A Novice Asks: How to Back up Pro 2's Existing Sound Banks to Windows Laptop

[Scrypt]

Sorry to ask a rudimentary question, but I just received a used Pro 2 and every bank is filled with someone else's own work or magpie hoarding.

For various reasons, I'd like to back up the suffocating number of sounds by others before reinstalling the standard presets and working on sounds of my own. The Sequential site and DSI manual explain how to load new files using MIDI-Ox (the computer I'm using right now is a Windows laptop), but not how to back up existing sound banks. And I've got several hundred I'd like to store ASAP before moving on to my own sounds.

[LPF83]

Sorry to ask a rudimentary question, but I just received a used Pro 2 and every bank is filled with someone else's own work or magpie hoarding.

For various reasons, I'd like to back up the suffocating number of sounds by others before reinstalling the standard presets and working on sounds of my own. The Sequential site and DSI manual explain how to load new files using MIDI-Ox (the computer I'm using right now is a Windows laptop), but not how to back up existing sound banks. And I've got several hundred I'd like to store ASAP before moving on to my own sounds.

Interestingly, the person who sold the Pro 2 claimed it was "just too much synth" for him and that the synth had been in a "pet-free librarian's house." However, the 792 banks of new programming and completely up-to-date firmware led me to suspect he left something out. Looking at his Buyer/Seller feedback, which I should have done before buying, shows he bought this very synth from someone else in June 2022. That someone was clearly experienced and did a lot of work with this supposedly virgin Pro 2. The seller seems to be a person who buys from others and then sells at higher prices. Which is fine except that he seems to be lying about it. Anyway.

More than likely one of the previous owners purchased some sound banks.

Is the Dump All Banks option not sending the data to MIDIOX?   You might want to look into an editor like Soundtower or CodeKnobs for a slightly more elegant method.

Pro 2 is a great synth btw.. I prefer it to the sound of the Pro3..  I think I saw the one you're refering to on Reverb and it looked like it was in great shape.

[Scrypt]

More than likely one of the previous owners purchased some sound banks.

I mentioned that in a less-polite version of my OP using magpie as a verb. That's just not what I was expecting from a self-proclaimed librarian who claimed he tried to like the Pro 2 and was supposedly overwhelmed. His purchase date, which I gleaned from seller feedback, told me he managed to buy the very Pro 2 that I'd been trying to buy in June and that cost $1,100. I'd had it in my cart but deliberated too long.

I just don't like it when people lie. I don't do that when I'm selling gear because there's too much Machiavellian selfishness in the world.

Is the Dump All Banks option not sending the data to MIDIOX?   You might want to look into an editor like Soundtower or CodeKnobs for a slightly more elegant method.

The issue is probably that I hadn't noticed the Pro 2 requires a MIDI B connection, which meant I didn't bring that sort of cord to my girlfriend's place, where the Pro 2 was delivered. So I tried to establish a connection using a MIDI-to-USB cable that works with my norns and a WIDI Bud Pro and WIDI Jack, both of which work with my Keystep 37. One thing I noticed was that the Pro 2 doesn't power WIDI cables -- the Arturia does, as does my NI Keyboard at my place -- so I plugged the Jack into a power strip. I can see that the WIDI connection is working, but the Pro 2 isn't sending MIDI notes to Reaper.

Bank-dump SysEx messages are going to be too much for the Bud Pro, which would cut off such an attempt, but I should at least be able to use the Pro 2 as a controller. Setting the globals to default made my sustain pedal work. Perhaps setting everything to factory default will change the MIDI outcome once I can dump the sound banks.

If I have to use a USB cable to connect with a Windows laptop running Reaper when I'm at my girlfriend's place, that will be OK. But I'm having trouble understanding why my Keystep connected easily via bluetooth MIDI and my Pro 2 hasn't worked that way so far.

Pro 2 is a great synth btw.. I prefer it to the sound of the Pro3..  I think I saw the one you're refering to on Reverb and it looked like it was in great shape.

I'm an older studio keyboardist who has played on a lot of albums over the years but took a break to be an editor. My first synth in middle school was a Prophet 5, and I also own a Prophet VS module and a Prophet 10 module. The experimental routing possibilities with the Pro 2, and its apparent usefulness as a slightly twisted controller (judging from the I/O) are huge reasons I decided to pick one up. I haven't been disappointed by the sound. I just have to be able to get it to work as a controller, slave it to my various DAWs and back up the sounds it contains so I can do things like restore the default settings to see whether that solves some issues.

[LPF83]

More than likely one of the previous owners purchased some sound banks.

I mentioned that in a less-polite version of my OP using magpie as a verb. That's just not what I was expecting from a self-proclaimed librarian who claimed he tried to like the Pro 2 and was supposedly overwhelmed. His purchase date, which I gleaned from seller feedback, told me he managed to buy the very Pro 2 that I'd been trying to buy in June and that cost $1,100. I'd had it in my cart but deliberated too long.

I just don't like it when people lie. I don't do that when I'm selling gear because there's too much Machiavellian selfishness in the world.

Is the Dump All Banks option not sending the data to MIDIOX?   You might want to look into an editor like Soundtower or CodeKnobs for a slightly more elegant method.

The issue is probably that I hadn't noticed the Pro 2 requires a MIDI B connection, which meant I didn't bring that sort of cord to my girlfriend's place, where the Pro 2 was delivered. So I tried to establish a connection using a MIDI-to-USB cable that works with my norns and a WIDI Bud Pro and WIDI Jack, both of which work with my Keystep 37. One thing I noticed was that the Pro 2 doesn't power WIDI cables -- the Arturia does, as does my NI Keyboard at my place -- so I plugged the Jack into a power strip. I can see that the WIDI connection is working, but the Pro 2 isn't sending MIDI notes to Reaper.

Bank-dump SysEx messages are going to be too much for the Bud Pro, which would cut off such an attempt, but I should at least be able to use the Pro 2 as a controller. Setting the globals to default made my sustain pedal work. Perhaps setting everything to factory default will change the MIDI outcome once I can dump the sound banks.

If I have to use a USB cable to connect with a Windows laptop running Reaper when I'm at my girlfriend's place, that will be OK. But I'm having trouble understanding why my Keystep connected easily via bluetooth MIDI and my Pro 2 hasn't worked that way so far.

Pro 2 is a great synth btw.. I prefer it to the sound of the Pro3..  I think I saw the one you're refering to on Reverb and it looked like it was in great shape.

I'm an older studio keyboardist who has played on a lot of albums over the years but took a break to be an editor. My first synth in middle school was a Prophet 5, and I also own a Prophet VS module and a Prophet 10 module. The experimental routing possibilities with the Pro 2, and its apparent usefulness as a slightly twisted controller (judging from the I/O) are huge reasons I decided to pick one up. I haven't been disappointed by the sound. I just have to be able to get it to work as a controller, slave it to my various DAWs and back up the sounds it contains so I can do things like restore the default settings to see whether that solves some issues.

My recommendation for backing things up would be a simple USB cable combined with a good editor/librarian.

[Scrypt]

My recommendation for backing things up would be a simple USB cable combined with a good editor/librarian.

That's what I intend to try next Friday, when I'll be back at my girlfriend's place. I'll also bring a traditional MIDI-to-MIDI cable and TRS adapter and try connecting with a Microfreak to see if that works. I've seen that the Pro 2 has often had hardware issues related to MIDI and USB, so I hope that's not the case here. I've also contacted Sequential's tech support.

The fact that this Pro 2 won't power a WIDI Jack from its MIDI ports worries me from a hardware standpoint. My Prophet 10 module does that without any issues.

I noticed that hardware-related MIDI issues with certain Pro 2s were mentioned here: https://modwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=166396.

I haven't wanted to invest in the Soundtower librarian/VST because I don't even know whether I'll keep this Pro 2 if it does prove to have verifiable hardware issues. For the full dump, I'm intending to use MIDI-Ox or the DSI Pro2 editor (which is free and works within Ctrl).

Thanks for trying to help. I wanted to edit out the personal remarks and pejoratives in my previous two posts, but it appears that you can only edit posts here for a limited amount of time.

[Scrypt]

Update:

I can't modify my previous posts, so I just want to say that I was unfair to the previous seller and their reputation even though I didn't name them. I wish that I could delete my previous posts.

Sequential says that my Pro 2's serial number has no previous history of repairs or issues, and the seller has agreed to refund the cost of the instrument. That person's tests of the instrument were provisional because their use case is quite different from mine. I should never have expressed unfounded opinions about that person's character or motives. I was offbase and I owe an apology to that person and to their reputation.

The seller has been extremely honest and forthright about my concerns and has approved my request for a refund. I'm working with Sequential now to resolve any issues I can diagnostically before returning the synth, and to detail any repairs the instrument might need. The seller lives close to Sequential's offices, so the next person who buys this Pro 2 might benefit significantly from the seller's efforts before he lists the Pro 2 again.

Re backing up the sound libraries:

Connecting with a USB B to USB C cable allowed me to back up everything using MIDI-Ox and the library was accessible with the DSI Pro2 / Crtrlr sound editor.

Unfortunately, MIDI transmission and reception was unusable to nonexistent using that same cable or, alternately, a WIDI Bud Pro and WIDI Jack (which had to be powered from AC because the Pro 2 does not have powered MIDI ports). A FORE MIDI to USB cable also did not work.

So there are definitely problems with this Pro 2 that need addressing, but they are not the seller's fault and I have every indication that the seller will address and correct those problems before the Pro 2 is back up for sale. I will be giving that seller five stars once everything goes the way it should.

[Sacred Synthesis]

Update:

I can't modify my previous posts, so I just want to say that I was unfair to the previous seller and their reputation even though I didn't name them. I wish that I could delete my previous posts.

Ask and you shall receive. 

[Scrypt]

Ask and you shall receive. 

Thanks so much. Could I possibly trouble you to delete the last paragraph in my original post as well? I hope that you can, and thanks again for what you've done already.

[Sacred Synthesis]

Ask and you shall receive. 

Thanks so much. Could I possibly trouble you to delete the last paragraph in my original post as well? I hope that you can, and thanks again for what you've done already.

All I did was remove that one paragraph.  Anything else?