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

Grrr. F@#$%ing Yahoo just ate a lengthy followup post.

Much more quickly:

Build: solid, good size and shape.

Color: doesn't bother me except for the fact that it makes me hungry. 
rEalm's still best looking but I prefer the Xtreme Loud to the Mr. 
Purple or the Plain Xane.

Keypads: good size, nice rubbery feel, bounce (double-trigger) 
sometimes but I assume they'll improve as they break in (yes?)

Mute buttons: good shape, layout. Feel a little fiddly, wonder how 
durable they'll be in the long run.

Could do with a bit less cursoring around, but I can deal. Otherwise 
pretty straightforward to operate.

Need to get OS 2.0. Came with OS1.31; USB can't upgrade OS and my 
MIDI comp is in storage, so I'll have to wait to try out the good 
stuff like XMIX and DPA.

Found Rothwell's old arp extension bug right away.

Switching patterns is fast and smooth, even when done at the last 
minute (the Rolands can't do this).

Wish I could Transpose part of a pattern (choose bar, length). 
Workaround is to use cut and paste but I can tell it's going to get 
old fast. Key range would be good in cutting and pasting too.

Wish Grid Edit let you pick which measure you were editing separately 
from playback, like the Electribes do (someone else mentioned this 
too). Moving-target editing bugs me. Stopping playback isn't 
practical live, and in 32nd-note mode you can't see the second half 
of the measure. Reducing tempo drastically is clumsy. Loop Section 
doesn't address this completely since it affects playback. There's 
room for a two-digit "edit position" field to the right of 
the "playback position" field, or maybe when you edit the playback 
position field, instead of stopping playback it should decouple 
playback and edit position (the LEDs will still show you where you 
are).

Finding which notes have been turned on can be a hunt. Better would 
be (a) going into Grid Edit, the note field defaults to the lowest 
active note and (b) pressing a button while turning the dial in the 
note field skips all the notes which have no active hits.

Can tell I will still need to use a software seq, but I bought this 
mainly for live use anyway (that and being able to sit in bed and 
program).

Footswitch to both increment and decrement pattern is good, not as 
good as DPA via MIDI, but better than Roland (increment only).

Hum in the headphones. Per the FAQ I may be able to fix this by 
opening the case and reseating a cable.

Sounds good. Lots of good samples. Reverse drums in the Hybrid kit so 
all is not lost there. Eyeing the Drum ROM already, wondering about 
strings.

It's very cool. I think I'll keep it.

More to come, if Yahoo will behave. Dammit.

Keypads: good size, nice rubbery feel, bounce (double-trigger) 
sometimes but I assume they'll improve as they break in (yes?)

>>>Yes, mine were the same way at first, kinda scared me too.  Give 'em a 
couple of weeks and they'll break in (or you just learn how to play them 
not sure which it was!). <<<

Mute buttons: good shape, layout. Feel a little fiddly, wonder how durable 
they'll be in the long run.

>>>Ditto, I thought they were weak, but after a couple years of HEAVY use, 
mine work fine still. <<<

Wish Grid Edit let you pick which measure you were editing separately 
from playback, like the Electribes do (someone else mentioned this 
too). Moving-target editing bugs me. 

>>>Loop mode in OS2 will let you stay with the current measure, not as 
ideal as th E-tribes, but a good workaround. <<<

Finding which notes have been turned on can be a hunt. Better would be (a) 
going into Grid Edit, the note field defaults to the lowest active note 
and (b) pressing a button while turning the dial in the note field skips 
all the notes which have no active hits.

>>>cool idea, rrioght now it typically goes to the last active note 
entered. <<<

Can tell I will still need to use a software seq, but I bought this 
mainly for live use anyway (that and being able to sit in bed and 
program).

Footswitch to both increment and decrement pattern is good, not as 
good as DPA via MIDI, but better than Roland (increment only).

Hum in the headphones. Per the FAQ I may be able to fix this by 
opening the case and reseating a cable.

>>>Try loosening the nut on the headphone socket a bit too, fixed mine. 
<<<

Sounds good. Lots of good samples. Reverse drums in the Hybrid kit so all 
is not lost there. Eyeing the Drum ROM already, wondering about strings.

>>>P2500 has some very nice strings IMO> <<<

rEalm






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

--- In xl7@yahoogroups.com, erik_magrini@B... wrote:
>>>Yes, mine were the same way at first, kinda scared me too. 
Give 'em a couple of weeks and they'll break in (or you just learn 
how to play them not sure which it was!). <<<

Yeah, I thought I remembered you saying something like that when you 
got yours.

>>>Ditto, I thought they were weak, but after a couple years of HEAVY 
use, 
mine work fine still. <<<

Good to know.

>>>Loop mode in OS2 will let you stay with the current measure, not 
as 
ideal as th E-tribes, but a good workaround. <<<

Well, I can live with it, it's just not as performance-friendly, 
which is frustrating. I guess if I really want to improv on the beats 
I can use a 1-bar pattern.

>>>cool idea, rrioght now it typically goes to the last active note 
entered. <<<

Thought so, and that's smart. I believe this doesn't work the first 
time you go to the track though. Again, dealable.

 >>>Try loosening the nut on the headphone socket a bit too, fixed 
mine. 
<<<

Ah, good tip. Thanks, I'll try that.

>>>P2500 has some very nice strings IMO> <<<

Thanks for the rec. My understanding is that the Virtuoso strings are 
split across the ROMs (solo vs. ensemble) but are generally 
considered better than the Spolishnameicantremember. I'll look at the 
P2500 again.

Did I mention that I really like mine so far? Can't wait to load OS 
2.0. My first post on this group was December 5, 2001, asking them to 
add Direct Pattern Access. Thanks to Sean and Aaron and whomever else 
for sticking with it. I think it's been worth the wait (everyone 
groans: "finally!").