|
This is merely an impression, not a full-fledged review.
I picked up an ESI-32 about two weeks ago for $200 WITH SCSI, S/PDIF, and the older 3.0 turbo which included FX and the xtra outs. Retail for this was approaching 2 grand with the opitions.
So far I'm still waiting on my external zip and cd ROM drives to arrive in the mail ($40 for both on Ebay, but research compatibility on the ROM drive first)...and so I haven't had a lot of experience with the E-mu so far.
However, I offer the following: Interface is butt-easy to use, though digital processing is extremely annoying (doing anything internally with the ESI is sort of aggravating). Mapping is pretty simple but I wish there was more rhyme and reason to the arrangement of samples within the ESI-32.
This is my first sampler after years and years of using sequencers, boards, and modules exclusively. I have a good understanding of the snth process but am so ignorant of sampling... That being said I was already stealing and manipulating a beat from Fatboy Slim's 'Bird of Prey' within an hour of unpacking the unit. I have no sample discs yet so I'm ganking beats in order to learn how to use the machine. Turbo FX are fair, nothing more, nothing less. I haven't had a real chance to try some of the more interesting ones because the processing time is pretty long. Hell, this sampler will be SCSI'd to SoundForge eventually.
Look: You can get one of these fully loaded for a MAX of $400. Base models run for about 200. Ther is no way in hell you'll acheive any semblance of studio sampling with anything in that price range. And if you're still thinking about getting that SP-202 or 303, the DJ booth is over there...
If you're an actual musician looking to buy about forty synths via a sampler, I recommend the ESI. Once it's maxed out it is no longer a budget sampler by any stretch of the definition except that it sadly does NOT use the EOS. Fuck it. I mean, at the end of the day you have to evaluate what you need. A full-blown ESI-32 (all the outs, the scsi, the FX, etc), should sell for NOT more than $400. But in reality I've seen them from $150-350, depending on options (remember that the options cost as much as the actual sampler, retail). But much like buying a house, no one is going to pay extra because you painted the walls a certain color or added a washing machine that talked to you.
In other words, all the options in the world won't push the ESI over $350 bucks or so, in 2002, unless it gives head, too. Even then I'd offer $250.
|
listings
