Emax

Steve, I beleive that Mik at Sound Logic can help you if you already have the 4mb Emax II. The way I understand it is that the 4MB Emax II already has the memory expansion board and the PALs are already installed. Mik at Sound Logic is as helpful as one can possibly get. I used his upgrades for my 3 mb keyboard and had to contact EMU for the proper PALS. Needless to say a lot of problems to solve but I ended up with a 7mb EmaxII keyboard and it was most certainly a challenge. He has the ram and disk that is needed. Follow this link. http://www.ramona.com/Soundlogic/SL01KUC.html

If your EmaxII is only 2mb it doesn't have the expansion board.

Good luck,
Skip

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: steveklp 
  To: emax@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Monday, March 04, 2002 7:57 AM
  Subject: [emax] Re: Memory Help Please.


  Although I cannot add anything technical to this thread I have been 
  following it with great interest. Skip is undeniably correct in 
  saying that the Emax II is obsolete and that the effort by any normal 
  comparision far outweighs the benefit. But on the other hand, there's 
  also the challenge aspect of it. I'm sure like me anyone else who's 
  paid for a memory upgrade in the past still winces at the thought of 
  how much it cost compared to what memory does now (or for that matter 
  not long after the Emax II went out of production)! For years I've 
  been sort of hoping someone would find a way of cracking this not 
  only to get the final 4MB I need at a reasonable cost but simply for 
  the satisfaction of being able to do so without being forced to pay 
  Emu what very quickly became a nonsense price. I know they had their 
  reasons at the time but I think it would have been a better customer 
  relations policy (at least once the general memory trend went the 
  SIMM route) to help those who invested in their product a way of 
  maximising its potential cost effectively rather than force them to 
  buy its successor.

  If anyone does manage to crack this problem then I would certainly 
  consider doing the final 4MB mod if it can be done cost effectively. 
  I use my Emax II live and so far it's the only sound source I need. 
  Although I could buy an ESI or similar and hook it up via midi, I 
  much prefer keeping it simple and only relying on one box! In that 
  sense I don't consider it obsolete at all (don't think there are any 
  dedicated sampling keyboards going now anyway and the Emax still 
  looks great). Also, I probably will upgrade the sampler soon but 
  after some positive experiences with the likes fo Reaktor, rather 
  than get a hardware box I'm very inclined to go the software route - 
  which of course doesn't help in the live situation (unless you're 
  VERY brave!).

  Actually, while we're on the subject, what's the likelihood of Emax 
  library compatability when the EOS Soft Sampler comes out?

  Anyway, for what it's worth, I appreciate the efforts everyone on the 
  list trying to keep the Emax alive - even if it does defy common 
  sense!

  Steve  

  ======================= http://www.steveadam.co.uk =====


  -- In emax@y..., "Richard Spoula" <skiplay4@m...> wrote:
  > 
  > A few comments.
  > 
  > ("What I'd be inclined to do is just copy the EEPROM
  > from the 8M machine")
  > 
  > Last time I looked the EEPROM was soldered to the board you mean to 
  tell me that someone wiling to sacrafice a perfectly working EmaxII 
  to an overheated pc board when removing the chip let alone loosing 
  the chip?
  > 
  > ("The PALs can be easily reverse-engineered.  Quite simple.  Pull 
  the PALs
  > from a known good 8M Emax II, power them up on a test bench, then 
  feed
  > inputs in and see what comes out. ")
  >   
  > I can verify beyond a shadow of a doubt that the PALs from Emu have 
  the fusible link blown.
  > this means that you can't just read the PAL. By testing IO you may 
  solve the logic but will you solve the RAS & CAS timing issues 
  associated with the dynamic ram timing?  
  > 
  > The other problem is that the EmaxII is obsolete. Useful yes but 
  not necessarily worth such a gallant effort. I have purchased EmaxII 
  racks with 8mb for as little as $120.00 and I beleive that as they go 
  by the wayside that you will find the parts you need to convert the 
  EmaxII without the extended effort.  
  > 
  > Upside: I applaude the effort and if it works I may be interested 
  in the upgrade.  
  > 
  > Downside: Anybody who wants to do this has a tremendous amount of 
  work ahead of them probably not worth the effort. You can buy an 
  ESI32 for around $200.00 and use midi to play the sounds with your 
  Emax II. Then you have the capability of 32 MB, Emax/Emax II, Akai, 
  and EIIIX library.
  > 
  > Currently I beleive that you can purchase an EmaxII memory upgrade 
  kit from Mik at Sound Logic and I beleive it has the fabeled upgrade 
  disk needed to write the EEPROM.  
  > 
  > Thank you group,
  > Skip



  Emax and Emax II User's Group

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