E-MU EMAX HD SE no output
Mike
model 2001. He said that it was working fine one night, next night no
sound. Now I have not witnessed this, I've only seen it power on and
perform it's internal self tests. But I'm looking for info before I
open this up. The best online source I've found is
emulatorarchive.com, but this seems to only have operations manuals
and simple/common fixes for the unit. The EMU.com web site doesn't
seem to list this model, probably too old. I have not found anyone
else with this same problem. Has anyone experienced a problem with no
sound? Is there any other database of information I can tap into?
Anything I should watch out for if I need to open this? I am an
experienced electronics tech, but not on keyboard equipment. I did see
a serial interface computer connector in the rear, I'm sure this is
for sound processing, but is there anything I can do for
troubleshooting? Is there any software I can download to interface
with the unit?
Thanks in Advance
Mike.......
Josh Brandt
Mike <Sca...@ATT.Net> wrote:
>I'm trying to help my brother in law with a problem on his E-Max HD SE
>model 2001. He said that it was working fine one night, next night no
>sound. Now I have not witnessed this, I've only seen it power on and
>perform it's internal self tests. But I'm looking for info before I
>open this up. The best online source I've found is
>emulatorarchive.com, but this seems to only have operations manuals
>and simple/common fixes for the unit. The EMU.com web site doesn't
>seem to list this model, probably too old. I have not found anyone
Yeah, Emu.com won't give you any help with it, I'm sure.
The only difference between this and a normal Emax HD, though, is software.
And the main difference between an Emax and an Emax HD is the hard disk and
software. Otherwise, it's pretty much the same.
>else with this same problem. Has anyone experienced a problem with no
>sound? Is there any other database of information I can tap into?
I had one for quite a while, and I never did. Certain banks can be set not
to make any sound, though. Have you tried loading other banks and seeing if
you get any sound at all?
>Anything I should watch out for if I need to open this? I am an
>experienced electronics tech, but not on keyboard equipment. I did see
>a serial interface computer connector in the rear, I'm sure this is
>for sound processing, but is there anything I can do for
>troubleshooting? Is there any software I can download to interface
>with the unit?
Not that will help you with what you want to do. The RS422 jack is for
moving sounds in and out of the Emax faster than MIDI allows. That's all,
though.
There are a couple of things to watch out for-- you may be able to narrow
down the are that's having problems by hooking a cable into one of the
8 individual outputs and hitting a key repeatedly (or holding down eight
keys at once) and seeing if you get any sound at all out of the individual
output. If you do, that implies that it may be just the main outputs having
problems. Move from output to output and see if you get sound from all of
them.
Also, there are parts in there that are effectively irreplaceable. The Emax
was built around CEM filter chips (which is why it sounds so good), and if
one of those is toasted, you may have a difficult time finding a
replacement.
I'd check out the power supply, too, and I _think_ the analog stuff is on a
seperate board from the digital stuff. If so, check out the analog stuff
first.
Good luck with it!
Josh
--
J. Brandt / m...@solipsism.net / mu...@sidehack.gweep.net / AIM: solipsismnet
Mike
> I'm trying to help my brother in law with a problem on his E-Max HD SE
> model 2001. He said that it was working fine one night, next night no
> sound.
>
> Thanks in Advance
> Mike.......
Well, I cleaned up the interior, dust, cobwebs, etc.. I cleaned the
phono-outputs, they looked like there may be some corrosion. After
getting the unit assembled, the unit powered up but the SW wouldn't
load. I noticed that the HD wasn't spinning up, the LED was flashing,
but no other activity. After several power cycles, checking cables,
etc., I noticed a lever on the side of the HD that rotates in/out of a
sensor, possibly for the heads? Since I had no other option I rotated
it about 1/4 turn, there is a lable stating "do not rotate", but since
I had a non-functional HD, what the heck. The unit powered on and the
HD activated and the SW loaded!!! In placing the bottom panel back on,
the unit dropped about 2 inches (power was off). Now the SW will not
load. I'm worried the HD is now damaged. It still spins up and it
continually tries to access it, but it will not load the SW.
What are my options?
Can I take the HD and mount it in a PC, boot with a DOS 6.22 (or
earlier) disk and access the files on it? Has anyone tried accessing
the disk directly this way?
-OR-
Can I get it re-formatted in the E-Mu unit and reload the SW?
Thanks..
Mike........
Josh Brandt
Mike <Sca...@ATT.Net> wrote:
>it about 1/4 turn, there is a lable stating "do not rotate", but since
>I had a non-functional HD, what the heck. The unit powered on and the
>HD activated and the SW loaded!!! In placing the bottom panel back on,
>the unit dropped about 2 inches (power was off). Now the SW will not
>load. I'm worried the HD is now damaged. It still spins up and it
>continually tries to access it, but it will not load the SW.
Those disks are super-fragile. I'm surprised it started working after you
turned that...
>What are my options?
>Can I take the HD and mount it in a PC, boot with a DOS 6.22 (or
>earlier) disk and access the files on it? Has anyone tried accessing
>the disk directly this way?
You can't. It's a different format.
>Can I get it re-formatted in the E-Mu unit and reload the SW?
Possibly, if you can get the Emax software on floppy.
If you come down to replacing that disk, I suggest you not bother. I did
some research into this a while ago and discovered that there are only 2 or
3 models of disks in the world that will work in the Emax HD. E-Mu used to
sell them for some ridiculous amount of money-- something like $300 or 600
bucks. I suspect they don't even bother any more, although they may be able
to get you the software on disk.
Personally, I'd suggest you just get a box of DSDD floppy disks (_not_ HD--
only double-density disks will work), which shouldn't cost you more than a
couple of bucks per hundred, and use those. The hard disk is nice, but it's
still only partitioned into a bunch of 512k chunks, which get treated like a
whole lot of floppy disks, just without the swapping.
The Emax is a good enough-sounding sampler (especially with its filters...)
that it's worth the trouble of messing with floppy disks.
Mike
>
> Possibly, if you can get the Emax software on floppy.
>
Would the EmulatorArchive web site be the best place for this?
I found this page:
http://www.emulatorarchive.com/Samplers/EmaxOverview/EmaxOS/emaxos.html
I'm guessing that if I remove the HD, everytime the system is powered
on, an OS boot disk would have to be in the floppy? Is there any
resident SW on the boards themselves to allow the system to function
with limited ability without the HD or floppy?
> If you come down to replacing that disk, I suggest you not bother. I did
> some research into this a while ago and discovered that there are only 2 or
> 3 models of disks in the world that will work in the Emax HD. E-Mu used to
> sell them for some ridiculous amount of money-- something like $300 or 600
> bucks. I suspect they don't even bother any more, although they may be able
> to get you the software on disk.
What are those models? I believe I saw referene to this while I was
poking around earlier. Have you tried e-Bay? Since you state that this
was 'a while ago', maybe someone might have a surplus drive and not
know of it's usefullness..
> Personally, I'd suggest you just get a box of DSDD floppy disks (_not_ HD--
> only double-density disks will work), which shouldn't cost you more than a
> couple of bucks per hundred, and use those. The hard disk is nice, but it's
> still only partitioned into a bunch of 512k chunks, which get treated like a
> whole lot of floppy disks, just without the swapping.
>
> The Emax is a good enough-sounding sampler (especially with its filters...)
> that it's worth the trouble of messing with floppy disks.
>
> Josh
Thanks for all you help, I really appreciate it.. I would like to try
and get the HD running, since my brother-in-law gave it to me working,
I'd like to give it back in the same (or better) condition. My task
was to fix the output, not make things worst. But if all I can do is
get the OS thru a floppy, then so be it, but I'll give the hard drive
route a shot, nothing to loose. 'cept some $$
Thanks again..
Mike....................
Josh Brandt
Mike <Sca...@ATT.Net> wrote:
>> Possibly, if you can get the Emax software on floppy.
>>
>
>Would the EmulatorArchive web site be the best place for this?
>I found this page:
>http://www.emulatorarchive.com/Samplers/EmaxOverview/EmaxOS/emaxos.html
I'd have to guess that it's the ONLY place.
>I'm guessing that if I remove the HD, everytime the system is powered
>on, an OS boot disk would have to be in the floppy? Is there any
>resident SW on the boards themselves to allow the system to function
>with limited ability without the HD or floppy?
Nope. Nothing at all. You'd need the floppy, _but_, it's not like you need
to swap floppy disks-- you can have a sound set on the same disk as the
OS.
>What are those models? I believe I saw referene to this while I was
>poking around earlier. Have you tried e-Bay? Since you state that this
>was 'a while ago', maybe someone might have a surplus drive and not
>know of it's usefullness..
I don't know, actually, and I haven't tried eBay. They're typically 20MB
Micropolis SCSI drives, though. Micropolis wasn't known for reliability
(which is why they're now out of business), and these drives were even less
reliable than most. eBay might work, but I'd be surprised if anyone still
had any of these around...
>Thanks for all you help, I really appreciate it.. I would like to try
>and get the HD running, since my brother-in-law gave it to me working,
>I'd like to give it back in the same (or better) condition. My task
>was to fix the output, not make things worst. But if all I can do is
>get the OS thru a floppy, then so be it, but I'll give the hard drive
>route a shot, nothing to loose. 'cept some $$
Ahhh, hm. Yep. Good luck with it.
Did you ever get the outputs working?
Mike
>
> >Thanks for all you help, I really appreciate it.. I would like to try
> >and get the HD running, since my brother-in-law gave it to me working,
> >I'd like to give it back in the same (or better) condition. My task
> >was to fix the output, not make things worst. But if all I can do is
> >get the OS thru a floppy, then so be it, but I'll give the hard drive
> >route a shot, nothing to loose. 'cept some $$
>
> Ahhh, hm. Yep. Good luck with it.
>
> Did you ever get the outputs working?
>
> Josh
Well, I haven't had a chance to check the outputs. The HD crashed
before I could check them. I'll need to dig up some DS-DD disks per
your info.. I already downloaded the files from the EmulatorArchive
web site..
As for the HD, I have the 8425S model, checking the web it's about
3X's the price of the 8425SA model ($260 versus $70), go figure!
Thanks.
Mike
Josh Brandt
Mike <Sca...@ATT.Net> wrote:
>Well, I haven't had a chance to check the outputs. The HD crashed
>before I could check them. I'll need to dig up some DS-DD disks per
Oop! That's unfortunate. :/
>your info.. I already downloaded the files from the EmulatorArchive
>web site..
>As for the HD, I have the 8425S model, checking the web it's about
>3X's the price of the 8425SA model ($260 versus $70), go figure!
Ha. A pity.
Those disks were old and sad. I saw one crash right before a local band
(Think Tree, who used their Emax extensively) was supposed to play once,
too. The keyboardist was prepared, at least, and had everything on floppy,
too, but you could tell he was pretty pissed off. I later worked with his
girlfriend, who played with Chainsuck for a while, and got to be a minor
fanboy at him (Krishna Venkatesh) and introduce him to some music he
liked...
Ah, Boston, where the local bands are friendly. 8)
Josh
...or were, anyway.