Emax

I had no idea of this. Can you elaborate on other differences between the
emax and the sp-12/1200?
Thanks
Matt
On Feb 16, 2012 2:49 PM, "esynthesist" <esynthesist@...> wrote:

> **
>
>
> Yes I'm on this group ;)
>
> Actually the codec is converting 16 bit directly into the 8 bit data as
> required by the Emax. The 8 bit audio data in the Emax is a non-linear
> conversion of the original higher resolution audio data.
> It uses a smart conversion algorithm (belonging to the u-law family as
> used in analog telephony. It tries to make the 8 bit audio data sound like
> "12-bit quality" instead of just linear "8-bit quality" as can be found in
> cheap samplers like the Ensoniq Mirage.
>
> This compression algorithm is also applied within the Emax itself and by
> the Emax-II when it compresses/saves the bank into 8-bit. The same
> principle (but different algorithms) are also applied in the Emulator-II
> and the Emulator-I.
> The algorithm has been chosen by E-Mu in such a way that it gives the best
> results for the most common musical sounds.
> But the algorithm is weak when applied to some specific sounds, especially
> percussion sounds.
> You get similar problems when you sample such sounds on the Emax itself,
> although I have to admit that from time to time they sound somewhat better
> than the software conversion versions generated by Emax-II or EMXP.
>
> E-Mu must have been very aware of the weakness of their compression
> technique for percussion sounds, because the SP-12/1200 drum computers are
> NOT using 8-bit compression on their sampled sounds. The drum computers
> store their samples in 12 bit resolution, which means sampling time was
> sacrificed in favour of sound quality.
> Which is a good choice, because percussion sounds are incredible on the
> SP-12 !
>
> ///E-Synthesist
>
> --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, Nik Kinloch <nikkinloch@...> wrote:
> >
> > The EMXP manual says:
> >
> > "Resolution conversion: the bit depth of the sound data may be
> > converted, e.g. from 16 bit to 12 bit. However, with the current sampler
> > formats supported, this conversion only takes place when converting to
> > Emulator-II and Emax-I. In these conversions a special codec is being
> > used since the resolution conversion is not linear."
> >
> > So it sounds like some conversion is happening, but from our experience
> > it is not optimal. Perhaps someone can ask Kris Van de Cappelle (is he
> > on this group?) about this? Maybe it just needs a tweak. I hear the
> > aliasing as well esp on low frequency sounds with a tail (for example,
> > long bass drums).
> >
> > izotope Ozone apparently can dither to 12 bits then save to 16 bit file
> > (last 4 bits are zeros), this would seem ideal. Anyone tried it?
> > http://www.izotope.com/support/help/ozone/pages/modules_dithering.htm
> >
> > Nik
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On 16/02/2012 15:34, zrennaya wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi!
> > >
> > > Thanks for your input! I gave up on the 12 bit render thing as you
> mentioned there's no tool that converts to 12 bits.
> > >
> > > On the other hand I experimented with some dithering types and I
> actually managed to reach the quality of factory samples in terms of noise
> and aliasing (using the L1). So far I couldn't get that quality from the
> emax ADC inputs!
> >
>
>  
>


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