Hello dear Elektronians,
What is the best way to get my hands on a +Drive and install myself to upgrade my MD SPS MK2?
I’m banging my head to the wall why didn’t I spare couple more money to buy a UW+… Now I can’t sell this bad boy to buy another bcz I like him a lot. we have a connection… been through a lot.
Anyways because now I’ve filled the whole 64 patterns I need to have the save/load state feature.
Thanks & cheers.
Try Elektron Support. If they don’t have them, it’s probably going to be tough. Good luck 
Yes open a support ticket. I had mine installed a few months ago.
So a SPS-1 MK2 -> UW+ upgrade is theoretically possible … what about upgrading from a SPS-1 UW MK1, is it possible to get the +drive on that?
They haven’t done any service on MK1 for years so I wouldn’t count on that. Hence the much lower mk1 prices
How come? Can I read about this somewhere? Does that mean when my SPS-1 UW MK1 battery dies they won‘t replace it for me??
I don’t remember where I read it first. But I wrote their support to confirm when looking at getting a MD and consider mk1 vs mk2.
I think it was so they got about the parts for mk1 no longer being available. Certain more standard parts in MK1 you might be able to get serviced by a third party
Yeah I just found this thread…
Damn that really sucks I wish I would have known that while buying it (not that I regret it) now it has me worrying when my time will inevitably come, really makes you think about life and death jeez what a dramatic purchase
I imagine changing the battery should be quite simple for a synth technician. Just matching the power requirements. And there should be enough space in the box
But yeah I just bought a mk2 in decent condition. But trying to get everything serviced to new by electron before they one day stop support for these as well
I would just open a ticket and see if it’s possible. The way the Drive works is that there is an empty space on the board and they just solder it in and charge you some coin. I am sure they would be happy to take your coin if it’s doable.
I’m going from memory but I’m nearly certain the plus drive plugs in and does work on mki’s. I have one sitting around in a parts dir pulled from a mki md and ready to put in my sfx-6.
Here’s some information about the +Drive upgrade from the Elektron knowledge base.
And a service statement about the MK1 devices.
Hi @JSZ, did you have just the +drive installed, or did they also add the UW sample engine as well?
I’m looking for a way to upgrade my SPS1 MK2 non UW to the UW version.
Best,
Tim
Non-UW -> UW upgrade is not possible, as far as I know.
This is my understanding as well. I had a UW model to begin with.
Ah, too bad. It was possible a long time ago, they had an upgrade program which made SPS1 MK2 into the UW version, but I contacted elektron support and sadly it’s no longer available.
How much did it cost?
I just had it done to my MD mk2. Cost: 231 EUR (before tax).
Mine was 289 incl. VAT.
just to clarify, are you talking about adding UW to a non-UW or installing a +Drive to a UW?