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In-depth Feature:
EMU E4XT Ultra
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32 Channel Midi
When I first started using my E4xt Ultra I thought that 32 channel midi was a power user feature that I would not use much, if at all. Well, about a day later I was already up to channel 23! I'll go as far as to say that 32 channel midi is essential for sequencing with this sampler, and I'm very glad Emu has included it. The reason being that with 128 voice polyphony and large sample RAM the user can have numerous sounds loaded into RAM, enough that 16 midi channels would not allow simultaneous access to all of them. On a recent project I needed to record a large orchestration and found it very convenient to assign one channel to loud French Horns and another channel to soft French Horns, one channel to marcato strings and another to slow attack sustained strings, and so on throughout the orchestra. This allowed sequencing to proceed very quickly, as all sounds could be active at once. Switching attacks and articulations was a simple matter of recording on the next channel. Subtleties like putting violins one on the left and violins two on the right involved adding a midi channel for violin two and panning it to the right. This kind of flexibility is a real time saver.
Speaking of panning, the main page in multimode functions as a simple mixer where you can set the panning information for each midi channel, the volume (0-127), which outputs the sound is sent to, pitch adjustment for each channel, and mod. All this information is saved with the bank when written to disk.
EOS Link and Keyboard Remote
Emu has provided two options for use of remotes with the E4xt Ultra. Any PC/AT compatible computer keyboard can be used as a remote. I purchased a $15 Windows PS/2 keyboard along with an AT adapter and find that it works wonderfully as a remote. There are a few key commands to memorize, but I can't imagine a cheaper and easier way to get a remote than this. I wish more manufacturers would design their equipment to use a standard keyboard as a remote, as I do like leaning back in my seat with the keyboard in my lap and making the sampler do what I want it to without having to stretch for the front panel!
The second option is to use a SCSI equipped computer as a remote. I tested my PowerBook with the E4xt and found it maintained a trouble free connection, once I had sorted out the SCSI ID's that is! However, the EOS Link software emulates the front panel of the E4xt without providing an interface like what you see in many computer editor/librarian programs. In EOS Link the user has access to all the sampler's internal parameters, but what you see on your computer screen is a replication of the sampler's LCD, which shows a limited amount of data per screen. I've found SoundDiver to be better to work with as a patch editor for the sampler than the EOS link software.
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