Frequently Asked Questions


v 1.1 -- October 1997

Table of Contents

What's the latest version of the Emax Operating System?

What configurations of Emax has E-mu sold over the years?

Initially there was the Emax. It came with 524k of memory and a floppy drive that could store 1 bank of sounds on a Double Sided Double Density (DSDD) floppy diskette. Then came the Emax HD. In addition to the floppy drive it came with an internal Miniscribe 8425s SCSI drive that could store 34 banks. The last Emax to be released was the Emax SE HD. This version was identical to the Emax HD, but came with a new operating system the increased the hard drive storage to 36 banks and added a new synthesizer engine called Spectrum Interpolation Digital Synthesis as well as a Digital Processing function called Transform Multiplication and some other enhancements. All versions of the Emax came in both keyboard and 3 space rack formats.

Is there any memory upgrades?

There is no memory upgrades available for any version of the Emax.

Can I add an internal hard drive to the Emax ?

E-mu no longer offers the SCSI upgrade for the Emax. However, I have been told by a few users of the original Emax that there is a mounting bracket and SCSI socket already inside the Emax, but whether or not all they need to do is add a hard drive and load the new operating system is unknown.

I do know that the only hard drive that will work with the Emax is the Miniscribe 8425s SCSI drive which hasn't been in production for at least 5 years. This is a SCSI 1 type drive. E-mu also says that the Connor 40 Mb CP3040 and CP340 hard drives will work for storage only, you can not boot off of either drive or take advantage of the 40 meg since the Emax can only format 20 Mb.

Can I replace my original hard drive?

I received email from an Emax owner in July 1997 who says he was able to purchase a Miniscribe 8425s hard drive from:

However, I also received an email in October 1997 from a different user who says that the two different 8425s drives he purchased from Independent Technology Service both lasted no longer than a week before completely failing.

What about adding external drives?

I only put this quetsion in because I have received email from an Emax owner who says his Emax has a external SCSI port on the back. When I learn more I'll update this section.

Will any SCSI CD-ROM drive work with the Emax ?

No, however in 1988, Optical Media International, released the Universe of Sounds Emax Sample Library and a CD-Rom drive that hooked directly to the Emax's RS-422 port and listed for $1,995. It is reviewed in the March 1988 issue of Keyboard Magazine.

Are there any hidden functions and tricks in the Emax ?

Select the MASTER module. Choose option 9. The display will give you a choice of 1-8. Again, press 9. When prompted for a password, enter 3629 ("EMAX" on a telephone touchpad). These functions include disk and memory testing functions.

Be warned that most of the hard drive utillities will erase anything stored on your hard drive. Use at your own risk.

Is there an archive of Emax samples?

I hope to make banks available early in 2000

Who sells good sounds for the Emax ?

E-mu doesn't carry the Emax library anymore so the first stop would have to be your local E-mu dealer. Hopefully, they've got the E-mu library, copy away! If they don't, I have a large collection of the Emax SE banks. All of my banks are always available for free if you supply the storage media and postage. Visit my list of Emax SE HD banks to see what I have. If you have some that don't appear on my list I'd really appreciate it if you would let me know.

Is the Emax compatible with other samplers?

The Emax disks can be read by the Emax II. However,the samples are expanded from 12 bit to 16 bit format. Additionally, the Emax II has digital filters and DCAs, while the Emax's are analog. Generally, the sounds transfer well, but some may require a little bit of tweaking, and loops occasionally sound glitched. Remember, the Emax is limited in the amount that one can pitch-shift a sample upwards. The Emax II can shift +/- 5 octaves, so you can reassign samples to take advantage of this. Also, there can be problems with samples that have loops less than 32 samples long.

In return the Emax II can also save compressed banks that can be loaded into the Emax. Of course, to do that the Emax II banks must meet certain criteria in order to be backwards compatible.


comments, questions, suggestions? E-mail me:

John Silveria II