E-mu Emulator X3 sounds fantastic!

[planetearth]

Finally got around to uploading the banks and making them available for free.

They are in the Emulator X section here: http://analoguesque.x10host.com/

Hope you guys enjoy them - they were done with Emulator X and originally had zero FX. I tried to add a some but it was a bit of a rush job and the EmuX FX are not that great. I'm sure you'll find some stuff you can use though.

Let me know how you use them.

Is this legal to provide these sound banks? I'm not sure... Does anybody know?

If RooiValk created the banks (and from his original post on this, it appears he did), AND as long as he retained the copyright to his creations (which, again, it appears he did), he can do what he wants with the banks.

I used to develop sound banks for the E-Mu E4 and had transferred these to Emulator X when it first came out. It was the version that required the E-Mu hardware soundcard.

Anyway I have quite a few banks of "analog" sounds on my HDD that I can't do anything with, and since I'm no longer in the business of selling them, I figured I would make them available somewhere.

Any ideas?

On the website where he's hosting these banks (http://analoguesque.x10host.com/E-Mu-Emulator-X/), it also states he is the copyright holder to the samples, presets, patches and banks--assuming RooiValk is "Ian Wilson", that is.

Steve

[analoguesque]

Yup, RooiValk = Analoguesque. I am still the copyright owner of all these banks.

[planetearth]

Yup, RooiValk = Analoguesque. I am still the copyright owner of all these banks.

Well, there you go, then. I guess that settles it.

Steve

[Dan_E10]

I've had Emulator X since the first version, but I never quite got too deep into it. I've been playing around with X3 again lately. I've been trying to figure out the step sequencers. Is there a way to get the envelopes to retrigger each step? I've router one of the step sequencers to pitch and it modulates as expected, but I can't see any easy way to force an envelope retrigger. I see that the envelopes can be set up based on tempo, but if I've already set up a patch's envelopes is there a straightforward way to just retrigger each step?
Dan

[tlainhart]

I've just upgraded my Windows 7 computer to Windows 10 (via Media Creation Tool). I've been running Emulator X since v1, and was running X3 on my Win7 machine successfully (modulo the typically VSTi problems).

Since the upgrade, it takes about 15 minutes for X3 to become responsive after opening. The splash screen is up for that period of time, and I can see CPU and memory getting consumed until it finally opens after 126M consumed (CPU was up 25%). I'm not getting prompted for activation - since upgrading from X2 I've never been prompted for activation. Once up, I can load and play the various sound sets I have as normal (quick loading/playing). It's only startup - as if it's hanging on some resource, although mem use continues a slow, upward climb. Disk is not chattering, nor do I see any significant activity there (procexp and Task Manager). Network is enabled, and again, no activity. Various MSFT malware scanning/detection/firewalls/app-scan turned off. I've got full admin privileges. I've turned off UAC. I'm running the app in Vista compat mode. Same behavior if I run 32 or 64bit variants.

I've modified prefs to use all cores, most of the CPU, etc. but that's only for streaming.

I've uninstalled/reinstalled multiple times. I've rebuilt the libraries. I've double-checked the FlexLM licensing program, and that seems OK. I've Googled around.

I'm about to uninstall everything, and start with X1 installation upto X3, testing all of the way. Because I see CPU activity and memory consumption, but I don't see any significant disk or network activity, I'm wondering if this is a licensing thing, or some timeout thing relative to another process. Not seeing any dependent processes, and Process Explorer is not giving me any clues. Any clues or anything else to check?

I've got an i5 processor, 8 gig of memory, a couple of SATA drives ~1TB, and a E-MU 1820m working successfully.

[exiannyc]

@tlainhart, I'm running Emulator x3 on windows 10 and it starts up in 14 seconds.

I'd recommend NOT starting from x1 (why bother?) just do a full install of x3 x64. Maybe all the layers are causing unnecessary complications. Anyway good luck and let us know.

[tlainhart]

Thanks. Yeah, already have done multiple installs (full) of X3. Seems like in the only person with this particular problem. Perhaps because I've had software and hardware installed since X1, and did a Media Creator's update?

I'll update the thread as things progress.

[tonedef71]

Thanks. Yeah, already have done multiple installs (full) of X3. Seems like in the only person with this particular problem. Perhaps because I've had software and hardware installed since X1, and did a Media Creator's update?

I'll update the thread as things progress.

Be sure to check for entries in the Event Log Viewer utility of Windows... there may be some clues in there. This utility from NirSoft makes it easier to view the log entries compared to using the Event Log Viewer utility of Windows.

[tlainhart]

Thanks tonedef. I did scan through the Event Viewer, and found a red herring or two. Cleared the logs, retried, and no clues there.

I did get a dump of the process and opened in a debugger, but without symbols, I can't see what's going on. Process Explorer was helpful to show me open resources, but no clues there.

I did discover that FlexLM keeps its activation data in "C:\ProgramData\FLEXnet" - when I moved the files out of the way, I was prompted for activation (which was successful). Didn't help with the slow startup.

(time passes...)

I was able to see the threads of the application. The main thread might be blocked on some mutex, as seen in the thread stack trace below - odd that memory grews during this blockage, so it's probably something else. There's a bunch of XML parsing going on - I'm assuming for the editing templates and perhaps UI/layout? Once the app gains control, the thread stack changes, with the majority of the threads dedicated to an XML DOM parser.

Code: Select all

ntoskrnl.exe!KeSynchronizeExecution+0x5c16
ntoskrnl.exe!KeWaitForSingleObject+0x12e6
ntoskrnl.exe!KeWaitForSingleObject+0xadb
ntoskrnl.exe!KeWaitForSingleObject+0x1ff
ntoskrnl.exe!PsGetServerSiloServiceSessionId+0x33f
ntoskrnl.exe!IoGetRelatedDeviceObject+0x91b
ntoskrnl.exe!KiCheckForKernelApcDelivery+0x27
ntoskrnl.exe!KeLeaveGuardedRegion+0x2c
FLTMGR.SYS!FltDecodeParameters+0x17be
FLTMGR.SYS!FltDecodeParameters+0x14dc
FLTMGR.SYS!FltDecodeParameters+0x5f4
FLTMGR.SYS!FltDecodeParameters+0x3ee
ntoskrnl.exe!IofCallDriver+0x59
ntoskrnl.exe!SeQueryInformationToken+0x309e
ntoskrnl.exe!SeQueryInformationToken+0x1d87
ntoskrnl.exe!SeUnlockSubjectContext+0xdab
ntoskrnl.exe!ObOpenObjectByNameEx+0x1df
ntoskrnl.exe!RtlUpperChar+0x1ce
ntoskrnl.exe!setjmpex+0x6ea3
ntdll.dll!NtQueryFullAttributesFile+0x14
KERNELBASE.dll!GetFileAttributesExW+0x95
zipfldr.dll!DllCanUnloadNow+0xe96d
zipfldr.dll!DllCanUnloadNow+0xacb9
zipfldr.dll!DllCanUnloadNow+0xe008
zipfldr.dll!DllCanUnloadNow+0xc870
zipfldr.dll!DllCanUnloadNow+0xd553
zipfldr.dll!DllGetClassObject+0x651f
zipfldr.dll!DllGetClassObject+0x63c9
zipfldr.dll!DllCanUnloadNow+0x57cd
zipfldr.dll!DllCanUnloadNow+0x35de
windows.storage.dll!DllMain+0x3e10a
windows.storage.dll!NeverProvidedByJunction+0x1563f
windows.storage.dll!NeverProvidedByJunction+0x1d93a
EMULAT~1.EXE!DOMNodeIteratorImpl::release+0x86ef
EMULAT~1.EXE!DOMNodeIteratorImpl::release+0x8e8a
EMULAT~1.EXE!DOMNodeIteratorImpl::release+0x9387
EMULAT~1.EXE!DOMNodeIteratorImpl::release+0xa534
EMULAT~1.EXE!DOMNodeIteratorImpl::release+0x622b
EMULAT~1.EXE!DOMNodeIteratorImpl::release+0x62a7
EMULAT~1.EXE+0xd02b
EMULAT~1.EXE+0xc2e2
EMULAT~1.EXE!XMLPlatformUtils::unlockMutex+0x5cd
EMULAT~1.EXE!Token::getChar+0x7ec30
KERNEL32.DLL!BaseThreadInitThunk+0x14
ntdll.dll!RtlUserThreadStart+0x21

[tonedef71]

There's a bunch of XML parsing going on - I'm assuming for the editing templates and perhaps UI/layout? Once the app gains control, the thread stack changes, with the majority of the threads dedicated to an XML DOM parser.

The XML parser is as good as any place to start to troubleshoot. Perhaps you can try different versions of the MS XML parser to see if one version works better over another?

Of course, be sure to create a System Restore point before experimenting with the MS XML parser.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/hel ... a-computer
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/hel ... l-versions
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/hel ... ervices-ms

[Topcheese]

I forgot what host you said you use it in, but it sounds like it's probably a couple of things wrong.

I'm thinking it has something to do with the sample streaming setting, and the change over to win10. I'm thinking if you only have 8 gigs of ram, then X3 may have a problem now that it didn't have before.

Have you played with the sample streaming settings? That's about the only thing that I would think would cause it to hang up on startup.

[planetearth]

@tlainhart, I'm running Emulator x3 on windows 10 and it starts up in 14 seconds.

I'd recommend NOT starting from x1 (why bother?) just do a full install of x3 x64. Maybe all the layers are causing unnecessary complications. Anyway good luck and let us know.

I'm running Emulator X3 on Windows 7 (x64), and it loads very quickly.

Have you tried loading the 32-bit version and/or the standalone? I didn't see in this thread if you said you had, but it would be interesting to see if the standalone app or the 32-bit version load faster.

Steve

[tlainhart]

Thanks Steve and TopCheese -

Steve - yeah, the 32bit app has the same hang problem. I checked that before I posted.

@TopCheese - the only variable here is the upgrade to Windows 10, doing an in-place upgrade from 7 (using Media Creator's tool). I could get more memory, but this isn't a swapping problem according to what I'm seeing in ProcEng. I also looked into streaming settings earlier, but the app isn't getting that far.

The 32bit app's thread profile looks a bit different. One main thread (out of 8 or so) moving along, apparently, but it's just taking a while. As I think I've mentioned earlier, I've turned off all virus detection, etc.

I'm wondering if my PATH is somehow sub-optimal. If it's not a privacy intrusion, I'm wondering if someone can dump the contents of their PATH and Environment. I've copied mine below - perhaps there's something odd about my PATH ordering, or my environment (though, again, this was just an in-place OS upgrade).

-- Todd

Code: Select all

ALLUSERSPROFILE=C:\ProgramData
APPDATA=C:\Users\Todd\AppData\Roaming
CommonProgramFiles=C:\Program Files\Common Files
CommonProgramFiles(x86)=C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files
CommonProgramW6432=C:\Program Files\Common Files
COMPUTERNAME=TODD-DESKTOP
ComSpec=C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe
DriverData=C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\DriverData
FPS_BROWSER_APP_PROFILE_STRING=Internet Explorer
FPS_BROWSER_USER_PROFILE_STRING=Default
FP_NO_HOST_CHECK=NO
GSTREAMER_1_0_XSC_ROOT_X86=C:\gstreamer\1.0\x86\
HOMEDRIVE=C:
HOMEPATH=\Users\Todd
KMP_DUPLICATE_LIB_OK=TRUE
LOCALAPPDATA=C:\Users\Todd\AppData\Local
LOGONSERVER=\\TODD-DESKTOP
NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS=4
OneDrive=C:\Users\Todd\OneDrive
OS=Windows_NT
Path=C:\Perl64\site\bin;C:\Perl64\bin;C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\iCLS Client\;C:\Program Files\Intel\iCLS Client\;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live;C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem;C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Shared;C:\Program Files\Intel\Intel(R) Management Engine Components\DAL;C:\Program Files\Intel\Intel(R) Management Engine Components\IPT;C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\Intel(R) Management Engine Components\DAL;C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\Intel(R) Management Engine Components\IPT;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\110\Tools\Binn\;C:\Program Files (x86)\QuickTime\QTSystem\;C:\WINDOWS\System32\OpenSSH\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\130\Tools\Binn\;C:\Users\Todd\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps;
PATHEXT=.COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH;.MSC
PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE=AMD64
PROCESSOR_IDENTIFIER=Intel64 Family 6 Model 42 Stepping 7, GenuineIntel
PROCESSOR_LEVEL=6
PROCESSOR_REVISION=2a07
ProgramData=C:\ProgramData
ProgramFiles=C:\Program Files
ProgramFiles(x86)=C:\Program Files (x86)
ProgramW6432=C:\Program Files
PROMPT=$P$G
PSModulePath=C:\WINDOWS\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Modules\
PUBLIC=C:\Users\Public
SESSIONNAME=Console
SystemDrive=C:
SystemRoot=C:\WINDOWS
TEMP=C:\Users\Todd\AppData\Local\Temp
TMP=C:\Users\Todd\AppData\Local\Temp
USERDOMAIN=Todd-Desktop
USERDOMAIN_ROAMINGPROFILE=Todd-Desktop
USERNAME=Todd
USERPROFILE=C:\Users\Todd
VS120COMNTOOLS=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\Common7\Tools\

[tlainhart]

Jackpot.

The problem was a cluttered desktop with some large and deep zip files on it.

When I peeked periodically into the main thread, I saw a number of references to the following:

Code: Select all

zipfldr.dll!DllCanUnloadNow+0xe96d

This DLL is used to read compressed files and folders. For some reason this guy was getting loaded and unloaded multiple times (the XML DOM parser that kept showing up in the stack trace was a red herring - unclear that I was interpreting it correctly anyway).

Looking at the open handles for the process, I see that, for unknown reasons, X3 is opening my desktop and the public desktop (c:\users\Todd\Desktop; c:\users\public\Desktop). On a whim, I cleaned up my desktop, and moved the large zips to another disk. After doing that, X3 opens in about 3 seconds. On a 7 year-old computer (i5, 8Gig, mechanical drives).

Note that I was never running X3 from the desktop (e.g. via shortcut), nor was X3 installed anywhere near the desktop folder. Also note that nothing on the desktop changed between the Win7 and Win10 installs. Perhaps one of the system DLLs that X3 is using scans the desktop as a side-effect? No clue.

@exiannyc - you said your X3 was loading in 14 seconds. Take a look at your desktop and see if you have any compressed folders there, or particularly deep archives/zips. Get them off your and the public desktop, and see if load time improves for you.

Thanks for everyone's help here. With Production Forums gone, and the E-MU support forums gone, perhaps this is the place to trade X3 tips, tricks, and fixes.

-- Todd

[planetearth]

Wow, that’s...yeah, that’s pretty bizarre.

I have a 7-GB .ZIP file on my desktop, and I occasionally run the standalone X3 app from the desktop. Still, I’ve never had that problem. In fact, in all of my years troubleshooting “slow computer” problems for clients, I’ve never seen anything like this. I am not disputing what you found of course, I’m just saying I’ve never seen anything like it. Glad you got it resolved!

Steve