ROLAND SCSI CD-ROM COMPATIBILITY MATRIX
FOR S‑550, W‑30, S‑760 AND SP-700 SAMPLERS


ROLAND CDROM

EXTERNAL SCSI CD-ROM  S‑550   W‑30   S‑760 / SP‑700     SPEED                    NOTES                  IMAGE   JUMPERS 
     ROLAND: External Case P/N (Internal Mechanism P/N)
             CD‑5 (Sony CDU‑510‑99 / CDU‑6111 / CDU‑6112 / CDU‑8012)  
YES YES YES 1x [1] ROLAND CDROM ROLAND CDROM
     APPLE: External Case P/N (Internal Mechanism P/N) - see CADDY EJECT MALFUNCTION*
             AppleCD 150 (Sony CDU‑541‑25 / CDU‑8002) NO YES YES 1x [5] [6] [7] [9] ROLAND CDROM ROLAND CDROM
             AppleCD 300e (Matsushita CR503‑K) NO NO YES 2x [4] [6] [9] [11] ROLAND CDROM ROLAND CDROM
             AppleCD 600e (Matsushita CR‑504‑B / CR‑504‑L)   NO NO YES 4x [6] [9] [10] [11] ROLAND CDROM ROLAND CDROM
     MISCELLANEOUS BRANDS: External Case P/N (Internal Mechanism P/N)ROLAND CDROM
             (Plextor PX‑43CS / August 1995) NO YES YES 4x [2] [3] [5] [6] [8] [12] [19] ROLAND CDROM ROLAND CDROM
             (Toshiba XM‑4101BME Slimline) NO NO YES 2x [3] [5] [6] [18] [15] ROLAND CDROM ROLAND CDROM
             (Nakamichi MJ‑4.8si / 4‑CD Changer) NO NO YES 8x [4] [5] [6] [9] [14] [15] ROLAND CDROM ROLAND CDROM
             (Nakamichi MJ‑5.16si / 5‑CD Changer) NO NO YES 16x [4] [5] [6] [9] [14] [15] ROLAND CDROM ROLAND CDROM
             LaCie 104737 16x 10x 40x (CDBP‑121032S) NO NO YES 40x [4] [5] [6] [9] ROLAND CDROM ROLAND CDROM
             LaCie 104372 12x 10x 32x (CDBP‑161040S)   NO NO YES 32x [4] [5] [6] [9] ROLAND CDROM ROLAND CDROM
             Toshiba TXM3401E1  (Toshiba XM‑3401B, XM‑3501B, XM‑3601B)   NO NO YES 4x [3] [5] [6] [13] [15] ROLAND CDROM ROLAND CDROM
 
     REQUIRED SPECS    SPEED       LOAD MECHANISM         INTERFACE  
     S‑550 [1] [20]    1x    Caddy      SCSI‑1: 50‑Pin ⇆ 25‑Pin ⇆ HD5‑IF UPGRADE
     W‑30 [16]    1x - 4x       Caddy or Tray      SCSI‑1: 50‑Pin ⇆ 25‑Pin ⇆ KW‑30 UPGRADE
     S‑760 [17]    1x - 12x       Caddy or Tray      SCSI‑1: 50‑Pin ⇆ 25‑Pin ⇆ S‑760 DB‑25 SCSI
 
     DIRECT FROM ROLAND DOCUMENTATION
      "The Roland CD‑5 is the only CD‑ROM drive known to work with the S‑550. It used a Sony CDU‑xxxx internal mechanism w/removable CD caddy
      The CD‑5 came with a CD‑ROM disc (Roland P/N: L‑CD1) which contained the (nearly complete) S‑50 and S‑550 RSB Sample Libraries"
          - - Source: S‑330/S‑550 SUPPLEMENTAL NOTES ‑ March 20, 1998
 
     ❖ SPECIAL NOTES ❖
1) With the S‑760 and SP‑700, if you plan to load AKAI S1000 and S1100 CD‑ROM's often using the "Convert Load" feature, I highly recommend using a CD mechanism with speeds faster than 1x or 2x. Why? Older 1x and 2x speed CD‑ROM's take forever and a day to load AKAI CD's. "Convert Loading" an AKAI sample will take up to 8x longer than loading a native Roland sample file. Some of the faster mechanisms to consider are the AppleCD 600e (4x), Plextor PX‑43CS (4x), Nakamichi MJ‑4.8si (8x), Nakamichi MJ‑5.16si (16x), LaCie 104737 (32x) & LaCie 104372 (40x). There is a webpage at this link which shows the procedure for loading AKAI CD‑ROM's on the S‑760 and SP‑700. There is also a useful link at that webpage which contains the Partition/Volume Table Of Contents for 500+ AKAI CD‑ROM's. Also, not all CD‑ROM SCSI transfer stats perform as advertised. The LaCie 40x speed CD‑ROM vastly underperforms and is much slower than the Nakamichi MJ‑5.16si. The fastest CD‑ROM I have found for use with the S‑760 is the Nakamichi MJ‑5.16si. I compiled some benchmark tests in this PDF

2) For the SP‑700, It is very important to ensure the Load While Playing setting = OFF when reading AKAI CD‑ROM's
      This will greatly speed up the Convert Load process (See page Sys‑4 of the "SP‑700 Owner's Manual")

3) With the W‑30, some CD‑ROM mechanisms will not eject the disc when you press the eject button. You will need to use menu selections on the LCD to eject the disc
       Press SOUND   ➤   Rotate the VALUE ENCODER to select 9 CD-Player   ➤   Press ENTER   ➤   Press and hold F5
 


  [1] The Roland CD‑5 is the only CD‑ROM drive known to work with the S‑550. It used a Sony CDU‑xxxx internal mechanism with a removable CD caddy
  [2] On the back of the internal mechanism next to the 50-pin SCSI connector, the columns labeled 'BLOCK' and 'PARITY' should be jumpered
  [3] 11-pin SIP Terminating Resistors socketed on the PCB may have been removed at the factory or by a previous owner. Verify if these are needed for the SCSI chain
  [4] Device is recognized by the S‑550 and W‑30 but locks up the sampler and/or displays a 'HARDWARE ERROR' message when trying to access a CD during any LOAD operation
  [5] Works perfect when loading sample data CD's however, it does not play audio CD's from the sampler menu. The message 'ILLEGAL REQUEST' is displayed
  [6] This model loads sample data CD's with the S‑760 but the ability to play audio CD's from the sampler menu has not been tested extensively. See Footnote [17] below
  [7] This model had factory installed firmware v1.8g
  [8] To test this mechanism, it was installed inside an AppleCD 150 external SCSI case and also an AppleCD 300 external SCSI case
  [9] The 'PARITY' jumper should always be closed (PARITY = YES). If there is a BLOCK jumper, it should always be set to 2048 (An exception is the Plextor PX‑43CS)
[10] Device reported by online visitor as NOT WORKING with the S‑550 and W‑30
[11] Device reported by online visitor as WORKING GREAT with the S‑760
[12] This mechanism is noteworthy because it can read W‑30 CD‑ROM's at 4x Speed. Fittingly, it's quite expensive on eBay and elsewhere. This is the one I use with my W‑30
[13] The Toshiba TXM3401E1 was used extensively in the 1990's to install the IRIX O/S on SGI Supercomputers, Servers & Workstations (Origin 2000 / Power Challenge / Indigo)
[14] For the S‑760, Nakamichi models MJ-4.8si and MJ-5.16si can only access one disc (CD #1). The S‑760 will not activate the CD changer mechanism for any disc greater than #1
[15] The 'TERMINATION' jumper should be CLOSED if it's the last device in SCSI chain -or- a 50-pin terminator should be used on the external CD-ROM case
[16] It's unknown if the W‑30 will function at CD‑ROM speeds higher than 4x. The highest speed internal mechanism I have personally verified is 4X using the Plextor Model: PX‑43CS                  
[17] S‑760 O/S v2.19 through v2.24 has seven additional CD‑ROM drivers accessible via menu SYSTEM MODESCSICDP TYPE. Detailed documentation is here
[18] The Toshiba XM-4101BME Slimline mechanism is able to read discs up to 4x speed and also works with the Kurzweil K2000 and K2500 Samplers
[19] The BLOCK jumper on the PX‑43CS is somewhat quirky. During my tests, I could only make it work with the W‑30 if the BLOCK jumper was closed which is opposite of the S‑760
[20] There is no guarantee that if you find a Sony internal mechanism and install it inside a generic external SCSI case it will be compatible with the S‑550
       All of the info I've read on the Internet shows that the only CD‑ROM compatible with the S‑550 is the CD‑5. By looking inside the CD5, you can tell it's customized
       Off to the side of the internal mechanism is an additional SCSI board unlike a normal external Apple CDROM from the same era

     Caddy Malfunction Info
* Caddy Eject Malfunction
Some AppleCD internal mechanisms will stop working because they continuously eject the caddy. Over time, defective capacitors on the logic PCB will start to leak. This is a very common problem with Sony CDU‑541, CDU‑535, CDU‑561 and RRD42‑AA internal mechanisms and similar Toshiba internal mechanisms. AsteronTech has put together a detailed repair guide for replacing the nine defective capacitors. Note: The replacement guide at AsteronTech uses ceramic capacitors in place of electrolytic capacitors to reduce the chance of capacitors leaking in the future. I'm traditional and prefer to use components exactly as shown in schematics. I have compiled a list of mouser.com parts which are exact replacements here
     Roland CD-5 External SCSI CD-ROM Player
ROLAND CDROM
The CD‑5 allowed S‑550 and W‑30 owners to load and organize multiple samples much faster than using a floppy disk drive

      W-30 VIDEO Roland CD-5 Page - Tech Info + Reference Photos  (Weblink)
     Miscellaneous Info
     From an old post at lists.sgroup.ca

     [sgroup] S550 and SCSI supported drives
     Date: Fri Oct 4 14:05:54 EDT 2013

          I've spent years looking for CD-ROM drives that work with the S-550.
          I was strung along by computer salvage yard guy who swore he had one, but had to find it again.
          I kept offering him premium price to spend the time. No dice.
          I finally bought early all single speed SCSI drives off of EBAY and checked them out
          but very little success. The problem is people get very little money for them so chuck them out.
          The one that I found was from a school in Canada.

          Here is what I found:
          The AppleCD 150 is almost impossible to find and I have no experience if even the 300 works.
          The 150 should work but good luck finding them.**
          The Sony CDU-6111 definitely works. I found a CDU-6112 that worked.
          It eventually failed and I tried to fix it by replacing head but couldn't.

          All others that I bought where the numbers were close but were not compatible.
          Most sellers don't advertise the model numbers, but you got to look for a Sony single speed
          SCSI early model, and, if, an external drive, it would be part of a "caddy" system.
          In the end my S-550 had the hard drive, 4CD's but a broken CDU-6112.

          Now I have (3) S-760 and I file convert all the S-550 CD's from a CD I bought off of EBAY.


** Editors Note: I have tested an AppleCD 150 with a Sony CDU‑541‑25 internal mechanism + factory firmware v1.8g and it is NOT compatible with the S‑550


ROLAND CDROM
Burn Your Own S-550 And W-30 CD-ROM's
ZIPPO ZIPPO ZIPPO
Download S-50 / S-550 DOWNLOAD Roland L‑CD1 CD

Table Of Contents
165 Sound Disks
S‑550 And W‑30 Format
Download S-50 / S-550 DOWNLOAD W‑30 CD Collection #1

Table Of Contents
64 Sound Disks
W‑30 Format
Download S-50 / S-550 DOWNLOAD W‑30 CD Collection #2

Table Of Contents
64 Sound Disks
W‑30 Format

S-50 / S-550 ZONE

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