Some Frequently Asked Questions

• Where can I get a new power supply?
  What are the power requirements of the MMT-8?

  Sound Technology in the UK sell them: Alesis PSUs. Also:

  "I have found that a company called LINE 6, which sells guitar effects equipment and amps, uses the same power suply rating as the mmt-8. I have been using that power suply (I believe 9 volt AC 1amp) for quite some time now and it works great. Line 6 sells the power supplies separately... I used to work for an Alesis/line 6 dealer, and used to sell them often... I believe the part number is px-1." (D.Jones)

  Here's a link to buy them at Yahoo's store: PX-1 AC Power Supply

  The MMT-8 runs on 9V AC, 7VA. Allegedly, if you accidentally plug in DC voltage, it doesn't harm the MMT-8.

• My MMT-8 won't store parts or songs any more when I turn the power off.

  Your MMT-8's internal battery is flat. See below...

• Where can I get a new battery?
  How can I fit it?

  Any kind of 3.6 volt lithium battery should do. As far as we know, there are two sorts used in the MMT-8: a grey flat one, and a pink cylindrical one. The size/shape isn't important, but you will need to be able to use a soldering iron to replace the battery. Here's one person's experience:

  "Although my battery was still retaining memory, the date code on it was 05/89 and knowing that lithium memory batteries have a 10 year life at best, I decided to replace mine before finding out it needed replacement. Knowing that I can find almost anything on the web I discovered a source here in the midwest USA at Tri-State Electronics. My battery is a cylindrical type with axial leads for solder in. Go to the above site, navigate to batteries, then in the battery listings navigate to Tadiran Tl5101 1/2 AA 3.6V Lithium Battery. There you'll find 3 styles of this type of battery with the COMP4-5 being the type to order. They have a secure checkout and mine was received within 3 days of order. Price was reasonable too - about $12.00 USD incl. shipping. You'll have to be careful forming the leads to fit the solder pads on the MMT-8 motherboard so you don't short them together, but the task of removing the old one and soldering in the new one was no big shakes." (Kevin)

• Does the LCD screen have variable contrast?

  Sort of. It was rumoured that there was a combination of keypresses that could alter the contrast, but no-one's discovered it yet. However:

  "I have found that you can reach the variable contrast in the mmt-8 by opening it up, and there's a variable resistor that adjusts it. it's right on the back of the lcd pcb. But it's more of a brightness rather than a contrast..." (D.Jones)

• What version did the ROMs get to?
  Where can I get hold of the latest version?

  The final version of the ROM was 1.11. Go here to see the differences between the versions.

  To upgrade your MMT-8 to the latest version, you have two choices:

  • Download the latest ROM binary from here, and find someone kind who'll blow you an EPROM for a small amount of money.
  • Ask on the forum if someone has any spares.

  Sound Technology used to sell them, we're not sure if they do any longer.

• How can I fix my buttons? They don't work any more.

  The method we use is to (a) clean the contacts on the PCB with propyl alcohol, and (b) gently rub an emory board or fine sandpaper on the button contacts themselves. This works for us, but we take no responsibility if this doesn't work for you! Here's a suggestion from the forum:

  "Anyone who has suffered from 'sticky' buttons will know how frustrating it is when you have to hold them down hard for ages or else they won't respond at all. Well I know how to fix the problem. This is especially relevant to UK users because it is harder for us to get replacement button membranes - Alesis UK don't stock them as far as I know^*. All you need to do is open up your mmt8 and glue pieces of foil to the bottom of the electro conductive rubber pads under the buttons. However make sure you know your mmt8 is very ill because there is no going back on this once you've done it: the glue will stop the electro conductive rubber ever working again. I recommend using a 2 part epoxy resin glue (e.g., Araldite in the UK) as super glue is too brittle and the foil will come off in use. It takes a while to do, but your mmt8 will work as well as it did when it was new (maybe even better), and the buttons will not get worse, but I will stress again DO NOT do this unless you are having major problems with your machine. You may need to check the condition of the foil regularly, but is easy to replace the foil with another piece." (Thomas)

  ^* Alesis UK = Sound Technology, Alesis' distributors in the UK. According to them, they sold me the last keyboard pad (membrane) at the end of 2001, sorry. pete

  See the Miscellaneous page for more info about buttons

• Can the MMT-8 store audio?

  Absolutely not. It stores nothing but MIDI, and not a great deal of that - about 11,000 notes on average.

• How can I use a computer to backup my parts and songs?
  How do I get sysex data in and out of my MMT-8?

  If your computer has a MIDI interface, then you can store the entire contents of your MMT-8s memory on the computer's hard drive via sysex. Sysex is simply control information that can be sent through MIDI cables; in this case, the MMT-8 uses sysex to dump its memory. The memory files can be sent back to the MMT-8 in a similar fashion.

  Here is a 'how-to' using Alesis' Freeloader software. Most computer-based sequencers will allow you to receive and send sysex.

• Can I convert MMT-8 sysex files to and from MIDI files?

  Yes. Pete Kvitek's MMT-8 Exchange will let you do exactly that, and has many other useful functions. The software costs $19.95.

  Alternatively, you could look at Giebler Enterprise's MMT-8 Sequencer Conversion Software, which is more expensive and hasn't got a nice Windows interface.

• What's the full character set?
  
  (Very similar to ASCII: 32 is top left, 127 bottom right)

• Where can I get hold of the original demos that came loaded with the MMT-8?

  Here: mmt8fact.syx (14.4 kb). [It's a sysex file, see above]

• How much does a second-hand MMT-8 cost?

  In the UK, somewhere between £60 and £120.

• Are there any 'Easter Eggs' inside the MMT-8's software?

  Sort of, though if you're expecting a lost level of Quake, you'll be disappointed.

  Hold the NAME button, then either CLOCK, CLICK or TEMPO:

  NAME + CLOCK
  NAME + CLICK
  NAME + TEMPO

  As far as we know, "Fast Forward Designs" = Michel Doidic and Marcus Ryle, who went on to found Line 6 (home of the POD). Keith Barr started Alesis Studio Electronics in late 1984, according to the Alesis Semiconductor site.

• Where can I buy/sell an MMT-8?
  • The forum
  • Your nearest eBay (e.g. ebay.com, ebay.co.uk, ebay.it), or equivalent auction site.
  • In the Classifieds section of a suitable magazine, e.g. Future Music or Sound On Sound.
  • An appropriate usenet newsgroup.

  PLEASE don't email us about it, we can't help, sorry.

• Where can I get a replacement LCD screen?

  Ranger Audio Enterprises sell them, the part number is 12705955.

• Can the MMT-8 do step recording?

  Not in the traditional sense, no. You can enter the notes by hand in the PART EDIT mode, but this is a pain. The only real alternatives are (a) create the sequence elsewhere and import it (via midi, sysex, whatever) into the MMT-8, or (b) play the sequence into the MMT-8 then quantise and edit it.

• Do you make all the LCD screen gifs by hand?

  No, we wrote a script. The script (VBScript) makes a bitmap, and we batch convert the bitmaps into gifs with Photoshop.

• Why mmt8.com and not mmt-8.com?

  No real reason! www.mmt-8.com should point to this site, too.

Please drop us a line here if you've any questions, or would like to add to this FAQ.

FAQ last updated Tuesday, 9th April 2002