Allen ADC interface/Zuma Board Replacement

I've found an Allen ADC 5400 which has become available at a reasonable price, and I am looking at purchasing it for use as a backup Hauptwerk setup. I understand that Allens are a dime a dozen in the States, but it is pretty rare to find one here in Germany, especially one that works, and at a a good price. I played on many Allens growing up, and their build quality generally seemed pretty solid.

As far as interfacing this instrument with Hauptwerk, the Zuma MIDI stop controller product for Allen ADC organs looks to be exactly what I would need to successfully implement such a project, but I see on their website that they no longer offer this board for sale. Is anyone aware of where this product might still be available? If not, is anyone aware of a project on the market that provides similar functionality, preferably plug and play, or at least without the significant rewiring that a generic MIDI solution would require?

Many thanks!

Matthew

If your Allen organ has a standard midi output you should be able to play HW just by connecting it to this output with a midi cable and setting up HW to use the Allen manuals and stops. (Turn the Allen sound off, or cut the speaker cables).

The Allen pistons should not be output by default but there may be a setting which will let them pass through to the midi output.

Its just a matter of experimenting and learning as you go.

If there is no standard midi output you may as well bin the organ as it has no value except perhaps for spare parts.

csw900

This is a 3 manual ADC instrument made in the late 80s. There are MIDI connectors, but the support still was pretty primitive. The Zuma board I mentioned seems to be a plug-and-play alternative, allowing HW full access to the Allen pistons and stop action magnets. https://zumagroup.com/midi-stop-controller/

If this board is no longer available, I'm just wondering if an alternative exists.

The Allen MOS and ADC consoles can be converted to MIDI and make great virtual organs. I am not aware of an easy solution for the stops without major rewiring. As someone who has made the "midification" of these consoles a specialty I believe I would be aware of any elegant solutions that are easy to implement. Artisan has a modification that requires the rework of every stop. I have free designs that I am willing to share, but I no longer put together kits of boards except for my own work.

If you find an easy solution, or if anyone else has a suggestion please share your thoughts. It is possible to reuse the drivers attached to each SAM and reuse the capture system power supply, so this ADC could be a wonderful virtual organ but the project is neither easy nor quick!

The Allen MOS and ADC consoles can be converted to MIDI and make great virtual organs. I am not aware of an easy solution for the stops without major rewiring. As someone who has made the "midification" of these consoles a specialty I believe I would be aware of any elegant solutions that are easy to implement. Artisan has a modification that requires the rework of every stop. I have free designs that I am willing to share, but I no longer put together kits of boards except for my own work.

If you find an easy solution, or if anyone else has a suggestion please share your thoughts. It is possible to reuse the drivers attached to each SAM and reuse the capture system power supply, so this ADC could be a wonderful virtual organ but the project is neither easy nor quick!

Thanks for your reply!

From what I have been able to gather, the Zuma board was a plug-and-play solution for these instruments; it provided full HW control from the console, while still preserving the Allen's native capabilities. Zuma stopped making these boards a while back, because they became too expensive to produce.

From what you are telling me, with the absence of such a product, the only real solution to essentially gut the instrument and start over with generic MIDI boards. We're talking about one solution that requires one purchase and a few minutes to install, and without it, several months of detailed wiring and electronic work at a significant expense in terms of time and money.

This could be a deal breaker; even though the instrument is being offered at a terrific price, I'm wondering if it is worth the time and hassle.

The Zuma Stop Controller Board was indeed a plug and play solution for bi-directional stop control for Allen organs with dual memory capture systems. (DM). These include most MOS models and early ADC models. Later ADC models had quad memory capture systems which were not supported by the Zuma board.

https://organforum.com/forums/forum/ele ... post721324