E-mu E-Synth Sound Module

Rack-mount E-Synth

July 11, 1997 -- E-mu Systems, Inc., announces the release of E-Synth, a 64-voice, rack-mount sample-playback sound module that is expandable to 128 voices. The sound set includes a vast array of instruments with 16MB of CD-quality samples.

E-Synth rack breaks down barriers between synth and sampler

"E-Synth provides the power of E-mu's prolific Emulator sampler technology, coupled with 16MB of professional-quality on-board sounds," notes Sean Wilhelmsen, Product Manager for MI products at E-mu. "Combining a powerful sample-playback engine that can be converted into a sampler simply by adding a SCSI drive makes E-Synth a terrific value."

The E-Synth is built on the flagship E4X platform. It shares many of the features of the E4X, including 64-voice polyphony, a 16-part multitimbral operation, 8 balanced 1/4 inch outputs, an AES/EBU digital I/O, a super high-resolution 64 X 240 LCD display, and a simple, menu driven graphic user interface. Powerful synthesizer features include an elaborate, cord-based real-time control matrix, 6-pole morphing resonant filters with user-selectable filters, and built in FX subsystems with dozens of effects to choose from.

E-Synth also features a compatible hardware design, making it capable of accepting any of the wide variety of options, including: a polyphony expansion board that adds an additional 64 voices (128 voices total), an output-expander board that adds 8 outputs to the resident 8 outputs, a MIDI-input expander that provides 16 additional MIDI channels (32 total), and an ASCII keyboard interface that's compatible with PC keyboards for easy navigation and naming of sounds.

The unit comes standard with a 16 MB sample ROM and 4 MB of sample memory, expandable to 128 MB. Because the E-Synth is totally compatible with the E4X, the user can simply connect a CD-ROM drive or other SCSI storage device to the SCSI port (included), and the unit becomes an Emulator sampler.

E-Synth as an investment

The E-Synth takes advantage of a special 2.8 version of E-mu's Emulator Operating System (EOS). "The EOS software provides significant new features and added power to Emulator technology. It makes investing in E-mu sampling/synthesizers a wise choice," states Bryan Lanser, Product Planning Manager at E-mu. "Whereas other companies tend to obsolete products after a very short time, E-mu feels strongly that the right way to treat customers is to provide value long after the initial purchase is made. One way to do this is to regularly update the EOS software," Lanser explains.

Version 2.8 of EOS software has special synthesizer features that allow the user to create presets from the onboard sounds and provides advanced multimode operation capabilities.

Emulator owners can upgrade to E-Synth capabilities

Consistent with E-mu's quest to increase the value of investments made in E-mu(R) gear, all existing Emulator owners can make use of E-Synth technology by purchasing an E-Synth upgrade that adds the necessary Preset Flash RAM and Sound ROM SIMM. This applies to owners of EIV, e64, e6400, E4X, E4XT, and E4K--the entire Emulator 4 family of samplers. E4K models require factory installation of the E-Synth upgrade, which will be provided at a nominal charge.

For more information, visit their web site at www.emu.com.