Emax

I wouldn't touch the emax. If that was the case I would use a sampler software. It would be 
too much trouble for the end result unless you want to have some greate fun by creating a  
table top  remote control with the buttons pannels and using the same layout to control the 
1U rack interface and runing smart media cards as a scsi drive, no heat, no noise, faster 
reading. 

There is a software in the web, a midi translator that translate sysex mesaages into 
controllers and you can map your computer keyboard to controll your non-controlable 
module. I believe you should start there before changing the enclosure.