emusonacid! legacy

hi,
please a hint for ebay - shopping tour:
what are the differences between ultra - and non ultra emus?
i know the hardware possibilities in outputs are not the same. but if i put a 2 mb flash ram extension in an e4xt, should it be the same like an ultra (eos)?

maybe the cpu isnt as fast, maybe the converters??

please tell me..
thanks

Well, I wrote a whole thing about this in another thread... let's see if I can find it... meanwhile...

Short version: The Ultra runs a 33Mhz processor while the Classic only clocks in at 22Mhz, so the Ultra processor is running 50% faster. It's also a RISC architecture chip, so the instruction set is more efficient, raising the speed improvement on processing a sample higher than 50% The Ultra models also have more system Flash RAM than you can attain by upgrading the Flash RAM in the Classic. As for OS issues, you won't be able to run Beat Munging on a Classic at all, and Transform Multiplication will take at least 50% longer.

The upgrade options are different as well. Some Classic upgrades will work in Ultras, but Ultra upgrades won't work in a Classic (as far as I know, although I've never tried it myself to find out... mainly because I don't have any of the upgrades for either my e6400-Classic or my e6400-Ultra). The RFX32 effects card can only be installed in an Ultra. Not all models of Classic came with effects (the base e6400-Classic doesn't have it), while the effects from the Classic are standard on all models of Ultra.

I can't remember if there's any difference in the specs for the output DACs or such... they both sound pretty much the same to me (but then, I'm running them through a sometimes-cruddy mixer into a less-than-perfect audio card, so I can't say how much of what I'm hearing is coloured by those stages).

A Classic can only run up to EOS 4.62, so it can never access FAT formatted drives. An Ultra can run up to (officially only beta) EOS 4.7, which allows it to access much larger FAT32 formatted hard drives. However... EOS 4.7 causes some serious issues is you have the RFX32 effects card installed.

Classics only have connections for an internal SCSI hard drive, while the Ultras can mount SCSI or IDE hard drives internally.

Um... what else... oh, the front panel is all a dark charcoal grey on the Classic, while it's a mix of the dark charcoal and a medium grey on the Ultra (as if that really makes a difference... I think the Classic front panel looks nicer, but that's just me)

Bottom line... I'd suggest the Ultra is a better machine, but you can probably find the Classic cheaper on eBay (depending on what it's packaged with).

There is one earlier generation of Emulator 4 samplers, sometimes referred to as "Vintage" (compared to Classic or Ultra). These are the original eIV (that's "eIV", NOT "e4") and e64, and they're an entirely different story, best ignored if you find one.

Ah Ha! OK, here's the other thread:
http://www.emusonacid.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1794

More reading, not necessarily more information

1000 thanks, now i know better!