Can My Keyboard Load New Sounds?
This is one of the most common questions we receive. The answer has very little to do with the name on the keyboard and everything to do with what the hardware can actually load.
Your Keyboard Must Support User Samples.
To load third-party sampled sounds, your keyboard needs some form of user sample RAM, flash sample memory, user waveform memory or another manufacturer-supported sample-import system.
If the keyboard has no way to import and play user samples, a downloadable sampled sound library cannot simply be added to it.
Let's Clear Up One Big Misunderstanding
Why Does Wise Sound Support One Keyboard But Not Another?
It is not because we believe one keyboard is “better,” because we favor one brand or model, or because we respect one instrument more than another.
Yamaha S90 ES
We have enormous respect for the Yamaha S90 ES. But it does not provide the user-sample memory architecture required for us to install a sampled Gospel Sound Pack into it.
Put simply: if the Yamaha S90 ES supported user samples, Wise Sound would have had a Gospel Sound Pack for it years ago.
The limitation is technical — not musical.
Start Here
The Easiest Way To Know
Ask one simple question: can your keyboard import sampled audio and turn those samples into a playable instrument?
Probably Yes
If the manual specifically says the keyboard can import user samples, WAV files, custom waveforms, multisamples or sample libraries and use them as playable sounds, then it has the kind of architecture sampled libraries need.
Probably No
If the keyboard only uses its built-in factory waveforms and provides no user-sample import function, there is nowhere for our sampled sound data to go.
Know What You're Looking At
Keyboard Memory Isn't All The Same
Different manufacturers — and even different generations from the same manufacturer — use different types of sample memory.
Sample RAM
Traditional RAM used to hold user samples while the keyboard is powered on. It is usually volatile, meaning samples must be loaded again after restarting.
Flash Sample Memory
Non-volatile memory dedicated to user waveforms or samples. The major advantage is that the content can remain installed after the keyboard is powered off.
Built-In User Flash
Newer instruments may have their sample-capable flash memory permanently built into the keyboard instead of requiring a DIMM or expansion board.
User Waveform / Multisample Memory
Manufacturers may call the feature user waveforms, multisamples, sampling memory, expansion memory or something similar.
Internal Storage
A keyboard can have gigabytes of internal storage and still be unable to load user sampled instruments. Storage is only useful here if the sound engine supports sample import.
USB / SD Card Storage
USB and SD may be used only for backups, songs, audio files, settings or firmware. A removable drive does not automatically equal sample capability.
Preset / Patch Memory
User preset memory usually stores programming parameters for waveforms that already exist inside the keyboard. It does not create sample RAM.
Factory ROM
A keyboard may advertise a huge factory waveform library. That tells you how much sampled content Yamaha, Roland, Korg or another manufacturer installed — not whether you can add your own.
Real-World Yamaha Examples
Three Generations Of Sample Memory
These are excellent examples of how the same basic capability — loading your own samples — has been implemented differently over the years.
DIMM Sample RAM
Earlier sampling workstations used computer-style DIMM memory modules to give the keyboard temporary space for user samples.
Load your library into the DIMMs and the keyboard can play those samples. Turn the instrument off, however, and the volatile sample data must normally be loaded again.
MOTIF XS Series
Yamaha FL1024M
Yamaha later moved to dedicated Flash Memory Expansion Modules. The FL1024M provides 1 GB of non-volatile user sample memory.
Unlike DIMM RAM, the samples stored on this board remain available after the keyboard is powered down.
MOXF Series
Integrated User Flash
With newer Yamaha platforms, the user sample memory no longer needs to be installed as a DIMM or separate flash board.
The non-volatile memory is already built into the keyboard. You load compatible libraries into the instrument and the user waveforms remain stored internally.
MODX Series
“But My Keyboard Has USB!”
This is probably the biggest source of confusion.
A keyboard being able to read a USB drive, save files, record audio, store presets or play WAV/MP3 files does not necessarily mean it can turn those audio files into playable sampled instruments.
What you need to find is specifically USER SAMPLE / USER WAVEFORM IMPORT.
The Fastest Answer
Google Your Exact Keyboard
Keyboard specifications vary enormously, even between instruments from the same product family. Searching your exact model is usually the fastest answer.
Look first for the manufacturer's official specifications, owner's manual or reference manual.
Bottom Line
Your Keyboard Must Have User Sample Capability.
Wise Sound cannot create downloadable sampled libraries for hardware that was never designed to accept user samples.
That has nothing to do with whether we like the keyboard. It has nothing to do with whether the keyboard sounds good. And it has nothing to do with whether the keyboard is expensive, popular or professional.
The hardware either provides a path for external sampled waveforms — or it doesn't.