Emax

I need some advice.  I am buying a esi-4000 rack from a friend with 
Turbo.  He suggests I get an external HD that is compatable and cable 
to connect to the exi-4000.  He is not impressed with the zip drive.  
What HD can I get ,what size memory, and what external cable end 
connectors do I need?  He has the complete 12 sample disc cataloge from 
emu that he will download into the external HD once I get it.  Will 
this HD and cable also work on the SCSI of my emax HDSE?  Another 
question, can I transfer samples from my emax to the esi via SCSI cable 
directly, or do I have to go to the HD first?  Or what is your take on 
all this?  Thanks for all your advice and help.  -Alan

you need a SCSI HDD, with a SCSI HDD case, and a SCSI cable that 
connects to the case (depending on what connector the case has) and to 
the ESI4000 (D25???)

the drive itself doesn't seem to be a major issue. Check out the info 
here. though cause the sampler is so old, compatability lists won't talk 
of any new drives you coul;d buy new today...
http://emulatorarchive.com/Archives/Samplers/ESI40Overview/ESI4000Upgrades/esi4000upgrades.html

I think it's not possible to transfer samples either way between emax1 
and esi4000  I seem to remember the ESI samplers will load samples from 
an emaxII formatted drive, but even then, you can't load ESI samples 
into the EmaxII.

so in short - no, you can't use the ESI4000's SCSI drive with your Emax 
HDSE.


Alan wrote:

>I need some advice.  I am buying a esi-4000 rack from a friend with 
>Turbo.  He suggests I get an external HD that is compatable and cable 
>to connect to the exi-4000.  He is not impressed with the zip drive.  
>What HD can I get ,what size memory, and what external cable end 
>connectors do I need?  He has the complete 12 sample disc cataloge from 
>emu that he will download into the external HD once I get it.  Will 
>this HD and cable also work on the SCSI of my emax HDSE?  Another 
>question, can I transfer samples from my emax to the esi via SCSI cable 
>directly, or do I have to go to the HD first?  Or what is your take on 
>all this?  Thanks for all your advice and help.  -Alan  
>
>  
>

Hi Alan, 

Your friend is right, the Zip drive is old and outdated. However, I would 
not go for a hard disk unless you really need the fastest load times. The 
better option these days is an external SCSI flash card reader. With 2GB 
compact flash cards available at low prices it is a much more reliable and 
expandable solution than a hard disk. 

Have a look at http://www.scsiforsamplers.com for some models that work with 
the Esi. They also have SCSI hard disks, SCSI CDROM drives and cables if you 
need them. Sometimes you might find these card readers cropping up on Ebay 
at low prices too, so keep your eyes open. You can also get a compact flash 
IDE card reader and a SCSI to IDE brigde and build your own if you know what 
you are doing are handy at DIY. 

The SCSI on the Emax HDSE may work with other hard disks but I think it 
would be worth trying a SCSI flash card reader with it first. Some people 
have reported successfully replaced their Emax floppy disk drive with a card 
reader attached to the internal SCSI bus. 

Transfer of samples between the Emax and Esi is not possible via SCSI. The 
Esi may be able to upload the samples from the Emax via MIDI SDS but it will 
be slow and you will need to set up all the programs etc again. If you have 
access to an Emax II you could load the Emax floppies in the that and save 
them to an Emax II formatted SCSI drive that the Esi could then import from 
directly. That is the simplest and easiest way to do it. 

Hope this helps. 

Regards, 

Tristan 

Alan writes: 

> I need some advice.  I am buying a esi-4000 rack from a friend with 
> Turbo.  He suggests I get an external HD that is compatable and cable 
> to connect to the exi-4000.  He is not impressed with the zip drive.  
> What HD can I get ,what size memory, and what external cable end 
> connectors do I need?  He has the complete 12 sample disc cataloge from 
> emu that he will download into the external HD once I get it.  Will 
> this HD and cable also work on the SCSI of my emax HDSE?  Another 
> question, can I transfer samples from my emax to the esi via SCSI cable 
> directly, or do I have to go to the HD first?  Or what is your take on 
> all this?  Thanks for all your advice and help.  -Alan   
>

Thanks Tristan and Julian, so sounds like the esi-4000 is still dated 
itself.  Maybe I need to get a current supported sampler module?  I 
need to use some (only a few) effects / sounds samples for a live 
gig.  These are mostly intros or sound effects from original 
recordings.  I currently also use some classic instrument samples 
(pianos, organs, strings, brass, ect.) sometimes alone or many times 
simulatneously blended with other synth or piano modules.  I can re-
create the effects samples for any unit that is gig friendly.  
Uploading time is very important between songs.  My slowest thing is 
the Emax now.  What sampler module would you recommend that I could 
use.  I will replace the Emax keyboard with another 61 key synth 
controller (hopefully an Alesis Ion).  Thanks for any additional 
ideas.  -Alan

  --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "Tristan Upton" <tu@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Alan, 
> 
> Your friend is right, the Zip drive is old and outdated. However, I 
would 
> not go for a hard disk unless you really need the fastest load 
times. The 
> better option these days is an external SCSI flash card reader. 
With 2GB 
> compact flash cards available at low prices it is a much more 
reliable and 
> expandable solution than a hard disk. 
> 
> Have a look at http://www.scsiforsamplers.com for some models that 
work with 
> the Esi. They also have SCSI hard disks, SCSI CDROM drives and 
cables if you 
> need them. Sometimes you might find these card readers cropping up 
on Ebay 
> at low prices too, so keep your eyes open. You can also get a 
compact flash 
> IDE card reader and a SCSI to IDE brigde and build your own if you 
know what 
> you are doing are handy at DIY. 
> 
> The SCSI on the Emax HDSE may work with other hard disks but I 
think it 
> would be worth trying a SCSI flash card reader with it first. Some 
people 
> have reported successfully replaced their Emax floppy disk drive 
with a card 
> reader attached to the internal SCSI bus. 
> 
> Transfer of samples between the Emax and Esi is not possible via 
SCSI. The 
> Esi may be able to upload the samples from the Emax via MIDI SDS 
but it will 
> be slow and you will need to set up all the programs etc again. If 
you have 
> access to an Emax II you could load the Emax floppies in the that 
and save 
> them to an Emax II formatted SCSI drive that the Esi could then 
import from 
> directly. That is the simplest and easiest way to do it. 
> 
> Hope this helps. 
> 
> Regards, 
> 
> Tristan 
> 
> Alan writes: 
> 
> > I need some advice.  I am buying a esi-4000 rack from a friend 
with 
> > Turbo.  He suggests I get an external HD that is compatable and 
cable 
> > to connect to the exi-4000.  He is not impressed with the zip 
drive.  
> > What HD can I get ,what size memory, and what external cable end 
> > connectors do I need?  He has the complete 12 sample disc 
cataloge from 
> > emu that he will download into the external HD once I get it.  
Will 
> > this HD and cable also work on the SCSI of my emax HDSE?  Another 
> > question, can I transfer samples from my emax to the esi via SCSI 
cable 
> > directly, or do I have to go to the HD first?  Or what is your 
take on 

> > all this?  Thanks for all your advice and help.  -Alan   
> >
>

Hello. I have recently hooked up a 9GB external scsi drive to the ESI4000. The drive works great with most presets. I was able to load and save the whole emax II sound library, and most of the Alan Wilder sounds. I am running into trouble when I try to load back my own presets, that contain my own samples, sampled from cd's or my own voice. The presets are also sometimes very small, less than 2MB. I was able to convert the preset for the Depeche Mode song Condemnation, and play it with the ESI4000. I was also able to save it to the hard drive. I am not able however to load the bank back from the hard drive though. I am, however able to load all of the other Depeche Mode samples from the hard drive and play them. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced trouble loading certain samples from a hard drive, not a zip drive. Please let me know if anyone knows what might be going on. Thank you very much for your help,

Tony 

--- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "Tristan Upton"  wrote:

>
> Hi Alan, 
> 
> Your friend is right, the Zip drive is old and outdated. However, I would 
> not go for a hard disk unless you really need the fastest load times. The 
> better option these days is an external SCSI flash card reader. With 2GB 
> compact flash cards available at low prices it is a much more reliable and 
> expandable solution than a hard disk. 
> 
> Have a look at http://www.scsiforsamplers.com for some models that work with 
> the Esi. They also have SCSI hard disks, SCSI CDROM drives and cables if you 
> need them. Sometimes you might find these card readers cropping up on Ebay 
> at low prices too, so keep your eyes open. You can also get a compact flash 
> IDE card reader and a SCSI to IDE brigde and build your own if you know what 
> you are doing are handy at DIY. 
> 
> The SCSI on the Emax HDSE may work with other hard disks but I think it 
> would be worth trying a SCSI flash card reader with it first. Some people 
> have reported successfully replaced their Emax floppy disk drive with a card 
> reader attached to the internal SCSI bus. 
> 
> Transfer of samples between the Emax and Esi is not possible via SCSI. The 
> Esi may be able to upload the samples from the Emax via MIDI SDS but it will 
> be slow and you will need to set up all the programs etc again. If you have 
> access to an Emax II you could load the Emax floppies in the that and save 
> them to an Emax II formatted SCSI drive that the Esi could then import from 
> directly. That is the simplest and easiest way to do it. 
> 
> Hope this helps. 
> 
> Regards, 
> 
> Tristan 
> 
> Alan writes: 
> 
> > I need some advice.  I am buying a esi-4000 rack from a friend with 
> > Turbo.  He suggests I get an external HD that is compatable and cable 
> > to connect to the exi-4000.  He is not impressed with the zip drive.  
> > What HD can I get ,what size memory, and what external cable end 
> > connectors do I need?  He has the complete 12 sample disc cataloge from 
> > emu that he will download into the external HD once I get it.  Will 
> > this HD and cable also work on the SCSI of my emax HDSE?  Another 
> > question, can I transfer samples from my emax to the esi via SCSI cable 
> > directly, or do I have to go to the HD first?  Or what is your take on 
> > all this?  Thanks for all your advice and help.  -Alan   
> >
>