E-MU EMULATOR X2 (software sampler)

[Anderton]

Now the samples are loaded into the X2, it's time to save the samples and build a preset (or just save the samples, if you want to create the preset manually). Click on the attachment to see the Save Samples window, with the swiped samples in the background.

You can normalize or not, and if so, choose whether to normalize stereo samples as a linked pair, or normalize each channel individually. You can also choose auto-loop, but don't expect too much from this; if you have a single-cycle sample, for example, the X2 isn't smart enough to isolate that sample and loop. Basically, auto-loop lets you loop the whole sample, just the last half, the last quarter, or the last eighth; you can also throw in crossfade looping if you like.

If you're looping a small number of cycles, auto-loop puts you in the ballpark, or at least in the ballpark's parking lot, and that's about it. However, all is not lost, as tweaking loops is really remarkably easy -- as we'll see in a few posts.

Where auto-loop is effective is on long, sustained sounds. The crossfading looping really does a good job, and you likely won't need to do any additional editing. For example, if the first half of a pad has an attack sound and the second half sustains, choose an auto-loop of half the sample + crossfade, and you'll pretty much get what you want.

Then there's also the issue of building a preset, although you don't have to if you want to create a preset manually. You can name the preset, place the samples where originally sampled, or on consecutive white keys (or chromatically) at a particular starting key.

If you didn't sample every key, there will be blank notes. You can choose whether notes will stretch up to fill in the blanks, stretch down to fill in the blanks, or stretch up and down (my preference for most samples).

[Anderton]

When it works, it works spectacularly, but there are some limitations.

For example, suppose you have a "triggered" percussion sound where you can either hold a note to have it complete its envelope, or "tap" the note and have a release time complete the envelope. With Synthswipe, you pretty much need to sample the entire note, as sampling just the attack and just the release won't give the same kind of "triggered" playability.

In fact, the whole idea of separating the key down and key up is only moderately successful, as you seldom play the same key down time every time you play a note. The whole point is to be able to hold the key down a variable amount of time, then initiate a release; Synthswipe commits to a particular key down time.

But those are really the only hiccups. Remember that you are sampling an output, so something like a clav sound will work perfectly. Ditto pads, especially with the auto-crossfade function. I sampled some kalimba, bass, and pad sounds from my TS-10, and the results were stunning -- great stuff.

But I think there's an even better way to approach Synthswipe...

[Anderton]

Laugh if you will, but one of my favorite synths remains the Peavey DPM-3. But it's now pushing 16 years, and at some point, it's gonna die and there won't be the parts to fix it.

What I like about it is the ROM set and the stretching algorithm Peavey used on those sounds; you can transpose cymbals way down, and they still sound very cool. The DPM-3 was apparently the only synth (aside from some other Peavey products) that used this particular transposition technology, just as E-Mu's SP-12 had a unique "sample-skipping" process.

The rest of the DPM is fairly standard: Filters, envelopes, LFOs, etc.

So here's my plan: I'm going to set up the DPM to play only its sustained waveforms -- VCA on full, VCF off, no LFO, etc. -- and swipe its ROM set. Then, I'll use the X2 to add the filtering, envelopes, etc., which are considerably improved over what the DPM-3 had to offer. I my swipe a few complete patches, but I'd rather have that Peavey "toolkit" available for processing with the X2.

So how hard is it to swipe just the raw waveform and tweak it? Well...

[Anderton]

As a test run of the above concept, I took at TS-10 multisampled bass sound with single-cycle loops, opened the filters/VCAs wide open, sampled every third note, and built a preset. So far so good.

I then played back individual samples within the X2, and was disappointed that each sample's loops were extremely "clicky." I tried manipulating the loop points, but then figured I'd try the X2's automated tools.

The Emulator II had a "find loop point functions" that was pretty basic, but could help a bit. The X2 has gone waaaaaay beyond that. I was able to tweak all the loop points within a matter of minutes by simply selecting the loop, enabling snap to zero crossings, setting the end point to someplace that looked reasonable, and hitting the "autocorrelate" button. Click on the attachment to see the sample loop editing screen.

Sometimes the loop wouldn't be perfect, but that was a very rare occurrence. So I'd just jog the end point and hit autocorrelate again; usually that would fix. For the remaining "problem children," which happened mostly with high frequency sounds, changing the start time by one or two samples would solve the problem. How cool is that?

When I remember how long it would take me to set good loops...all I can say is the X2 came through this test with absolutely flying colors. Doing single cycle loops is a breeze during the editing process.

[Anderton]

Very, very cool, as long as you understand the X2 is recording a sound, not deconstructing it and appying its own filters, LFOs, etc. However, if you take the time to swipe just the raw sound and apply your own processing with the X2, you can achieve remarkable results. You can end up with a sampled sounds that's as playable as the source. Yeah, it takes more work -- but if nothing else, it allows me to keep using my DPM-3 sounds for as long as there's an Emulator to play them back...and beyond, as the sounds will have been saved as WAV files.

This is a great feature...any questions about it before I move on to the next feature?

[Anderton]

And before I sign off for today, I'd like to add that I'm really, really getting into the X2. What started off as a favorable impression, mixed with some exploding head issues due to feature overload, is settling down to the point where I'm starting to feel really comfortable with it. There's much further to go, but even with just what I've experienced so far, this is a wonderful instrument.

[Anderton]

I gotta say, though, I do find the type to be rather unreadable on many of the screens, especially if you're using a monitor with decent resolution. I'd sure like to see the X3 make the labels more readable!

[D Charles]

I guess my main problem with Synthswipe is I just don't know enough about sampling. I know on acoustic instruments the more samples the better, but what about a synth? Do they synthesize a sound and then just transpose it up and down the keyboard? Would it be best to sample one note or one note every octive and stretch it up and down the keys for synthy sounds?

Also, I've been fiddling with my Alesis D-4. I've got some sets that sound identical to the original but I'm not sure which way to swipe them. I think the D-4 only had like 4 megs of samples total but it's velocity sensitive. I'm having a hard time sorting out how to make my swipes velocity sensitive. I tried the every note in the range and three velocity setting and it seems I have three volumes on each hit, but how do you get them all to be as velocity sensitive as the D-4?

Again, I just don't think I know enough about the nuts and bolts of sampling.

[Anderton]

 

 

Unfortunately, there's no easy answer; it's different for every sound. For example, if youre just sampling a waveform, you can probably get away with sampling every 3-5 semitones. But if you're sampling something with an envelope that lasts a specific length of time, it will get shorter as you transpose up, and longer as you transpose down. Stretch it a semitone or two and you probably won't notice a difference; stretch it an octave, and you surely will.

 

 

 

I don't reclal offhand how many velocity levels the D-4 has, but if you sampled 10 or 12 different velocity levels per hit, you'd probably be okay. Given the short sample size, you wouldn't have to burn up a whole lot of memory.

 

Make sense?

[D Charles]

Yes that does make sense. I guess it just seemed weird that the templates don't seem proper for a lot of what you'd want to do. Or it seems like there ought to be a way to play the same sample at a bunch of different velocities which is what I assume something like the D-4 is doing.


I was also wondering about the controllers. The bit that they jump if your hardware controller is set differently. What about something like that little Behringer thing that comes with all knobs or faders and knobs. (BCR2000 or BCF2000) The knobs are endless rotary encoders with little lights around them so do they know where the software knobs are set and light up accordingly with no jumps?

Didn't mean to change the object being reviewed here, but wondering if you'd tried anything with the endless rotary encoders?

[Anderton]

>

Well don't forget that you can always sample at lots of velocities, then delete the ones that give a duplicate sound. I agree it would be better if you could just type in the velocities you wanted to use.



It will still jump if the encoder is set to a value different from what's displayed on the X2, regardless of its physical position.

[Overdrive1]

Craig

Great to finally see someone doing an in depth review of Emulator X 2. I am planning on getting this at somepoint now that you can use it without being tied to one of their soundcards.

I keep hearing people complaining about the sound/filters and how it does not sound as good as the Emu hardware samplers. I take it you have used the Ultra and/or Classic series of hardware samplers. How does the sound/filters of the X2 compare, more so the filters?

[Anderton]

Actually, I have not used those samplers...and the filters sure sound a lot better than the Emax

Anyway, perhaps someone from E-Mu can comment on this, but I believe that the filters use the same algorithms as those in their recent samplers and hardware units that have the same "look at those 55 filters!" feature. So I expect they're probably pretty similar, if not identical. Maybe their D/As aren't as good as the ones in the hardware samplers...?

Anyway, I can post some audio examples although the 102k file size limitation means it's going to have to be fairly compressed...not really fair to judge fidelity based on that.

[Anderton]

I'll admit it, I've been slacking off on testing out other features because I got hung up on the SynthSwipe feature. I've been sampling DPM3 waveforms on a sort of casual basis, and have now sampled all the digital waveforms and "spectral" waves. Cool stuff, you really can't tell the difference between the sampled version and the original.

I was a little surprised that I didn't need to multisample as many keys as I thought I would. Sampling every 7 semitones or so produced seamless transistions between the different sample ranges, you couldn't really hear any difference. We'll see if this holds up on the instrumental sounds as well.

But actually, this got me into the process of editing and organizing samples, which turned out to be far more painless than I expected. So tomorrow, I'll summarize what I found out, and talk a bit more about sample editing.

[Anderton]

Okay, here's the definitive word about the filters, from Bruce McIntyre, Technical Support Engineer at E-Mu:

"I saw your question from the X2 review on the E-MU filters and thought I would give you some background.

"The Emulator X filter architecture is based on the custom E-MU H series filter chip found in E-MU hardware samplers. The last version being H1.6, which was present in the Emulator 4 Platinum hardware sampler. Essentially, Emulator X software uses our next generation E-MU filters, utilizing new 32 bit floating point code. The architecture is very closely related to the H1.6 but better, more powerful, yet backwards compatible with older filters. This is why the filter types that are now in Emulator X , sound extremely close to those used in the E-MU hardware samplers.

"Also, as a bonus, one of the filter types in Emulator X2 is what we call “Morph Designer”. In a nut shell, this is a 6 stage definable filter that gives you the keys to the X2 filter engine allowing you to create endless new types of filters which can all be stored as templates and recalled for use on any preset you desire."

[Filch]

Originally posted by Anderton "Also, as a bonus, one of the filter types in Emulator X2 is what we call “Morph Designer”. In a nut shell, this is a 6 stage definable filter that gives you the keys to the X2 filter engine allowing you to create endless new types of filters which can all be store as templates and recalled for use on any preset you desire."

8-o

Okay, I think I'm sold right there....... if only there wasn't a hardware requirement....

[Anderton]

>

Well it might be worth elaborating on that. I'm sure someone from E-Mu will correct me if I got this wrong.

If you buy the full X2 package, it comes with a simple USB interface that also acts as a "dongle" in that it's a piece of E-Mu hardware. So even if you don't have an E-Mu sound card or keyboard (the main ways to provide the necessary hardware), you're still okay if you buy the X2 package. This streets for around $300.

The big advantage if you already have a sound card or keyboard is that the upgrade price from the X is like $80 or something, and if you don't have the X, you can get just the X2 software. Not sure what the price is -- it was sold out on the E-Mu web site. Also, FWIW, Sweetwater said X2s were "going fast."

I hope this doesn't mean it's being replaced or something...more likely it's people reading the Pro Review and liking what they see

[D Charles]

I did the math and ended up getting the 1212 card with Emulator X straight from EMU and then adding the X2 upgrade. The whole thing came out less than four bills including ship. The card is really hi fi and wonderful and nearly worth the price of admission by itself.

That said, we're here to discuss the X2.

Can we start a wishlist?

I've got a bit of a prob with the 'save' and 'save as' functions. The 'save' works exactly as it should, but the 'save as' addresses the entire bank. If I'm perusing sounds and edit something that sounds cool, I just want to save that preset and it's associated samples to say a user bank. I realise I can drag presets into a user bank, but if I'm exploring and hit on something, I wish I could just hit 'save as' and the menu bit come up with brouse and let me just put that edited preset where I want.

[Filch]

Originally posted by Anderton If you buy the full X2 package, it comes with a simple USB interface that also acts as a "dongle" in that it's a piece of E-Mu hardware.

 

 

Actually, I'm getting a new laptop for music work end of this month. I'm in need of a USB soundcard and could go for an E-mu 0404 USB.... and then pickup the X2,

 

but I have no reference for their computer hardware or the quality of their drivers. I guess I'll have to go hunting for reviews.

[Anderton]

>

Not to hijack my own thread, but I use the 1616m for my laptop and it's a helluva interface. Probably far more than most people need, though...you can run it in two ways. You can insert a PCMCIA card into the laptop, in which case it provides an audio out. Or, there's an external dock that connects to the card through a CAT-5 cable. The dock requires external power and is relatively large, so this is more for field recording. But you get dual mic pres (good ones, too), MIDI I/O, ADAT I/O, headphones...you get the idea.

The only thing I don't like is it replaced an Echo Indigo card, which has both out and in; if you want to record with the 1616, you have to use the dock.

E-Mu's drivers were suspect early on, but at this point, they've been through a lot of revs and they're solid. The big deal is the collection of VST "powered effects" that are a part of the sound card (like the Creamware concept), but the DSP power is indeed finite -- you can't just pile on a zillion effects -- and AFAIK they won't run over 48kHz, even though the interface will. But the whole way that you can create custom interface setups is very cool.

Anyway, not to get off track, but I've found the E-Mu sound cards to offer a pretty sweet combination of software/hardware. I do get occasional crashes, more than "dumb" sound cards, but not at a deal-breaking level -- one every couple of nights when I'm pushing things hard. Frankly, I would never have gotten into the E-Mu sound cards if I hadn't reviewed the original Emulator X, but I feel they are really underrated.

Currently my computer has both Creamware and E-Mu PCI cards, and they get along okay although of course, in ASIO-land, I can't access both with a single program. But the way the X2 works these days, I can use it with a host running in the Creamware SCOPE environment as long as the E-Mu card is plugged in.

Okay, I'll stop myself. The key point is I don't really "get" why E-Mu cards don't recieve more notoriety, they seem like overachievers to me. Anyone had any problems since upgrading to the most recent drivers? Any other fans out there?

[1manband]

Hello Craig,

How many mega bites does a typical synth swipe patch take up?

[Dino321]

Craig,

How about Gigasampler import? Since my Gigastudio 3 is so buggy I can't use it I want to import the GigaPiano II in to somthing. I own an XBoard 49 and have been looking at Emulator X. Emu says they can't be sure if it would work well or not. The said their import function was done by Chicken Systems. Can you shed any light on this? Do you perhaps have GigaPiano II? (it is in the Gigastudio 3 format)

Thanks,

Dean

[Anderton]

 

 

It depends entirely on how long a sample you take, how many samples you take (pitch and velocity), and whether you edit them. For example, with the DPM3 waveforms samples, I had about 10 seconds of sample time. After trimming them down to shorter loops, there ended up being about 1.5 seconds of samples.

[Anderton]

>

Excellent question! However, I'm leaving for AES in a matter of minutes, and won't be able to check this out until next week. Sorry...

[the otter]

what about Mac support?