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Average rating:
4.2 out of 5
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A small but important qualification to my earlier comments. I accidentally dropped my MP-7 - from all of two feet! onto carpet! - and it's totally died on me.
It might be a simple case of soldering a connection in the power supply, or it might be a hideously expensive repair job. I have no idea, as E-mu's attitude seems to be "send it to an authorised E-mu service centre, if you can still find one on your continent". Service manuals and spare parts seem to be well-nigh impossible to lay hands on.
Worth bearing in mind if you're planning on buying one for gigging.
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MP7 is pretty good. I've had mine for over 2 months now and it sounds pretty good, compared to other korg, roland or yamaha grooveboxes out there, this has to be the best sounding one. The filters are pretty good, you can shape each track, choose from hundreds of different sounds, copy, paste tracks, save over 500 custom patterns, sequence, this is very editable piece, you can add new roms. You need to read the manual to get the most out of it, but even learning is easy and fun. It gets a 5 cause it sounds good and is very useful tool for any type of music, especially hiphop, dnb, trance, etc...
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Excuse me? It doesn't sample so it's rubbish? I don't like the presets! Peel me a grape, I'm too lazy to use MIDI or program my own sounds.
After several years of working with software, I'm back to making music with hardware, and with the MP-7 I've got the best of both worlds - the tactile fun of a three-dimensional box of buttons, pads and knobs, and the flexibility of a comprehensive and versatile sequencer. And you can do things live with this device that you can only dream of with most software sequencers.
I got my MP-7 in a second-hand shop for £170 ($340), and added the X-Lead ROM for $70 ($140) via eBay. The Command Staions may no longer be made by Creative Labs/E-mu, but the E-mu tech support people in the UK seem happy to keep supporting the old hardware. An OS upgrade (v2) was downloaded and installed in minutes. The manual is huge, comprehensive and written by human beings (Yamaha take note).
A a compositional tool the MP-7 makes life easy even for a musical semi-literate like me. If you can count to 16 and understand basic chord structure you can program this, though I'd recommend an external keyboard with a couple of wheels of course.
For live pefrormance the MP-7 comes alive. You can change patterns, tweak parameters to your heart's content and punch several tracks in or out simultaneously, and use 16 tracks to control other MIDI gear too.
I had an MC303 once. What a waste of space that was. Great idea, lousy implementation. The E-mu Command Stations took the groovebox concept and made it work - decent memory space, plenty of responsive controllers, a ton of excellent sounds and expandability too, a powerful synth engine, and MIDI that works.
It was a sad day when E-mu retired from the standalone hardware market. Think what they could be making now!
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Unlike the previous review my review for this machine is really aimed towards the actual unit itself and not the sound-set (if you want to know about the ROM sounds search for Mo Phatt/Turbo Phatt). Before I start its worth noteing that this machine can hold upto to 4 of any of the E-Mu Rom cards at once !! (128MB of sounds, all of which that I have heard are fantastically created to a professional quality).
I've only had this a couple of weeks and Ive come to the conclusion that this is one heck of a piece of hardware. I love using desktop sequencers and this is by far the best I've come across so far. Its 16 rotary knobs allow you excellent control over shaping your sounds, and they can also be used to adjust the pan and volume of the 16 track on-board sequencer.
The sequencer itself is brilliant. 3 modes to work with, which will suit anyones needs. And it has the ability to allow you to intricately go back into your sequences and adjust them bit by bit until everything is how you want it to be. Its as good as working with software sequencers for this level of detail.
Each rom gives you a fabulous amount of programable, multi-syncable arppegiators that make producing electronic music a breeze !!!
2 simultaneous effects can be used, and there are a good amount of individual outputs to route sounds for further processsing !
The pads are great for creating rhythms, but a keybaod is always best for anything more serious (on-board USB and MIDI options).
THIS IS A GREAT PIECE OF KIT ! I payed £175 for it, sold the ROM card for £85... So Ive payed £90 for a fantastic midi controller/sequencer that can be expanded, or used to control other sound modules !! Ive now got the Xtreme Lead, and Techno Synth ROMS installed, and now I'm looking to get the virtuoso ROM set and another ROM that offers more acoustic sounds (maybe the world expadition) !! 5 out of 5........ I WILL NEVER SELL IT !!!!!
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Dissapointing and limited compared to what's out there today, but with no sampling capabilities, or the ability to make your own custom drum kits like MPC etc, it really just a giant drum machine. I send mine back a a week after I got it. I think it was like $900.00 or more, what ever it was it was too much for this unit. I see them on ebay for about 1/3 that price... which is what they should go for. I remember hearing this thing on DMX's "great depression album" I mean it's not bad if you get it for the right price. Sounds are okay, more like "commercial" sounds of what some 40 year old guy thinks hip hop sounds should be like. Not very inspirational. This was also the first EM-U piece I brought, but It didn't turn me away form them. They usually have some really great wonderful stuff. This just wasn't it. I give it a 3... and that's adding 1+ point because it's Emu and I love thier gear... I really want to put a 2 down.
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