Emu ESI-32 conundrum

[blinky909]

i bought my ESI-32 back when it first came out. it has the SCSI option and i upgraded it to 16MB (they say that's not possible, but i have two 8MB simms in there). it has the 2.10 OS.

i haven't really used the ESI-32 since about 99. i did swap the floppy for a zip drive and used it a few times like that, but since getting the MPC 2000XL, i found getting samples from other sources into the ESI to be cumbersome.

i have not been able to find a source for the 3.02 or newer OS. i can't transfer samples to the ESI via SCSI from the computer. i could purchase a program that will allow me to convert .wav files to ESI files and copy them to zip disks (Chicken Systems Translator).

so, all you ESI-32 users, how are you getting along with your classic of the budget era?

[Yoozer]

It's a doorstop. Imported the CDs in Kontakt - they're not that good even for the time. Worst. Purchase. Ever. (I have an ESI 4000 turbo which is identical except for the maximum of internal memory).

Should've gotten an S3000 or A4000.

[blinky909]

Originally Posted by Yoozer

It's a doorstop. Imported the CDs in Kontakt - they're not that good even for the time. Worst. Purchase. Ever. (I have an ESI 4000 turbo which is identical except for the maximum of internal memory).

Should've gotten an S3000 or A4000.

i bought the ESI in June of 96 right after it came out. it served me well at the time. it's just getting harder to use now that there are faster ways to work with sample play back. but i'm looking to get back to doing more than simply playing back sounds. i have zero interest in turning my computer into a sampler.

i don't have any EMU CD's - i rip from sample CD's to .wav or create my own sounds that i record using my DAW. i typically save them as .wav's and them copy them to a CF and import them into the MPC. but that would allow me to affect the samples like a proper sampler does. the ESI has a good synth engine. i like that. i'm just looking to continue to use that synth engine.

for a bunch of people of a forum called Gearslutz, i'm amazed at how many "use a 'puter" types there are. there is nothing slutty about software. who is clamoring to find a copy Reason v1.0?

[genieg]

That's right doorstops

Bounce sounds through it.. beats etc etc etc.

I haven't seen those upgrades selling secondhand on ebay for a long time so I doubt you'll find them, yes they are pain in the arse to edit the actual sample unless you have a storage medium like Zip.

[MonoBrow]

Its really not that good-usefull.If you must use it again get the translator programm of choice and go.Its one of those few samplers that dont add anything special to make it still worth the additional pain with editing.

[beaumont]

I really dont use the ESi much anymore. I really prefer the E4 to any other sampler and i plan on buying at least 2 more in the future. With the price they go for now its no brainer really. I sold my mpc 60 to fund the ESi back in 96. Even worse i sold my arp2600 greyface to fund HALF of my first E4.

[blinky909]

Originally Posted by beaumont

Even worse i sold my arp2600 greyface to fund HALF of my first E4.

stupidity, it's a helluva drug.

[shadowfac]

I bought a shiny new ESI-2000 in 2000. Worst purchase I've ever made in terms of value deprecation. Cost me around $750, and I spent at least another $500 in RAM, ZIP drives and disks, and SCSI cables. I used it a lot in my first two albums, but after that, softsynths were much more convenient. Sold it about 3 years ago for peanuts (about $250). I could have kept it, but I just don't have time for ship-in-a-bottle editing anymore. I've never regretted buying it, and I loved it the first years I had it, but I don't miss it at all.

[blinky909]

Originally Posted by Fluxpod

Its really not that good-useful.If you must use it again get the translator program.

i think the ESI is very good and useful. it has a decent synth engine and let's me use sounds from my other synths in creative ways. plus, it's got a great sound - not EmaxII type of warmth, but it's nice.

those mini moogs, they aren't useful, with that 1 note at a time business and no patch storage. not very good at all...

[MonoBrow]

Originally Posted by blinky909

i think the ESI is very good and useful. it has a decent synth engine and let's me use sounds from my other synths in creative ways. plus, it's got a great sound - not EmaxII type of warmth, but it's nice.

those mini moogs, they aren't useful, with that 1 note at a time business and no patch storage. not very good at all...

I had it end of the 90tees then switched to yamaha a3000 and a4000 which we still use.I really didnt liked the esi much but thats personal prefs.

[beaumont]

Originally Posted by blinky909

stupidity, it's a helluva drug.

Yeah that one still hurts a little but that E4 helped jump start my first couple releases. Something about EOS just clicked for me and i stopped playing with sounds and actually got music done.

[genieg]

Originally Posted by blinky909

i think the ESI is very good and useful. it has a decent synth engine and let's me use sounds from my other synths in creative ways. plus, it's got a great sound - not EmaxII type of warmth, but it's nice.

those mini moogs, they aren't useful, with that 1 note at a time business and no patch storage. not very good at all...

I've had this conversation before here .. I have owned, Esi - 32, 4000, Ultra 5000 (love it still), Akai S2800i, Yam A3000, the Esi has character..
The difference between Akai and Emu S and E's is night and day .. Akais punchy mid range that cuts through and Emu's (including Esi's) warm round bottom end nice filters, if I still owned my Esi I would just resample loops through it.. not worth selling for peanuts.

[Tridact]

I have an ESI-32 sitting in the garage. It had the turbo option, SCSI, a CD drive, zip drive, etc. The only problem is that one day the screen just displayed gibberish, and I never fixed it.

I remember all the hoops I went through with Chickensystems and sample conversion and all that. Good luck with that.

I'd still like a rack sampler or something to use occasionally, just something different this time, maybe an Akai S-series.

[Yoozer]

Originally Posted by blinky909

it's just getting harder to use now that there are faster ways to work with sample play back.

It fell right between the 2-line display of say, an EMAX (which does have a really quick menu system since it's printed on the front; everything can be reached quickly) and the graphical display + function buttons of an Akai. Instead, it used the number buttons as "function" shortcuts and you wouldn't know if you hit the right one, so you'd have to write out the entire Choose-Your-Own-Adventure yourself and train your muscle memory for what'd be useless with the next incarnation, anyway.

It lacks the charm of the earlier models because it's too clean to have that grit, and it lacks the sophistication of the later models because it's got such a clunky way of working with it.

The ESI has a good synth engine. i like that. i'm just looking to continue to use that synth engine.

Then go for a model from the Ultra series. Lots of modulation possibilities, all the filters you have now and way more, and options for more modern hookups. Plus a graphical display.

for a bunch of people of a forum called Gearslutz, i'm amazed at how many "use a 'puter" types there are. there is nothing slutty about software.

Making music should be fun. If it's no longer fun because the gear's primitive - and not in an endearing way - it's work. If it's work, it'd better be enjoyable, or as least painful as possible. It's got nothing to do with laziness; it's got to do with getting something rewarding out of it, and I wasn't getting any of that with the ESI.

Standing bent to squint at a display and bending your wrists in all the wrong ways to get something done that takes 5 minutes while any other solution would let you be done in 5 seconds, with better results - that's work, and it's not enjoyable at all. You basically have to have these things on your lap, slightly tilted and close by - to make operation somewhat fluent.

It's why MSQ-700s are praised and nobody cares about MC-50s. It's why D50s are cool and old Sound Canvases aren't. The interface is a lot more charming, so you are far more willing to take the rest (loading via tape, lo-fi samples or arcane hexadecimal menus) for granted.

To get back to Reason 1.0 : exactly, nobody cares about that. All the care was spent when it was still current. Right now it's got no redeeming qualities compared to the latest version. All plugins are still present, all effects are still present, and lots of mistakes learned from earlier releases are fixed. There's no reason whatsoever to get 1.0 when you can get 5.0 other than buying it from someone secondhand so you save a bit of money.

Likewise, nobody cares about a run of the mill Behringer mixer or a cheap Digitech reverb box or an 286SX-25; it's because what came after it does everything it did, and if you had it, most of the time you simply endured it - but if you had the budget, you would not have done that.

If you wax nostalgic about it, it's because back then you had more passion, ambition, hunger and raw energy compared to now - and used it anyway, damn the consequences; there was nobody on the internet to tell you you were wrong, and that you couldn't possibly make good music with it. It's virtually impossible to separate the technological development and your own development as a musician and producer from eachother.

[MonoBrow]

Agree with Yoozer.I like old synths and sampler.But as soon as they get in my way of having fun while playing-editing they are gone.
Its the same for computer stuff.

[beingmf]

in case you need the 3.02 eprom

[blinky909]

Originally Posted by beingmf

in case you need the 3.02 eprom

thank you very much.

[kazper]

I had a ESI-32, sold it and later got a ESI-2000 for next to nothing.
I got rid of the 2K when I got me E4xt, which I still have.

I liked the ESI series until I got time in on a EOS machine.

Like you have found out the OS is ROM based, and the effects are implemented in a weird way so no love lost there. If you really dig it keep a eye out for a EOS machine. I'd go that route before worrying about the OS upgrade.

If you think of the ESI series as a E3, then your fairly happy because thats basically what it is.

[Tridact]

Originally Posted by Tridact

I have an ESI-32 sitting in the garage. It had the turbo option, SCSI, a CD drive, zip drive, etc. The only problem is that one day the screen just displayed gibberish, and I never fixed it.

So after reading this thread I decided to open up my old ESI-32. I messed around and actually got the screen working again. Everything appears to functional now.

Total nostalgia testing it out. However after 7 or 8 years I'm not sure how useful it is, mainly since it's a pain to get wav files into it.

Maybe I'll use it as an audio processor, running audio from my soundcard to it by s/pdif.

Or maybe just use it as a door stop.

[blinky909]

Originally Posted by Tridact

Total nostalgia testing it out. However after 7 or 8 years I'm not sure how useful it is, mainly since it's a pain to get wav files into it.

i have developed a very quick system of the past week...

i get a bunch of wav files together and dump them to a CF and load them into the MPC - then i arm the sampler, hit play on the MPC and tada. the PITA is naming everything.

[Tridact]

That's probably what I'll end up doing, but from my PC to the sampler by s/pdif.

[dialecticmusic]

EsiWin SimplyData EsiWin Software for Esi32, Esi2000 and Esi4000 @ deep!sonic is great for using with the Esi samplers. Easy to organise banks of samples etc.

I usually use Recycle 2.0 for transmitting individual samples though...

[blinky909]

Originally Posted by dialecticmusic

EsiWin SimplyData EsiWin Software for Esi32, Esi2000 and Esi4000 @ deep!sonic is great for using with the Esi samplers. Easy to organise banks of samples etc.

I usually use Recycle 2.0 for transmitting individual samples though...

i guess you missed the part about me having 2.01 firmware - it doesn't work with mine.

[DocCreer]

Originally Posted by blinky909

i guess you missed the part about me having 2.01 firmware - it doesn't work with mine.

Hey if you need any help im a big esi user!i use all hardware and understand how ya feel about the emu i use mine daily....i tried ableton and other software samps but it just isnt the same!

[top dog]

I'm looking for a simple sampler, and i'm a bit interested in budget sampler, just as ESI-32. The main use should be sampling. All i need is simplicity in recording and sample editing functions, keyboard assign... No orchestral big libraries, no need in multiple outs. No fx. Does it serve my needs? How it will be in comparsion with my Akai s950? They sound very different, but my question is more about OS and simplicity at all

[Dubtek71]

Hi there top dog

Yeah the esi will serve it's purpose altho there are likely better machines than the esi for 500 or less. The esi will be cleaner than a s950 because the 950 is a 12 bit machine vs. The 16 bits of the esi. Personally I would go for the 950 for the character of the sound.but that's because I currently have a 16 bit machine.

[0t0b0t]

I paid 3500 DM (Deutsch Mark) for my ESI 4000 Turbo with external SCSI HDD and CD-ROM drive in 1997 (or 98? I'm not sure) and sold my Casio FZ-1 for 1000 DM after that.
Talk about value depreciation

I still have it and wouldn't sell it for the current 2nd hand market value which is around 1/18th of what I paid.

However it served me well when it once was the center piece of my "studio".
Now It sits there on a desk and gets triggered every now and then from the MP... I organized some banks with a couple of interesting sounds from the legendary E-mu library. It kind of serves as a multi-out, tweakable and expensive Vintage Keys lol

[top dog]

Originally Posted by Dubtek71

Hi there top dog

Yeah the esi will serve it's purpose altho there are likely better machines than the esi for 500 or less. The esi will be cleaner than a s950 because the 950 is a 12 bit machine vs. The 16 bits of the esi. Personally I would go for the 950 for the character of the sound.but that's because I currently have a 16 bit machine.

Thanks for your attention, Dubtek! thumbsup
Well i'm in love with my s-950. It's fully maxed RAM, and so great in every day use. But i'm thinking about any other sampler, just for getting "other" sound. (dreaming about EMAX, but it's a bit expencive to me for now)
What cheapo samplers do you have in mind?

[Dubtek71]

Originally Posted by top dog

Thanks for your attention, Dubtek! thumbsup
Well i'm in love with my s-950. It's fully maxed RAM, and so great in every day use. But i'm thinking about any other sampler, just for getting "other" sound. (dreaming about EMAX, but it's a bit expencive to me for now)
What cheapo samplers do you have in mind?

Well I would look at the high end late model emu samplers like an e4k or something along those lines. The prices are cheap when you consider they were 2k or more new. I have noticed some around here also favour the Roland 700 machines. Never used one personally so I can't recommend it. Worth looking into tho. I would go for the biggest baddest emu I could get for 500. You get those emu filters and the mod routings via cords. Modular sampler? thumbsup

[Stevil]

i haven't fired mine up in years. used it to trigger samples @ live gigs in the early to mid 00's. it's got upgraded ram, zip & scsi.

FYI, there are some great ESI links in this old thread
EMU ESI 32 NEWBIE HELP