... So the Expansion space allowance is somewhere around 1.6Gb out of the 4.0Gb total User Drive? Is that hard set, or adjustable? I imagine Yamaha put limits in to make sure people didn't over-run the User Drive with imported styles. ...
Hi Lucille,
the Expansion Memory (which is, as mentioned, used for the Wave data of the installed Expansion Voices) is a separate memory (1GB). Therefore, this 1GB is NOT "out of" (part of) the 4GB User Memory. Inside the User Memory there is the User drive, and there are also saved the User defined System Settings.
The
Expansion Memory uses a very special, so called "NAND Flash" technology which provides an extremly fast reading speed.
In contrast, the
User Memory uses the "eMMC" memory technology which is similar to the SSD (Solid State Disk) technology used in PCs. And, as mentioned before: All User files (e.g. Styles, MIDI files etc.) can be saved either in the internal User drive (4GB on the SX900) OR on a USB stick.
The "Expansion" folder is located within the User drive. In the corresponding SUBFOLDERS of the "Expansion" folder you can find all contents of the Expansion Packs. Note: The "Voices" that are in the "Expansion" folder are so called "Voice Set" files only. The WAVE data of the Expansion Voices is stored in the separate Expansion Memory. The user does NOT have any direct access to this Wave data. Selecting a Voice Set file (within a subfolder of the "Expansion" folder) automatically loads the Wave data for this Voice from the Expansion Memory AND make the correct Voice Set data for this Voice.
So best practice is to move styles from the USB chips to the User Drive before using them. ...
As menioned, this is not absolutely necessary. Using external Styles from the User drive is minimally faster. But it is easier to make backup copies of USB sticks. Note: In the case of the User drive, you have to save (copy) each file type separately (Styles in Style Mode, MIDI files in Song Mode, etc.).
With the GENOS the User drive can be saved "in one go" using the so-called "USB Storage Mode". Unfortunately, this is not possible with SX models. With the "MusicSoft Downloader" (MSD), you can see all the different file types in the User drive AT ONCE. But since the MSD uses the MIDI protocol for file transfer, this works relatively slow (not recommended for backing up many files).
... How do we know how much of the super-fast memory (where the wav data goes) is used?
You can see this (only) in the Expansion Manager (YEM): Click on your Install Target (PSR-SX900) in the YEM. In the top you will see a drop down box. The "Voice Wave Size" (which concerns the expansion memory of 1GB) is displayed there by default. Alternatively, you can have other important data displayed there, e.g. the "User Drive Size" (= the space required for the currently selected content in the User drive).
And if styles are brought into the User Drive but not the Expansion folder, is the wav data also put into the super-fast memory or does that only happen if we import the style from YEM into the Expansion folder?
The "Wave data" I am talking about here only refers to Expansion VOICES.
Standard Styles (also called "MIDI Styles") do NOT contain any Wave data.
The Audio (Wave) data of so called "+Audio Styles" (which contain an Audio Drum track) is stored directly in the individual Style files (.aus). Some previous models (e.g. Tyros5) have a special memory area for the Wave data of +Audio styles. But in newer models (SX and Genos) this is no longer the case: You can play +Audio Styles (recognizable by the relatively large file size) directly from a USB stick.
When you install an Expansion Pack that contains +Audio Styles, they are automatically copied to the corresponding subfolder of the "Expansion" folder (within the User drive). Since the User drive on a SX900 is relatively large, you can leave the +Audio Styles there. (IF desired, they can be
saved (one by one) to a location outside the Expansion folder OR to a USB stick, of course. Note: Inside the Expansion folder, the COPY feature does not work.)
Hope this helps!
Best regards,
Chris