Emax Sampler?

[buckman]

After seeing the thread on the Ensoniq Mirage as a gritty sampler, i just thought i'd ask anyones opinions on the Emax 1 or Emax SE sampler keyboards?

I know they are low quality, 12-bit etc but the filters are supposd to be analog and warmer than most Akai samplers etc at the time?

The main reason for an Emax is that i've seen many times that 90% of "Irresistible Force's - Flying High" Album was done with an Emax 1 sampler.

Now the sounds, pads etc in this all sound awesome with some fantastic filters, the sounds are nothing like i've really heard since with software.

I take it c.1991/1992 that this Emax was multi-tracked for each sound, ie: Emax sound tweaked manually with its filters and layed down to track 1, 2nd sound tracked to track 2?

Can anyone vouch that the Emax sounds as warm/filtered as the Flying High Album? (i know an MS6 was used too but only marginally so the main 90% sounds are Emax)

[Benedict]

Don't know the album you speak of but I did own both an Emax and Emax II and I still miss em both.

My Emax went crazy and was unfixable as there apparently were no more boards, so be careful.

Sonically Emaxes were wonderful. The 12db filter and sample rates didn't look so great on paper but they both sounded so nice. Emax II is quite a lot cleaner. Similar to the later ESi racks.

If you can handle older gear an Emax is a special thing but otherwise I'd say get one of the newer Emulator modules. PPl seem to have issues with Emulator X but that should be good too. Can't get it here in Australia or I would have got one.

[kodama]

I had one, it broke, sold it....

Really not that special, rresistible Force just used what they had at the time.

A decent sampler like Direct Wave would stomp it....

[ChipCurtis]

If I got an eMax I, I wouldn't use it as a sampler, I'd use it as a polysynth. Same thing that I do with my DSS-1. The 12-bit waveforms and the analog synth engine make a nice pair, but IMO much better for synthesizing sounds than using as a "regular" sampler. As synths, these early samplers compete quite well (soundwise) with a lot of 80s digitally-controlled analogs.

[GatoKonBotas]

I still have an Emax I (rack) that I don't use, good condition, working fine last time I tried it. If there is interest, I may put it up for sale, for a fair price.

[lordvader48]

It's weird. I've owned most of those older samplers (Emax, Emax II, Mirage) and they really each have their own unique and INCREDIBLY USEFUL sound. Oddly, they tend to sound very different from a PC with an audio interface, and I still don't fully understand why.

The problem with older samplers is that they have their "needs". They all have a pretty rustic OS that takes a lot of fiddling, and usually they have very little sampling time.

I think that on the whole that OLD SAMPLERS are an as yet unexplored territory for VSTi creators. While I have almost every VSTi synth and sampler there is, I don't like very many of them and NONE of them sound as good as an old Mirage. If somebody made a VSTi that reproduced the sound of the Mirage, did sampling, and had a ton of sampling time I'd pay BIG BUCKS for that.

Always remember the Fairlight. It's still perhaps the very best instrument ever created for doing electronic music, and to this day has no equal, either from a UI standpoint or sonically. I view this as one of the great failures of the music industry - the Fairlight had the "whole package". Since then, only pieces of it have been successfully reproduced in various products.

[sweet_trip]

i agree about the Emax as a polysynth argument. the filters are sweet

[uvacom]

It's weird. I've owned most of those older samplers (Emax, Emax II, Mirage) and they really each have their own unique and INCREDIBLY USEFUL sound. Oddly, they tend to sound very different from a PC with an audio interface, and I still don't fully understand why.

Yup, I've got a Mirage, DSS-1, and an Emax II at the moment, I plan to get an SP-1200 sometime relatively soon.

There are a lot of reasons why they don't sound like a modern audio interface - clock rate modulation used for transposition in some cases, add/drop interpolation in others, (non-transparent) analog voice summing, table lookup aliasing, terrible DAC specifications by modern standards (poor antialias filter, high jitter rates, etc)...lots of fun stuff. It's the kind of thing that can't be emulated by an insert effect, despite what some naysayers claim. But I have this sneaking suspicion that someday, just maybe...it will be emulated. Maybe.

The problem with older samplers is that they have their "needs". They all have a pretty rustic OS that takes a lot of fiddling, and usually they have very little sampling time.

Oh yes. If there is a positive aspect to this, it's that it forces you to really premeditate your creative ideas, and structure things in your mind in advance. These devices just aren't immediate enough for random noodling, so if you want to get annything done you have to adopt that approach. In that respect, they can actually increase productivity, as paradoxical as that seems.

I think that on the whole that OLD SAMPLERS are an as yet unexplored territory for VSTi creators. While I have almost every VSTi synth and sampler there is, I don't like very many of them and NONE of them sound as good as an old Mirage. If somebody made a VSTi that reproduced the sound of the Mirage, did sampling, and had a ton of sampling time I'd pay BIG BUCKS for that.

God, if only there were a developer out there who would listen to you!!! If only!