Sample select

In the key window (key image) I can also use the IntelliEdit feature that was mentioned earlier.

Key

Emu defined

1. Make sure IntelliEdit is set to the same MIDI port your keyboard is using.

2. In one of the Voices and Sample Zones screens such as “Key Window”, position the cursor inside one of the Key Range fields (Low or High).

3. Press and hold, Ctrl+Alt on your computer keyboard.

4. Play your MIDI keyboard. The key range will be edited.

5. In the Voice Edit window, holding Ctrl+Alt lets you select voices for editing. If more than one voice is assign to the key, the voices will cycle around with repeated pressing of the same key.

6. To select multiple voices, you must use the Group feature (in the voice pane).

This is a great tool for setting the range.

Double clicking on any voice opens up the voice edit pane (voice edit image).

Voice edit

This is the heart and soul of the EX.

Here you have all manner of tools. Here you have filter, amp, 3 envelopes generators, 2 LFOs (select any of the 17 waveforms from the drop down menu), a comprehensive modulation matrix, an oscillator that can be controlled extensively , a selection of 13 different trigger modes, sync to tempo on the LFO Freq, on the Filter Env, on the Delay and on the Oscillator. Remember when we touched on the midi controllers on the preset global pane? Well, you can define them here, within the patchcords (modulation routings), on the right of the pane. If you go back to the preset global pane image you will see that controller E is assigned to Attack. If you look at the patchcords section in the image above and below (patchcords image), you will see that the midi controller E is the source and the destination is AmpEnv Attack. You can select any source and any destination within the patchcords by using a clever drop down menu (source cord image and destination cord image).

Patchcords

Source cords

Destination cords

You can also save any of the patchcord page settings as a template and call them up later to use on another preset (patchcord save template). This is a great tool that was missing from the hardware samplers. You can load any of these patchcord setting templates onto a new preset. If there is a patchcord page setting that you really like from another preset and want to use it on another preset, then this is how you go about performing this priceless function.

Patchcord save 

You can also select the waveform, and there are 17 of these, for any of the LFOs (lfo select image) from a drop down menu.

LFO

On this page you select a filter from a drop down menu (filter menu) and apply the frequency and Q settings.

Filter menu

Remember I mentioned, earlier, that you could adjust the graphical representation of a function by moving the nodes or using the ADSR knobs? Well, here you can do just that on a voice. By moving the nodes on the Enevlope, you can shape the full ADSR of the voice, or you can use the ADSR knobs next to it. The ADSR stages take me back to the good old days of analogue synthesis.

The filters are, quite simply, amazing. I actually went a bit geeky here and tested files with different filter selections. I wanted to see how this affected the audio. I found that the filters allowed for more headroom. On the Ultra samplers, the filters always seemed to max out the headroom, but on the EX, they afforded me more headroom. This was a great discovery, since it meant that I could now stack filters or use more different filters on different layers and still not clip or get to the peak limit. The parameter resolutions were also much better than the hardware versions. This gave me pin point accuracy, and detail in it’s editing parameters. What all this means is that, not only did I have better detail, but also more dynamic movement in the sonic qualities of the filters. Add to that, the addition of the morphing facility, whereby you can morph one filter into another, and you have the most potent of all filter palettes available on both hardware and software applications.

Next we come to the sample edit pane (sample edit image). Here you can select a sample from the tree on the left when you open the samples folder, or you can access the samples by double clicking a voice in the preset or voice panes.

Sample edit

You have a nice and large waveforms display (with zoom in/out) and a host of editing, looping and DSP tools.

As you can see from the toolbar at the top, you have the standard loop and play functions, as you would expect. You can adjust start and end, length, loop, start, end etc and you have additional controls from drop down menus (sample menu images 1 and 2).

Sample menu 1

Sample Menu 2

You can easily move loop points using the drag and drop method.

BUT, it’s the DSP tools on offer that takes this product to another level. Most soft samplers have basic DSP tools but the EX comes with an arsenal of some of the best, and most varied DSP tools, I have ever come across in one piece of software. Apart from the standard sample edit tools, you have fade, time compression, pitch shifting, sample rate conversion, reverse, bit reduction, gain tools, stereo to mono and vice versa, DC filter and so on and on…

I would rather you played with this section yourself, than me list all it’s tools and attributes. Suffice to say, this section alone negates the need of having a separate, and independent, audio editing software.

The Converter

The converter is a great tool in it’s own right. By simply dragging a sample format file across into the converter, I can then convert the chosen format into EX format, .exb. I can also select where I want the converted file to be saved to by using the browse facility. Alternatively, I can use the add function and add files to the converter (image above) from a chosen location. You can see the drop down menu that clearly shows the file formats it can convert. Interestingly enough, REX (Recycle) is not listed there, although it is mentioned as a supported format.

As I mentioned at the start of this review, Emu are addressing the lack of support for the REX format. However, I also stated how I found a workaround this problem.

Here is the solution. You save your sessions in Recycle as Akai extensions. This saves as S5000 format. You can then use this format in the converter and convert to.exb and it works perfectly. All the REX slices are put in the correct slots and there is no data loss or corruption. Simple. If you need the midi template of the REX file, then save the midi in the Recycle session and open it up in Cubase (or whatever sequencer you have the EX installed in) and run it with the EX on the same channel as the opened midi file.

Conclusion

When I first received this package, EX and 1820M, from Emu, I assumed that the EX would just be a glorified E4 XT Ultra. How wrong I was.

This product is packed with so many features and tools that it merits more than serious respect. From it’s ‘pleasing to the eye’ and highly navigable interface, to the deep editing tools, the software can claim to be the first fully fledged soft sampler. The ease, at which you can perform tasks, and the intuitive design of the presentation of the features, makes this a joy to use. But, most importantly, it makes you want to use it. That is a sign of a successful product. Whenever you receive a piece of new hardware, you are always keen to use it and when you start to use it, time determines if you lose interest or always want to fire it up and play with it. Well, this software does exactly that. It might have a few niggles, like no REX support, or the manual having to be manually copied and renamed, or the fact that you cannot save in any other format other than Eos and .exb. But these are the types of teething problems you get whenever a new product is released, and future revisions will address all these shortcomings. As we speak, Emu have already uploaded on their site for download, fixes for certain aspects of this software and the 1820M.

As a sound designer, I have always had to use a number of different applications, to perform all the tasks I need to design a sound. The Emulator X offers me almost all the tools I need, albeit, the multi format save options.

What I can say, to sign off, is that this is the most intuitive and comprehensive software I have had the pleasure to use. Emu have a winner here.

Eddie Bazil (Zukan)

www.samplecraze.com

Since I wrote this review there have been a number of patch fixes, which also address some of the problems outlined above in my review.

Please download here.