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

Hi, I have been reading allot of bad things about the XL-7 and it 
sucks because I really wanted to buy one. I have a Triton and use 
that along with the computer for making tracks, but wanted to get an 
Xl-7 for drums, is it good for just drums samples? For my pattern 
stuff I have a korg electribe em-1 which really works great with 
midi because I don't use the sounds from it. But the Xl-7 really 
sounds like a great peice of gear, but it sounds like it will always 
have bugs and will always have a buzzing sound comming from the 
outputs and the main dail will always act funny etc. etc. Can anyone 
tell me if these problems will be fixed via OS updates? and if the 
hardware itself is just crap ? I just don't want to blow $1550 
dollars on a fully expaned peice of garbage for my studio !
 But so far it just sounds like it is not worth it. Oh and I heard 
somewhere that someday you will be able to donwload new samples to 
you XL-7 via USB if you have Flash Rom? Is this true or false?

Ok first things first, as much as you might hear us gripe about things on the
XL7 it's mostly because the people who make the software are on this list.  They
either clarify or actually fix any wierd behavior.  HOWEVER, you have to realize
that the bugs are pretty rare and are usually when someone is doing something
pretty complicated that no-one expected us to do, and it's all usually fixed
pretty quickly.  Also, there is no buzzing on the outputs when you play, only
when you overload the filters just right which is going to happen on just about
any gear (Roland is infamous for this).  The sounds are excellent, the sequencer
is incredible and they are going very inexpensively right now. Also the features
and sounds on it are great.   It also has one of the most advanced PCM synthesis
engines on the block with loads of filter types etc.  As for putting samples on
it, why would you want to do that if you have a triton?

Andre

-----Original Message-----
From: dividin <spymaker@...> [mailto:spymaker@...]
Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 1:32 AM
To: xl7@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [xl7] Only have head bad things about XL-7!


Hi, I have been reading allot of bad things about the XL-7 and it
sucks because I really wanted to buy one. I have a Triton and use
that along with the computer for making tracks, but wanted to get an
Xl-7 for drums, is it good for just drums samples? For my pattern
stuff I have a korg electribe em-1 which really works great with
midi because I don't use the sounds from it. But the Xl-7 really
sounds like a great peice of gear, but it sounds like it will always
have bugs and will always have a buzzing sound comming from the
outputs and the main dail will always act funny etc. etc. Can anyone
tell me if these problems will be fixed via OS updates? and if the
hardware itself is just crap ? I just don't want to blow $1550
dollars on a fully expaned peice of garbage for my studio !
 But so far it just sounds like it is not worth it. Oh and I heard
somewhere that someday you will be able to donwload new samples to
you XL-7 via USB if you have Flash Rom? Is this true or false?


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Andre, The reason I wanted to load my own samples on it is because I 
play live allot and wanted to make the XL-7 the dedicated sample 
player.. Because it is so small and compact. And Andre it is not 
weird behavor or complicated things that seem to make this thing 
crash or freeze up. some of the post I have read from the users on 
this board say they swich from one mode to another while the thing 
is playing and it crashes etc. I really want to buy one but I just 
keep reading these bad things.!! 



 --- In xl7@yahoogroups.com, "Andre Lewis" <andrel@s...> wrote:
> Ok first things first, as much as you might hear us gripe about 
things on the
> XL7 it's mostly because the people who make the software are on 
this list.  They
> either clarify or actually fix any wierd behavior.  HOWEVER, you 
have to realize
> that the bugs are pretty rare and are usually when someone is 
doing something
> pretty complicated that no-one expected us to do, and it's all 
usually fixed
> pretty quickly.  Also, there is no buzzing on the outputs when you 
play, only
> when you overload the filters just right which is going to happen 
on just about
> any gear (Roland is infamous for this).  The sounds are excellent, 
the sequencer
> is incredible and they are going very inexpensively right now. 
Also the features
> and sounds on it are great.   It also has one of the most advanced 
PCM synthesis
> engines on the block with loads of filter types etc.  As for 
putting samples on
> it, why would you want to do that if you have a triton?
> 
> Andre
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: dividin <spymaker@h...> [mailto:spymaker@h...]
> Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 1:32 AM
> To: xl7@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [xl7] Only have head bad things about XL-7!
> 
> 
> Hi, I have been reading allot of bad things about the XL-7 and it
> sucks because I really wanted to buy one. I have a Triton and use
> that along with the computer for making tracks, but wanted to get 
an
> Xl-7 for drums, is it good for just drums samples? For my pattern
> stuff I have a korg electribe em-1 which really works great with
> midi because I don't use the sounds from it. But the Xl-7 really
> sounds like a great peice of gear, but it sounds like it will 
always
> have bugs and will always have a buzzing sound comming from the
> outputs and the main dail will always act funny etc. etc. Can 
anyone
> tell me if these problems will be fixed via OS updates? and if the
> hardware itself is just crap ? I just don't want to blow $1550
> dollars on a fully expaned peice of garbage for my studio !
>  But so far it just sounds like it is not worth it. Oh and I heard
> somewhere that someday you will be able to donwload new samples to
> you XL-7 via USB if you have Flash Rom? Is this true or false?
> 
> 
> 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/

Well, you can certainly hold off getting one till the next OS release.  I don't
believe that it will be able to do sample burning without an additional sampler
to burn the cards with, but I won't know either for a few more weeks.  I
personally havenever had it crash on me, but I don't use it live so I wouldn't
be a good person to talk to about it.  I do know that there are plenty of people
on this list that do use it live with no problems.  The other thing you have to
keep in mind is that MOST gear out there can and will crash on you.  I've had
Roland, Alesis, Yamaha, Korg, Kurzweil and Akai bomb out on me at weird times.
A lot of times it's because I want it to do something it wasn't supposed to be
able to do.  Other times it's just because no-one had hit the limitations
before, but I'll tell you that Emu is exceptionally good at finding and fixing
any problems that pop up.  There were some bugs several OS versions ago that DID
crash fairly regularly, but the updates have made it nearly impossible.  That
doesn't mean it doesn't happen but seriously, under most uses it won't.
Basically all I am saying is that every piece of gear has limitations and you
have to work with the limitations but in the end you end up really making it
sound good.  If you are uncomfortable and don't want to spend the money you
don't have to get one, get a Roland MC909 or the Yamaha Motif.  But if you get
the base XL-7 off eBay you will end up spending $500 and then you can play with
it and decide whether you need to expand it or not.

In the end though, you shouldn't do anything that you won't be happy with.
*shrug*

Andre

That has been totally fixed and once OS2.0 comes out there shouldn't be 
any troubles switching between song and pattern mode.  There's only a 
handful of known bugs, all of which should be fixed once OS2.0 comes out 
in a few weeks.  To be painfully honest, most (but not all) of the 'bugs' 
people talk about on here aren't really bugs at all, eventually we trace 
most of them down to user error.

As for sample laoding, the only way to get samples into the XX-7's, is by 
burning a Flash Rom in one of Emu's samplers.  The USB port does not let 
you do this unfortunately.

The Xl-7 is one of the best pieces of gear I own, you won't regret getting 
one.

rEalm






some of the post I have read from the users on 
this board say they swich from one mode to another while the thing 
is playing and it crashes etc.






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Naah. No user bugs here. I know exactly how the XL-7 works...

The crashes that happends sometimes I try to go into the list 
editor... I mean, what could I possibly have done wrong?

//Nifflas

--- In xl7@yahoogroups.com, erik_magrini@B... wrote:
> That has been totally fixed and once OS2.0 comes out there 
shouldn't be 
> any troubles switching between song and pattern mode.  There's only 
a 
> handful of known bugs, all of which should be fixed once OS2.0 
comes out 
> in a few weeks.  To be painfully honest, most (but not all) of 
the 'bugs' 
> people talk about on here aren't really bugs at all, eventually we 
trace 
> most of them down to user error.
> 
> As for sample laoding, the only way to get samples into the XX-7's, 
is by 
> burning a Flash Rom in one of Emu's samplers.  The USB port does 
not let 
> you do this unfortunately.
> 
> The Xl-7 is one of the best pieces of gear I own, you won't regret 
getting 

> one.
> 
> rEalm
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> some of the post I have read from the users on 
> this board say they swich from one mode to another while the thing 
> is playing and it crashes etc.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Like I said, "most" not "all" of these things are user errors.  Only 
problems I've had with list editor, is if I'm constantly jumpuing between 
menus very, very fast, the XL-7 will occasionally lock up.  Haven't had 
this happen in over a year though personally.

rEalm




Naah. No user bugs here. I know exactly how the XL-7 works...

The crashes that happends sometimes I try to go into the list 
editor... I mean, what could I possibly have done wrong?








[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Yeah, this one is my fault:  Scrolling through the list edit screen
quckly after Reverting a sequence can crash the box (though you have to
move pretty quickly and go past the event edit into the note edit I
think).  I found it while ensuring that one of the new features worked,
and was going back and forth from the revert screen to the Scale/Shift
Start Time screen.  (oh wait, you don't have that screen, you say? =)

-Aaron

--- erik_magrini@... wrote:
> Like I said, "most" not "all" of these things are user errors.  Only 
> problems I've had with list editor, is if I'm constantly jumpuing
> between menus very, very fast, the XL-7 will occasionally lock up.
> Haven't had this happen in over a year though personally.
> 
> > The crashes that happends sometimes I try to go into the list 
> > editor... I mean, what could I possibly have done wrong?

PS. the buzz or hum from the headphone jack thing is "user error".  it
happens when you don't put the cover back on right after opening up the
unit yourself.

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day
http://shopping.yahoo.com

I see you got my email this morning.... :)

rEalm



I found it while ensuring that one of the new features worked,
and was going back and forth from the revert screen to the Scale/Shift
Start Time screen.  (oh wait, you don't have that screen, you say? =)




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> The crashes that happends sometimes I try to go into the list 
> editor... I mean, what could I possibly have done wrong?

Known bug (at least by me): it's possible to delete an event
(e.g. with the grid buttons) when that event is the one highlighted in
the display. Outcome: immediate crash.

-- 

  nick rothwell -- composition, systems, performance -- http://www.cassiel.com

> PS. the buzz or hum from the headphone jack thing is "user error".

What about the loud squeal when turning master volume knob to/from
fully off? (Reported by me and at least one other person, so not a
fault in my unit specifically.)

-- 

  nick rothwell -- composition, systems, performance -- http://www.cassiel.com

Haven't seen that one myself, though I did try more than few times to see 
if I could replicate it. 

The headphone buzz isn't neccesarily user error per se, IMO.  Yeah, 
opening the case and not securing it tightly can contribute to this, but I 
also get a buzz when the 12v lamp is plugged in, and there was an issue 
with my headphone socket not making a good connection with the headphone 
plug that caused this too.  Opening the case and rebending the negative 
contact fixed this though.

rEalm



> PS. the buzz or hum from the headphone jack thing is "user error".

What about the loud squeal when turning master volume knob to/from
fully off? (Reported by me and at least one other person, so not a
fault in my unit specifically.)







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- Nick Rothwell  wrote:
> Known bug (at least by me): it's possible to delete an event
> (e.g. with the grid buttons) when that event is the one highlighted
> in the display. Outcome: immediate crash.

That one wasn't known by me, though I know exactly why it happens!  Good find.  People, if you guys know of bugs like this (crashes, data loss, etc) please enter them into the database on the xl7 group site.  I took the liberty of deleting two that were fixed with 1.32 (Song->Pattern crash & the Arp Extension Interval bug).

If I don't know about it, I can't fix it! =)  (though unfortunately, I can't guarantee the converse as time is limited!)

 Bug report page

-Aaron


---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

After all that trouble to HTMLify the link, the list slammed it back to
plaintext.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/xl7/database?method=reportRows&tbl=3&tblName=Bug%20report


__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day
http://shopping.yahoo.com

> That one wasn't known by me, though I know exactly why it happens!

Yep, those damned linked lists and dangling pointers...

> People, if you guys know of bugs like this (crashes, data loss, etc) please enter them into the database on the xl7 group site.

Will do. (I thought I had with that one - sorry.)

-- 

  nick rothwell -- composition, systems, performance -- http://www.cassiel.com

Andre, thanks for being a great suppot person when I really needed 
to talkk to a user about the product. I have decided not to purchase 
a XL-7 just due to the recent fact that I went to my local music 
shop and asked the manager about the XL-7 and if they had any 
returns, and the reply shocked me. "he said that more XL-7's hade 
been returned than most of the drum machines/workstations all 
together" I asked him why and he said because most of the people who 
bought them said they had major proplems with it. Allot of the out 
puts were noisey and the main dail caused some sort of malfunction 
or something. And of course he also stated that there were allot of 
bugs with the OS. I just can't buy something with a rep like that. 
Every page I have been to on the Net to read reviews has allot of 
negitive posts. Anyways, I am just going to hold on to my cash until 
find the answer for me. And thanks Andre for your posts.


 --- In xl7@yahoogroups.com, "Andre Lewis" <andrel@s...> wrote:
> Well, you can certainly hold off getting one till the next OS 
release.  I don't
> believe that it will be able to do sample burning without an 
additional sampler
> to burn the cards with, but I won't know either for a few more 
weeks.  I
> personally havenever had it crash on me, but I don't use it live 
so I wouldn't
> be a good person to talk to about it.  I do know that there are 
plenty of people
> on this list that do use it live with no problems.  The other 
thing you have to
> keep in mind is that MOST gear out there can and will crash on 
you.  I've had
> Roland, Alesis, Yamaha, Korg, Kurzweil and Akai bomb out on me at 
weird times.
> A lot of times it's because I want it to do something it wasn't 
supposed to be
> able to do.  Other times it's just because no-one had hit the 
limitations
> before, but I'll tell you that Emu is exceptionally good at 
finding and fixing
> any problems that pop up.  There were some bugs several OS 
versions ago that DID
> crash fairly regularly, but the updates have made it nearly 
impossible.  That
> doesn't mean it doesn't happen but seriously, under most uses it 
won't.
> Basically all I am saying is that every piece of gear has 
limitations and you
> have to work with the limitations but in the end you end up really 
making it
> sound good.  If you are uncomfortable and don't want to spend the 
money you
> don't have to get one, get a Roland MC909 or the Yamaha Motif.  
But if you get
> the base XL-7 off eBay you will end up spending $500 and then you 
can play with
> it and decide whether you need to expand it or not.
> 
> In the end though, you shouldn't do anything that you won't be 
happy with.

> *shrug*
> 
> Andre

I wouldn't thank me too much, you really are missing out.  But one thing i have
learned, you have to feel inspired by your gear, and wondering if you made the
right choice probably won't help you make music.  Realistically the XL-7 is
(Admittedly having taken it's sweet time getting there) finally getting to be a
real winner and solid.  Emu basically did a rel re-work on this platform
especially seing as they had never really had sequencers built into their
equipment and this has a slew of other features they hadn't had to deal with
before either.  It means a real growth for Emu and the quirks crashes and
gotchas really represent the growing pains.  They are just recently really
getting everything down to a very stable design.  The key to realizing the
potential on these is that the Emu guys listen and take an active effort into
advancing the beasts.  The core sound engine built on their previous rock solid
performance and sounds great, and they are finally getting their heads around
the sequencer and the pads/triggers and extra knobs. So I would keep an eye open
for one on eBay for cheap if  were you, it is definately worth owning, but
perhaps you should pick up something you would feel comfortable with for now.

Mental note for the Emu guys, I sure hope you guys are looking into ways to
improve the hardware interfaces for next time and that you invest in a next
time... ;)

Anyway, hope I helped out,
Andre

-----Original Message-----
From: dividin <spymaker@...> [mailto:spymaker@...]
Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2003 2:56 AM
To: xl7@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [xl7] Re: Only have head bad things about XL-7!


Andre, thanks for being a great suppot person when I really needed
to talkk to a user about the product. I have decided not to purchase
a XL-7 just due to the recent fact that I went to my local music
shop and asked the manager about the XL-7 and if they had any
returns, and the reply shocked me. "he said that more XL-7's hade
been returned than most of the drum machines/workstations all
together" I asked him why and he said because most of the people who
bought them said they had major proplems with it. Allot of the out
puts were noisey and the main dail caused some sort of malfunction
or something. And of course he also stated that there were allot of
bugs with the OS. I just can't buy something with a rep like that.
Every page I have been to on the Net to read reviews has allot of
negitive posts. Anyways, I am just going to hold on to my cash until
find the answer for me. And thanks Andre for your posts.


 --- In xl7@yahoogroups.com, "Andre Lewis" <andrel@s...> wrote:
> Well, you can certainly hold off getting one till the next OS
release.  I don't
> believe that it will be able to do sample burning without an
additional sampler
> to burn the cards with, but I won't know either for a few more
weeks.  I
> personally havenever had it crash on me, but I don't use it live
so I wouldn't
> be a good person to talk to about it.  I do know that there are
plenty of people
> on this list that do use it live with no problems.  The other
thing you have to
> keep in mind is that MOST gear out there can and will crash on
you.  I've had
> Roland, Alesis, Yamaha, Korg, Kurzweil and Akai bomb out on me at
weird times.
> A lot of times it's because I want it to do something it wasn't
supposed to be
> able to do.  Other times it's just because no-one had hit the
limitations
> before, but I'll tell you that Emu is exceptionally good at
finding and fixing
> any problems that pop up.  There were some bugs several OS
versions ago that DID
> crash fairly regularly, but the updates have made it nearly
impossible.  That
> doesn't mean it doesn't happen but seriously, under most uses it
won't.
> Basically all I am saying is that every piece of gear has
limitations and you
> have to work with the limitations but in the end you end up really
making it
> sound good.  If you are uncomfortable and don't want to spend the
money you
> don't have to get one, get a Roland MC909 or the Yamaha Motif.
But if you get
> the base XL-7 off eBay you will end up spending $500 and then you
can play with
> it and decide whether you need to expand it or not.
>
> In the end though, you shouldn't do anything that you won't be
happy with.
> *shrug*
>
> Andre


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That's too bad, because I think a lot of people here would disagree with 
that.  A buddy of mine is the pro audio manager at my local guitar center 
and said the same thing about the RS7000 (prior to the new OS it got). 
Noisey outputs?

rEalm






"dividin <spymaker@...>" <spymaker
02/12/2003 04:55 AM
Please respond to xl7

 
        To:     xl7@yahoogroups.com
        cc: 

        Subject:        [xl7] Re: Only have head bad things about XL-7!


Andre, thanks for being a great suppot person when I really needed 
to talkk to a user about the product. I have decided not to purchase 
a XL-7 just due to the recent fact that I went to my local music 
shop and asked the manager about the XL-7 and if they had any 
returns, and the reply shocked me. "he said that more XL-7's hade 
been returned than most of the drum machines/workstations all 
together" I asked him why and he said because most of the people who 
bought them said they had major proplems with it. Allot of the out 
puts were noisey and the main dail caused some sort of malfunction 
or something. And of course he also stated that there were allot of 
bugs with the OS. I just can't buy something with a rep like that. 
Every page I have been to on the Net to read reviews has allot of 
negitive posts. Anyways, I am just going to hold on to my cash until 
find the answer for me. And thanks Andre for your posts.


 --- In xl7@yahoogroups.com, "Andre Lewis" <andrel@s...> wrote:
> Well, you can certainly hold off getting one till the next OS 
release.  I don't
> believe that it will be able to do sample burning without an 
additional sampler
> to burn the cards with, but I won't know either for a few more 
weeks.  I
> personally havenever had it crash on me, but I don't use it live 
so I wouldn't
> be a good person to talk to about it.  I do know that there are 
plenty of people
> on this list that do use it live with no problems.  The other 
thing you have to
> keep in mind is that MOST gear out there can and will crash on 
you.  I've had
> Roland, Alesis, Yamaha, Korg, Kurzweil and Akai bomb out on me at 
weird times.
> A lot of times it's because I want it to do something it wasn't 
supposed to be
> able to do.  Other times it's just because no-one had hit the 
limitations
> before, but I'll tell you that Emu is exceptionally good at 
finding and fixing
> any problems that pop up.  There were some bugs several OS 
versions ago that DID
> crash fairly regularly, but the updates have made it nearly 
impossible.  That
> doesn't mean it doesn't happen but seriously, under most uses it 
won't.
> Basically all I am saying is that every piece of gear has 
limitations and you
> have to work with the limitations but in the end you end up really 
making it
> sound good.  If you are uncomfortable and don't want to spend the 
money you
> don't have to get one, get a Roland MC909 or the Yamaha Motif. 
But if you get
> the base XL-7 off eBay you will end up spending $500 and then you 
can play with
> it and decide whether you need to expand it or not.
> 
> In the end though, you shouldn't do anything that you won't be 
happy with.
> *shrug*
> 
> Andre


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