Apple Macintosh SCSI connections versus Roland sampler/synthesizer

Last updated Jan 08 2006

This document discusses Mac SCSI drives for use on older music
samplers and synthesizers. I'm aware of the following brands which
use the Apple type SCSI drive external connector:
Roland
Ensoniq or EMU

Web links
---------
I sell older Apple Mac equipment: see my Mac Web page at

http://retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/mac.html

and my SCSI drive section at

http://retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/m_drives.html

..and my Mac frequent questions (FAQ) about Roland synths and SCSI at

http://retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/macfaq.html

I have a Web page on technical features of SCSI at

http://retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/m_scsi.html

A customer in Jan 2006 suggested this link link to Ensoniq/EMU for their list of compatible drives 

http://www.emu.com/support/compatibility/ASRXPro/ASRXPro_drive.asp

Roland and SCSI
---------------

A customer in Jan 2003 gave me some information on the Roland SCSI interface,
as he wanted an external SCSI drive for his synthesizer. I've matched it
against the Apple SCSI interface on the Mac Plus (the info I had at hand).
The Roland apparently uses the same DB-25 (25 pin) connector as the Mac; and as
you'll see below, the uses of the pins on both connectors seem the
same. I don't warrent or guarantee all this information or its use,
but here it is. Contact me if you have more information and or experience
with using Apple Mac-compatible external SCSI drives with your synth.

Herb Johnson, in New Jersey, USA
(go to my Web pages to get my email address)

-----------------------

Here's the specifications for the SCSI drive my customer wanted:

*>> *>( this is directly from the manual)
*>> *>- 1 to 16 gig
*>> *>- 13 ms access time
*>> *>- no intelligent recalibration
*>> *>- active termination
*>> *>- 1:1 interleave
*>> *>- slip sectoring
*>> *>- mac compatible

here's what he said about the Roland's SCSI interface:

*> As far as the pin configuration on the Roland VS-1880, I think I have
*>something that will work for you.  I work at a music store in Kitchener,
*>Ontario, Canada and just phoned up the tech directly. There isn't anything
*>on the net that he could come up with, but did read off to me the
*>configuration over the phone (it was too small to fax it). So here
*>goes......

Sorry for my delay in response to this bit of information. I've
checked the SCSI pinouts you gave me against the Apple Mac Plus
pinouts from an Apple manual. They seem to match with one exception.
So I believe the Roland SCSI interface is wired the same as the
old Mac SCSI interface. That means SCSI cables from Macs with that
DB-25 connector, and external SCSI drives with that DB-25 connector,
should be able to be connected to the Rolands. 

Roland VS-1880        Mac SCSI

*>1-REQ                 \REQ
*>2-MSG                 \MSG
*>3-I/O                 \I/O
*>4-RST                 \RST
*>5-ACK                 \ACK
*>6-BSY                 \BSY
*>7-ground              Ground
*>8-SD0                 \DB0
*>9-ground              Ground
*>10-SD3                \DB3
*>11-SD5                \DB5
*>12-SD6                \DB6
*>13-SD7                \DB7
*>14-ground             Ground
*>15-C/D                \C/D
*>16-ground             ground
*>17-ATN                \ATN
*>18-ground             ground
*>19-SEL                \SEL
*>20-SDP                \DBP
*>21-SD1                \DB1
*>22-SD2                \DB2
*>23-SD4                \DB4
*>24-ground             ground
*>25-(hooked to VCC     SCSI termination power (except Mac Plus!)
     through diode)

"VCC" means to +5 volts. See my Web site for "termination" info.
Not sure which way the diode is oriented, if you know tell ME. ;)

Basic info on SCSI connectors may be found on my Mac Web pages for
SCSI drives.