emusonacid! legacy

Hello,

I'm interested in buying an EIII - keyboard version. I've read so far very positive reports about its sound, but also bad reports about its reliability.

My use for an EIII would be as a main keyboard sampler. I'm into prog/fusion/ambient and I'd like to use it to emulate Mellotrons, VP-330s, Polymoogs, and other orchestral samples that may be available for this instrument.

- Does anybody know about the serial numbers of the EIII? Which serial #s are early ones, and which late ones?

- What are the least reliable parts? Hard drive? Power supply? SCSI? Ribbon cables? Chips?

- Are there still replacement parts available?

- Is it possible to still get the latest OS (2.42 I believe), and upgrade a 4MB EIII to 8MB?

- What about the E-mu proprietary "F Chip"? Is it reliable? If not, are there any replacements somewhere..?

Hope this post does not sound too obsolete...

Regards

Carlos

sorry, no answer to your question, but i think i found out where front 242 got the number in its name now...

My advice to you is to go for the e4k, it can read all the samples from eIII, is far more common, and (I believe) more reliable.

what type of filters does the e4k have?

vastly superior filters... 'Z-Plane' filters, which encompass LPF, HPF, and anything in between plus the kitchen sink! you can morph between 2 filter types (on the 'Z Plane') as well as tweak 'cutoff' and 'Q'... there is no comparison really. LPF and HPF just dont do it anymore.

Does it have the crossfading zones function of the EIII? Gotta get the manual of the E4K...

I believe the main difference was that the E3 had analog filters.

Yes, I think that may be true. But still, the e4k is vastly superior.

"vastly superior filters"? No offense but, comparing analog to digital filters is pretty subjective. There are more filter options with the EOS samplers but, in my personal opinion, the EIII is much more warmer and richer sounding than the EOS samplers. I don't own an EIII but, I have friends who own 2 and I must say they sound amazing. You can really hear the difference that the analog filters make (which will help if you want to emulate old analog synths and samplers). Myself I have a E5000, E6400, Emax II and Emax SE/HD. I prefer the warmer sound of analog filters myself but, the EOS samplers filters quite good as far as digital filters go.

The downside to the EIII from what I have seen (much like many older EMU samplers) is that certain parts tend to be flaky (especially with early generation models). Power supplies, ribbon cables, LCD displays, hard drives, etc... often die (hence why my friends have 2 because, 1 of them is now just for parts)

However, if you can find a working keyboard, I suggest buying it and taking good care of it and you should be very happy as they are very cool samplers.

by vastly superior i meant highly capable as compared to simple LPF/HPF, but i agree that it is a subjective thing.

tek_uk wrote:I believe the main difference was that the E3 had analog filters.

The EIII and EIII rack did, but I'm sure the EIIIXP and EIIIXS didn't. The closest you can get to the latter two is the Esi2000/4000. Basically a repackaged EIIIXP but with RAM expandable to 128Mb using standard 72-pin SIMMS. You can't go wrong with that one. Had one for years.

Gilles

Thank you very much for your replies and advice. I've been reading the review on Keyboard magazine of the E4K and it seems to be a great sounding unit but with inadequate midi control. Reason why I'm looking for a sampler keyboard is also to use it as a master midi controller; the magazine review portrays it very poorly in this aspect. Now, this is the review from the original version (1996). I do not know if in subsequent OS upgrades the midi capabilities were improved - and also what OS version can the E4K be upgraded till (I think it cannot be upgraded to Ultra)

On the other token, I've also read glowing reviews about the EIII's analog Curtis filters. Wish I had the chance of listening to both the EIII and the E4K for a comparison.

I have at home a Kurzweil K2000S and I'm a bit disappointed of its sound (too digital and cold to my ears - my Korg 01/W sounded warmer). If the E4K would sound like the K2000 or K2500 I might be a bit apprehensive... but its 6-octave keyboard is attractive - if an upgrade would make it a better midi controller.

Had a Roland Jupiter-6 with the Curtis filters and sounded nice. I'm trying to find a sonic comparison to what the EIII may sound like. Indeed one of my targets is to sample old analog synths - Polymoog, CS-80, VP-330, and the like.

Coincidentally there is an EIII at the Cantos museum here in Calgary. But I heard it does not work... bummer.

Just concluding this post - Followed Ole's suggestion and just bought an E4K Turbo, model 6902, I guess it's the top of the line - comes with SCSI CD-ROM and several discs. Very nice looking in black colour. The seller says it has v.2.5 or 2.8, hopefully the 3.0b available here at emusonacid will work fine for an upgrade. Can't wait to try it out!

Cheers and thanks

drkam6 wrote:hopefully the 3.0b available here at emusonacid will work fine for an upgrade. Can't wait to try it out!

It worked for me, but I had to use my Win98SE machine to make the floppy. No luck under XP. Feel free to pm me if you have problems with it.

And it you don't have CDs for it, somebody on this forum (tonebucket I think) has (had?) plenty of good EIIIX CDs for sale.

Gilles