Forum for all other samplers & synths such as Maschine, MVs, Akai S & Z series, Roland, Korg, OP-1, analog synths etc.
By Rafaelvargas17 Sun May 24, 2020 4:15 am
What's up friends?

I have an MPC 2000xl. I want to buy a rack where I can process my drums and samples (filter, add deelay, effects, compress, etc), and combine them with my akai workflow. I've found out a bit about the Esi-32 and Esi-4000, and I see these samplers as a great option; However, I don't know how compatible they are with my 2000xl. Do you know if I could have compatibility issues regarding connectivity, workflow or file sharing?

I have searched the internet and can't find anything about this. I ask myself this question because the 2000xl workflow usually happens with other akai samplers (as s950, s900, s2000) , but practically nothing with Emu (Esi-32 / Esi-4000). This would be the first rack I would buy, so I don't know too much

I would infinitely appreciate your help. Thank you!
By Rafaelvargas17 Mon May 25, 2020 4:08 am
loose_t wrote:Emu samplers have great filters! Spend I little more on the E64 and get waveform editing. ESI-32 tiny screen and number editing is a huge drag.


Thanks for your input, bro. I honestly did not think about the item on the display, it will definitely be something I will take into account, if the current situation of the dollar in my country allows it
By Rafaelvargas17 Mon May 25, 2020 4:16 am
loose_t wrote:Emu samplers have great filters! Spend I little more on the E64 and get waveform editing. ESI-32 tiny screen and number editing is a huge drag.

Thank you!

I sensed that. However, due to the null combination of these two machines, I hesitated about it. I guess through MIDI, I can play the pads of my MPC on the Esi-32, but I can be wrong. Do you know what differences I might come across in using line vs. MIDI?
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By richie Tue May 26, 2020 12:31 am
Anything you've read about how people utilize Akai rack samplers with their MPC is applicable to Emu samplers, so don't worry yourself into confusion about it.

If I had to choose between an ESI-32 and the E64 series, I'd choose an E64 like loose_t said simply for the editing.

You may want to check the previous thread with all the great info that was shared with you. Again, I'm not at all sure how the ESI-32 is supposed to fit in to your workflow as a boom bap focused producer. The effort involved in using the ESI-32 for triggering drums seems like a waste man, honestly.
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By Monotremata Thu May 28, 2020 2:52 am
Yeah the ESI series is nothing special other than cheap. It doesn't have any magic "EMU Sound" really, and the OS and display suck compared to the EIV. I had the ESI4000 back when I had the (then brand new) S2000 and honestly, I only ever used one over the other because of the memory they had installed in them (Akai was stuck at 2MB, EMU had 8 in it). The ESI has no internal storage, it can use a SCSI2SD but it uses the EOS file format which means you cant read those disks on any computer without spending more money on something like Chicken Systems Translator (I dare you to waste your money on it). Its got a max of 32MB of ram, only 32 voices. Unless you have one with the 'Turbo Kit' installed, there's NO effects, and most of the good filter algorithms are missing. And on top of that, not sure where any of the specs online are getting it but no **** way does that thing have 32 filters in it even with the Turbo expansion. The top of the line battleship EIV only has 19 and 3 of those are morphing filters, which you won't get in an ESI.

The sampler is just a rehashed EIII that was made for poor folks that couldn't afford a $3000-4000 EIV at the time. It was already yesterdays sampler tech when it was released and the EIII aint that great. Even a 'classic' original first gen E4 will blow an ESI away. Get an Ultra and you can run the last OS which lets you use the actual FAT file format, which the aforementioned S5000 also uses along with native .WAV files.

With the prices they are nowadays, if you really feel you need to go 'old school' and get a hardware sampler, its stupid to buy the bottom of the barrel when you can get "top of the line" for pennies more. People buy EMUs for 'that EMU sound' and they sure as hell aren't even thinking about the ESIs. Unless you have the cash for a real deal Emulator II, its the EIV that has THAT sound and the filters everyone loves. I love my 6400 and its an essential part of my rig but hardware samplers have been for 20 something years so that's how I work. No way would I put drums in it when I have an MPC right next to it though. Like Richie said, using an EMU for drums would be a complete waste of what the EMU does best. When you see what EMU called 'Cords' you'll know.