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The Emax II was originally released as a 1Mb
mono 16 bit sampler. That was quickly changed to 2Mb and stereo. Most
early models were retrofitted to stereo, but there are still some mono
units out there. Though it's maximum sample rate is only 39kHz it does
have the ability to playback samples created at 44.1kHz.
The Emax II filters are not analog, they are
digital. But, unlike the Emax with it's fixed 512k of memory the Emax
II could be expanded from 1Mb-8Mb though to go beyond 2Mb required the
addition of a daughterboard. For more information on Memory Upgrades
view the Repair/Upgrade section. The Emax II also had (at the time)
a more robust SCSI implementation which meant it was compatible with
more peripherals such as Syquest removable media, MO drives, CD-Rom
drives and a variety of hard drives. It's maximum partition size is
540Mb.
Operating System
Models
- Model: 2201 1 Mb KEYBOARD
- Model: 2202 1 Mb RACK
- Model: 2203 1 Mb KEYBOARD (W/HD)
- Model: 2204 1 Mb RACK (W/HD)
(The original models were concluded in June of
1991)
- Model: 2212 2 MB KEYBOARD
- Model: 2213 2 MB RACK
- Model: 2205 4/8 MB KEYBOARD (W/HD)
- Model: 2206 4/8 MB RACK (W/HD)
The details of when E-mu actually cut
over from 4 to 8Mb RAM or from 40 Mb to 105/127Mb Hard Drives is not known.
The Basics
- 5 Octave velocity sensitive keyboard C to C or 3
space rack
- 14 Velocity curves
- Velocity can control VCA level, VCA attack, VCF
cutoff, VCF attack, and VCF Q.
- 3.5 inch floppy disk drive (uses double sided, double
density (DSDD) floppy disks)
- Internal and external SCSI connection (internal
HD power supply)
- 32 Character Backlit LCD
- RS-422 connection
- MIDI In connection
- MIDI Out/Thru connection
- Programmable Arpeggiator
- 16 track "scratchpad" sequencer
- Clock In (Clock In can accept 24, 48, or 96 ppq,
the pulses should be at least 1ms wide and 1 to 5 volts.
- Clock Out (Clock Out sends a 24 ppq which is 5 volts
and about 6ms wide)
- 2 Programmable wheels for real-time control over
pitch, filter cutoff, AHDSR attack rate, level, LFO modulation index,
etc.
- 2 Footswitches
- 1 Footpedal
Audio Out and
In
- Headphone
- Mono Mix
- Main Out (L and R stereo)
- Sub A (L and R stereo / Tip-output and Ring-effect
return)
- Sub B (L and R stereo / Tip-output and Ring-effect
return)
- Sub C (L and R stereo / Tip-output and Ring-effect
return)
- Sample In (stereo / Tip-Left and Ring -Right)
Sample Rates
and Times
For stereo samples, divide time in half
Time (seconds)
| Sample Rates |
1Mb |
2Mb |
3Mb |
4Mb |
5Mb |
6Mb |
7Mb |
8Mb |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 20.000kHz |
26.1 |
52.5 |
78.6 |
104.9 |
131.1 |
157.3 |
183.5 |
209.7 |
| 22.050kHz |
23.7 |
47.6 |
71.3 |
95.1 |
118.9 |
142.7 |
166.4 |
190.2 |
| 27.778kHz* |
18.9 |
37.7 |
56.6 |
75.5 |
94.4 |
113.2 |
132.1 |
151 |
| 31.250kHz* |
16.8 |
33.5 |
50.3 |
67.1 |
83.9 |
100.7 |
117.4 |
134.2 |
| 39.0625kHz |
13.4 |
26.9 |
40.3 |
53.7 |
67.1 |
80.5 |
94 |
107.4 |
* Sample rates shown in bold have a maximum continuous
sampling time equal to that of the 39kHz rate. Emax II performs automatic
sample rate conversions on the sample, then frees up the additional memory
for subsequent sampling.
Technical
| Audio channels: |
32 (16 Stereo) |
| Max Output Level: |
+4 dB into 600 |
| Input Impedance: |
5 kHz |
| Output Impedance: |
Stereo 100k
Mono 2.5
Audio 600 |
| Data Encoding: |
Input 16-bit Linear
Output 18-bit Linear |
| Max Input Sampling Rate: |
39kHz |
| Signal To Noise: |
90 dB |
| Dynamic Range: |
Input >90 dB
Output >102 dB |
| THD+N: |
>.05% |
| Stereo Phase: |
Phase Coherent +/- 1 degree at 1 kHz |
| Power Requirements: |
45 Watts |
Voice Architecture
Each of the 16 Stereo voices has it's own set of the following:
- Dynamic digital lowpass filter (VCF) with AHDSR
envelope generators
- Digital amplifier (VCA) with AHDSR envelope generators
- LFO with adjustable rate, delay, and speed variation
The Emax II CAN chorus its voices without
loss of polyphony.
Digital Processing
- Truncation
- Looping (Crossfade and Equal Power)
- Digital combine
- Sample reversal, as well as rate and pitch conversion
- Transform Multiplication tm
- Splicing
- Advanced Split and Layer
- Individual tuning and attenuation for each sample
Synthesis
Transform Multiplication:
Transform Multiplication is a digital effect which merges together 2 sounds
in such a way that frequencies common to both sounds are accentuated while
uncommon frequencies are discarded. It works best on harmonically rich
sounds.
Spectrum Synthesis:
Emax II's Spectrum Synthesis allows you to specify up to 24 complex waveforms,
(called Spectrums) and to either step or fade through them during the
course of a sound. The 24 waveform locations are called Time Slices, since
they represent the waveform at that slice of the sound. This method allows
more complex and interesting sounds to be created. In addition, each partial
(sine wave) can have a 24 point envelope that determines the pitch of
that partial over the course of the sound. Each Emax II voice can consist
of two synthesized timbres, a synthesized timbre and a sampled sound,
or two sampled sounds. The resulting voice can then be processed using
the Dynamic Processing features and placed anywhere in the stereo field.
Portions of text taken from the Emax II Owners Manual © 1989 E-mu
Systems Inc.
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