emusonacid! legacy

Hi,
I have a basement studio using Digital Performer as my recording format. I do use some midi keyboards as well as virtual instruments. One piece of gear I have not used in a LONG time is the Emu 4 Ultra XT. When I bought it, it came with the E-synth ROM upgrade and 12 library cards. I bought a SCSI drive. It sits there. Is it worth anything? Should I plug it back in and fire it up? To tell you the truth I was disappointed in the sounds when I first tried it but maybe I misjudged it. Mind you I did use it for some time. How many people can honestly say they like the sounds? I'm trying to keep an open mind. I remember it as being loud compared to other gear - the noise of the machine. Would appreciate your feedback. I know it is old but some of you may still use it.

carl

I love the e-synth sounds:) As long as you are'nt looking for great pianos and such the "realistic" instruments are ok, but it's the synth-sounds that stands out.

It's rubbish. I'll give you ?20 for it.

wigworld wrote:It's rubbish. I'll give you ?20 for it.

no, not more than 10 !

I use Ivory for piano. I just bought Atmosphere, Stylus and B4II to go with BFD an Motu Symphony Orchestra. And I do use my old JV 1080. My controller keyboard is the Yamaha S-90 and I do like some of the sounds on it. I also employ the sounds from my v-drum kit often combining sounds from the v-drums and Stylus and the 1080 for drums. I will fire the Ultra up I guess but I doubt that I will keep it - hence the question about value. Any (serious) answers re value would be welcome. My guess would be around $500.00 Canadian but I am not sure. Thanks.

carl

Well, if you like sounds with no soul, no personality (Yamaha, Roland, Stylus and so on...) well, yeah, maybe the E-mu sound is not for you...
Now, to be honest, when I fired back my Esi-32 a few weeks ago, after several years without using it... It sounded so great I bought a E6400 Ultra right away, and I sure don't regret the purchase! But yeah, it's all a matter of taste. E-mu is fat 'n dirty and I think that's the main reason we like E-mu gear.

"Well, if you like sounds with no soul, no personality (Yamaha, Roland, Stylus and so on...)"

That's quite a blanket statement! I've used all the gear above and can't agree.

My Emu 4 Ultra XT was used and I wondered if there might be a problelm with it because compared to some of my other stuff it didn't sound as fat and dirty. I had a friend come over and he thought the same. Having said that, I have no doubt that the Ultra is a good machine and I am going to give it a critical listen again.

carl

Maybe I was a bit radical in my judgement but I can't stand the japanese gear. Akai samplers are my nightmare and Roland synths sound like all they can produce are washed out sounds with no soul. Except the vintage stuff, of course (Jupiter, VP-330 & SVC-350, TR drum machines, TB303, etc.)
But yeah, E-mu also made some bad sounds and preset sounds are not what they used to do best. Same goes for Alesis and Ensoniq.
Now, you can't discuss tastes... Sorry if I was rude... ;-)

Mocheez - no offense taken. I took your response as entusiastic support for something you like and that's cool!

I just fired up the Ultra 4 XT for the first time in a LONG time and indeed the sounds are good. I can honestly say that the horns compare nicely with the other stuff I have although I must admit that I'm no expert - however I do know what I like. As I said earlier I have the E-synth Rom upgrade and 12 library cds. Is there anyone out there in cyberspace who is willing to tell me their favourite patches on the Emu4 Ultra XT? I realize that most of you have probably edited the sounds but if I could know the presets it would be a start. I have started to go through the sounds writing down the ones that sound good to me. I know that in the context of a song things change too. Thanks.

carl

The EMU sound is just "darker". Definitely allows certain element of your mix to find their own space. The EMUs are also notoriously bass heavy so they are great for basslines and have a "warmth" that most other samplers don't.

As for Mocheez's statement, I think it's crap IMO. I use my EMU in conjunction with a Fantom X and Yamaha RS7000 and they all have their own fingerprint. The rolands are excellent for thick crisp pads, they're definitely a nice warm sounding machine, the EMUs are great for dark eerie pads and basslines and the Yamaha is excellent for drums, they pop right out of the mix on the Yamaha. Akai's are notriously great for drums as well as they sit in the front of the mix coming off of them. Considering most hip hop and alot of late 80s/90s era was done with Akai's at some point in the mix shows the rediculous inaccuracy of that statement. If you like Roand or Yamaha than that's your flavor.

Newsflash - most of the parts in your EMU are Japanese or Asian as far as where they were manufactured. Where do you think most of the chips and circuits were made?

Considering most hip hop and alot of late 80s/90s era was done with Akai's at some point in the mix shows the rediculous inaccuracy of that statement

Considering everybody used VHS instead of Betamax...
Considering a lot of people used NS-10M's monitors at some point...
Considering a lot of bands used the DX7 for years...
Considering a lot of people are using Windows...
Considering most studios run ProTools...
Considering roaches are more numerous than humans on this earth...

... Makes me feel that what's vastly spread is not necessarily what's best.
(Plus Akai's back then cost half the price of an E-mu.)

But let's not get in a dead end discussion. Everybody is free to use whatever fits his needs. As far as I'm concerned, I just can't work with gear that I feel has no strong personality.

Often you have to "butcher" a sound to make it fit in the mix anyway. Frequencies need to be taken out of a perfectly nice-sounding guitar so it fits in with piano, another guitar or a vocal, same for bass and kick. So that sound that you don't care for much on its own in any synth may sound wonderful in the context of your next song. There are patches that I could never imagine using but as you cycle through sounds for your next song, THAT sound is exactly what you need. So really any sound has the potential to be used. Beyond that of course you have the sounds that you favour- your favourite company. These are my experiences anyway. I appreciate anyone else's experiences - doesn't mean anyone is "wrong"! People are the same - some unfriendly types turn out to be friends.

Presently I am really liking the sounds in Atmosphere! Heck, I still have my old Akai S-900 (haven't used it in years - but maybe some day). I remember not too long ago it was credited on a cd by the guy who did the song, "Steam" (maybe not on THAT particular song but by that artist) - forget his name - everything has potential.

carl

mocheez wrote:

Considering most hip hop and alot of late 80s/90s era was done with Akai's at some point in the mix shows the rediculous inaccuracy of that statement

Considering everybody used VHS instead of Betamax...
Considering a lot of people used NS-10M's monitors at some point...
Considering a lot of bands used the DX7 for years...
Considering a lot of people are using Windows...
Considering most studios run ProTools...
Considering roaches are more numerous than humans on this earth...

... Makes me feel that what's vastly spread is not necessarily what's best.
(Plus Akai's back then cost half the price of an E-mu.)

But let's not get in a dead end discussion. Everybody is free to use whatever fits his needs. As far as I'm concerned, I just can't work with gear that I feel has no strong personality.

Well then post a link to one of your tunes so we can hear what you're talking about.

Who still manufactures hardware synths/samplers these days? Not EMU. Their Ultras might have been their best sampler but EMU is shit now, at least Roland, Akai and Yamaha still take the time to develop and push hardware samplers forward and if you think that the Fantom or Motif are lifeless than how much time have you actually logged on their gear to give an accurate opinion?

Just trying them out at the old Guitar Center eh?

Pete Rock and Premiere still use their MPC60s. Apples and Oranges. Not only that but a pretty blind statement altogether.

To tell you the truth, I didn't even lend these synths an ear. Just their sight makes me feel sick. I like the Korg stuff, though. Now, back to samplers, let's face it, except the S950, Akai samplers have always sounded digital and cold, were awfully complicated and ugly. Back then, you had to hear the Ensoniq EPS16+ or EmaxII to feel the difference. Now what a difference!

But then, maybe I'm biased because the first time I saw and heard a sampler was the Emulator II, back in 1984, when I was 12.

Now, why would I link to my tunes? It's not because I use gear that I feel has a strong personality that it means the result is good ;-) Plus, I also use cheap crapy gear? but with some personality, lol!

But c'mon??we're getting off topic here? Sorry about that. Pardon me for being too passionate? My fault??I'm out?

I've spent a lot of time with more recent samplers from Yamaha, Roland and Korg, and with the exception of Roland's Variphrase technology, things haven't moved on in sampling. There's more memory and increased bit depth/sampling frequency, but in spite of all that, nothing sounds better than my E6400 Ultra, to my ears. The Emu filters just can't be beat.

Hallifax wrote:Who still manufactures hardware synths/samplers these days? Not EMU. Their Ultras might have been their best sampler but EMU is shit now, at least Roland, Akai and Yamaha still take the time to develop and push hardware samplers forward and if you think that the Fantom or Motif are lifeless than how much time have you actually logged on their gear to give an accurate opinion?