EMU E4xt Ultra Vs others

[PHILFINITY]

Ok I have an EMU E4XT Ultra. I am not crazy about it but maybe I just do not know the full power of this, or I have not used other lesser samplers to know that this is a gem. I keep hearing how great this thing is. So anyway I do not like the interface.. no knobs to tweak and as far as the sequencer no keypads like soe of the Roland MC stuff. Now I am thinking of getting rid of this unit and going for another. Mayeb the Roland 909. I need something for both the studio and when my partner and I play live. I am wondering mainly about the filters and the over all power of the EMU vs the Roland or any other good units out there. The MPC would be great but there is the lack of fliters and such. There is also the idea of going software for sampling. The main issure here is what am i going to get the best functionality out of? So any ideas guys?

PS any of you EMU users out there know of any good online resources for this unit?

 

[neverwin]

There are three types of samplers out there...........

1.) MPC style type, unbeatable at sequencing short drum sounds and loops, really percussive in nature which is why Hip Hop producers love them

2.) Phrase samplers like Rolands SP808, not good for sequencing individual hits, but rather for longer drum loops, lines from movies so on and so forth.

3) Samplers like the EMU ultra series. Essentially you can do anything that loop/slicing based program like Recycle can do. You can also sequence with the EMU....You can do drum hits also but without pads like the MPC its harder to "play". However the EMU really is unbeatable at taking sounds and mapping them to a keyboard. Get it?? If you have a MS2000 or a Juno106 and you want more polyphony, the EMU would be perfect to sample every 5TH (<5min using sysex and Logic) and interpolate across your MIDI controller....bam its like you have two Junos Get it?? Furthermore the EMU is for tweaking, combining, and stacking, technically a sampler, the EMU shines at Synthesis of new sounds. The sound engine in the Ultra series is the dogs bollocks, which is why most Film score composers use the ULTRA series to do realistic orchestral scores. As are the ****FAMOUS*** Z-plane filters developed by EMU. I love my EMU to death, especially stacking two or three sample cd basses with my synth bass patches and rattle my neighbors windows.

www.emusonacid.co.uk

also check the EMU E5000 yahoo group

also http://studio-central.com/review_of_the_e5k.html

 

[Samplecraze]

I am SoundFont developer for Emu and have created the soundsets for the Audity2000, XL1 and XL7 with a library due for release for the E5 and a rom release for their new softsampler, so you might feel this post will be biased. It's not as I rate the Kurzweills above any other sampler in terms of complex programmability but for me the Emu wins ahnds down every time.
Never has eloquently and thorughly explained the features of the Ultras and the filters and modulation matrix are not equalled by any other manufacturer and the simplicity and reliability of the beast are renowned. They are not just samplers/sequencers but also serious synths as you can programme almost anything in them.
Have it as a workhorse and get some pads(MPD16) for the pad drumming vibe and you are set. You can tour with it as it is rock solid and it also has a load of midi implementation facilities so it's easy to trigger the beast remotely on stage.