Emu XL-7 & MP-7 User's Group

First off I would like to say that I picked one up for exactly 
that reason.  Now it has not been a smooth road but I am now happy 
with it.  Controlling external gear is fine as long as you don't 
mind doing allot of organizing.  It is not rely any more than you 
would have to do with a computer but it is just a slower going than 
a computer for setting program changes and fx sends and all that 
jazz.

   I was using logic and the one thing miss the most is the ability 
to see what I have done.  It makes it hard to know when you have 
held a note to long and so on.  When it comes what I said earlier 
about things taking more time, it is the same thing.  Just not 
having all the program changes a click away is a pain in the ass.

   The advantage here is the knobs on the front of the box.  Having 
all 16 controllers on the front of the thing makes a mouse look like 
a joke.  Now what I will add here is where I was coming from when I 
went to this external sequencer.  I had totally had it with the 
computer.  I had constant system problems and just don't like the 
feel of the timing.  For example I like to layer bass drums and many 
other things and doing this with my computer was sloppy or just not 
possible.  The constant flanging and slopping of sounds was the end 
of the road for me.  When I bought the XL-7 I walked into my music 
store and said, "sell me the best external sequencer you have for 
making Techno" they sold me the RM1x and told me about the XL, it 
was not yet being sold in Canada.   So I went home with the RM and 
quickly found myself totally wondering if what I had done was a 
mistake.  So I did my research on the XL/MP7's and told my store 
told them to put the first one they got on hold and I would buy it 
within 48 hours assuming it did what it said it would. 

   I was one of the first people in Canada to own one and it sucked 
at first but with the latest OS it is behaving well for me.  Also 
the support that E-MU offer is not found anywhere other than E-MU 
when it comes to gear that costs less than $15,000, at least not 
that I have ever heard of.  I have dealt directly with the tech 
support, the sales rep, and have been in contact Aaron Eppolito (one 
of the four engineers writhing the OS for the command stations) via 
the message board and direct emails.  Also Scott Ruda via the 
message board, another of the four people working on the OS.

   I know this was long winded but I wanted to give you the full 
picture.  When I joined this group there was something like four 
members and Aaron and Scott where two of them, if my memory serves 
me right. There  was little action here.  Bottom line I think the 
best way to use this thing is to use it as a controller for your 
computer sequencer and when and if it comes time to go live dump 
your sequences into the thing and go.  If I still could look at my 
computer as a musical instrument I would do it that way but I am off 
the computer for now.  It is a HD recorder as far as I am concerned! 
Oh ya and for surfing the web.

Peace I hope that was helpful for ya.

Peace 

Mike G.
 

 

--- In xl7@y..., "Thorsten Marx" <t.marx@h...> wrote:
> Hi there,
> 
> I'm thinking about buying an XL7 because I like the idea of 
creating and arranging music without a computer .My question is, how 
good is the sequencer for playing an external MIDI device, in my 
case 
I would trigger an Ensoniq ASR-X sampler. Is the timing OK? Are the 
functions handy?
> 
> Thanks for any reply!
> 
> Thorsten
>