Leigh Smith
2013-09-22 13:15:46 UTC
And because of this EPROM the internal backup battery is needed.
Hate to be picky, but you're confusing NVRAM (non-volatile random access memory) with EPROM (electrically programmable read only memory). An EPROM will preserve it's memory without electrical supply indefinitely (until erased with UV light) but must be completely erased before any data can be written to it. The battery in the Axon's and most other synths and MIDI devices preserves the patch memory in RAM which is changed frequently by the user. The battery provides a trickle supply to keep the memory powered while the rest of the unit is switched off. The advent of cheap flash memory now makes NVRAM an obsolete technology.Usually the batteries go after about 5 years, which seems to be the case with the NGC-77 etc, but I have an Alesis Quadraverb new from 1991 that is still chugging along with it's original battery. Boy, did I get good value out of that purchase...
Leigh
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Leigh M. Smith
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