As the price of RAM and hard disks reduced, further models were introduced at competitive prices (well for professional musicians !).Įmulator II+ The Plus model of the Emulator II has an additional 512 Kbytes of sample memory bank, which enables a separate set of sounds to be loaded in parallel to the first memory bank. E-mu Systems contemplated a 256KB model, but it was never launched. They didn't even advertise in Keyboard magazine - they didn't have to.Įmulator II The initial model was introduced in 1984 with 512 Kbytes of sample memory, a single floppy drive, and no hard disk. You've got yourself a reasonably priced dream machine.'Į-mu Sytems were still a relatively small company back them, based in Chanticleer, Santa Cruz. Combining sampling technology with analog synthesizer signal modification technology, makes for some very unusual and beautiful timbres.

'Anyone used to the original Emulator will welcome the additional features of the EII. Keyboard Magazine in the US reviewed the Emulator II in their January 1985 issue - quoting it as the new hot rod version!

Positive Reviews The Emulator II received massive aclaim when it was launched. Read Dave Rossum's account of the complete story! There are also high quality MP3 downloads here: more »ĭevelopment Story The development of the Emulator II was a major challenge for E-mu Systems, causing cash flow problems as the major innovations in electronics caused the project to go seriously late. The EII matched these home computers in terms of processing power, and provided the first affordable high quality sampler ever.ĭemonstration Record A four track double sided plastic sound sheet record was produced in 1985 to demonstrate the amazing sounds of the Emulator II. The EII was introduced in June 1984 at a time when a Home Computer was the first IBM PC with 128kB memory and no hard drive, or a Commodore 64. The Emulator II has a sampling rate of 27,777kHz and uses 8-bit samples which are replayed at 14-bit resolution. The EII was based on the original Emulator I design (Z80 processor, DMA micro controller), but considerably enhanced with eight full analog output channels, a large sample memory (up to 1 MB) and an excellent and easy to use disk based Operating System with LCD display. Enter a Classic The Emulator II was THE sampler of the mid 1980's, the aspiration of countless musicians until the introduction of cheap 16-bit sampling with the Akai S1000 in 1988.

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