via this auction
"Aside from being the keyboard behind the sound of Depeche Mode in the 1980's, the E-MU EMAX was one of the first truly modern synthesizer samplers, with awesome lo-fi 12-bit resolution up to 42kHz and 512K os sample memory. This board is PERFECT for 80's neuwave and electro sounds, and recreates saw-wave beasts like the Oberheim OBXA spot-on. All the tinny tines and silly fat swells are here ready to be run through awesome analog filtering that is actually easy to operate despite the lack of knobs. Having owned an Ensoniq Mirage, a Casio FZ1, and Korg DSS-1, I can truly say that this is the best 80's sampler I've used. I'm only selling to buy a new Juno 106, as that is my favourite board of all time and mine finally died.
The synthesizer you're bidding was owned by a synth geek since it was new, and is in excellent shape, with the superficial exception of the backlight for the LCD which, like most 80's synth screens, has stopped lighting up. No problem really, the screen is still visible 100%. This E-MU EMAX has the added SE programming, although I was told that the OS on the floppies would need to be updated to the newest version to take full advantage of this synth engine. Every aspect of this board functions great. All jacks sound off, all lines in sample correctly. I am including 9 disks of samples, from the Moog to an OBXA saw wave, lots of basic tones, some sweeping pads and strings, basslines, arpeggiators, and a disk of sci-fi samples.This board even comes with the ORIGINAL MANUAL AND ORIGINAL SHIPPING BOX with $2000 price tag! If you want to get into sampling, or you need lower-fi than modern MPC's can offer, this is your board. GRITTY, GRITTY, GRITTY, that's t he EMAX. I never like buying boards unheard, so I played off all my favourite sounds onto an MP3 for you to listen to. All these tones, included on the floppies, have been sampled from original 80's boards like the OBXA, Juno, and DX7, are at base filter with no effects and no special EQ'ing. Check it out here: MP3"
Apologies for grabbing the full description on this one. I usually filter them but this one was littered with interesting bits so the whole thing goes up. Anyone know what filter this one had? I'm not seeing it on the synthtech chip list and I forget.
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ReplyDeleteDAMN IT !
ReplyDeleteWhat's going on with my browser today :-). Sorry for the two deleted posts.
As a happy owner of an Emax and an Emax SE sampler I can tell you that the filters are truely amazing - and analog.
The filters on the Emax series (not the Emax II) is traditional 4-pole 24dB low pass filters. Emu Systems used the SSM2047 combined VCF/VCA chip.
For the geeks here's a PDF describing its features:
http://www.emulatorarchive.com/assets/PDF/SSM2047.pdf
KennethA
12bit.com
I had 3 Emax SEs at one time - the same keyboard unit show here, and two of the rack versions, and I had all the libraries then available. I loved those instruments, and made a lot of music with them. All the music on this page here (except the Stick and vibes pieces):
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was performed live with the Emax systems. In my opinion, they were the best samplers for the money back then.
Crap - the URL got truncated. Add an "ml" to the end of the URL to make it work.
ReplyDeleteI had an Emax SE and an Emax II. I didn't think the analogue filters on the Emax were that great to be honest.
ReplyDeleteYou instantly sound like mid-80s Depeche Mode when using it ;)
Here's info and a song I did using just the Emax.
http://www.strellis.com/emax.shtml
Cheers
Chris