Usb Interface; Data Backup & Restore - Roland SH-01A User Manual

USB Interface

In the past many synthesizers came equipped with various interfaces. Connection methods like CV and Gate, Din
Sync, Synch Jones, DCB, Tape I/O allowed synthesizers to connect to clocks, tape machines, sequencers and drum
tracks. Thanks to the universal serial bus with which most personal computers are equipped today we have a number
of interesting ways to handle these once complicated and tedious operations.
The USB connection port can be used to:
• Power the Synthesizer
• Both power and pass midi as well as audio data to and from a computer based DAW
• Mount the Synthesizer to the desktop of a computer and backup and/or restore and share your patches.
To connect the USB port to power:
Use an optional micro USB cable which is either the type with a wall plug on the end (like a wall wart adapter) or the
type with another USB to power block on the end (like a phone charger.)
Both will work, but make sure that whichever you've chosen can provide sufficient power to run the SH-10A.
If the SH-01A goes to sleep while you believe you're plugged into the wall, then your power supply is either faulty, or it
isn't powerful enough to run the synth (and you're running off the batteries.)
Typically you will want to look at the tiny print on those phone chargers and ensure that it's at least 5 Volts and 1 Amp
and preferably a switchable 100-240 transformer, because then (with the right plug connectors) it will work anywhere
in the world.
Data Backup & Restore
It may not be important to you, but I wanted to make a note here and share that there is no method of sequence, or
patch storage on the SH-101. The original synthesizer didn't have a tape interface for backing up patches or
sequences, nor did it offer a memory cartridge of any kind. The synth was very much a here and now, hands on
instrument which with batteries installed could allow you to save your cool sequence between sessions, but in order
to make a good sound, you needed to make notes and remember what you'd done, and as for the patterns in the
sequencer once you over wrote the one in the memory, you were on your own. So notes and diagrams became very
important.
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