emusonacid!

I'm trying to figure out what is the best way to transfer samples/banks between my ESI-4000 and Win7-64 PC.


Ideally I'd like to have a bunch of .wav files on my pc, convert them to the emu format, dump them on the sampler without the need to actually sample them,
then once the banks of samples are setup save them to pc like I would have done to a number of floppy disks. Is this possible?

I read about the program esiwin, but unfortunately also read it only supports windows up to XP, not 7.

If I installed a CF reader/writer in the sampler could I save samples to CF on the PC, load those samples in the ESI-4000, then save banks to the same CF card? (Then possibly back up those banks back on the PC?)
Or could I install an internal HDD in the sampler, which the PC could access via SCSI?



I'm very confused if you couldn't tell, I'm finding it hard to make sense of what I've looked up in the past couple of days - my head is bursting!
Your help would be extremely appreciated :)

Hi Stevno,

you cannot transfer files from ESI-4000 to a Windows PC and back via HD, CF, ZIP or floppy disc.
The file systems are different and neither does the ESI support FAT file system nor does Windows support the EMU file system.

You can transfer samples from your sampelr to your PC and back via e.g. Sound Forge or any other sample editor that supports MIDI Sample Dump Standard. This works just sample by sample without any playback parameter or information of the patch in your ESI.

You can try (the free version of) Translator from Chickensys.com or Extreme Sample Converter for transferring banks to your PC. Translator might be in the position to create a media in E3x format, including your ESI-banks.

If you are looking for a backup of your HD then you should get Disk2File from ZicWeb, make a sectorwise backup of your HD and burn this backup to a CD. Your HD should not exceed a size greater than 700MB else you' re not able to burn a CD or if you create a backup of your HD with maximum 700MB although your HD is larger, the content of your HD might not be backuped completely because of a fragmented HD.

By the way:
This is also the way for most E4-user that do not use the Ultra-series with EOS 4.70 (->supports FAT file system).

Hi mosrob,

Thanks very much for your reply.

After reading your explanation I've decided just to go for the CF reader install and not bother with PC transfer/HDD backup after all,
I was only wondering if there was a super simple solution to what I was after.

Just keep it nice and basic, sample/save/load from within the sampler, and sequence with the PC :)

Thanks again :)

What I ended up doing was getting two esi samplers and putting card readers in both, the samplers are connected via spdif so digital resampling
is possible. It also speeds up the process of resampling, sample swapping, sample editing, and backing up as you can load and save data on one sampler while working
on the same bank/sound on the other sampler. This might sound excessive but these samplers go pretty cheap these days and I have 10 years of work on the esi4000 already so to change sampler now seems pointless. I can also resample with my pc as I have a usb to spdif adapter but generally I resample throught the two samplers as its easier, faster and less annoying using the hardware compared to software. you can see how they are set up towards the end of this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBXlGJA7Tj8

That's a neat idea, stings that they've lost almost all their value as I bought mine new in '98, but it's good they can be picked up for pennies.
For now I plan to get a M-Audio 2496 to hook it up digitally (also for the midi in/out) but I'll likely get another eventually.

Nice vid by the way :)

i've got a E5000 ultra with a SCM PCD-50B (EOS file system) installed, then scsi out from the sampler to a yamaha CRW4416S scsi cd burner, the cd burner is hooked up to my pc(win xp) via adaptec AHA2930cu pci scsi card. i know its not the same sampler but it might just work for you.

now the good part i can select a whole load of samples in ''translator pro'' and drop them into any folder on the memory card in the sampler and also i can convert akai, Emu banks(only converting them E3 banks work for me EOS, E4B dont work) by dragging and dropping them just the same way.

so far i have manged to load emu hip hop nation and akai vintage voltage that way plus wav files

ah, this is the thread i should have looked for (see todays topic)..

chicken systems and CF card reader.
so you need a (now defunct) scsi to pcmcia CF card reader adaptor, and have a
pcmcia card sticking out of your machine? or just the CF cardreader to SCSI?
equally confused!

also: can an esi be compatible with a later E4/Ultra? i' also a bit confused about
all the different types of E4, and what they offer in features etc. over a basic ESi.
i think i view ESi as a kind of modern day S950(if that isn't a heresy over here...)

fact is, i now have 2 ESi's: a ESi4000 turbo with 66mb, and a ESi2000 'regular', with
76mb, which i'm planning to sell on now i have the 4000...if i went a dual sampler
route, i figure i could get another 'turbo-ed' machine - although i'm not really convinced
the turbo option is essential. but i do see the advantage of having 2 machines and swapping
data across both.

thing is, if you're gonna go the whole hog, why not get E4s, since they're not all that expensive
either?!(aaargh...- in fact i'm perfectly content atm with just one esi4000 running)