TEST OF DEEBACH BLACKBOX

[♔Chello]

TEST OF DEEBACH BLACKBOX

   

THE PRODUCT CANNOT BE RECOMMENDED
   

I'm afraid the problems are in line for anyone who buys a BlackBox:
* If you are not familiar with midi settings
* If you are not familiar with how to use YEM

After spending a day figuring out all the issues, I finally got BB to work.
This is not thanks to Deebach's manual, which with its missing information refers to Yamaha and your model's manual.
I can promise that reading the manual for the A3000 does not say anything about how the midi settings should be.

I therefore have to ask the question: 
Why hasn't Deebach made a tutorial for the midi setup for eg Tyros5?
When they still claim to have tested this with BB, they should have taken the time to do this, if nothing else to make installation as easy as possible for the user. The layout of the different models is quite similar. T5's settings can be used on the A3000, e.g.
This is called service.

Luckily I got a copy of Orgeln`s T5 settings, otherwise I would have had great trouble figuring out what is what.

I have several critical questions:
Why hasn't Deebach made BB in the same way as XMS-Pro for Korg; here they first asked the buyer to send the serial number of the keyboard so that they could make all the necessary settings for the user.
They could have done the same with YEM - asked to be sent the keyboard's Instrument Info, and then made all the necessary settings for the user.
This is called Plug & Play, which is a foreign word for Deebach.


The installation manual is incomplete and misleading, as it does not take into account YEM`s way of working - it does not start as YEM`s own manual says, and expects the user to know everything about how to use YEM correctly.
Anyone unfamiliar with how YEM is used will face the wall, because Deebach seems to think that everyone uses WiFi, which few do, due to its known instability.
So if the user follows BB`s manual quite literally, YEM does not connect to the keyboard, because you do not have WiFi, and no file transfer will take place.

It is clear that Deebach has been in a hurry to launch BB, since they have not taken the time to make the installation procedure foolproof.
As a user, I expect a product like BB to be Plug & Play, which it certainly is not.


After following all the procedures precisely and double checking all the settings, I booted up the system.
No sound.
I checked all the settings once more, only to find that everything was 100% as it should be.

So why was there no sound?
I connected the headphones to BB`s headphone output, and all sounds worked as they should when activated.
At the same time, only the drums and the right section of the keyboard's internal system worked.

Somehow it's a malfunction with my BB, because everything worked 100% when I connected the audio cable from BB`s headphone output to the keyboard's AUX in.
BB`s AUX out does not work.
I have connected the keyboard's MAIN outs directly to the PA amplifier to omit sources of error.


Deebach`s instruments are also chaotically organized, just as was the case with XMS-Pro and MAX Plus.

However, all of the above can be digested, if the sound is good enough.
Is it?
NO.
I would argue that I have a broader basis for comparison than most, since I have had both XMS-Pro for Korg Pa3X and MAX Plus.

One thing is indisputable:
MAX Plus is better than BB - far better.
This is rather strange, because Deebach claims that MAX Plus and BB use the same sounds.
Do not damn if they do - I can prove this if necessary.
Download instrument list for MAX Plus and BB, and compare.
Scams & Fraud.

Only very few sounds in BB are usable - the rest are useless, and the drums are the worst I have heard - bass sounds are about the same.
A cheap Casio is better.
Many important sounds are completely omitted, and acoustic pianos are so poor that the A3000's Presets are preferable.
Acoustic bass on the MAX Plus was absolutely fantastic, while the versions in the BB are hardly better than the A3000's.


Most organ sounds are very disappointing, while accordion, trumpets, flutes and saxophones are about as good as on the MAX Plus.
Several sounds have strange noises, which also occurred on XMS-Pro and MAX Plus; but BB has far more sounds that do not work as they should.

I would like to end by saying that BlackBox in no way meets my expectations, and with its flawed installation procedures, this appears to be a unfinished product.

Users with keyboard models other than the A3000 may achieve completely different results, but will still face installation challenges.
As said:
For my part, a cheap Casio is better.


   
THE PRODUCT CANNOT BE RECOMMENDED

[♝jucami]

Chello, thanks for sharing your opinions and your problems with the BB, it´s a great help.
Do you think that Ketron modules like SD 40 or Midj Pro could be a better option than Deebach modules?

[♔Chello]

@jucami

If you have a T5, your experience will probably be very different from mine, because the T5 has no problems with the audio connection.
It is quite possible that this alone ruined my experience.

The Ketron modules are a sensible and safe choice anyway, but in your case I would have avoided the BlackBox, because you have a BK-5, which must be adjusted very manually, which requires extensive work and knowledge along the way.

Buy a T5, then you do not need a module, if you can experiment a bit yourself with sounds. 

[♔Chello]

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

I have done a complete test of BB`s sounds, and established a shocking fact:
There are absolutely insane differences in level between the different sounds.
This was also the case with XMS-Pro and MAX Plus, but BB is much worse mixed.
Even though I set the AUX in to max on the A3000 and all style parts to 63, many voices become so low that everything else drowns them out.
Since I have to connect via BB`s headphone output, I also have the option to regulate the strength with BB`s volume control, which is also set to max.


Dietmar Delissen (Mr. Deebach) obviously needs a hearing test, because he can not possibly have a normally functioning hearing -  this is so serious that BB should never have left the store.
There is talk of MANY dB in sound variations; I would have needed half a regulation (63 of 127) in addition to have been able to regulate the weakest voices to an equal level.

Users can rightly ask themselves if this is a unique case, or if the individual BB`s are calibrated randomly.
My copy has obviously avoided all quality controls; if Deebach at all knows what a quality control is.

The discovery and confirmation of the above conditions reminds me of the experience with XMS-Pro:
Many voices did not work at all, others had many noises, and no update worked.
This despite the fact that Deebach delivered XMS-Pro on the basis of my Pa3X's serial number - this was supposedly to make the programming foolproof.

Deebach was also so rude and false that they claimed that my case was the only one known in the company's history. I could later read in their own blog for the XMS-Pro forum that there were several who experienced the same thing as me.

I see it as my responsibility to warn all users against buying anything from Deebach, and will soon post my previous tests of XMS-Pro and MAX Plus as a reminder and final warning.

[⚖whitecolin1]

Once again a great breakdown of the pros and cons of the BB Chello,
I feel sad you have to buy the products and find them not fit for process

For me ,like yourself keen to try other products on the market its a god send 
as i would buy blindly on the false truths of the abilities of the BB and usually 
without any customer support buy in the hope they fulfilled their promises


Good work Buddy

[♔Chello]

@Colin

Well and clearly stated, Buddy.
I am curious by nature, and like to test new products - it is actually especially interesting to test something others think very well or very negatively about.

I feel that I have given Deebach every possible chance to prove that they have improved their products and are able to fulfill their promises.

However, having purchased 3 different products from them over an extended period of several years, I have to state that Deebach maintains its status as totally junk.

Deebach has effectively burned all the bridges to make me believe that their products are worth a purchase.

[♔Chello]

A WARNING TO ALL ORIENTAL USERS:

I got another surprise when I used BB:
It can only be used in 440Hz.

I have changed the Master Tune on my A3000 to 432Hz (Verdi`s chamber tone), because this gives a more realistic sound experience.
If I use this setup with BB, all the sounds from BB are reproduced in 440Hz, because the box is locked for this.
In other words, the sounds from BB become impossible to play with.

BlackBox is thus not intended for the oriental market, and those from there who still acquire a BB, will feel cheated, because it can not be used for oriental instrument setups, which are very often set to 432Hz.

This again means that even if the box had worked perfectly, I could not use it with my setup.
Should Deebach never learn?
They could have spent an opportunity to change Master Tune.

[✪Paul]

chello

There was a problem with  1/2  difference  between accompaniment and right hand. I have now reset to factory settings as you suggested.
Result: now I have no more sound. And reading your commentary about your test with the BB makes me really excited to throw the BB on the paving stones.
I'm sorry you didn't open my eyes until after I bought the BB, but yes I was enchanted by the beautiful organ sounds I heard on you tube.

Paul

[♔Chello]

@Paul

Thanks for the interesting feedback.
I assume you have repeated the whole process after resetting to factory settings?
The process is actually quite simple, but a bit extensive.

If you are absolutely sure that you have done everything correctly with YEM, only one possible source of error remains:
Your MIDI setup.

If you've got help from Orgeln and used his setup, there's something really wrong somewhere.
BB MUST work.

[♔Chello]

I came up with one thing about my BB:

It was packed in original packaging, and it was not possible to see that it had been unpacked.
The power supply was also packed in original box and plastic with packed cable, and had never been opened.
With this as a fact, it sounds strange - and unlikely - that Orgeln has bought this used.

I guess he got it at a spot price from Deebach personally, since they are good friends in private.