Emax

-en the EIII and the EIV, too  
> I've heard?  That's very disturbing...

There is a difference in tone for sure, but I don't find it disturbing.  I love the sound of the EIV. The EIII sounds grand, for sure, but it's not nearly so versatile. 

One trick to making your samples sound warmer is to record to tape first and then sample from the tape.