Alesis K2661 specifications Chapter Basic Disk Mode, 13-1

Basic Disk Mode

Chapter 13

Basic Disk Mode

Disk mode lets you load, save, back up, and copy files of objects between the K2661 and the outside world, through SmartMedia or the K2661’s SCSI port. The K2661 works with 3.3v SmartMedia cards (the most common type) having a minimum size of 4 MB.

Most SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) devices will operate with the K2661 via its 25-pin SCSI ports. The most common use for these ports is to connect one or more hard disks (or removable drives like Zip or Syquest) for storing samples and other objects. You can also connect a CD-ROM drive for reading files to the K2661. The K2661 will treat a CD-ROM drive like any other SCSI device (except that you can’t save files to it). The K2661 can read writable CDs (CD-Rs), although it can’t write to them.

The K2661 can address up to 8 Gigabytes (8 G) of hard-disk space, in 2-G partitions. This is true for any hard disk formatted with the DOS-compatible FAT-16 format. Hard disks larger than 8 G can be formatted to make 8 G (in four partitions) accessible to the K2661. You can connect up to seven hard disks. See Chapter 13 of the Musician’s Guide for more information about Disk Partitioning and other advanced features of Disk Mode.

Disk mode in the K2661 allows flexibility to organize disk files and their contents. Many powerful operations are included that can save a lot of time by allowing you to easily specify exactly what you want to load or save. Examples of this range from organizing related files into directories, to loading macros (lists of files or selected objects) from multiple SCSI disks, to setting up programs to automatically link with samples off of a CD-ROM.

Here’s a summary of Disk-mode functionality:

•One SmartMedia slot

•One SCSI port

•MS-DOS file system compatibility

•Sample transfer using standard audio file formats AIFF and WAV (including support for looped and tuned WAV files)

•Support for Roland,™ Akai,™ and Ensoniq™ sample files

•SMDI sample transfers

•Support for song files (sequences) in MIDI Type 0 and Type 1 format

•Support for ISO 9660-format CDs: reading, copying, and backing up

•Support for reading writable CDs (CD-Rs): reading, copying, and backing up

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