Emax

I'm in possession ofa EMAX II Rack, 16bit Stereo, hard drive (RAM
can't remember) which has been in mothballs for several years.
Display & floppy still work fine.
Bought used in mid~late 1990's.

Ideally I want to strip the guts out of it's 3U rack and house them in
a 1~2u rack with minimal front controls, and control it remotely from
a PC via MIDI.

Questions:
(I'm aware of EMXP.)

1. Is there an application that I can up/down load samples with the
device, and control it remotely using MIDI system-exclusive commands?

2. Has anyone or is it possible to re-house the device in a smaller box?

3. Should I pass on the device to a fellow enthusiast, via private
sale, e-bay etc.?

* I'm sentimental about it's lo-fi audio characterisics & warmth
* I reside in Eastern Australia.

Mike.

Hi Michael,

In answer:

1) You can transfer samples to and from the Emax II using MIDI SDS or via high speed RS422 with the 
appropriate hardware/software. Although the Emax II has a pretty extensive MIDI SYSEX 
implementation as far as I know there are no software applications that allow you to operate it 
remotely. However, some other Emu samplers can be operated remotely.

2) Why do you want to hack the Emax II into a smaller box? Do you really not have three rack units to 
spare? Although it could be an interesting exercise I really don't think it would be worth the effort. If 
anything, I have considered modifying my Esi2000 to have a larger front panel with the menu options 
printed on it, like an Emax or EIII rack. But the cost and effort required mean this is unlikely to ever 
happen!

3) If you do not want the Emax II then by all mean pass it on to someone who does. I am also located 
on the east coast of Australia ;)

/Tristan

Sunday, January 18, 2009, 8:27:51 PM, you wrote:

>
I'm in possession ofa EMAX II Rack, 16bit Stereo, hard drive (RAM
can't remember) which has been in mothballs for several years.
Display & floppy still work fine.
Bought used in mid~late 1990's.

Ideally I want to strip the guts out of it's 3U rack and house them in
a 1~2u rack with minimal front controls, and control it remotely from
a PC via MIDI.

Questions:
(I'm aware of EMXP.)

1. Is there an application that I can up/down load samples with the
device, and control it remotely using MIDI system-exclusive commands?

2. Has anyone or is it possible to re-house the device in a smaller box?

3. Should I pass on the device to a fellow enthusiast, via private
sale, e-bay etc.?

* I'm sentimental about it's lo-fi audio characterisics & warmth
* I reside in Eastern Australia.

Mike.

When I had my Atari STE set up, I seem to remember being able to
control - and automate - just about every function of my Emax I, apart
from the SE processing, through Cubase. I can't quite remember what
the cubase function was - maybe midi-mapping - but it doesn't appear
to have survived through to current versions on the mac. I also don't
know whether it also worked for the Emax II, or even if this is of any
use or interest to you. But there you go...
Alan

--- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "Michael" <michaelamoye@...> wrote:

>
> I'm in possession ofa EMAX II Rack, 16bit Stereo, hard drive (RAM
> can't remember) which has been in mothballs for several years.
> Display & floppy still work fine.
> Bought used in mid~late 1990's.
> 
> Ideally I want to strip the guts out of it's 3U rack and house them in
> a 1~2u rack with minimal front controls, and control it remotely from
> a PC via MIDI.
> 
> Questions:
> (I'm aware of EMXP.)
> 
> 1. Is there an application that I can up/down load samples with the
> device, and control it remotely using MIDI system-exclusive commands?
> 
> 2. Has anyone or is it possible to re-house the device in a smaller box?
> 
> 3. Should I pass on the device to a fellow enthusiast, via private
> sale, e-bay etc.?
> 
> * I'm sentimental about it's lo-fi audio characterisics & warmth
> * I reside in Eastern Australia.
> 
> Mike.
>

Tristan,

I had a look inside the EXMAX II for the first time in years and see
that most contents (excluding the front panel) could fit into a 1U
case. Would need some metal & drill work though.

In the past I was fiddling with the idea of writing an editor /
librarian app. in BASIC / VB / C... as a learning excersise in MIDI
transfers, data structures, bit operations etc. but it never got off
the ground.

Starting to check the unit over.
There is an extra Quantum pro. hard drive (capacity not labeled) which
does work.
There's both data & cabling already (generously provided by E-MU) in
the box, it would just need mounting to the existing drive somehow.

Tristan, please inform me your email add. or mail me:
michaelamoye@...

Cheers.

--- In emax@yahoogroups.com, tu@... wrote:
>
> Hi Michael,
> 
> In answer:
> 
> 1) You can transfer samples to and from the Emax II using MIDI SDS
or via high speed RS422 with the 
> appropriate hardware/software. Although the Emax II has a pretty
extensive MIDI SYSEX 
> implementation as far as I know there are no software applications
that allow you to operate it 
> remotely. However, some other Emu samplers can be operated remotely.
> 
> 2) Why do you want to hack the Emax II into a smaller box? Do you
really not have three rack units to 
> spare? Although it could be an interesting exercise I really don't
think it would be worth the effort. If 
> anything, I have considered modifying my Esi2000 to have a larger
front panel with the menu options 
> printed on it, like an Emax or EIII rack. But the cost and effort
required mean this is unlikely to ever 
> happen!
> 
> 3) If you do not want the Emax II then by all mean pass it on to
someone who does. I am also located 

> on the east coast of Australia ;)
> 
> /Tristan

not sure about the Emax II but i have heard that the Emax I rack can be
temperamental with heat issues - like you don't want to stack other rack
equipment on top of it or stuff it inside a rack case.  heat could be more
of an issue if you convert it over to a 1U case.  something to keep in
mind...

Brooks

On Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 6:37 PM, Michael <michaelamoye@...> wrote:

>   Tristan,
>
> I had a look inside the EXMAX II for the first time in years and see
> that most contents (excluding the front panel) could fit into a 1U
> case. Would need some metal & drill work though.
>
> In the past I was fiddling with the idea of writing an editor /
> librarian app. in BASIC / VB / C... as a learning excersise in MIDI
> transfers, data structures, bit operations etc. but it never got off
> the ground.
>
> Starting to check the unit over.
> There is an extra Quantum pro. hard drive (capacity not labeled) which
> does work.
> There's both data & cabling already (generously provided by E-MU) in
> the box, it would just need mounting to the existing drive somehow.
>
> Tristan, please inform me your email add. or mail me:
> michaelamoye@... <michaelamoye%40gmail.com>
>
> Cheers.
>
>
> --- In emax@yahoogroups.com <emax%40yahoogroups.com>, tu@... wrote:
> >
> > Hi Michael,
> >
> > In answer:
> >
> > 1) You can transfer samples to and from the Emax II using MIDI SDS
> or via high speed RS422 with the
> > appropriate hardware/software. Although the Emax II has a pretty
> extensive MIDI SYSEX
> > implementation as far as I know there are no software applications
> that allow you to operate it
> > remotely. However, some other Emu samplers can be operated remotely.
> >
> > 2) Why do you want to hack the Emax II into a smaller box? Do you
> really not have three rack units to
> > spare? Although it could be an interesting exercise I really don't
> think it would be worth the effort. If
> > anything, I have considered modifying my Esi2000 to have a larger
> front panel with the menu options
> > printed on it, like an Emax or EIII rack. But the cost and effort
> required mean this is unlikely to ever
> > happen!
> >
> > 3) If you do not want the Emax II then by all mean pass it on to
> someone who does. I am also located
> > on the east coast of Australia ;)
> >
> > /Tristan
>
>  
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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.