Emu Emulator II Demo - Part 2.

[900GTi]

@tryptychUK I'm just saying that the DX1 was pretty similar to the Synclavier(and the FM-8 as well)

[900GTi]

whats the sound at 5:58? Its sounds epic!

[JMPSynth]

Think it's a collection of PPG sounds from memory.

[olijack57]

sons de guitar cyndie lauper(true colors)

[casestudyification]

@xxxDavidMaysxxx I just saw one on ebay, but they were asking for an arm and a leg.

[VoyageOne1]

This synth is in the background in Ferris Bueller's Bay Off!!

[casestudyification]

@VoyageOne1 Yeah, I just noticed that when I watched it last week! 

[MrRefurbishedBrain]

I just jizzed in my pants..holy Fuck!!!!

[TWMusicBerlin]

i have the library on my hard drive =)

[MoveOverCasanova]

beautiful legendary instrument - but realtime controllability seems pretty restricted as far as i understand it, always just one group at a time with 4 (ABCD) preset parameters

[Kriss364]

I think the later Emu Emulator II HD+ Pro Plus model had a CD ROM Drive for it and i am not sure if there was an Optical Disk Drive for the E-II Avalable for it too? Best advice is to just plug a CD or microphone in and press the 'sample' button, fairling that try getting your hands on the Emulator II's disk libraries

[JMPSynth]

The Rev 1 models (later ones) have RS422 ports for connecting an external Optical Media CD Rom drive. OMI 1-3 CD libraries were created for it. Most of these drvies don't work these days but most owners use the communication port for connecting an old Mac, using Sound Designer and the converted libraries instead.

[tryptychUK]

@JMPSynth The Oberheim DPX could also read the Emu CD-ROM drives.

[JMPSynth]

Don't you mean the EII 5.25" floppy disks? 

[tryptychUK]

@JMPSynth IT reads them as well, but it also has a parallel RS422 interface in the back. I know as I had two EII's and got rid of them and just used the Oberheim.

[JMPSynth]

Didn't realise that.... Miss the EII's?

[tryptychUK]

@JMPSynth Not really. Got two EIV Extremes and a ton of other Emu racks instead. :)

[renatopuente]

@xxxDavidMaysxxx With any MIDI Keyboard, you can use vst synths like "Kontakt" and download the EMU-II sounds.. then.. start to play DEPECHE MODE..!! like in the 80's..!!

[renatopuente]

E-mu = Depeche Mode

Yeah..!! ♪♫♪

[schellebel]

Hey isn't that the Michael Jackson Beat It Intro sound at 5:47 before the 808 kicks in??

[tryptychUK]

@schellebel : No. That was an NED Synclavier II - the most expensive synth ever built. That said, it was essentially a souped-up DX7 in a lot of ways.

[schellebel]

@tryptychUK good to know! So the Synclavier sampled a stacked DX-7 patch, and the Emu did too in a way, as it sounds sort of the same?

[tryptychUK]

@schellebel LOL no. The Synclavier was a sampler, but it was also a synthesiser in it's own right. It was the first synth to use FM synthesis, developed by a guy called John Chowning. He later sold the patents to Yamaha who developed the DX range using it. However the Synclavier used 12 operators against the DX7's 6, hence that massive sound. The closest thing to it now is the Native Instruments FM-8 VSTi

[900GTi]

@tryptychUK The Yamaha DX1 is similar the Synclavier also

[tryptychUK]

@900GTi The Synclavier was the original FM synth. The designer, John Chowning sold the rights to Yamaha.

[HELLRAISER657]

ONE OF THE BEST VIDEOS ON YOUTBE

[LaugermanPROductions]

Are Emulator II's reliable?

[JMPSynth]

As reliable as any other vintage synth/sampler. They all need TLC.

[tryptychUK]

@LaugermanPROductions The power supplies are an early switched-mode design, and rather underrated, and liable to go bang. I have had two do it to me, and heard of quite a few other people it happened to.

The Shugart floppy drives wear out (and are also really slow), so where possible, it's best to use the RS-422 interface and get a hard drive installed. Apart from the occasional button seizing up, they are generally very good as long as you don't throw them around and treat them with respect.

[Erik2Ammo]

My favourite syntesizer of all times, whish I had one!

[JMPSynth]

Ebay is the way... one appeared in UK the other week. Just keep looking but be prepared to get one fixed up as they're rarely working 100% when being sold.

[svenssoncorps]

excuse me, but how do you get/record samples to use with the emulator? i have no idea. i know there are floppy disks for sale with samples, but is there a better way to get sounds?

[JMPSynth]

You sample your own stuff ! Insert a microphone into the audio/sample 1/4" jack on the back of the EII or sample direct from other synths. All of my own sounds come from other synths or WAV's played back from PC into the sample input of the EII. All my own samples/sounds are available on 5.25" floppy disk and SD format. :)

[svenssoncorps]

@JMPSynth That's cool. I was never sure about that cause i never used a sampler, quite simple, huh. Thank you :) Still the Emulator II sounds so different, they say it's thanks to the analog filters. great sounds.

Well, i want one! lol

[sloo7047]

bit of bronski beat in there

[rondroyd]

thnx for this really good sounding[ iget a impression now ] of the emulator always wanted one,....

we have a sp1200 = drum sampler

thnxio

[vootman]

Analog filters bitches!

[scott93257]

I had an Emulator II for many years...Bought it from a friend of mine, Mark Yeary, Merle Haggard's former pianist... MY Ex got the mind to sell it to a pawn shop for $100.00. Freaking bitch... Serial # was 1616

[RikAmmo]

@scott93257

what a cunt!!!

[scott93257]

@RikAmmo

absolutely...I still hate that bitch to this day...

[RikAmmo]

@scott93257

The only cure for the hate brother, is to buy another Emulator, only then will you be free of hate!!! go for it man, we only live once. get a emulator and live it up!!!!!

[scott93257]

@RikAmmo

Yes indeed brother...The one thing that was great about my Emulator is the fact that it was on some of Merle Haggard's most famous recordings like "stay here and drink" and the beautiful string section on "misery and Gin...." Mark really knew how to milk that machine for all it was worth...Right now he's looking for an operating Peavey DPM3 as he busted his... He recorded over 400 songs on his and has no way to transfer them to anything else...

[MacXpert74]

@scott93257 I understand why she's your ex now ;)

[scott93257]

@MacXpert74

Oh indeed....And always will be... I will never look back in her case... i think I may have found me another EII +HD on Ebay for $600...The guy said it was having problems though with the Hard drive.... Fortunately I have a hard drive that is compatible with it.... What a beautiful reunion that will be :)...Me an my EII (or another EII ) together again ! :)

[scott93257]

I had one of these beasts back in 1999... Freaking miss it a lot... But that's what happens when you have a bitch of an ex wife with rich parents...They take shit and hold it over your head.... They will burn in hell for their evil ways....Anyway.....Great post. thanks... Check out some of my videos. I have a Prophet 2000 that I have been recently posting vids of...the two I have posted are just messing around but will be posting some new tunes with it.

[maccagrabme]

Well to my ears this sounds like any analog or digital synth out there and this is with very limited sample space.

[JMPSynth]

So all analogue and digital synths sound the same do they? Lol. It's a sampler not a synth, it's supposed to sound like other instruments.....

[maccagrabme]

@JMPSynth Actually this was a compliment if you read it correctly. What I meant was these EXCELLENT sounds can sound like any digital synth or analog synth. I know its a sampler but the character of the filters and bitrate and convertors allow it to sound very convincing unlike a lot of new synths and modern samplers, in particular software samplers which are good but lacking personality. I am well aware that classic synths all have distinctive and unique sounds, unlike modern synths.

[maccagrabme]

@JMPSynth Also, I have owned many hardware samplers as well as analog and digital synths over the yrs and my point is that this library has a BIG and expensive sound considering the memory limitations of this instrument, almost laughable by today's standards. Most new sample library's although more accurate and higher quality come nowhere near the professional quality of this library.

[JMPSynth]

Ah, sorry man, your message could be read both ways, my bad ! Glad you like it too. ;) The library blows you away on these considering when it was put together. My ESI sampler hardly gets switched on despite having 128MB of memory and CD quality playback ! Cheers.

[Geeljasjes]

@JMPSynth

Not entirely true.

The EII had an envelope and filter section, so the sample acts as an oscillator, just like it does on the PPG wave. Difference is, you can feed your own sounds into it, but the sound manipulation is the same as on a synthesizer.

BTW, a sample is still a synthetic way of reproducing sound, so your statement that it's not a synth is not accurate.

[vjrei]

I would like to have one on stage just to watch the face of the people wondering... does that thing actually works?

A few years ago I went to a airplane simulator, an actual one and they had all these old computers with the old floppy disks that were the size of an actual LP!!! The Emulator II reminds me that computer lab for that simulator.

[JMPSynth]

Lol, it would look very cool on stage. Think most EII owners are afraid of moving them these days.

8" floppies are mental ! Makes the EII's 5.25" ones somewhat less ancient. :)

[Tittlekopf]

@JMPSynth 8" Floppies are almost impossible to get.... since you have a CMI it's gonna drive you crazy... wish the CMI had also 5.25" floppy disc drives

[JMPSynth]

Have you posted this on the wrong you tube video...?

[Tittlekopf]

@JMPSynth No it should be an answer to another post... but the new Youtube design fucks it up....

[Tittlekopf]

The 0:28 Guitar sound has been recycled and is now part of the EMU Proteus Sound Modules...

[UnchainTheNight1]

man 3:31 sounds exactly like a dx7 this thing kicks ass

[ALBE0Q]

it sounds like "Agent Orange" from Music for the Masses

[alainraes]

one of the its vintage so it must be good category , well not , sluggish midi response , very coarse

sample truncation (you need a mac to edit samplepoints cause the sliders on the e2 have very low resolution) , 8 non polyphonic outs , slow and delicate diskdrives , you are far better of with an emax

[JMPSynth]

But an Emax doesn't look as cool. :)

Nowt wrong with MIDI on mine. 8 note poly mix audio output (you forget that bit?) both working floppy drives and a choice of 3 Macs to connect.... ta very much.

The 8 bit sound quality is what gives it 'it's' sound. Much prefer it to the ESI sampler I also have.

[Twilight1964]

doesnt look as cool lol... damn right the EII looks cooler and whatever its downfalls it sounds freakin ace..:)

[jerydm]

Hey! Nice sounds!!! I from Argentina and I like very much this sinth! hmmm Do you know some soft or program to emulate this sounds? or some virtual synth like Emu2? : ) Tnkx again !!! : )

[sauermusicDE]

@jerydm The "Cult Sampler" VSTi from Best Service has a few EII samples on board along with other legendary sounds from all the important older hardware samplers (Fairlight, Synclavier...).

[U2FRESZ]

Great demo!!!

[JOSEENUNO]

Emulator II - one of Pet Shop Boys' synths!

I'd still like to have one of these... how much would it cost, JMPSynth? Do you know?

Nice demo =)

Regards!

[JMPSynth]

Anywhere between £400 - £900 I would say depending on condition, library etc.

[JOSEENUNO]

Right... so that would be between €600 and €1100 (aprox.). I guess It's worth it.

Thanks a lot, JMPSynth!

[AshleyBellamy]

I've been a synth head ever since I saw Chris Lowe playing one of these on stage when I was young.

One of the most beautiful sounding and looking keyboards ever made.

[JMPSynth]

I agree !

[macintosser]

I had that same feeling when I saw Alanah Currie bash angrily on her Fairlight CMI II on TOTP;-)...

I saw an Emulator II for 2000,- Euro in a shop about five years ago and would have bought it on the spot, but I just didn't have that kind of cash at my disposal... But yeah... I would love to own a Fairlight and an Emulator. I have an Amulator rack sampler and have all my official Fairlight factory samples on my E-Mu sampler's internal HD, but it's not the same...

[ekomatic]

The acoustic samples are crap. But the synthetic ambients are nice. We can find some EII samples in the E-MU proteus 2000 and Vintage keys, I think.

[macintosser]

And in the E-mu Orbit 9090...;-)

[guitarharpsichord]

sounds like a synth worth having(keeping)

[DX5]

Fantastic demo.

Emulator II sounds unique

[szucsgabi]

Great!!!

[JMPSynth]

Yep, I agree. Not the same sounds but a great tune to demo many.

[IngSocSSR]

the sun and the rainfall at 4:13!

thats the best song off a broken frame in my opinion. nice choice.

[JMPSynth]

Yep, the Burmer, Emu & OMI CD 1 libraries for this batch. You need a vintage Mac to run Sound Designer (for EII) to open the SD banks and transmit to an EII.

[emaxsp]

Great sound. Where do the sounds come from? is it the original library? I have it in SD format, but cannot read it.

Congratulations.

[DigitalXploration]

Great video and sound, i am glad that you put in another demo of this fantastic legacy instrument.

[repeatle]

Hehe, nice to hear Fancy - Lady Of Eyes at 00:26. I loved it in my teens and it took me some minutes before I recognized where I've heard it before.

I'd love to get the Emulator II some day...