Frequently Asked Questions
Although the site is only a few weeks old I seem to be getting around 10 questions per day at the moment, I understand this is probably due to the relatively small amount on info in the F.A.Q, but in the mean time if there is anyone out there who could help me with this section, namely answering peoples questions and developing the F.A.Q it would be most appreiciated. Unfortunately I am not an expert on all matters so this would help the sites knowledge base as well.Obviously you would get all of the credit for your work. Send me a mail and I will be in touch.
If you have a question about anything to do with the Triton please fill out the form HERE and I will get you an answer as soon as possible. If you have a non Triton question about something else music related fill in the form and I will return a mail with an answer but it may not be entered into the FAQ.
Sampler
| Q | Does the sampler need special memory or can it take standard computer memory? |
| A | The Triton takes standard 72pin SIMMs. The good news is that unlike the trinity it is user installable. To upgrade to the full 64mb capacity you will need to install 2 x 32mb SIMMS leaving you with the factory fitted 16mb spare. |
| Q | Can you resample internally with the Triton Sampler. |
| A | Unfortunately not at the moment, but maybe this will be included in a future update. |
Sequencer
SCSI - By Brian Contario - Tritonica
| Q | Does the Triton have a SCSI port. |
| A | Not as standard. You must install the Korg EXB-SCSI expansion, around £100. |
| Q | How do I install the EXB-SCSI |
| A | It is user installable. You remove four screws on the plate on the bottom of the keyboard, plug in the cable and secure the board using the screms provided. |
| Q | What can I use instead of a floppy disk as storage on the Triton? |
| A | Without the EXB-SCSI, nothing else can be used. If you buy the EXB-SCSI, you can add an EXTERNAL SCSI drive. There are only a few standard options for doing this. |
| Q | What can I use instead of a floppy disk as storage on the Triton? |
| A |
Without the EXB-SCSI, nothing else can be used. If you buy the EXB-SCSI, you can add an EXTERNAL SCSI drive. There are only a few standard options for doing this. 1) Use a SCSI hard drive in an external stand-alone enclosure with its own power supply. 2) Use an external SCSI ZIP drive (100MB or 250MB), JAZ drive (1GB, 2GB), Orbit drive, etc.. 3) Use an external SCSI CD-ROM drive or CD-RW (rewritable) drive. 4) Use an external MO (Magneto-Optical) drive that uses 512-byte blocks. The standard 640MB MO disks will not work, as they use 1024-byte blocks. The 230MB MO drives seem to be a good choice. 5) Attach the Triton SCSI as the last device on a SCSI chain which could include a computer (see below for more info). |
| Q | What disk format does the Triton use |
| A | For hard drives and standard removable disks, the Triton can ONLY use FAT16 formatted partitions. (This is not confirmed, but it is assumed that the Triton can only see the first partition on a hard drive, and that partition must be FAT16). FAT16 is the standard DOS format that has been around for years. The Triton cannot read FAT32 (the format preferred by Windows 98), NTFS, HPFS, Macintosh, or Unix formats. |
| Q | How about CD formats? |
| A | The Triton can read ISO 9660 CDs (the format of most CD-ROMs), and AKAI sample CD's are also said to be supported, whatever format they use. |
| Q | What is the transfer speed of the EXB-SCSI? |
| A | It seems that the maximum transfer speed from some user's tests is around 170KB/sec. That is approximately 6 seconds per megabyte. If you have samples broken up into many small files, the transfer rate will drop. The Iomega SCSI ZIP drive maximum speed is usually around 130KB/sec. |
| Q | What can I use instead of a floppy disk as storage on the Triton? |
| A | Without the EXB-SCSI, nothing else can be used. If you buy the EXB-SCSI, you can add an EXTERNAL SCSI drive. There are only a few standard options for doing this. |
| Q | What can I do with the EXB-SCSI? |
| A | Basically, anything you can read or write on a floppy, you can use from a HD or CD-ROM hooked up to the EXB-SCSI. Samples, programs, combis, sequences, etc.. The exception is FlashROM OS upgrades. The only documented way to upgrade the OS is via the floppy drive |
| Q | What cable do I need to hook to the EXB-SCSI on the Triton? |
| A | You need a SCSI cable (NOT A serial or printer cable!) with a Male DB25 connector on the end to connect to the Triton. The connector on the other end depends on what you hook it to. Talk to someone at a computer store -- they should be able to help you find a cable with the correct connector on the other end. |
| Q | What SCSI ID is the Triton, and what IDs can I use on my drives? |
| A | The Triton EXB-SCSI only seems to use ID 7. Because it does not use SCSI-2 or higher, you can use SCSI ID 0 (zero) through 6 for your drives. |
| Q | Will my drive or CD-ROM work with the Triton EXB-SCSI? |
| A | Good question. Korg has some tested drives on their web sites, supposedly, but their whereabouts are unknown at the moment. Any info on this would be appreciated. |
| Q | Can I transfer sample data directly through the SCSI port to the Triton from my computer without using a SCSI drive? |
| A | No. The EXB-SCSI port on the Triton only can be used to read/write files on a device with a file system, such as a hard drive, ZIP drive, or CD-ROM. |
| Q | What can I use instead of a floppy disk as storage on the Triton? |
| A | Without the EXB-SCSI, nothing else can be used. If you buy the EXB-SCSI, you can add an EXTERNAL SCSI drive. There are only a few standard options for doing this. |
| Q | Can I use the SCSI instead of the MIDI port? |
| A | No. MIDI data can not be routed through the SCSI port. |
| Q | What sample formats can I read from my SCSI drive or CD-ROM? |
| A | Korg documents supporting WAV, AIFF (Audio Interchage Format), AKAI samples & programs, and Korg format (.KSC files). |
| Q | What do I do about SCSI Termination with the EXB-SCSI? |
| A | The EXB-SCSI is permenantly terminated, so the Triton has to be the last device on one end of your SCSI chain. If there is a way to turn off termination, Korg is not telling us, and it looks like it would require some desoldering on the EXB-SCSI expansion board. |
| Q | What is SCSI termination? |
| A | In very simple terms, a terminator on a SCSI "chain" of connections is a way to absorb the signal at the ends so the signal does not "bounce" or "reflect" back to where it came from. Reflected signals cause interference with new signals that are being sent, and can cause devices to stop working or corrupt data. The rule of thumb is that when two or more SCSI devices are connected (the Triton is considered a device), the device on each end of the chain of cables must be terminated. Some SCSI devices (like the SCSI ZIP drives) have a switch to turn termination on or off, or require you to set a jumper or change a software setting. Some are always terminated (like the EXB-SCSI on the Triton). Others don't provide termination, but have two SCSI ports, and if the device is at the end of the chain, you plug the SCSI cable in one, and plug a "SCSI Terminator" into the other port. If you are in doubt on what you need, describe your layout in detail to someone at a computer store, and they should be able to help you. |
| Q | What do I need to know about using a ZIP drive with my Triton? |
| A | The Iomega SCSI ZIP drive (100MB or 250MB) is probably the easiest SCSI drive to use with the Triton EXB-SCSI. Most come with a DB25 SCSI cable, and you can just plug it right into the EXB-SCSI port. Make sure the Termination switch on the ZIP drive is ON. Use a PC-formatted ZIP disk, and you are set. Use it just like a (fast) floppy disk. |
| Q | What do I need to know about using an external hard drive with my Triton? |
| A | This is not comprehensive, but here are some tips. Most hard drives are designed to be internal, so if you have an internal SCSI drive, you will need to buy an external SCSI drive case to put it in that has a power supply for the drive. Go to your computer store, if you have to, and get a cable that plugs into your external drive correctly and has a Male DB25 SCSI plug on the other end. If you also sometimes use your external drive with a computer, the first partition will need to be FAT16 to work with the Triton. If the Triton is the only device hooked to the external drive, make sure the drive has SCSI termination turned on. |
| Q | Can I install an internal SCSI hard drive in my Triton? |
| A | Theoretically, yes. But realistically, NO ... only if the internal drive only uses the 5V power pin on the 4-pin power connector. Most hard drives use the 12V power pin to drive the spindle motor, making the disk spin. Also, you need to convert from the EXB-SCSI's DB25 to a 50-pin ribbon cable if you have a SCSI drive with a 50-pin connector. Newer SCSI drives are usually SCSI2, WideSCSI, etc., and they have 68 or more pin connectors, and it is harder to find a cable that will work with it plugging into a DB25 connector, that the EXB-SCSI uses. The hardest problem may be finding a place to mount the hard drive internally and a way to get the SCSI ribbon cable to that place. Good luck, but you are asking for trouble. This very likely will void the warranty, too. |
| Q | Can I replace the floppy drive with an LS120 Superdisk drive or Internal IDE or SCSI ZIP drive? |
| A | Theoretically, yes, but it is probably not worth your trouble. You will have to find a way to convert the mini-power connector to the standard sized power connector used for Hard Drives (a computer store will have one of these). Also, you need to convert from the EXB-SCSI's DB25 to a 50-pin ribbon cable. Ask at a computer store where they do upgrades and repairs. The hardest problem may be finding a a way to get the SCSI ribbon cable to the floppy drive bay without pinching the cable between the bottom plate and the metal frame the bottom plate screws into. This very likely will void the warranty, too. |
| Q | Can I hook my Triton up to my computer's SCSI adapter or a device hooked up to my computer? |
| A |
Maybe. If you don't know what you are doing with SCSI drives in general, just buy an external ZIP drive and you will be much happier than you might be destroying data on your computer's HD. If you choose to give it a try, here are some pointers. First, make sure your PC's SCSI HD uses FAT16 on the first partition of whatever drive you expect to use with the Triton. If the first partition isn't FAT16, forget it. The EXB-SCSI seems to be permenantly fixed to ID 7, which is the ID most computer SCSI cards like to use. If your computer's SCSI card is set to ID 7, you will have to change your computer SCSI card to something other than 7. Next, find a SCSI cable (ONLY use a cable made for a SCSI connection!!!) that converts from the external jack on your computer's SCSI card to a Male DB25 plug on the other end. The EXB-SCSI is terminated, so don't expect to have any more external SCSI devices after the Triton. Turn off termination on all external devices between the Triton and the other physical end of the chain. Turn power off to all devices on the SCSI chain, hook up the SCSI cable to the Triton, cross your fingers, and turn the PC on first, and the Triton last. If you are lucky, when you go to the disk mode on the Triton and touch the device list on the lower left corner of the screen, you will see your PC's HD in the list. Do not ever try to write data to the HD from the PC and the Triton at the same time. You will almost certainly lose data. You may lose data anyway, no matter how careful you are, so try this at your own risk. Your best bet is to just buy an external ZIP drive and hook it up only to your Triton. |
Global
| Q | My C & D banks are blank and aren't on the preload disks? |
| A | You can download them HERE. |
| Q | If I want to install the latest O.S version, do I need to install all of the older ones first? |
| A | No. You can install it over your existing version. |
| Q | My sustain/damper pedal doesn't work properly, it has the opposite effect. |
| A | In global mode press Menu, select control, and change the damper polarity. Press rec/write to save your setting. |
| Q | Is there any way of making my Triton remember songs and samples after turning it off? |
| A | Unfortunately no. This is probably the Tritons main shortfall but at least it will get you in the habbit of saving your work regularly. I beleive the SCSI option goes the furthest to resolve the problem, as reloaded your projects is quick and easy. |
| Q | What is the difference between O.S v1.1.1 and V2.0 |
| A | The main differences are in the sampler with some excellent additions such as cross-fade, timestrech and slicing. Read more HERE. |
General
| Q | What is the "To Host" connector for? |
| A | This is a computer interface for use with computers, it acts like a MIDI interface using just one cable. |
| Q | Can I use a standard PC SCSI board in my Triton? |
| A | No, you can only use the special Korg SCSI board although it is user installable. |
| Q | Does the Triton have digital outputs or a HDR option? |
| A | No! The Triton does not have either of these options available at the moment. |
| Q | Can you swap the floppy drive for something else? |
| A | To my knowledge it is possible to remove the floppy drive and install an internal ZIP drive but this is apparently a very difficult operation and not recommended. It is probably best to just install the SCSI option and buy a ZIP drive or hard drive? |
| Q | Is it possible to use the Triton as a Vocoder using the inputs? |
| A | Yes, I will do a feature on Vocoding soon in the ClassRoom page. |
| Q | What is the best SCSI drive to use with my Triton. - From Ron Kingston |
| A | There are so many SCSI drives out there that I couldn't recommend just one of them, but, if you are using your Triton for gigs a lot you will need something with good build quality to withstand the occassional knock here and there. Also it is worth thinking about backing up your information, especially if you have quite a lot on your drive. If you lost it all you could find yourself stuck. Mosts devices these days use the smaller SCSI connector as apposed the Tritons 50pin connector so a 50pin - 25pin cable will be required. So pick out the well built drives and pick the fasted one, (budget permitting). I will look into the hard drive side of things and maybe do a round up in the next week or so. Until then. I hope this helps. |