Emax

Completely concur.
Heir on the hot side fo sho.

I do the same for the sp-12 and EII as well.
If you can set it to 0db on input level and use your mixer or preamp to get a good level on the emu meter. Better signal to noise ratio imho

-RVK

> On Mar 14, 2014, at 10:14 PM, Niklas Ehrlin <niklas.ehrlin@...> wrote:
> 
> I always just use my ears when setting the sample level. Part of the charm of the 12bit machines are in sampeling a bit hot, getting a bit of distortion, here is where alot of character lies in my opinion. So I try one level, usully quite hot, playback the result an perhaps alter th input and sample again. 
> Niklas
> 
> Den 14 mar 2014 21:20 skrev "Carl Lofgren" <carl_lofgren@...>:
>>  
>> I am not that used to its operation. And after three days trying to
>> understand how it works, I'm a little wiser but far from all-seeing.
>> It's really a quirky little machine with lots of oddness going on.
>> 
>> >From my part, this is obviously partly a case of RTFM - but I honestly
>> cannot stand the manual. Craig Anderton might be a legend, but I
>> honestly cannot get my head around it.
>> 
>> 1) Individual outputs vs mix outputs. The individual outputs are way
>> less noisy. My Babyface registers about 10 decibels less noise - which
>> might/might not be the entire ruth since the levels are different
>> between the individual and mix outputs. I've been listening to my ears
>> almost start to bleed, but I cannot hear any difference in sound quality
>> (noise level yes) between let's say output 8 and the mix. How about you
>> guys? What's your experience?
>> 
>> 2) Replacing samples. Can it be done? Let's say I've got a 18s sample
>> (max memory) and I would like to do another one. Master + 4 erase memory
>> would be one way, but that nukes some of my settings, such as selection
>> of output connector. Is there any way to sample another 18s and still
>> keeping the settings? When erasing the machine, maybe I shouldn't say
>> yes when the Emax asks to make a new default setting? (just occurred to me).
>> 
>> 3) Getting the samples on the right keys. I know I am going to sound
>> like I am stupid, but the root position of the samples I make are not
>> constant. Sometimes they land on G1 - sometimes on B1(!). Can someone
>> please please just write down step by step how you do it to sample
>> something on C1.
>> 
>> 4) Setting the levels. Oh man what I've been banging my head on this
>> one. I send a sinewave (normalized to -0.05 db) to calibrate the input
>> level. I set the sampling level in the Emax to 0 and I always have to
>> back off on my sound card before sampling. I never go all the way to the
>> right, but I settle one or two pixels from the left/max. This causes the
>> Emax to distort - very slightly. I could clearly hear it and even see a
>> small part of the falling top slope of the sine wave being straight. The
>> solution was to back off a tiny bit more - and the distortion
>> disappeared. How do you guys set the levels? I assume setting the Emax
>> input level to 0 is the optimal (it even says so in the manual). But I
>> haven't had the time to experiment with it.
>> 
>> 5) Ok. Now it's really RTFM time. Primary / Secondary samples - how are
>> you supposed to work with that? To me it sounds like you can sample one
>> sample that says AAAA and another sample that says OOOOO and have them
>> playing together like a normal two oscillator synth. Can you detune
>> them? Set the levels? Different envelopes?
>> 
>> /C
> 
>