In my opinion, EMU Command Station is a good machine. I have 14 hardware synths, and sold a lot, and the EMU is one of the synths I`m gonna keep for the rest of my life.
Is a great synth for controlling and sequencing via MIDI other synths. The strenght of the EMU is not the sounds but the sequencer applications.
In a process of music composition working in a hardware synths MIDI environment, is very useful for recording, organizing and storing your ideas in a fast way. You don`t have to STOP/PLAY and leaving and entering menus and screens and waiting for processes and all that crap. While you`re playing, you can easily switch tracks, save, enter and leave record and edition processes, modify MIDI setups, etc. Is the best hardware sequencer I have found in the hardware market.
But in a reasonable way But I deffinitly would improve a lot of features like:
There are no decimal or fractions for the MIDI clock. This is very uncomfortable when manipulating samples that have, for example, 130.5 bpm. I can`t understand why such a good sequencer for controlling other synths, doesn`t have fractions on the clock, it`s obvious you need accurate time for MIDI purposes.
There`s no GAIN offset or depth for the controllers. I mean, you should have, on the Controllers Global Menu, a global parameter modification for the knobs.
When you move a knob, most of the times the software knob tweak doesn`t reflect accuracy
on the parameter you are accessing. For example, when entering notes on the step grid record mode, you have tweaked the knob just 75% of its range, but the entered note reflects the top value (127). I will love more accuracy when tweaking sounds or entering notes or gate times. A true relationship between the knob range and the parameter range.
you assign a knob for the LFO rate. but you have to assign it only a very low value, because if you put KNOB A ----> LFO rate 100% (just an example) with just the 2% of the knob movement, you already reached the highest LFO rate. Why not more accuracy???. this could be improved with a KNOB gain offset global regulation. I would forget the "pan mixing" on the useless MIX button and put instead the pan, a 16 knob offset parameter
I also miss a lot of parameters on the Destinations. I miss Delay Start, or reverse sample. But this is not any tragedy. I love the cords function, but I miss more accuracy on its tweaks.
but definitly, the worst of the EMU command station is its "Effect" section. Honestly, is the worst effect section I have use ever. NO EQ?? not even 3 bands eq!!!. I won`t spend time thinking on all the effects missing on the EMU.
Is a must a section effect on a synth that bases its sound power on ROM samples. The lot of Filters can`t substitute a good effect section, because there are only a couple of standard parameters, so, as a effect substitute, the filters are rigid and definitly boring.
A good way to improve the EMU sounds, is to practice a lot with the LINK function. Such a cool feature. You can improve the sounds a lot, using 12 waves. And the knob programming for a linked patch is astonishing. The linked patches don`t lose their knob parameters! but you can`t browse the patches by category on the link screen...
I won`t waste your time writing more, I just say again, by experience, that the command station is a good investment. I play live, and the EMU have helped me a lot putting order on a hardware synth chaos. I control synths like the ROLAND V Synth or an analogic AKAI AX 60 and a JUNO 106 with the EMU. Just find the best usage for yours...
"Bob S." <tttsystems@...> wrote:
Look at the waveform (instrument) listing of the PX-7 ROM....see the Appendix of the manual....there are over 750 individual samples and about 65 prebuilt kits (sample kits, not preset kits). I would think you can make a few acoustic/industrial kits from that...especially with the number of filter variations that are available. If you are looking at kits built by Emu as presets, there will be much less in terms of way out percussive sounds as a factory preset is built to give a flavor of the genres available....not a final kit. If you look at the number of samples, they could not have possibly created enough kits to use all of them.....switch out the samples in the kits with those that suite your music and lastly, use filters and modulations to add some distinctive characteristics...some no way possible with the DM5 (I sold mine last year for some other gear). In addition, the PX-7 is a 16 track sequencer, this is no typical drum machine and much more
flexible.....read the manual....and play with it for a while....the presets are just starting points to something better.....
I use a XL-7 with several ROMs including a PX-7 ROM, so I have the same as a PX-7.
Bob
El Segundo, CAShow quoted textHide quoted text
----- Original Message -----
From: alaskahighway
To: xl7@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 12:44 PM
Subject: [xl7] first thoughts on px7
is it just me or are the sounds on the px7 quite, dare i say it, boring
& 'safe'? i read somewhere a few weeks ago that the px7 was good
for 'acoustic & industrial kits'. where are these industrial kits??
and why so many keyboard sounds? i thought that this was supposed to
be a drum machine?
i've run thru the presets twice now & hear nothing that my alesis dm
pro can't do better. ok, apart from the sequencing & interface! but
as my midi sequencer does that job very well i'm desperately trying to
think of a reason to keep this px7.
seriously dissappointed.
}:-(
moose @ midizoo
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