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

I recently bought an rm1x to do all of my sequencing and stuff like 
that. The machine is very powerful, and I have learned to use many of 
the functions it offers, but two things bother me about the rm1x:

1. It's getting old. The sounds it has are kinda crappy. They sound a 
little too late 80's early 90's for my taste. The drums are a bit 
limited too.
2. I have a hard time being creative with it. I don't really like the 
interface. It just seems fairly confusing and you have to cycle 
through a whole bunch of menus to accomplish simple tasks.

Basically I was thinking of selling it and picking up an XL-7. I was 
wondering if someone that has used both boxes or just simply the XL-7 
can answer some questions for me.

Does the xl-7 send nrpn messages to external gear?

Do the strings and pads sound good in the XL-7?

How are the drums in the XL-7?

Is it really easy and fast to use creatively?

How you you guys usually back up your song information? Do you do a 
midi dump into a PC or what? (The rm1x has the convenient floppy 
drive)

The rest of my setup is as follows:

DX200 fm Synth
ea-1 
es-1 (I just ordered it because it looked cool)


I was hoping the xl-7 could fill in the holes as far as strings and 
other general synth stuff people use in dance music.

Thanks for your time if you've read all of this.


Brendan

The rm1x was my first Instrument/groovebox.... real cool.. but it\ufffds soundz
very digital... and the drums suckz... (that why I bought my XBase09)... if
you want to sell him for da XL-7.... DO IT!!!.. I have also sold my
RM1x..... the sounz wasn\ufffdt as good.. and the easy of use factor was really
:-( .... XL-7 is real great..... for sampling you can use your korg s ...
well the only thing I could say.. sell the RM1x.. in the german magazine
KEYS is a test ( now availble in da stores..)

----- Original Message -----

From: "fjork_duf" <fjork_duf@...>
To: <xl7@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, January 18, 2002 8:08 PM
Subject: [xl7] I need some advice and have questions about the XL-7


> I recently bought an rm1x to do all of my sequencing and stuff like
> that. The machine is very powerful, and I have learned to use many of
> the functions it offers, but two things bother me about the rm1x:
>
> 1. It's getting old. The sounds it has are kinda crappy. They sound a
> little too late 80's early 90's for my taste. The drums are a bit
> limited too.
> 2. I have a hard time being creative with it. I don't really like the
> interface. It just seems fairly confusing and you have to cycle
> through a whole bunch of menus to accomplish simple tasks.
>
> Basically I was thinking of selling it and picking up an XL-7. I was
> wondering if someone that has used both boxes or just simply the XL-7
> can answer some questions for me.
>
> Does the xl-7 send nrpn messages to external gear?
>
> Do the strings and pads sound good in the XL-7?
>
> How are the drums in the XL-7?
>
> Is it really easy and fast to use creatively?
>
> How you you guys usually back up your song information? Do you do a
> midi dump into a PC or what? (The rm1x has the convenient floppy
> drive)
>
> The rest of my setup is as follows:
>
> DX200 fm Synth
> ea-1
> es-1 (I just ordered it because it looked cool)
>
>
> I was hoping the xl-7 could fill in the holes as far as strings and
> other general synth stuff people use in dance music.
>
> Thanks for your time if you've read all of this.
>
>
> Brendan
>
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> xl7-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>

--- In xl7@y..., "fjork_duf" <fjork_duf@y...> wrote:

> Does the xl-7 send nrpn messages to external gear?

no, just controller messages to CC#95. so you wouldn't be able to 
control your ea-1, dx200 or es-1 with the xl-7.
 
> Do the strings and pads sound good in the XL-7?

sweet. and you have much more control over sounds than on the rm1x.
 
> How are the drums in the XL-7?

analog drums are good, but i prefer using the es-1 to sample "real" 
drum hits and loops to create patterns that have a live feel. at any 
rate, the xl-7's drums are better than the rm1x's.
 
> Is it really easy and fast to use creatively?

figuring it out was tricky for me (your mileage may vary). i thought i 
was saving one thing, but was saving something else, so my edits wound 
up being lost sometimes. gets better with practice, i imagine, but i 
got so frustrated with mine that i've had it on the shelf for over a 
month. i want to love the box -- killer effects, tons of modulation 
options, the ability to change recording modes on the fly. but i think 
the rm1x was easier to learn. and it's not like i'm stupid: i can 
program a kawai k5000 and a nord modular. and it's not like i'm the 
only one having problems, either, judging by the posts here.
 
> How you you guys usually back up your song information? Do you do a 
> midi dump into a PC or what? (The rm1x has the convenient floppy 
> drive)

dump to pc. great if you have a software sequencer, which i don't.
 
> The rest of my setup is as follows:
> 
> DX200 fm Synth
> ea-1 
> es-1 (I just ordered it because it looked cool)
 
i have the same gear, including the rm1x. you will need a sequencer to 
control the dx200, treating it more as a sound module than an all-in-
one workstation (it kills me how the DX's sequencer chokes off the 
first note of a pattern, although i LOVE how much real-time control the 
DX gives you. quasimidi's polymorph is the only synth with a better 
real-time sequencer, imho).
 
> I was hoping the xl-7 could fill in the holes as far as strings and 
> other general synth stuff people use in dance music.

owning an xl-7, i suggest you look elsewhere. you need something that 
does nrpns in real time, which the xl-7 can't do now (maybe in a later 
upgrade, but doubtful). if you can scrape together the cash, get the 
rs7000, even if it means selling the es-1. 

why? because the rs7000's soundset is improved over the rm1x's, and 
that's before adding the rs7k's sweet-sounding effects. the rs7k can 
sample. the xl-7 can't. the rs7k can do nrpns, the xl-7 can't. your 
knowledge of how the rm1x works will transfer more readily to the rs7k 
than the xl-7. the rs7k lets you save stuff on board, the xl-7 does 
not.

xl-7's a good machine, but it sounds like the rs7000 has more of what 
you need...

e

--- In xl7@y..., "fjork_duf" <fjork_duf@y...> wrote:

> Does the xl-7 send nrpn messages to external gear?

no, just controller messages to CC#95. so you wouldn't be able to 
control your ea-1, dx200 or es-1 with the xl-7.
 
> Do the strings and pads sound good in the XL-7?

sweet. and you have much more control over sounds than on the rm1x.
 
> How are the drums in the XL-7?

analog drums are good, but i prefer using the es-1 to sample "real" 
drum hits and loops to create patterns that have a live feel. at any 
rate, the xl-7's drums are better than the rm1x's.
 
> Is it really easy and fast to use creatively?

figuring it out was tricky for me (your mileage may vary). i thought i 
was saving one thing, but was saving something else, so my edits wound 
up being lost sometimes. gets better with practice, i imagine, but i 
got so frustrated with mine that i've had it on the shelf for over a 
month. i want to love the box -- killer effects, tons of modulation 
options, the ability to change recording modes on the fly. but i think 
the rm1x was easier to learn. and it's not like i'm stupid: i can 
program a kawai k5000 and a nord modular. and it's not like i'm the 
only one having problems, either, judging by the posts here.
 
> How you you guys usually back up your song information? Do you do a 
> midi dump into a PC or what? (The rm1x has the convenient floppy 
> drive)

dump to pc. great if you have a software sequencer, which i don't.
 
> The rest of my setup is as follows:
> 
> DX200 fm Synth
> ea-1 
> es-1 (I just ordered it because it looked cool)
 
i have the same gear, including the rm1x. you will need a sequencer to 
control the dx200, treating it more as a sound module than an all-in-
one workstation (it kills me how the DX's sequencer chokes off the 
first note of a pattern, although i LOVE how much real-time control the 
DX gives you. quasimidi's polymorph is the only synth with a better 
real-time sequencer, imho).
 
> I was hoping the xl-7 could fill in the holes as far as strings and 
> other general synth stuff people use in dance music.

owning an xl-7, i suggest you look elsewhere. you need something that 
does nrpns in real time, which the xl-7 can't do now (maybe in a later 
upgrade, but doubtful). if you can scrape together the cash, get the 
rs7000, even if it means selling the es-1. 

why? because the rs7000's soundset is improved over the rm1x's, and 
that's before adding the rs7k's sweet-sounding effects. the rs7k can 
sample. the xl-7 can't. the rs7k can do nrpns, the xl-7 can't. your 
knowledge of how the rm1x works will transfer more readily to the rs7k 
than the xl-7. the rs7k lets you save stuff on board, the xl-7 does 
not.

xl-7's a good machine, but it sounds like the rs7000 has more of what 
you need...

e

--- In xl7@y..., "egwinn2000" <egwinn2000@y...> wrote:
> --- In xl7@y..., "fjork_duf" <fjork_duf@y...> wrote:
> 
> > Does the xl-7 send nrpn messages to external gear?
> 
> no, just controller messages to CC#95. so you wouldn't be able to 
> control your ea-1, dx200 or es-1 with the xl-7.
>  
i'm planning on buying the xl-7 but i'm getting a bit worried when i 
read this... i don't know what nrpn messages are but i expect the xl-
7 to control my ea-1 with it's eyes closed, what's the problem with 
this nrpn thing?... 
another similar question... does the xl7 send midi clock out? i want 
to control my old roland tr's via mpc (midi to sync converter, this 
needs midi clock to work.
greetz,

peter.