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

Firts of all, thanks for answering promptly.
As I said earlier, I hope I did not offend anyone.
I have copied/pasted  Aaron's reply and added my own in capital 
letters just to make them visible, so don't think I'm shouting :)
I promise this is my last post this long.

<<What less important functions would you like to see deferred 
to menus? What more would you like from the transport? >>
WELL, I'D LIKE TO HAVE SOME PATTERN/SONG EDIT 
FUNCTIONS OUTSIDE, UPFRONT. DEFINITELY. AND A 
VELOCITY BUTTON THAT  IMMEDIATELY ACCESSES THE 
SENSITIVITY OF THE PADS, EXPECIALLY FOR RHYTHM 
INPUTTING.

<<Once you've gotten in the habit of saving, revert acts just like 
undo. >> YES, ALMOST. BETTER THAN NOTHING, AT LEAST. 

<<Get 1.18 software, released a few months ago. >>
WELL, THIS IS AN ISSUE HERE. I DID, BUT HOW WAS I 
SUPPOSED TO KNOW I CANT DOWNLOAD IT FROM USB? 
THE SALES REP DIDN'T TELL US, THE MANUAL DIDN'T, THE 
WEBSITE DIDN'T, ONLY BY SKIPPING THRU USER GROUPS  
WAS I ABLE TO FIGURE THAT OUT. 
AND THANK GOD I SPEAK ENGLISH WELL, WHAT ABOUT WHO 
DOESN'T? 
AND BY THE WAY, I HAVENT UPGRADED YET; I'LL DO IT 
TONITE AT HOME BRINGING A MIDIMAN INTERFACE FROM 
THE STORE. I'LL LET YOU KNOW THE RESULTS.

<<You have 999 bars worth of 16 channels of linear sequencer 
to work with in song mode.>>
ARE YOU SURE? I WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT YOU 
HAVE A SINGLE TRACK TO USE AS A THREAD TO LINK ALL 
PATTERNS WITH... BUT I'LL SEE WITH THE NEW OS.
  
<<Effects routing is a hardware limitation that we're not terribly 
happy with either.  For cost reasons, this is the route we've taken. 
>> OKAY. EXCUSED. HOPE I LEARN THEM BEFORE NEXT 
CHRISTMAS.

<<128 voices, 32 midi channels, 16 knobs, 13 velocity & poly 
aftertouch sensitive pads, 6 analog outs, S/PDIF out, rugged 
quality, in this price range? >> 
PLEASE, TAKE AWAY THE POLY AFTERTOUCH AND THE 
EXTRA 16 MIDI CHANNELS AND GIVE US A WIDER GRAPHIC 
DISPLAY INSTEAD. I'M SURE NO ONE WILL COMPLAIN.
  
<<USB drivers haven't been released yet. >> 
THAT'S AN ISSUE WITH A LOT OF MANUFACTURERS IN 
RECENT YEARS, THAT THEY RELEASE UNFINISHED 
PRODUCTS AND KEEP ON POSTING OS RELEASES ON THE 
WEB. THAT IS ALLRIGHT, BUT IT HAS BECOME A  BAD HABIT 
ON THEIR PART. I REALLY THINK A PRODUCT SHOULD BE 
TESTED MUCH LONGER PRIOR TO RELEASE. I MEAN, THESE 
TOYS COST SOME MONEY.
  
<< I don't think that there are any parameters in preset edit that 
are more than a couple button pushes away. >>
WELL, ITS MORE AN ISSUE OF CRYPTIC ABBREVIATIONS AND 
THE DAMN TWO-LINE DISPLAY; YOU HAVEN'T UPGRADED 
THAT SINCE PROTEUS 1, HAVE YOU? HOWEVER, I HAVE 
KEPT FAIRLY AWAY FROM THE SYNTH ENGINE UP TO NOW, 
I'LL LOOK INTO IT SOON.
  
<<The XL-7 was not designed as a sampler.  However, you can 
buy flash ROMs that you can burn your own samples on to, and 
never have to load them from disk.  >>
YES, BUT I REALLY THINK YOU SHOULD HAVE IMPLEMENTED 
SAMPLING. EVERY GROOVE/REMIX/DANCE MACHINE 
SHOULD HAVE SAMPLING THESE DAYS. 
THE QUESTION THAT ALL MY CUSTOMERS HAVE ASKED 
ABOUT THOSE MACHINES IS "they certainly sample, don't 
they?", AND THEY ALL LEFT WITH PUZZLED EXPRESSIONS 
ON THEIR FACES. THE FLASH ROM BURNING OPTION IS 
LIMITED TO EMU SAMPLERS OWNERS, I SUPPOSE. SO MUCH 
FOR THAT.
  
<<The soundset is supposed to be different. >>
I KNOW, BUT I DO SOME CONTEMPORARY SOUND 
DESIGNING MYSELF (I helped program sounds for the 
Oberheim OB-12 virtual-analog),  I COLLABORATE WITH 
BRITISH  AND ITALIAN PRODUCERS, AND I THINK THAT 
SOUNDSET SIMPLY HAS TOO FEW "USABLE" SOUNDS, 
PLAYABLE ONES I MEAN, AND AN ABUNDANCE OF QUIRKY, 
VERY PARTICULAR AND ODD ONES. THAT'S ALL. ALSO, I'D 
HAVE EXPECTED A FRESH LOOK INTO THE NEW LOUNGE 
AND CHILL OUT SOUNDSCAPES THAT ARE TODAY'S TREND. 
IN MY OPINION, THE NATIVE MP7 SOUNDSET IS VERY 
PRINCE-Y, CIRCA 1992. 
  
<<The extensive synth programming functions interest no one 
here.>>
<<I'm surprised no one bit your head off for that comment!  =) >>
THEY DID, I DEFENDED MYSELF BY SPRAYING THEM WITH MY  
ARMPIT  CANNONS.

<<Those 16 quick-edit knobs and easy synth programming are 
two of the biggest features of the box! >> 
WELL, I DID SPEAK TOO BRASHLY THERE, MANY PEOPLE DO 
HAVE TIME TO FIDDLE AND TWIDDLE AFTER ALL. NOT ME...
 
<< I think the sequencer compares favorably to the gear I've 
played with. >> 
MMM...NO AARON, MAYBE IN THE FUTURE, BUT NOT JUST 
YET.  IT HAS GREAT POTENTIAL, BUT AS I SAID PREVIOUSLY, 
SEQUENCING GEAR I HAD TEN YEARS AGO HAD MORE 
EDITING FEATURES THAN THIS ONE. THAT INCLUDING THE 
FEATURES YOU DESCRIBED  IN OS 1.18.
YOU KNOW WHAT? THE SEQUENCER SEEMS LIKE AN 
AFTERTHOUGHT IN THIS MACHINE. LIKE IT WASN'T 
SUPPOSED TO BE THERE IN THE BEGINNING.  I MEAN, IT'S A 
GROOVEBOX, ISN'T IT? THE SEQUENCER SHOULD HAVE 
BEEN THE CORE AROUND WHICH WRAP THE OTHER 
LAYERS.  KUDOS FOR THE SYNTH ENGINE AND THE 
REALTIME CONTROLS AND THE CONSTRUCTION, BUT THE 
PROPORTION BETWEEN THOSE AND THE SEQUENCER IS 90 
TO 10.

I'll give you a bonus here. I told you I'm the premier dealer in 
music electronics in my country, right? Before that I worked at 
Manny's in NYC, you might know it. I feel I have a bit of the pulse 
of what goes and what doesn't.
If you could develop a line of genre-specific modules, with just 
the basic, quick editing functions (you know, cutoff, ADSR and 
just a few more), the few realtime knobs you have on the current 
line, only one layer per sound, FX and the rest already burned 
into the sample, maybe a 1-Rom loading capability, but a very 
specific palette of preset sounds, you'd have a winner. You'd 
have to carefully divide genres like Hardcore Techno, Trance, 
House, Lounge, Hip-Hop, Drum'n'Bass, Ambient, and such. 
They'd have to be simple, dedicated and not too programmable 
or expandable. Just reasonably priced. In your current line you 
have a couple products totally overlapping each other in my 
opinion (Audity/Orbit/XtremeLead, for instance ) and you could go 
more genre-specific even with your Roms (Beat 
Garden/Xtreme/Techno Constr. Yard also overlap each other).

I'll keep you informed on what I think about OS 1.18. If I manage 
to load it, that is.

P.S., Aaron, are you gonna be in Frankfurt? I am the importer for 
Elektron (Swedish synth and drum machine company) and 
Doepfer (German analogs) and I'm gonna be there to snatch 
Clavia and Novation too from their current importers. I'll be glad 
to look at the new keys you guys are about to release. 

Max Ventura
www.Galassia303.it
Italy.