I have a question about a newly acquired Roland S-50 Sampler that I got for free from a used shop here in Japan. Everything works on it perfectly except there is an issue that I can't isolate so I'm thinking of replacing the boards inside but I'm not sure which one yet. If I could just replace one and not all, I could likely fix this for just $50 bucks or less.
Here are the symptoms.
1. I am getting static output across all outputs at 50% or higher in volume. You can listen here to the static when a sample is played back.
http://jimatwood.net/synth/Roland-S50-Static-Output.WMA2. I noticed also that when the first 8 notes are play the volume is at normal levels, but when I play the next 8 notes it drops to about half. Then the next 8 notes played produces normal volume levels and so on. It's almost like a bad chip on the 106 when you play 5 notes and the fifth is messed up. However, the static issue still is present on all notes regardless of volume level. ( Polyphony is 16 on the S-50 )
3. Not a problem hopefully, but I noticed a black resin wrapped IC Chip on the CPU Board labeled MD6209. The S-50 was released in 1986 so I hope that one chip isn't any sort of problem chip like on the Juno. It does however look like a hybrid of sorts that is protect by the black wrapping identical to the 106. Interesting I thought.
What I've done so far:
1. Removed and cleaned the volume sliders with Deoxit although I am not sure if that did anything.
2. Removed all boards and checked for solder cracks, blown caps, or anything out of the ordinary. Nothing found at a glance.
So, I'm thinking of replacing one or all of the following boards:
Output Jack Board
Volume Slider Board
CPU Board
Power Supply Board
( I got the S-50 in mint cosmetic condition for Free. The LCD, all keys, and Floppy Drive works 100% . Total cost to replace all boards above with shipping to Japan is $185.00, so basically it's like buying an S-50 for $185 unless I only need to replace one board which would reduce the price. Is it worth it? Not sure yet...laugh. )
Thus I'm curious which board or boards I should replace Any thoughts from any experienced techs?
Thanks very much!
Jim