use... you cannot just use any CF card, only older slower cards work and seemingly only certain cards. I use a Sandisk Extreme Ultra III but every other card I have tried does not work. There is a lot of info about this on various forums and the Yamaha A series samplers Facebook group so check around before you buy a card to see which ones are reputed to work. As far as I can tell it has something to do with the speed of the cards & only the slower, older cards seem to work and these are getting more and more difficult to get hold of. I wish I was wrong about this but it pays to look into which cards work with this machine before you buy them. Otherwise SCSI2SD works absolutely fine & with any SD card but is a considerably more expensive option than the Compact Flash IDE route. As far as I know the IDE to SD card system does not work (at least it didn't for me and I haven't seen any evidence of it working for anyone on the yamaha samplers FB page or any forums)... SCSI2SD works fine or IDE to Compact Flash but again the machine is very fussy about the cards it will use

[@maccagrabme]

Can you use a CF to SD adaptor?

[@jameshodson3450]

@@maccagrabme no, SD cards are too fast for the IDE bus it seems, only IDE to SD (and then only certain slow old cards work) or SCSI to SD

[@johndean5860]

How big is your sandisk extreme III card?

[@jameshodson3450]

@@johndean5860 8GB

[@johndean5860]

@@jameshodson3450 thanks I ordered a 2gb card now I’m gonna take a chance and get the 8gb card!

[@0liver01]

Finally another video! Glad to see you're back!!

[@SacSynths_Jack_Z]

So pumped to see you back!!!!!!!!!!

[@ZenithMusicNet]

Thank you for sharing a new video again! I always found the A4000 an interesting piece of gear.

[@maxproskauer9272]

Glad to see a new upload. Hope you're doing well

[@stanedward2433]

Thanks for this! I just bought one of these from a seller in Japan, and it still has the hard drive inside. Love to get rid of spinning disks

[@reinardvanloo507]

good to see you back!

[@vainsacrosanct2014]

Thanks for the tip mate. Just got an A4000 today and definitely will follow your advice about those card readers. Cheers!

[@bobrivers1355]

Nice video, glad to see your back 👏👏

[@100ThingsIDo]

Great to see a new Video! Hope things have been good with you! :D

[@bbr7415]

Glad to se you back and tanx for the info very helpfull as always

[@fredrikuppsall1043]

This is awsome ! the A5000 is coming out of storage

[@BorliBear-acqua]

yes, I use this solution for a couple of years on my A5000. But keep in mind, if you enable too much volumes on different IDE/SCSI devices, you won't see all volumes. Seem to be a limit of max volumes at a time. Work around: just mount only devices you want access to. IDE Master & Slave CF Adapter configuration seems not working, but IDE HDD + CF works fine. (IDE master/slave cable config issue)

[@nd_efx]

Thank you for your videos!

[@Samboni72]

Great video! Really useful and easy to understand. Thank you =)

[@MrRingerStatus]

Greatly appreciate your channel. So many gems on here. Question - can this be done with the A3000? Also, looking forward to more videos about the 3000 like you mentioned at the end!

[@r.e.d.62]

Hi Brad, great video...appreciate the time and effort in doing this...is it possible for us computer luddites to have the components itemized ie the the adapter cable and the cf to ide adapter? It seems there are 1000s to choose from and I want to make sure I get the right gear. Some have different pin number configurations and are identified as male/female...little confusing for those that don't know about these things. Many thanks...

[@tcdontplay4914]

thanks for the new video!!!

[@WARDISWARD]

I had no luck doing this Have the exact same ide-cf card as shown in video ,+ a transcend 8 gig -133 card . At 07:40 in the video , it also clearly displays ' transcend ' as the M drive , but there is nothing in the upper right corner (, where in the video it shows 'not named ' Formatting takes ages and I stopped it eventually . Reallysucks

[@EgoShredder]

For IDE solutions I always use a cheap mSATA to IDE adapter, and then plug in a cheap 128GB mSATA SSD drive. Total cost in GBP in 2019 was £20 and I think its roughly the same now in 2023. You can buy smaller SSD drives and save money if you like, so a rough guess would be half as much. In the past I have used the method you describe using CompactFlash cards, but that was in an old Atari STE computer fitted with a rare IDE interface, and that was really FAST as a result. However using the same method with IBM style PCs we are used to, the performance was awfully slow for me.

[@AT-eh2eo]

Excellent stuff! Any idea if the ESI Series utilized the IDE drive as well? Looking for a cheaper alternative to the scsi2sd drive while I save up for the one I want…

[@joelcarloaymat]

Brad, thank you do much for posting this. Does this help significantly speed up loading times?

[@kethagaha2315]

Great stuff but I have tried but with no success

[@sergeyarguzeen9632]

Can You reed/write A-formatted cf on computer? Is it possible?

[@danielortizdecaracas]

the internal hard disk are available for default?

[@spoonie1972]

Hi Brad! Thanks for the great vid. I'm about to pull the trigger on the CF card adapter, but since my machine has the 8-out board installed, and no internal HD, there's no extra power/molex cable in the chassis - but there are two free 4-pin-showing power sections on the power board available. Do you know what cable type I need to correctly plug into the board? If so - can you provide a link? Thanks so much for the video even if you don't know what they're called :)

[@user-xs4uu5gw4e]

Hi, @bradthx, a quick question regarding the PSU of the A4000/5000 (and A3000 if you happen to know): is this a switch mode power supply or a linear one? (I have an A3000 and I am under the impression it is an SMPS). Thanks! 🙂

[@tonygillam4283]

Can this be done on a Yamaha A3000 Sampler or are they totally different?

[@WARDISWARD]

Can you still put on the enclosure , because that id 2 cf looks way to high

[@danielortizdecaracas]

this same upgrade functinos in others samplers? roland akai kurzweil??

[@bumfie]

Would this be the same for upgrading an A3000 ? Thanks

[@johnb2044]

can this mod be done on the A-3000? and my A-4000 has no hard drive and a has a extra out board a top and a SCsi card

[@danielortizdecaracas]

its possible use simultaneously the cf expansion and the internal ide disk?

[@danielortizdecaracas]

how many IDE devices is possible in this sampler??

[@davidmenary6909]

Can this upgrade be done on the Yamaha A3000

[@jonytube]

Hey Brad. Great vid! I love to see others spreading awareness about these scams as most electronics on synths is standardized stuff. Plug and play. I.E. screens, as you mentioned. By the way, as per A4000 tradition, mine's encoders have passed. I've been looking at replacements and even got quotes from wholesalers but they don't seem to have that particular ALPS encoder in stock. I've actually went and got my hands dirty, studied how it interfaced and stuck an arduino and a ps/2 mouse there to control the encoders and it kinda works well but it was mostly for the fun of making it. Do you reckon that similar stepped encoders would work on the A4000? I'm curious about that as I'm about to take the plunge and order some that are pin compatible.

[@jonytube]

Oh, by the way, because of you I'm now convinced about ditching the floppy and hdd on mine 😅 I kept them for nostalgia sake but floppies are just way too cumbersome to use on a modern workflow, no matter how much I actually like them. Time to grab an SD to IDE adapter and buy an 8 gig SD while we can lol

[@bradthx]

Mine aren't bad (yet) so I have not gone down that rabbit hole. The component industry is kind of a mess right now as well, I would say buy and test what dimensionally fits with the correct footprint and see if it works. Thanks for watching!

[@r.e.d.62]

Unable to get this to work using a 4GB Ultra Sandisk at 30mb/s...My adaptor has two jumpers (JP1 and JP2)...fiddling with the JP2 (master/slave?) doesn't help...I end up with the unit still not seeing the Sandisk at all...Also, my adaptor has an 'active' light indicator which is unlit when the unit is powered on... appreciate any input on this.

[@robotopsyrobotopsy6486]

I'm stuck with the exact same position as yours. But I did manage to switch the jumper and got the active light ''ON'' but still..... cannot format cuz it's not recognized. Will try another Flash card, a 8Gig this time.

[@UpandDownRacing]

whats the blue matt you're using on your desk?

[@gabrielwood8801]

Would this work on the A3000? Thanks for the info!

[@jameshodson3450]

The other major difference between the A4000 & A5000 (apart from double the polyphony) is that the A4k has 3 effects blocks and the A5k has six.

[@WARDISWARD]

And A5K has 32 midi channels instead of 16 on he A4K

[@dlichtenberg]

Just bought an Emu 6400 ultra. Cf card reader would come in handy

[@Johnsormani]

Doesn’t work on an ultra unfortunately

[@danielortizdecaracas]

plase the links for this upgrade items

[@iglezglez]

How do you copy samples from a PC to the card once it is formated on the sampler? I cannot get the computer to read the card

[@jameshodson3450]

I think with an old bit of software called Disky... sign up to the Yamaha samplers Facebook group, there are some real experts on there, it's the best place to find really solid answers about these machines. The guy who wrote the Disky software is the page moderator too I think

[@Whaever_1981]

Great video. Thanks a million! I had tried tot get CF card working on mine but to no avail. Then again I tried to have my CF card be accessible through the Floppy Disk bay (so I don't have to open the sampler to get to the files) but the A4000 would never recognize the thing. If you know of a quick solution for that, please let know ;)

[@phillerbass7554]

Hi bradthx is it possible to use a combination fo these adaptors in a K2000r also? great vid btw,

[@bradthx]

Unfortunately no, the K2000 series like most other samplers of this era only supports SCSI. You will need to use a SCSI2SD.

[@reitsound3941]

I found your channel from the Furman conditioner you uploaded, then I watched this one and I was thinking to myself that your voice sounds familiar,and then I remember ,you sound a lot like djbolivia ,are you the same guy? Thanks

[@sulys6446]

Hello would you know how to connect an A 4000 to a Focusrite 4i4 via an old Berhinger MX2642A in order to use it as a plugin in Cubase 11? to mainly use it as a PLUGIN in cubase...I am getting confused to wire this up....Cheers ;)

[@jameshodson3450]

Audio outputs from the sampler to audio inputs on your audio interface.. and then midi outs to midi ins to trigger the notes.. that is the only way it will work... there is no way of using an old hardware sampler as a plugin unless someone has written a specific piece of software to do that, which is not the case with the Yamaha samplers

[@sulys6446]

@@jameshodson3450 thanks James, I was thinking of using the sampler FX via the FX auxiliaries of my berhinger to treat a signal from Cubase through the sampler FX then back into Cubase...using the record mode on the sampler so the signal can get the FX treatment.so far can't get my head around this...

[@cammellsound5400]

A4000 rulez

[@tonygillam4283]

Hi Brad this is not easy on A3000 Sampler it doesn't have an ide plug, so that needs to be converted first to a SATA or USB

[@mcdega]

My A4000 doesn’t have the original HD power cable. Do you know what are the specs for it or where I could find a replacement? Thanks for the video btw!

[@bradthx]

Probably not obtainable. I would just solder some wires directly to the pins on the power supply board directly, I did this in my Akai S5000 video where I was in the same situation.

[@mrdrgonzo]

Ahh man, I’m in the same boat! I thought it was a standard molex 😢

[@ShallRemainUnknown]

How do you add 2 CF cards at the same time, like the Ebay ad? Looks like you can use the second card to back things up.

[@bradthx]

The first card is the IDE master, the second card is the IDE slave. If you populate the second slot, the Yamaha will see it as an additional drive under 'IDE S'.

[@ShallRemainUnknown]

@@bradthx Thanks, and understood, but the card adapter you show, and the only ones I can find for sale, only take ONE card.

[@jameshodson3450]

@@ShallRemainUnknown they only exist as one card per adapter, you will need two adapters, one connected to master, one to slave.... and do your research on gearslutz etc forums and the yamaha samplers facebook page before you buy the cards because only certain ones will work, you can't just use any card

[@ShallRemainUnknown]

@@jameshodson3450 The adapter in the Ebay ad takes TWO compact flash cards, BOTH master & slave.

[@jameshodson3450]

@@ShallRemainUnknown interesting, I'd not seen those dual adapters before... I tried a few different single adapters and they didn't all work & I only managed to find one card that worked too so worth checking on a few forums & the facebook group to see if anyone else has had luck with the adapters & cards you want to use

[@robertgogol289]

Great solution - I did the same with my A5000 :) As you said - not intuitive but powerful! Actually without a manual it is hard to get anything out of it - I love this machine.

[@iglezglez]

Robert, how did you manage to read the card from a computer after formatting it on the A4000? thanks in advance

[@robertgogol289]

@@iglezglez Hello - sorry but I did not. Never transfered files from yamaha to computer or other way. Take care :)

[@iglezglez]

@@robertgogol289 I did some research yesterday...only way is to keep the partition size below 1GB and format with FAT16 in Mac....doenst work on Windows, and I have no clue why ("sudo newfs_msdos -F 16 /dev/disk#" where # is the disk number shown with command "dikutil list")

[@fred_channel]

Thxs for the tips does it work with a A3000 too ?

[@BorliBear-acqua]

no! A3000 hasn't got "IDE" interface as A4000 & A5000. You need an expensive internal or external CF Card SCSI solution instead. (if your A3000 has got a SCSI interface card which should be standard)

[@Wizkidmelburn]

So is it worth taking out the internal noisy drive and using an external card drive? Or just get one of those hotel floppy units? Thanks.

[@mujdatkurtman194]

well