thumb drive “flexibility”?

[sugarplumsss]

Ought i buy thumb drives dedicated to each keyboard of this series ?
i have access to T4 T5 and Genos
can i use the same thumb for all 3!?
or better to have separate ones ?
but nevertheless , is it "ok" to just use one for all three ?
or maybe just one for T4 T5
and a second for Genos?
this question is not directed to the cost of multiple thumb drives , but strictly about what is better and best.
thank you

[pjd]

Hi --

I don't think you'll run into any file system compatibility issues, that is, problems related to the most basic file and directory operations. All of the models that you mentioned support the same basic read, write, etc. of FAT16 or FAT32.

What you will run into are potential incompatibilities due to different factory voices, DSP effects, etc. So, if a style or whatever was tuned for Genos, it won't necessarily sound the same way on T4, for example.

I've played two+ different models in the past and kept a separate USB flash drive for each one of them. I also kept model-specific styles, etc. in separate directories on my personal computer, too. You could comingle model-specific styles as long as you identify the target model in the style name -- otherwise you will go crazy trying to keep it all straight.

Just a few ideas -- pj

[Graham UK]

You can us one thumb drive for all your keyboards.

Just make and name a folder to save the files to each keyboard name.
Generally keyboard files are small so 16gb should be OK, as there is not a lot of difference in price for 32gb.
I use a 32gb USB for my boards.

[mikf]

Keeping everything on one is certainly convenient. Since the three keyboards you list would all read and play all the files, whether you even bother to separate the files into into different keyboards is up to you. It is true that the style optimized for one could sound a little different played on a different keyboard, but between the three keyboards you mention, probably not much, if anything, most of the time.

Many of the styles between these three keyboards will be duplicated, and you could rationalize that to make access a little easier.   So I guess it depends how picky you are about the perfect sound!

On a more general note, most of us keep far too many styles, especially in the early days, when we get a 'hunger' for more and more and cant stop collecting them. Then searching the vast number for the perfect one gets to be like looking for a needle in the proverbial haystack.
A smarter thing is to really be ruthless in what you keep. Then the whole problem of storing, searching, optimizing, gets easier. 

Mike