E-mu Emulator X3 sounds fantastic!

VST, AU, AAX, CLAP, etc. Plugin Virtual Instruments Discussion
Post Reply New Topic
RELATED
PRODUCTS
Emulator X

Post

Agree re bizarre-ness.

As you're not seeing problems, there's one of two things different between our environments: your zip files don't have deep/wide filesystems included many embedded archives; my environment is loading different DLLs from yours, where your environment's DLLs are not reading the desktop in the same way. I'm guessing the latter, as the only thing that changed in my environment is the upgrade from Win7 to Win10.

It's intriguing, but I'm willing to live with the mystery :-)

Post

Just to check (because I'm curious to know if that would make a difference).

Emulator X3 has a menu Options > Preferences. In it, you have several tabs. One of them is Other Settings. In that tab, you have Paths for "Recording and temp file directory" and External Audio Editor. I have my "Recording and temp file directory" set to Users/My User/AppData/Local/Temp.

Also, upon load, I have te option Load last bank selected.

Maybe these settings make a difference?
Fernando (FMR)

Post

Hi Fernando -

Same settings for me re temp directories. I did fiddle with "last bank loaded" prior to coming upon the solution.

-- Todd

Post

Is there anyway to get this if I didn't buy it back then? I really want to access these good Proteus sounds on my computer.

I have Proteus VX but I can't find any banks other than the free one it comes with.

Post

Probably a long shot, but one of the original producers has a site named Digital Sound Factory. Maybe he might be able to help you?

Post

Sequent wrote: Sat Feb 08, 2020 7:10 pm Probably a long shot, but one of the original producers has a site named Digital Sound Factory. Maybe he might be able to help you?
You won't get it from DSF. Even though they are related to EMU they only sell sample packs. Emulator X3 was available from a company called Digital Pro Audio Samples which was run by a former E-MU or Creative employee, but they seem to have disappeared. So most likely you are out of luck or have to resort to alternative means (which I think would be completely acceptable in this case).

The online C/R activation was still working fine couple of weeks ago when I upgraded one of my computers to Windows 10.
No signature here!

Post

UVI has some of this stuff.

Post

bill45 wrote: Sun Feb 09, 2020 3:41 am UVI has some of this stuff.
To be fair, the UVI stuff is samples of Emulator I and II, but not the Emulator 3 or beyond. But even if they had them, we're still talking about samples. The Emulator X3 plug-in is a sampler in its own right, plus it reads thousands of samples made for the Emulator samplers and the Proteus series of ROMplers. It also reads Akai files.

Of course, the UVI stuff would certainly be better than having no Emulator sounds at all, if you really need them. And if that's the case, Rhythmic Robot has the E-II "OMI Universe of Sound library" samples for Kontakt, and there are plenty of free, low-cost, or moderately expensive Emulator samples out there for other ROMplers.

Steve
Here's some of my stuff: https://soundcloud.com/shadowsoflife. If you hear something you like, I'm looking for collaborators.

Post

Emulator X3 has very little relationship to earlier Emulators and there's not much around that covers its sounds. Emulator X3 architecture is a mix between the later EMU samplers and Proteus line synths. It's still the only decent way to get all those original Proteus sounds.

Despite the somewhat fiddly interface Emulator X3 can also be pretty deep when it comes to programming. Hell, it comes with three manuals, totaling over 500 pages.
No signature here!

Post

I guess I'll go with Digital Sound Factory. I bought some SoundFont there - 1500 megapack or something.

I heard the Emu X3 sounds better or something. Why is that?

I'm obsessed with 90s sampler sounds, like Future Sound of London, Prodigy, PS1 games.

The soundfont's from DSF sound pretty great using them with Samplelord but using the Emulator X3 seems like it's considered much better sounding / authentic, so do you think it's worth seeking out?

I have UVI Emu II but I like the sound of having direct access onto authentic sounds.

The Emax / Proteus soundfonts from DSF are a possible purchase for me unless working to get Emulator X3 running is considered significantly better...?

Post

mxbf wrote: Sun Feb 09, 2020 11:58 am I guess I'll go with Digital Sound Factory. I bought some SoundFont there - 1500 megapack or something.

I heard the Emu X3 sounds better or something. Why is that?

I'm obsessed with 90s sampler sounds, like Future Sound of London, Prodigy, PS1 games.

The soundfont's from DSF sound pretty great using them with Samplelord but using the Emulator X3 seems like it's considered much better sounding / authentic, so do you think it's worth seeking out?
I have both the Emulator X3 with all the Proteus sounds and other libraries that were made for it, and some of the DSF EMU stuff in Cakewalk Dimension Pro format. Emulator X3 beats the DSF sample packs hands down. The reason is that DSF sample packs are static. There's no modulation nor FX. Compared to original Proteus sounds in Emulator X3 all the DSF sample packs sound thin, flat and lifeless. Emulator X3 has quite many FX and rather flexible modulation options as well as voice unison, sample articulations and so on. EDIT: And of course, the famous Z-plane filters! So the sounds in Emulator X3 sound more or less exactly like in the original Proteus synths while DSF sample packs are only a pale approximation of the sounds.

Moreover, Emulator X3 is a fully featured sampler that is actually meant to used for sampling. So it has the full old school sampler workflow and tools for sample capture and editing.
No signature here!

Post

robotmonkey wrote: Sun Feb 09, 2020 1:10 pm
I have both the Emulator X3 with all the Proteus sounds and other libraries that were made for it, and some of the DSF EMU stuff in Cakewalk Dimension Pro format. Emulator X3 beats the DSF sample packs hands down.
X3 just sounds great. I needed some vintage keyboard sounds for an assignment, and had a choice between X3 and its vintage keys sounds, and various libraries from Kontakt. Ditto Halion. X3 always sounded so much better for some reason.

Shame that this wasn't taken up by another development organization.

Post

hmm. I guess I'll put some more effort into figuring out how to obtain it and make it work.

I'd settle for just buying it for the sound banks and using Proteus VX, as I understand it's the same thing anyway.

I am still skeptical that the samples included in Emulator X3 aren't the same exact files you get on DSF.

Again, this is ultimately kind of a fringe issue now as the product is discontinued, the nature of sampling is pretty confusing to start with. And the audience is quite low, with sketchy information and general sense of confusion surrounding both DSF and X3, and really just 90s era samplers + VST tech in general being a bit confusing.

Post

mxbf wrote: Sun Feb 09, 2020 3:09 pm hmm. I guess I'll put some more effort into figuring out how to obtain it and make it work.

I'd settle for just buying it for the sound banks and using Proteus VX, as I understand it's the same thing anyway.

I am still skeptical that the samples included in Emulator X3 aren't the same exact files you get on DSF.

Again, this is ultimately kind of a fringe issue now as the product is discontinued, the nature of sampling is pretty confusing to start with. And the audience is quite low, with sketchy information and general sense of confusion surrounding both DSF and X3, and really just 90s era samplers + VST tech in general being a bit confusing.
Proteus VX is 32bit only, and obviously, lacks most editing features. Though you do get the 16 preassigned macros and the filter override feature. It's certainly a great ROMpler.

Emulator X3 on the other hand is fully 64bit (it was actually one of the first VST-s to go 64bit) and was officially supported on newer operating systems than Windows XP.

With X3 you obviously get all the editing features. It's actually pretty flexible. You'll get two LFO,s, three six stage EG's and three function generators that basically function like an ARP or a step sequencer. There's also 48 freely assignable so called patch cords eg modulation sources and destinations, 16 macros, 50-z plane filters with various options and much more.

All the X3 sounds are programmed as they were in the Proteus synths. They are often very expressive with lots of movement and modulation with all the macros, FX and midi control destinations also programmed in. DSF sounds are just very thin, lifeless and static compared to this. X3 sounds pretty much as good as any of the Proteus modules. The DSF libraries don't even come close.
No signature here!

Post

tlainhart wrote: Sun Feb 09, 2020 2:58 pm
robotmonkey wrote: Sun Feb 09, 2020 1:10 pm
I have both the Emulator X3 with all the Proteus sounds and other libraries that were made for it, and some of the DSF EMU stuff in Cakewalk Dimension Pro format. Emulator X3 beats the DSF sample packs hands down.
X3 just sounds great. I needed some vintage keyboard sounds for an assignment, and had a choice between X3 and its vintage keys sounds, and various libraries from Kontakt. Ditto Halion. X3 always sounded so much better for some reason.

Shame that this wasn't taken up by another development organization.
Yeah, EMU programming was always top notch. It actually was done by the guys now running the DSF.
I have always been impressed how good and expressive the EMU stuff sounded even though they used absolutely tiny samples.

Another thing I have always found really great about the Emulator X3 are the drum sounds which sound so badass. Especially the Xtreme Lead 1 and MoPhatt banks.

It really was kind of sad that Creative killed EMU off just right before the bedroom producer and VST market really exploded. EMU could have had so much potential. And of course, the Emulator VST itself was really badly managed by the people running things.
No signature here!

Post Reply

Return to “Instruments”