Bugari-Evo user instruction

[Rick Schwemmer]

New post... has anyone had difficulties getting the USB port on the back of the evo to read a USB memory stick? I've tried 4 different sticks, from 2GB to 32GB, formatted in various ways including FAT32, and I'm receiving the same message that no memory stick has been found. I want to play a background track using a WAV file.

 

[JerryPH]

From my website:
A common question with V-accordion users is which USB thumbnail drives work on our Roland V-Accordions?

These are also known as USB sticks, a USB key, thumb drive, flash drive, pen drive, or memory stick.

It is a type of memory stick that is usually small enough to put into your pocket, making data highly portable and fits in to the USB connector on the front of your 8X.
V-accordion owners use these devices to store many things like:

• Expansion Sounds
• User sets
• User Programs
• WAV recordings, loops, backing tracks
• Firmware updates

So why do some people say that their USB keys work and others say that theirs don’t?

The answer to that is fairly simple, because there really is only one limitation that Roland defined, and that is that the V-Accordion will not recognize any USB device that has a formatted file system on it other than FAT32.

Per Roland, to be used on a Roland V-Accordion, it must be FAT32 to work. So keep the maximum size of your flash drive at 32GB or less.

The next factor is operating system. I am a Windows 10 user and Microsoft, to protect and hedge bets for their NTFS file system, places a partition size limitation of 32GB.

I don’t use Linux or MacOS, so if I want to read a USB drive on my PC and use it with my 8X, it cannot be larger than 32GB.

I’ve tried dozens of USB keys in my 8X and had no issues placing or accessing the data, so unlike what Roland suggests, you can use a USB key other than the ones that Roland suggests that you must use, pretty much all brands will work. I’ve even used a 128GB SanDisk drive, BUT… the first partition was formatted FAT32 and no bigger than 32GB!

I’ve used USB sticks from Best Buy, Staples, Costco and yes, even Walmart quite successfully. The ones from Amazon.ca are particularly attractive as they are very low cost. As an example… five 16gb drives for just under $23. You could have 1 main one and 4 backups to keep things super safe!

So why use a larger key? Well, a 4GB is already overkill for most tasks, however, USB key sizes are increasing and prices are dropping. So though one can use anything up to a 32GB drive, a 4-8GB is ideal (and cheap!) but they are getting harder to find, and in terms of bang for the buck a 16GB size seems the best deal to size ratio and they are still very easy to find and are cheap. So though the first 1/2-GB may be all the expansion files and backups, the rest could be space used to record your music on, and a 16gb USB stick will let you record for many hours worry free.

Don’t bother paying for USB 3.0 USB key drives, the Roland accordions do not use or support this standard, so save your money for the old standard USB v.2.0 keys.

BTW, speaking of back-ups, always make at least 2 or more copies and place them on different media. For example, I use the USB keys, for sure, but I also keep a copy on my laptop, copies on my NAS (network area storage) and a copy on a small 512GB external drive that I save just for my FR-8X related files. This is a smart thing we all need to do!

If having issues, format the USB key ON THE ACCORDION (not sure if this option is available for EVO users)

 

[Chris Laarman]

... there really is only one limitation that Roland defined, and that is that the V-Accordion will not recognize any USB device that has a formatted file system on it other than FAT32.

...

Don’t bother paying for USB 3.0 USB key drives, the Roland accordions do not use or support this standard, so save your money for the old standard USB v.2.0 keys.

0) Great, Jerry!

1) 32GB is the maximum space that FAT32 can handle. It allocates storage space in "clusters of sectors", and there's a maximum of 2^32 clusters to be allocated. Microsoft has made this storage structure available for free.

2) Me, I prefer microSD cards to USB sticks or drives. I have a few dozen of them, the largest of them storing 1TB. I also have some adapters for use in SD slots (and in a proprietary Sony type), and obviously card readers. Most of my card readers have three different USB connectors. I also have some with Lightning connector for most of my mobile Apple devices. - I tend to buy the fastest microSD cards, but these card readers may be bottlenecks anyway. - A disadvantage of microSD cards is their lack of outside space for some description. So I store them in some folder, with a description on an accompanying snippet of paper. (Folder: I mean something of the format you store business cards in, but with spaces of SD-card size.)

 

[JerryPH]

The structure is all made under USB 2.0 standards, using anything faster can possibly introduce issues or at best offer zero benefits. I'd stick to small USB sticks and not adapters. Only one person that I know has made them work... and I have no specific details on what they did (what it was formatted on, any partitions, make/brand, etc...).

 

[Pbraido]

The structure is all made under USB 2.0 standards, using anything faster can possibly introduce issues or at best offer zero benefits. I'd stick to small USB sticks and not adapters. Only one person that I know has made them work... and I have no specific details on what they did (what it was formatted on, any partitions, make/brand, etc...).

I have used a micro SD card with a USB adapter now for the last 3 years or more and have never had a problem with it - it is a 16 Gig card. The adavantage to using this is you only have to remove the micro card to update or add files to it instead of removing the whole USB stick which I find a lot easier with the limited room that Roland gives you and no worries about constantly using that USB slot and something physically going wrong with it
From what I can remember I formatted it on my main windows computer I believe fat32

 

[JerryPH]

I have used a micro SD card with a USB adapter now

Welcome to spot #2.

 

[breezybellows]

I would take Bugari with shallower keyboard and more natural internal speakers sound if it would have bellows resistance based on amount of notes pressed and register selected.

It does have batting bellows resistance based on number of keys presses. Number of bass buttons or register selection has no impact on bellows resistance. With that being said, the bellows on any digital accordion feel very very different compared to acoustic accordions.

It feels weird because it's different. That's not necessarily a shortcoming. It allows you to add all the expression you want but didn't expect it to feel just like an acoustic accordion's bellows.

 

[breezybellows]

There are some really accomplished accordionists who have EVOs. Joe Natoli and Michael Bridge come to mind. it seems to me, however, that those two, at least, have other accordions, both acoustic and digital, and don’t play their EVOs exclusively.

Joe doesn't play acoustic accordions much these days. He prefers his Evo over the 8x but he also owns and plays a 8x.

 

[kep]

0) Great, Jerry!

1) 32GB is the maximum space that FAT32 can handle. It allocates storage space in "clusters of sectors", and there's a maximum of 2^32 clusters to be allocated. Microsoft has made this storage structure available for free.

A small correction: the partition size on FAT32 is limited [by Microsoft] to 32GB. Any third party formatting tool rises this limit up to 2TB.

For the calculation of 2^32 see the link:
Why is FAT32 limited to just under 2^28 clusters?

For all practical needs you can consider FAT32 USB could be up to 2TB, but single file size limit on it is 4GB.

 

[dak]

Yes it activates the full power of the amp, whether it's used or not...

That would be a class A amplifier design, and nobody does that for battery-operated devices. Pretty sure the Roland will use a class D design. There may be two different operating voltages, and the standby power usage for providing the higher voltage may be higher.

So with regard to the original question: activating the power boost but turning down the volume will not likely consume a lot more of power but rather along to the following statement:

but its not like it will make a huge difference, but a drop in playing time of 10-20 percent can be expected.

That is for mostly idling. If you are constantly playing at the same volume in boost mode as in normal mode (by adjusting the volume control to get to the same overall volume), I'd not expect even that much.

But of course secondguessing standard products on the assumption of "best design practices" ends up being kind of a hit-and-miss proposition for me, with a lot more "miss" than I'd have expected. So no way to know for sure other than do extensive testing.

 

[John M]

Use an external speaker -- much better sound quality -- and -- the battery appears to "last forever".

 

[JerryPH]

That would be a class A amplifier design, and nobody does that for battery-operated devices. Pretty sure the Roland will use a class D design. There may be two different operating voltages, and the standby power usage for providing the higher voltage may be higher.

So with regard to the original question: activating the power boost but turning down the volume will not likely consume a lot more of power but rather along to the following statement:.

My DAW measures a 9db increase in output, and it is easily audible with the volume at maximum with it activated on and off, on my 12 hour custom battery, it lasts around 90min less… not sure that to tell you.

 

[JerryPH]

Use an external speaker -- much better sound quality -- and -- the battery appears to "last forever".

Of course that is the best answer for most volume but also more to carry, so it is very situational dependant

 

[dak]

My DAW measures a 9db increase in output, and it is easily audible with the volume at maximum with it activated on and off, on my 12 hour custom battery, it lasts around 90min less… not sure that to tell you.

Misunderstanding I guess. My premise was that you selected the volume boost and turned down the volume such that you match the output volume you had before. This will likely cause the amplifier to work with a higher operating voltage, but if the circuits are well-designed, at the same actual output power (not the same output volume setting, but turned down to compensate for the boost setting), the additional losses due to the higher operating voltage should be minimal.

Of course if you turn on the boost while leaving the output dials in the same position, the output power will be higher and will necessarily consume more battery power.

The question the OP was wondering about was whether they could just leave the boost setting on always and turn down the volume when it wasn't needed. And my guess was for that use case. It could significantly affect the time you can idle, but my guess would be if you are constantly playing at the same actual volume (not the same volume setting), the battery life would be pretty much the same.

 

[JerryPH]

I usually leave it on and charge up the accordion when the display shows the first warning even if there is a lot left in it. I don’t gig all that much.