Emax

>
> I haven't had my emax out in years. It was a plain one that I upgraded to SE when that came out, and factory upgraded to HD when that came out. I sure was surprised at how incredibly loud the hard drive was when it returned, and I recall that being a factor thereafter in using it. When I last fired it up a few years ago, I had HD errors on a couple of banks...if I resurrect it, it will certainly be with that HD replaced with flash or something...
> 
> Anyway, I came across the online sample sample floppy images, and found this group. To start, I wanted to convert some of those old samples to wav. I found EMU2WAV here...
> 
> 1. If there a source of the disk image format? EMU2WAV just converts the entire disk to audio, data sections and all (so, huge burst of garbage, then the samples in order with short glitches between them). I took a quick look in a file editor, and I could figure out what I need to given time, but it's probably not worth it to me. I don't know if the modern source to emxp (is it even available?) has that info.
> 
> 2. EMU2WAV has a serious flaw in the code. For the 8-bit samples it reads and decodes, the negative half of the waveforms are off by 1 (causing a discontinuity and clipping). I'm surprised that for most disks, the distortion isn't noticeable in casual listening, but on ZD707 (the mixed choir disk), the sounds is incredibly distorted, with continuous artifact throughout the sound (it sounds like the scratchiest record you ever heard—a continuous stream of clicks and pops). After fixing the code error, ZD707 translated into its old familiar self. I can upload the fixed and modernized source code, but I might improve it more first if I can find details on the disk format.
>

>
> I haven't had my emax out in years. It was a plain one that I upgraded to SE when that came out, and factory upgraded to HD when that came out. I sure was surprised at how incredibly loud the hard drive was when it returned, and I recall that being a factor thereafter in using it. When I last fired it up a few years ago, I had HD errors on a couple of banks...if I resurrect it, it will certainly be with that HD replaced with flash or something...
> 
> Anyway, I came across the online sample sample floppy images, and found this group. To start, I wanted to convert some of those old samples to wav. I found EMU2WAV here...
> 
> 1. If there a source of the disk image format? EMU2WAV just converts the entire disk to audio, data sections and all (so, huge burst of garbage, then the samples in order with short glitches between them). I took a quick look in a file editor, and I could figure out what I need to given time, but it's probably not worth it to me. I don't know if the modern source to emxp (is it even available?) has that info.
> 
> 2. EMU2WAV has a serious flaw in the code. For the 8-bit samples it reads and decodes, the negative half of the waveforms are off by 1 (causing a discontinuity and clipping). I'm surprised that for most disks, the distortion isn't noticeable in casual listening, but on ZD707 (the mixed choir disk), the sounds is incredibly distorted, with continuous artifact throughout the sound (it sounds like the scratchiest record you ever heard—a continuous stream of clicks and pops). After fixing the code error, ZD707 translated into its old familiar self. I can upload the fixed and modernized source code, but I might improve it more first if I can find details on the disk format.
>

>
> The source code of EMXP is not available. But you don't need it because the EMXP executable can perfectly transform all samples from your old EMX images into WAV files.
> Just make sure the files have an extension of .EM1, and convert them into .EB1 bank images first (by choosing 1-->2-->(select .EM1 files)-->1 in EMXP). 
> Then select the samples from the .EB1 file and convert them into WAV (by choosing 1-->1-->(select a single .EB1 file)-->8-->(select one or more samples)-->1)
>  
> BTW The decoder in EMU2WAV is indeed wrong.
> 
> ///E-Synthesist
> 
> --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "codehead" <codehead_1@> wrote:
> >
> > I haven't had my emax out in years. It was a plain one that I upgraded to SE when that came out, and factory upgraded to HD when that came out. I sure was surprised at how incredibly loud the hard drive was when it returned, and I recall that being a factor thereafter in using it. When I last fired it up a few years ago, I had HD errors on a couple of banks...if I resurrect it, it will certainly be with that HD replaced with flash or something...
> > 
> > Anyway, I came across the online sample sample floppy images, and found this group. To start, I wanted to convert some of those old samples to wav. I found EMU2WAV here...
> > 
> > 1. If there a source of the disk image format? EMU2WAV just converts the entire disk to audio, data sections and all (so, huge burst of garbage, then the samples in order with short glitches between them). I took a quick look in a file editor, and I could figure out what I need to given time, but it's probably not worth it to me. I don't know if the modern source to emxp (is it even available?) has that info.
> > 
> > 2. EMU2WAV has a serious flaw in the code. For the 8-bit samples it reads and decodes, the negative half of the waveforms are off by 1 (causing a discontinuity and clipping). I'm surprised that for most disks, the distortion isn't noticeable in casual listening, but on ZD707 (the mixed choir disk), the sounds is incredibly distorted, with continuous artifact throughout the sound (it sounds like the scratchiest record you ever heard—a continuous stream of clicks and pops). After fixing the code error, ZD707 translated into its old familiar self. I can upload the fixed and modernized source code, but I might improve it more first if I can find details on the disk format.
> >
>

>
> Hi e-synthesist. Your emxp looks like a great tool for emax users. I probably won't use it though—I can convert a directory of every .em1 file I download in a couple of seconds instead of messing with them one at a time. And if I decided it's worth figuring out the format and splitting each sound out into a separate file, it will be just as fast to do that for the whole batch.
> 
> Yes, I do have my old emax disks, and maybe at some point it will be worth firing up Windows (doing my stuff in Unix on the Mac) and trying emxp, but just goofing around now, auditioning the old sounds, some of which are still in ancients bits of music of mine laying about on cassette.
> 
> When it converts to wav, does emxp split the sounds out individual? Keep the loop points? Or just lop off the header?
> 
> (LOL, that reminds me...at least one old song I did publicly features the emax heavily...see if I can find it...here, made it to #2 on Dr. Demento for a few months, but couldn't get past "Star Trekkin": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHwwZgLSb_Q )
> 
> --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "esynthesist" <esynthesist@> wrote:
> >
> > The source code of EMXP is not available. But you don't need it because the EMXP executable can perfectly transform all samples from your old EMX images into WAV files.
> > Just make sure the files have an extension of .EM1, and convert them into .EB1 bank images first (by choosing 1-->2-->(select .EM1 files)-->1 in EMXP). 
> > Then select the samples from the .EB1 file and convert them into WAV (by choosing 1-->1-->(select a single .EB1 file)-->8-->(select one or more samples)-->1)
> >  
> > BTW The decoder in EMU2WAV is indeed wrong.
> > 
> > ///E-Synthesist
> > 
> > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "codehead" <codehead_1@> wrote:
> > >
> > > I haven't had my emax out in years. It was a plain one that I upgraded to SE when that came out, and factory upgraded to HD when that came out. I sure was surprised at how incredibly loud the hard drive was when it returned, and I recall that being a factor thereafter in using it. When I last fired it up a few years ago, I had HD errors on a couple of banks...if I resurrect it, it will certainly be with that HD replaced with flash or something...
> > > 
> > > Anyway, I came across the online sample sample floppy images, and found this group. To start, I wanted to convert some of those old samples to wav. I found EMU2WAV here...
> > > 
> > > 1. If there a source of the disk image format? EMU2WAV just converts the entire disk to audio, data sections and all (so, huge burst of garbage, then the samples in order with short glitches between them). I took a quick look in a file editor, and I could figure out what I need to given time, but it's probably not worth it to me. I don't know if the modern source to emxp (is it even available?) has that info.
> > > 
> > > 2. EMU2WAV has a serious flaw in the code. For the 8-bit samples it reads and decodes, the negative half of the waveforms are off by 1 (causing a discontinuity and clipping). I'm surprised that for most disks, the distortion isn't noticeable in casual listening, but on ZD707 (the mixed choir disk), the sounds is incredibly distorted, with continuous artifact throughout the sound (it sounds like the scratchiest record you ever heard—a continuous stream of clicks and pops). After fixing the code error, ZD707 translated into its old familiar self. I can upload the fixed and modernized source code, but I might improve it more first if I can find details on the disk format.
> > >
> >
>

>
> For fast auditioning of what's in a collection of EM1 files, the EMU2WAV approach sounds indeed like a very good method, especially if you adapted the source code to make audio u-law conversions more correct, and skip the fixed size header of 28672 bytes. There may be some non fixed-size sequencer data and SE data areas left in the remaining area (which may also sound like glitches), but for most EM1 files the result will be OK.
> 
> I think I will even adapt EMXP to support this kind of fast batch sample-to-wav conversions (good hint ! ;) but of course it will still be limited to Windows. EMXP does create individual wav files, one per sample, so it does more than just dropping the parameter header area, it also interpretes the header.
> 
> --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "codehead" <codehead_1@> wrote:
> >
> > Hi e-synthesist. Your emxp looks like a great tool for emax users. I probably won't use it though—I can convert a directory of every .em1 file I download in a couple of seconds instead of messing with them one at a time. And if I decided it's worth figuring out the format and splitting each sound out into a separate file, it will be just as fast to do that for the whole batch.
> > 
> > Yes, I do have my old emax disks, and maybe at some point it will be worth firing up Windows (doing my stuff in Unix on the Mac) and trying emxp, but just goofing around now, auditioning the old sounds, some of which are still in ancients bits of music of mine laying about on cassette.
> > 
> > When it converts to wav, does emxp split the sounds out individual? Keep the loop points? Or just lop off the header?
> > 
> > (LOL, that reminds me...at least one old song I did publicly features the emax heavily...see if I can find it...here, made it to #2 on Dr. Demento for a few months, but couldn't get past "Star Trekkin": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHwwZgLSb_Q )
> > 
> > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "esynthesist" <esynthesist@> wrote:
> > >
> > > The source code of EMXP is not available. But you don't need it because the EMXP executable can perfectly transform all samples from your old EMX images into WAV files.
> > > Just make sure the files have an extension of .EM1, and convert them into .EB1 bank images first (by choosing 1-->2-->(select .EM1 files)-->1 in EMXP). 
> > > Then select the samples from the .EB1 file and convert them into WAV (by choosing 1-->1-->(select a single .EB1 file)-->8-->(select one or more samples)-->1)
> > >  
> > > BTW The decoder in EMU2WAV is indeed wrong.
> > > 
> > > ///E-Synthesist
> > > 
> > > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "codehead" <codehead_1@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > I haven't had my emax out in years. It was a plain one that I upgraded to SE when that came out, and factory upgraded to HD when that came out. I sure was surprised at how incredibly loud the hard drive was when it returned, and I recall that being a factor thereafter in using it. When I last fired it up a few years ago, I had HD errors on a couple of banks...if I resurrect it, it will certainly be with that HD replaced with flash or something...
> > > > 
> > > > Anyway, I came across the online sample sample floppy images, and found this group. To start, I wanted to convert some of those old samples to wav. I found EMU2WAV here...
> > > > 
> > > > 1. If there a source of the disk image format? EMU2WAV just converts the entire disk to audio, data sections and all (so, huge burst of garbage, then the samples in order with short glitches between them). I took a quick look in a file editor, and I could figure out what I need to given time, but it's probably not worth it to me. I don't know if the modern source to emxp (is it even available?) has that info.
> > > > 
> > > > 2. EMU2WAV has a serious flaw in the code. For the 8-bit samples it reads and decodes, the negative half of the waveforms are off by 1 (causing a discontinuity and clipping). I'm surprised that for most disks, the distortion isn't noticeable in casual listening, but on ZD707 (the mixed choir disk), the sounds is incredibly distorted, with continuous artifact throughout the sound (it sounds like the scratchiest record you ever heard—a continuous stream of clicks and pops). After fixing the code error, ZD707 translated into its old familiar self. I can upload the fixed and modernized source code, but I might improve it more first if I can find details on the disk format.
> > > >
> > >
> >
>

>
> For fast auditioning of what's in a collection of EM1 files, the EMU2WAV approach sounds indeed like a very good method, especially if you adapted the source code to make audio u-law conversions more correct, and skip the fixed size header of 28672 bytes. There may be some non fixed-size sequencer data and SE data areas left in the remaining area (which may also sound like glitches), but for most EM1 files the result will be OK.
> 
> I think I will even adapt EMXP to support this kind of fast batch sample-to-wav conversions (good hint ! ;) but of course it will still be limited to Windows. EMXP does create individual wav files, one per sample, so it does more than just dropping the parameter header area, it also interpretes the header.
> 
> --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "codehead" <codehead_1@> wrote:
> >
> > Hi e-synthesist. Your emxp looks like a great tool for emax users. I probably won't use it though—I can convert a directory of every .em1 file I download in a couple of seconds instead of messing with them one at a time. And if I decided it's worth figuring out the format and splitting each sound out into a separate file, it will be just as fast to do that for the whole batch.
> > 
> > Yes, I do have my old emax disks, and maybe at some point it will be worth firing up Windows (doing my stuff in Unix on the Mac) and trying emxp, but just goofing around now, auditioning the old sounds, some of which are still in ancients bits of music of mine laying about on cassette.
> > 
> > When it converts to wav, does emxp split the sounds out individual? Keep the loop points? Or just lop off the header?
> > 
> > (LOL, that reminds me...at least one old song I did publicly features the emax heavily...see if I can find it...here, made it to #2 on Dr. Demento for a few months, but couldn't get past "Star Trekkin": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHwwZgLSb_Q )
> > 
> > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "esynthesist" <esynthesist@> wrote:
> > >
> > > The source code of EMXP is not available. But you don't need it because the EMXP executable can perfectly transform all samples from your old EMX images into WAV files.
> > > Just make sure the files have an extension of .EM1, and convert them into .EB1 bank images first (by choosing 1-->2-->(select .EM1 files)-->1 in EMXP). 
> > > Then select the samples from the .EB1 file and convert them into WAV (by choosing 1-->1-->(select a single .EB1 file)-->8-->(select one or more samples)-->1)
> > >  
> > > BTW The decoder in EMU2WAV is indeed wrong.
> > > 
> > > ///E-Synthesist
> > > 
> > > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "codehead" <codehead_1@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > I haven't had my emax out in years. It was a plain one that I upgraded to SE when that came out, and factory upgraded to HD when that came out. I sure was surprised at how incredibly loud the hard drive was when it returned, and I recall that being a factor thereafter in using it. When I last fired it up a few years ago, I had HD errors on a couple of banks...if I resurrect it, it will certainly be with that HD replaced with flash or something...
> > > > 
> > > > Anyway, I came across the online sample sample floppy images, and found this group. To start, I wanted to convert some of those old samples to wav. I found EMU2WAV here...
> > > > 
> > > > 1. If there a source of the disk image format? EMU2WAV just converts the entire disk to audio, data sections and all (so, huge burst of garbage, then the samples in order with short glitches between them). I took a quick look in a file editor, and I could figure out what I need to given time, but it's probably not worth it to me. I don't know if the modern source to emxp (is it even available?) has that info.
> > > > 
> > > > 2. EMU2WAV has a serious flaw in the code. For the 8-bit samples it reads and decodes, the negative half of the waveforms are off by 1 (causing a discontinuity and clipping). I'm surprised that for most disks, the distortion isn't noticeable in casual listening, but on ZD707 (the mixed choir disk), the sounds is incredibly distorted, with continuous artifact throughout the sound (it sounds like the scratchiest record you ever heard—a continuous stream of clicks and pops). After fixing the code error, ZD707 translated into its old familiar self. I can upload the fixed and modernized source code, but I might improve it more first if I can find details on the disk format.
> > > >
> > >
> >
>

>
> OK, I can audition all of the .em1 files quickly after fixing the mu-law problem and the wave file problem (EMU2WAV converts all of the data, the the wav header says it's half the size it should be, so that's all that plays back), then use emxp to convert any particular samples I want to go after...
> 
> I won't bug you for all of your secrets, but I'm curious about the the additional e-mu sample processing—it's kind of funny that such an old and moldy format seems to still be somewhat of a secret. Or at least, I couldn't come across it on the web. My first guess would be that it's something like a 6 dB/oct roll-off across the audio spectrum to get rid of the obvious pre-emphasis. Close?
> 
> 
> --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "esynthesist" <esynthesist@> wrote:
> >
> > For fast auditioning of what's in a collection of EM1 files, the EMU2WAV approach sounds indeed like a very good method, especially if you adapted the source code to make audio u-law conversions more correct, and skip the fixed size header of 28672 bytes. There may be some non fixed-size sequencer data and SE data areas left in the remaining area (which may also sound like glitches), but for most EM1 files the result will be OK.
> > 
> > I think I will even adapt EMXP to support this kind of fast batch sample-to-wav conversions (good hint ! ;) but of course it will still be limited to Windows. EMXP does create individual wav files, one per sample, so it does more than just dropping the parameter header area, it also interpretes the header.
> > 
> > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "codehead" <codehead_1@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi e-synthesist. Your emxp looks like a great tool for emax users. I probably won't use it though—I can convert a directory of every .em1 file I download in a couple of seconds instead of messing with them one at a time. And if I decided it's worth figuring out the format and splitting each sound out into a separate file, it will be just as fast to do that for the whole batch.
> > > 
> > > Yes, I do have my old emax disks, and maybe at some point it will be worth firing up Windows (doing my stuff in Unix on the Mac) and trying emxp, but just goofing around now, auditioning the old sounds, some of which are still in ancients bits of music of mine laying about on cassette.
> > > 
> > > When it converts to wav, does emxp split the sounds out individual? Keep the loop points? Or just lop off the header?
> > > 
> > > (LOL, that reminds me...at least one old song I did publicly features the emax heavily...see if I can find it...here, made it to #2 on Dr. Demento for a few months, but couldn't get past "Star Trekkin": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHwwZgLSb_Q )
> > > 
> > > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "esynthesist" <esynthesist@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > The source code of EMXP is not available. But you don't need it because the EMXP executable can perfectly transform all samples from your old EMX images into WAV files.
> > > > Just make sure the files have an extension of .EM1, and convert them into .EB1 bank images first (by choosing 1-->2-->(select .EM1 files)-->1 in EMXP). 
> > > > Then select the samples from the .EB1 file and convert them into WAV (by choosing 1-->1-->(select a single .EB1 file)-->8-->(select one or more samples)-->1)
> > > >  
> > > > BTW The decoder in EMU2WAV is indeed wrong.
> > > > 
> > > > ///E-Synthesist
> > > > 
> > > > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "codehead" <codehead_1@> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > I haven't had my emax out in years. It was a plain one that I upgraded to SE when that came out, and factory upgraded to HD when that came out. I sure was surprised at how incredibly loud the hard drive was when it returned, and I recall that being a factor thereafter in using it. When I last fired it up a few years ago, I had HD errors on a couple of banks...if I resurrect it, it will certainly be with that HD replaced with flash or something...
> > > > > 
> > > > > Anyway, I came across the online sample sample floppy images, and found this group. To start, I wanted to convert some of those old samples to wav. I found EMU2WAV here...
> > > > > 
> > > > > 1. If there a source of the disk image format? EMU2WAV just converts the entire disk to audio, data sections and all (so, huge burst of garbage, then the samples in order with short glitches between them). I took a quick look in a file editor, and I could figure out what I need to given time, but it's probably not worth it to me. I don't know if the modern source to emxp (is it even available?) has that info.
> > > > > 
> > > > > 2. EMU2WAV has a serious flaw in the code. For the 8-bit samples it reads and decodes, the negative half of the waveforms are off by 1 (causing a discontinuity and clipping). I'm surprised that for most disks, the distortion isn't noticeable in casual listening, but on ZD707 (the mixed choir disk), the sounds is incredibly distorted, with continuous artifact throughout the sound (it sounds like the scratchiest record you ever heard—a continuous stream of clicks and pops). After fixing the code error, ZD707 translated into its old familiar self. I can upload the fixed and modernized source code, but I might improve it more first if I can find details on the disk format.
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
>

>
> Thanks—yeah, I figure out the header was about 0x7000 plus what seemed to be a variable amount of small additional—fine to just clip it there for auditioning.
> 
> And I decided to take a look at emxp, but got only so far as finding a reference to "OmniFlopUSB" in the OmniFlop installation instructions...yet OmniFlopUSB doesn't appear to exist...so much for trying out emxp. If I want it badly, I'll drag out an ancient PC (lol—just noticed that the ancient PC I didn't feel like hooking up has a zip drive, no floppy...so much for that idea). OK, so maybe I stick with .em1 files and forget about the floppy collection...
> 
> --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "esynthesist" <esynthesist@> wrote:
> >
> > For fast auditioning of what's in a collection of EM1 files, the EMU2WAV approach sounds indeed like a very good method, especially if you adapted the source code to make audio u-law conversions more correct, and skip the fixed size header of 28672 bytes. There may be some non fixed-size sequencer data and SE data areas left in the remaining area (which may also sound like glitches), but for most EM1 files the result will be OK.
> > 
> > I think I will even adapt EMXP to support this kind of fast batch sample-to-wav conversions (good hint ! ;) but of course it will still be limited to Windows. EMXP does create individual wav files, one per sample, so it does more than just dropping the parameter header area, it also interpretes the header.
> > 
> > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "codehead" <codehead_1@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi e-synthesist. Your emxp looks like a great tool for emax users. I probably won't use it though—I can convert a directory of every .em1 file I download in a couple of seconds instead of messing with them one at a time. And if I decided it's worth figuring out the format and splitting each sound out into a separate file, it will be just as fast to do that for the whole batch.
> > > 
> > > Yes, I do have my old emax disks, and maybe at some point it will be worth firing up Windows (doing my stuff in Unix on the Mac) and trying emxp, but just goofing around now, auditioning the old sounds, some of which are still in ancients bits of music of mine laying about on cassette.
> > > 
> > > When it converts to wav, does emxp split the sounds out individual? Keep the loop points? Or just lop off the header?
> > > 
> > > (LOL, that reminds me...at least one old song I did publicly features the emax heavily...see if I can find it...here, made it to #2 on Dr. Demento for a few months, but couldn't get past "Star Trekkin": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHwwZgLSb_Q )
> > > 
> > > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "esynthesist" <esynthesist@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > The source code of EMXP is not available. But you don't need it because the EMXP executable can perfectly transform all samples from your old EMX images into WAV files.
> > > > Just make sure the files have an extension of .EM1, and convert them into .EB1 bank images first (by choosing 1-->2-->(select .EM1 files)-->1 in EMXP). 
> > > > Then select the samples from the .EB1 file and convert them into WAV (by choosing 1-->1-->(select a single .EB1 file)-->8-->(select one or more samples)-->1)
> > > >  
> > > > BTW The decoder in EMU2WAV is indeed wrong.
> > > > 
> > > > ///E-Synthesist
> > > > 
> > > > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "codehead" <codehead_1@> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > I haven't had my emax out in years. It was a plain one that I upgraded to SE when that came out, and factory upgraded to HD when that came out. I sure was surprised at how incredibly loud the hard drive was when it returned, and I recall that being a factor thereafter in using it. When I last fired it up a few years ago, I had HD errors on a couple of banks...if I resurrect it, it will certainly be with that HD replaced with flash or something...
> > > > > 
> > > > > Anyway, I came across the online sample sample floppy images, and found this group. To start, I wanted to convert some of those old samples to wav. I found EMU2WAV here...
> > > > > 
> > > > > 1. If there a source of the disk image format? EMU2WAV just converts the entire disk to audio, data sections and all (so, huge burst of garbage, then the samples in order with short glitches between them). I took a quick look in a file editor, and I could figure out what I need to given time, but it's probably not worth it to me. I don't know if the modern source to emxp (is it even available?) has that info.
> > > > > 
> > > > > 2. EMU2WAV has a serious flaw in the code. For the 8-bit samples it reads and decodes, the negative half of the waveforms are off by 1 (causing a discontinuity and clipping). I'm surprised that for most disks, the distortion isn't noticeable in casual listening, but on ZD707 (the mixed choir disk), the sounds is incredibly distorted, with continuous artifact throughout the sound (it sounds like the scratchiest record you ever heard—a continuous stream of clicks and pops). After fixing the code error, ZD707 translated into its old familiar self. I can upload the fixed and modernized source code, but I might improve it more first if I can find details on the disk format.
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
>

>
> OK, I can audition all of the .em1 files quickly after fixing the mu-law problem and the wave file problem (EMU2WAV converts all of the data, the the wav header says it's half the size it should be, so that's all that plays back), then use emxp to convert any particular samples I want to go after...
> 
> I won't bug you for all of your secrets, but I'm curious about the the additional e-mu sample processing—it's kind of funny that such an old and moldy format seems to still be somewhat of a secret. Or at least, I couldn't come across it on the web. My first guess would be that it's something like a 6 dB/oct roll-off across the audio spectrum to get rid of the obvious pre-emphasis. Close?
> 
> 
> --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "esynthesist" <esynthesist@> wrote:
> >
> > For fast auditioning of what's in a collection of EM1 files, the EMU2WAV approach sounds indeed like a very good method, especially if you adapted the source code to make audio u-law conversions more correct, and skip the fixed size header of 28672 bytes. There may be some non fixed-size sequencer data and SE data areas left in the remaining area (which may also sound like glitches), but for most EM1 files the result will be OK.
> > 
> > I think I will even adapt EMXP to support this kind of fast batch sample-to-wav conversions (good hint ! ;) but of course it will still be limited to Windows. EMXP does create individual wav files, one per sample, so it does more than just dropping the parameter header area, it also interpretes the header.
> > 
> > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "codehead" <codehead_1@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi e-synthesist. Your emxp looks like a great tool for emax users. I probably won't use it though—I can convert a directory of every .em1 file I download in a couple of seconds instead of messing with them one at a time. And if I decided it's worth figuring out the format and splitting each sound out into a separate file, it will be just as fast to do that for the whole batch.
> > > 
> > > Yes, I do have my old emax disks, and maybe at some point it will be worth firing up Windows (doing my stuff in Unix on the Mac) and trying emxp, but just goofing around now, auditioning the old sounds, some of which are still in ancients bits of music of mine laying about on cassette.
> > > 
> > > When it converts to wav, does emxp split the sounds out individual? Keep the loop points? Or just lop off the header?
> > > 
> > > (LOL, that reminds me...at least one old song I did publicly features the emax heavily...see if I can find it...here, made it to #2 on Dr. Demento for a few months, but couldn't get past "Star Trekkin": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHwwZgLSb_Q )
> > > 
> > > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "esynthesist" <esynthesist@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > The source code of EMXP is not available. But you don't need it because the EMXP executable can perfectly transform all samples from your old EMX images into WAV files.
> > > > Just make sure the files have an extension of .EM1, and convert them into .EB1 bank images first (by choosing 1-->2-->(select .EM1 files)-->1 in EMXP). 
> > > > Then select the samples from the .EB1 file and convert them into WAV (by choosing 1-->1-->(select a single .EB1 file)-->8-->(select one or more samples)-->1)
> > > >  
> > > > BTW The decoder in EMU2WAV is indeed wrong.
> > > > 
> > > > ///E-Synthesist
> > > > 
> > > > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "codehead" <codehead_1@> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > I haven't had my emax out in years. It was a plain one that I upgraded to SE when that came out, and factory upgraded to HD when that came out. I sure was surprised at how incredibly loud the hard drive was when it returned, and I recall that being a factor thereafter in using it. When I last fired it up a few years ago, I had HD errors on a couple of banks...if I resurrect it, it will certainly be with that HD replaced with flash or something...
> > > > > 
> > > > > Anyway, I came across the online sample sample floppy images, and found this group. To start, I wanted to convert some of those old samples to wav. I found EMU2WAV here...
> > > > > 
> > > > > 1. If there a source of the disk image format? EMU2WAV just converts the entire disk to audio, data sections and all (so, huge burst of garbage, then the samples in order with short glitches between them). I took a quick look in a file editor, and I could figure out what I need to given time, but it's probably not worth it to me. I don't know if the modern source to emxp (is it even available?) has that info.
> > > > > 
> > > > > 2. EMU2WAV has a serious flaw in the code. For the 8-bit samples it reads and decodes, the negative half of the waveforms are off by 1 (causing a discontinuity and clipping). I'm surprised that for most disks, the distortion isn't noticeable in casual listening, but on ZD707 (the mixed choir disk), the sounds is incredibly distorted, with continuous artifact throughout the sound (it sounds like the scratchiest record you ever heard—a continuous stream of clicks and pops). After fixing the code error, ZD707 translated into its old familiar self. I can upload the fixed and modernized source code, but I might improve it more first if I can find details on the disk format.
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
>

>
> Oh, I forgot to mention the additional 39 bytes from the EMX header (the original EMX software always added a signature of 39 bytes at the beginning of each EM1 file). So the fixed size header area to be skipped is actually 28711 bytes (0x7027).
> Floppy disks can indeed only be written on an internal floppy drive; the omniflop driver gives low level instructions to the floppy drive controller on the motherboard of the PC... USB drives have their own internal controller, and only support the common floppy disk formats through their USB class interface.
> Since your Emax has SCSI, you can also consider a ZIP drive or flash card drive connected to your Emax. EMXP can read/write these Emax drives too besides floppy disks.
> 
> 
> --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "codehead" <codehead_1@> wrote:
> >
> > Thanks—yeah, I figure out the header was about 0x7000 plus what seemed to be a variable amount of small additional—fine to just clip it there for auditioning.
> > 
> > And I decided to take a look at emxp, but got only so far as finding a reference to "OmniFlopUSB" in the OmniFlop installation instructions...yet OmniFlopUSB doesn't appear to exist...so much for trying out emxp. If I want it badly, I'll drag out an ancient PC (lol—just noticed that the ancient PC I didn't feel like hooking up has a zip drive, no floppy...so much for that idea). OK, so maybe I stick with .em1 files and forget about the floppy collection...
> > 
> > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "esynthesist" <esynthesist@> wrote:
> > >
> > > For fast auditioning of what's in a collection of EM1 files, the EMU2WAV approach sounds indeed like a very good method, especially if you adapted the source code to make audio u-law conversions more correct, and skip the fixed size header of 28672 bytes. There may be some non fixed-size sequencer data and SE data areas left in the remaining area (which may also sound like glitches), but for most EM1 files the result will be OK.
> > > 
> > > I think I will even adapt EMXP to support this kind of fast batch sample-to-wav conversions (good hint ! ;) but of course it will still be limited to Windows. EMXP does create individual wav files, one per sample, so it does more than just dropping the parameter header area, it also interpretes the header.
> > > 
> > > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "codehead" <codehead_1@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Hi e-synthesist. Your emxp looks like a great tool for emax users. I probably won't use it though—I can convert a directory of every .em1 file I download in a couple of seconds instead of messing with them one at a time. And if I decided it's worth figuring out the format and splitting each sound out into a separate file, it will be just as fast to do that for the whole batch.
> > > > 
> > > > Yes, I do have my old emax disks, and maybe at some point it will be worth firing up Windows (doing my stuff in Unix on the Mac) and trying emxp, but just goofing around now, auditioning the old sounds, some of which are still in ancients bits of music of mine laying about on cassette.
> > > > 
> > > > When it converts to wav, does emxp split the sounds out individual? Keep the loop points? Or just lop off the header?
> > > > 
> > > > (LOL, that reminds me...at least one old song I did publicly features the emax heavily...see if I can find it...here, made it to #2 on Dr. Demento for a few months, but couldn't get past "Star Trekkin": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHwwZgLSb_Q )
> > > > 
> > > > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "esynthesist" <esynthesist@> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > The source code of EMXP is not available. But you don't need it because the EMXP executable can perfectly transform all samples from your old EMX images into WAV files.
> > > > > Just make sure the files have an extension of .EM1, and convert them into .EB1 bank images first (by choosing 1-->2-->(select .EM1 files)-->1 in EMXP). 
> > > > > Then select the samples from the .EB1 file and convert them into WAV (by choosing 1-->1-->(select a single .EB1 file)-->8-->(select one or more samples)-->1)
> > > > >  
> > > > > BTW The decoder in EMU2WAV is indeed wrong.
> > > > > 
> > > > > ///E-Synthesist
> > > > > 
> > > > > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "codehead" <codehead_1@> wrote:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I haven't had my emax out in years. It was a plain one that I upgraded to SE when that came out, and factory upgraded to HD when that came out. I sure was surprised at how incredibly loud the hard drive was when it returned, and I recall that being a factor thereafter in using it. When I last fired it up a few years ago, I had HD errors on a couple of banks...if I resurrect it, it will certainly be with that HD replaced with flash or something...
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > Anyway, I came across the online sample sample floppy images, and found this group. To start, I wanted to convert some of those old samples to wav. I found EMU2WAV here...
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > 1. If there a source of the disk image format? EMU2WAV just converts the entire disk to audio, data sections and all (so, huge burst of garbage, then the samples in order with short glitches between them). I took a quick look in a file editor, and I could figure out what I need to given time, but it's probably not worth it to me. I don't know if the modern source to emxp (is it even available?) has that info.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > 2. EMU2WAV has a serious flaw in the code. For the 8-bit samples it reads and decodes, the negative half of the waveforms are off by 1 (causing a discontinuity and clipping). I'm surprised that for most disks, the distortion isn't noticeable in casual listening, but on ZD707 (the mixed choir disk), the sounds is incredibly distorted, with continuous artifact throughout the sound (it sounds like the scratchiest record you ever heard—a continuous stream of clicks and pops). After fixing the code error, ZD707 translated into its old familiar self. I can upload the fixed and modernized source code, but I might improve it more first if I can find details on the disk format.
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
>

>
> Well I just kept refining the compression algorithm until it gave (almost) the same result as the Emax did.
> I guess this kind of E-Mu "secrets" are part of the magic and charm of this old gear ;) 
> 
> --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "codehead" <codehead_1@> wrote:
> >
> > OK, I can audition all of the .em1 files quickly after fixing the mu-law problem and the wave file problem (EMU2WAV converts all of the data, the the wav header says it's half the size it should be, so that's all that plays back), then use emxp to convert any particular samples I want to go after...
> > 
> > I won't bug you for all of your secrets, but I'm curious about the the additional e-mu sample processing—it's kind of funny that such an old and moldy format seems to still be somewhat of a secret. Or at least, I couldn't come across it on the web. My first guess would be that it's something like a 6 dB/oct roll-off across the audio spectrum to get rid of the obvious pre-emphasis. Close?
> > 
> > 
> > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "esynthesist" <esynthesist@> wrote:
> > >
> > > For fast auditioning of what's in a collection of EM1 files, the EMU2WAV approach sounds indeed like a very good method, especially if you adapted the source code to make audio u-law conversions more correct, and skip the fixed size header of 28672 bytes. There may be some non fixed-size sequencer data and SE data areas left in the remaining area (which may also sound like glitches), but for most EM1 files the result will be OK.
> > > 
> > > I think I will even adapt EMXP to support this kind of fast batch sample-to-wav conversions (good hint ! ;) but of course it will still be limited to Windows. EMXP does create individual wav files, one per sample, so it does more than just dropping the parameter header area, it also interpretes the header.
> > > 
> > > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "codehead" <codehead_1@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Hi e-synthesist. Your emxp looks like a great tool for emax users. I probably won't use it though—I can convert a directory of every .em1 file I download in a couple of seconds instead of messing with them one at a time. And if I decided it's worth figuring out the format and splitting each sound out into a separate file, it will be just as fast to do that for the whole batch.
> > > > 
> > > > Yes, I do have my old emax disks, and maybe at some point it will be worth firing up Windows (doing my stuff in Unix on the Mac) and trying emxp, but just goofing around now, auditioning the old sounds, some of which are still in ancients bits of music of mine laying about on cassette.
> > > > 
> > > > When it converts to wav, does emxp split the sounds out individual? Keep the loop points? Or just lop off the header?
> > > > 
> > > > (LOL, that reminds me...at least one old song I did publicly features the emax heavily...see if I can find it...here, made it to #2 on Dr. Demento for a few months, but couldn't get past "Star Trekkin": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHwwZgLSb_Q )
> > > > 
> > > > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "esynthesist" <esynthesist@> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > The source code of EMXP is not available. But you don't need it because the EMXP executable can perfectly transform all samples from your old EMX images into WAV files.
> > > > > Just make sure the files have an extension of .EM1, and convert them into .EB1 bank images first (by choosing 1-->2-->(select .EM1 files)-->1 in EMXP). 
> > > > > Then select the samples from the .EB1 file and convert them into WAV (by choosing 1-->1-->(select a single .EB1 file)-->8-->(select one or more samples)-->1)
> > > > >  
> > > > > BTW The decoder in EMU2WAV is indeed wrong.
> > > > > 
> > > > > ///E-Synthesist
> > > > > 
> > > > > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "codehead" <codehead_1@> wrote:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I haven't had my emax out in years. It was a plain one that I upgraded to SE when that came out, and factory upgraded to HD when that came out. I sure was surprised at how incredibly loud the hard drive was when it returned, and I recall that being a factor thereafter in using it. When I last fired it up a few years ago, I had HD errors on a couple of banks...if I resurrect it, it will certainly be with that HD replaced with flash or something...
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > Anyway, I came across the online sample sample floppy images, and found this group. To start, I wanted to convert some of those old samples to wav. I found EMU2WAV here...
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > 1. If there a source of the disk image format? EMU2WAV just converts the entire disk to audio, data sections and all (so, huge burst of garbage, then the samples in order with short glitches between them). I took a quick look in a file editor, and I could figure out what I need to given time, but it's probably not worth it to me. I don't know if the modern source to emxp (is it even available?) has that info.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > 2. EMU2WAV has a serious flaw in the code. For the 8-bit samples it reads and decodes, the negative half of the waveforms are off by 1 (causing a discontinuity and clipping). I'm surprised that for most disks, the distortion isn't noticeable in casual listening, but on ZD707 (the mixed choir disk), the sounds is incredibly distorted, with continuous artifact throughout the sound (it sounds like the scratchiest record you ever heard—a continuous stream of clicks and pops). After fixing the code error, ZD707 translated into its old familiar self. I can upload the fixed and modernized source code, but I might improve it more first if I can find details on the disk format.
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
>