A big reason people say the EMAX doesn't have the high end of the SP-1200 (and the high end of the S950 here) is the same reason the hi hat and crash cymbal had that clipping in the video. The filters on the EMAX have a default setting of 99. To get the aliasing and high end of the SP1200 you have to raise the filter levels on each sample to 127, and make sure the resonance is at zero. This allows the high end sizzle of the aliasing to be audible. The mix outs of the SP1200 HAVE NO FILTER APPLIED. Therefore your filters on the EMAX must be totally open, i.e. at 127 and resonance at zero to achieve a similar sound.
Interesting. Guess that's one explanation as to why you never hear any demos where there's some aliasing on it. Now if the racks only didn't cost 2-3k online I could actually buy one.
what version of the OS do you have? my emax filter fc defaults to 120. i run the plus os rev 1.0. I loaded up the SE os rev 1.1 to check and its the same as my plus os. someone commented about the filter defaulting on my video about the emax, but i never experienced the filter defaulting 99. also the filter only goes to 120, 127 is the highest midi note number. so i think you are possibly confusing things. can you make a video showing me what you are talking about?
I here the difference but with the older sampler I usually sample off the dj mixer where I use a equalizer for sampling where I reduce the unwanted frequencies. Especially reducing the bass off drum loops when sample a hi hat.
the s950 is much clearer than the emax, but it also sounds a little duller and not as lively as the emax. i would choose the 950 for higher frequency content like hihats and cymbals and the emax for kick and snare. the emux just sounds so phat. i really enjoy watching your videos, great content! you made me pull out my mpc 4000 again, i modified it (new fan, ssd instead of hd) and now im feeling like a child with a new toy! thinking of getting a s950 as a companion to the mpc 4k. peace
The Emax sound phatter and thicker. Notice how those cymbals crunch and has a grittier time rendering those high cymbal noises. It's amazing! As for the S-950 the HiFi ability takes the entire edge for that, But it does has countless artists whom used that once in their discography. I want to get an E-MU Emax SE for the 12-Bit sampling and Additive Synthesis. Once I saw a video that the Emax 1 can do Additive Synthesis while being a 12-Bit sampler, that changed my mind wanting an S-950 🤘😄🐼🎨📼💾
I recently sold my 2 950s and sold my Emax a year or so ago. The prices of them just got so high that I made back 4 times what I paid for them. That being said, they were definitely a fun experience, but at the end of the day they don't make a song, they simply color sounds. My 4K and ASR10 is all I really need.
@@ryanjay6241 good deal. Everything started increasing in value right after I sold mine. Never went back down like I thought it would..lol. But I’m pretty much over it now. So many new options out there now. I’m really liking what can be accomplished with an sp-404 mkii, MPC Live 2 and an iPad for example. There are many possibilities with that setup alone I think.
@@olesolja1407 Yep I've considered going with one of the newer MPCs, but not yet. I still have a lot to learn about my 4K. I also bought a MV8800 when I got my 4K which I've hardly touched yet. Plus there's the S2400, and the SP1200 reissue, and Dave Rossum saying in the future he will make a cheaper SP clone ... there finally seems to be a lot of options for great drum samplers
@@ryanjay6241 that’s some great gear indeed you got there. Exciting times for certain with the drum sampler market. I think that a less expensive and improved reissued version of the SP-12 would be well received Hopefully Rossum is already planning to release one or is at least listening…heh heh.
emax sounds awesome! basically the same sound as the SP12/1200 for me I like the s900/s950, cause for me the magic happens when you overdrive the inputs a bit.
@saren6538 People who own gear worth $1000+ tend not to call their investment "weak", it helps to devalue their investment. At worst, they'll say its apples and oranges, and if they really thought it was garbage, they'd sell it. You own the Emax, and you do not own the 950. In psychological terms, what you are doing is called attempting to justify your purchase. You're very easy to read.
@@CC-fi3pp I have an emax 1 and an s950 what part of that are you not getting , I’ve owned 3 s950s including an sp1200 which I sold … kept the emax and s950. The emax crushes the bits beautifully and sounds so close to the sp when I had both. The s950 I use for smashing snares when needed… that’s it… the s950 sounds great in its own right and I love it but it’s weak compared to the emax
You overdriven Emax. At regular sampling rate (>32kHz) Emax should sound cleaner and low freq seem distorted. You probably recorded samples or tracked out sampler too hot. Both machines can shine at high frequencies and Emax has nice resonance (S950 does not).
He's trippin', the S950 sounds better and is way more usser friendly, the S950 does boom bap, and is the go to sampler for Jungle and Drum & Bass because of its sound. The MPC 2000XL (or any MPC) as a sequencer so much better with the S950 as they are both Akai, this combo makes a better set up than even an SP1200. I love Rock Cee but he's wildin' out with this controversial take, no EMU apart from the SP1200 can hold a candle to classic Akai and I'd take most early Akai units over it myself, your just not supposed to say this out loud because the SP was the 1st truly great sampler for hip hop.
Probably both. It of course depends on the levels he recorded the samples at ... it sounds like he was hitting the Emax hotter regardless. The Emax aliases less than an SP1200, but it's still present. However, you really need to pitch samples to get that aliasing, otherwise its "somewhat clean".
@@ryanjay6241 I have an mpc2000xl and when I record my drums from vinyl I crack up the levels so I can get a more powerful snare especially. Do you agree with this?
from what i hear the emax is brighter and distorted not sure if thats a volume thing and the 950 is less harsh and aggressive i have the 950 amd the 1200 and i use the 950 for samples (cause it sounds smooth ) and the 1200 for drums (aggressive sounding like the emax )
S950 is a 16 bit non linear sampler : 16/12/16 . AD and DA converters are 16bit while data is stored in 12 bit memory. Same thing for MPC60. Emax is a 12 bit sampler
Yes brotha !!! Not interested I respect the fact that guy put in a lot of work into building that machine. But it will never be like the original SP1200 / SP12 But thank you 🙏🏽
Typical Akai, smooth and present. The Emu was distorted on input i suspect, but still i could hear that rugged old school sound. I would get one but looking at the prices, it's not worth it for me lol.
I'd say that's a very accurate statement between the two of them. They can both record at different sample rates, however, my feeling overall is that the antialiasing filters on the s950 were a little "extreme" which tends to make things a little less bright than when they go in - and the S950 also captures low end very well. The Emax has no antialiasing filters as each channel has an analog filter on it that is user controllable, and if you keep them fully up you get some nasty sharp top end - especially when pitching and you get the aliasing and ringing like the SP1200. It definitely is a much brighter sounding unit. In my opinion, it also deals with low bass poorly, which causes kicks that had a lot of "thump" to give more of a "knock" as it seems to do a poor job at handling sub-bass and pushes it up a little into the higher ranges. To me, the S950 does "warm" and "record like" very well, and the Emax does dirty and nasty very well. Regardless, both are extremely colored and have their own vibe.
