Emax

True, which made me doubting about my previous statement that no software exists for transferring complete banks between Mac and Emax-II.
So I hooked up my Emax-II again, connected it with a Mac SE running OS6 and Sound Designer for Emax 1.12 and tried some things.

The truth is that it IS indeed possible to transfer compressed Emax-I BANKS from Mac to Emax-II, not only with the CDS3 drive but also with SoundDesigner for Emax. The other way around is indeed not possible.

As to SAMPLE transfers, Sound Designer for Emax only allows sample transfers for samples with a maximum size of 512K sample points.
This can be done in both directions with the Emax-II.

If the bank loaded on the Emax-II is too large(> 4MB), then something internally in the Emax-II OS seems to disconnect/disable the RS422, because the port is not detected anymore by the Mac. Once a bank smaller than 4MB is loaded again, the port is detected again and communication is possible, but with the limits I described above.
If a sample is larger than 512K, Sound Designer will transfer only part of it...

I have not tested what Alchemy is doing, but I'm pretty sure Alchemy supports the bigger sample sizes like Tristan describes, because it has "native" Emax-II support built in. Not for bank transfers though, only for sample transfers.

Conclusion related to SD for Emax is that this software has really been written with the Emax-I in mind, and that any use with Emax-II is thanks to compatibility between Emax-I and Emax-II.

PS: I hope that the SDforEmax will be available for download some day...

//E-Synthesist

--- In emax@yahoogroups.com, tu@... wrote:
>
> According to the sysex spec, the Emax II can receive Emax I compressed bank transfers. It needs 
> to for compatibility with the RS422 CDROM drive! But it does not support transmitting compressed 
> banks or any transfer of 16 bit banks.
> 
> Sample transfer using high or low speed MMA sample dumping is also limited to maximum sample 
> size of 2M words (4MB in 16 bit samples). So an Emax II bank containing a sample longer than this 
> will not be possible to transfer over RS422 or MIDI. This would not be a problem for most sample 
> banks but does prevent a universal method of bank transfer between the Emax II and a computer. 
> The solution is of course to save such banks to disk and then load from there.
> 
> /Tristan
> 
> On Sat, Dec 5th, 2009 at 8:33 AM, esynthesist <esynthesist@...> wrote:
> 
> > Alchemy doesn't support bank transfers with any sampler.
> > It only supports sample transfers, including an interesting "bulk"
> > mode to transfer all samples at once. But that's still without any of
> > the preset and voice parameters...
> > 
> > In fact no software supports bank transfers with the Emax-II.
> > I will add it to EMXP as soon as we get the RS422 device for PC up
> > and running...
> > 
> > ///E-Synthesist
> > 
> > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "John" <jrb1864@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Does Alchemy support bank transfers to and from Emax 2?  How in
> > depth are the sample edit features?
> > > 
> > > Thanks!
> > > 
> > > 
> > > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "Rish" <rish@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Hey If anyone needs the Alchemy ver 3.0 full manual I have 5 of
> > them available.
> > > >  Richard at www.Route66studios.com
> > > >   ----- Original Message ----- 
> > > >   From: sanctifiedone@ 
> > > >   To: emax@yahoogroups.com 
> > > >   Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2009 11:56 AM
> > > >   Subject: Re: [emax] Emax II with MAC Se
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > >     
> > > >   I love posts like this one from Ted. And while I'm at it, I
> > also want to express my appreciation for group members like Dave
> > willing to help me untangle my EMAX II problems. 
> > > > 
> > > >   ----- Original Message ----- 
> > > >   From: "Ted Summers" <djtbs1@> 
> > > >   To: emax@yahoogroups.com 
> > > >   Sent: Thursday, December 3, 2009 11:58:49 AM GMT -05:00
> > US/Canada Eastern 
> > > >   Subject: Re: [emax] Emax II with MAC Se 
> > > > 
> > > >   Alchemy software v3.0 sit is in the groups files section, and
> > it works...... 
> > > > 
> > > >   Regards, 
> > > >   Ted 
> > > > 
> > > >   On Thu, Dec 3, 2009 at 7:57 AM, John <jrb1864@> wrote: 
> > > > 
> > > >   > 
> > > >   > 
> > > >   > I have an Emax 2 with 2mb ram, jazz drives, floppies, cables
> > and connector 
> > > >   > cable to the MAC. 
> > > >   > 
> > > >   > I had a dream...a dream of running my Emax 2 with sound
> > designer or 
> > > >   > Alchemy. Alas no luck, I only have Sound Designer Universal
> > and it's not 
> > > >   > working with the EMAX 2. 
> > > >   > 
> > > >   > I have Sound Designer Universal in the box, original disks
> > etc, a MAC SE, 
> > > >   > systems 6, and 7 but unable to find the Alchemy software or
> > Sound Designer 
> > > >   > that works with Emax 2. 
> > > >   > 
> > > >   > If I can't get it all to work I will give up on this dream
> > and sell the lot 
> > > >   > to someone, preferably on the forum, with love, patience, and
> > abilities to 
> > > >   > make this system work and send me photos! LOL! 
> > > >   > 
> > > >   > If you have the software I need or time and willingness to
> > help me through 
> > > >   > it I would appreciate otherwise I'm selling it all for $350
> > plus shipping 
> > > >   > costs. 
> > > >   > 
> > > >   > Thanks all! Maybe one day..... 
> > > >   > 
> > > >   > 
> > > >   > 
> > > > 
> > > >   [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] 
> > > > 
> > > >   ------------------------------------ 
> > > > 
> > > >   Emax and Emax II User's Group Website 
> > > > 
> > > >   http://www.silveriafamily.comYahoo! Groups Links 
> > > > 
> > > >   [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > >   
> > > > 
> > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > > >
> > >
> > 
> > 
> >
>