E-mu Emulator Sampler User Forum for the EIII EII EI and EIII XP

General Category => For Sale => Topic started by: ditabeardmemo on September 27, 2010, 08:09:04 PM



Title: FS: Emulator III Keyboard, 8MB RAM, 1GB CompactFlash internal drive (New York)
Post by: ditabeardmemo on September 27, 2010, 08:09:04 PM
Hi everyone:

I just listed my Emulator III keyboard for sale on eBay (with an extensive set of photos):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180567580544#ht_15575wt_1139

I'd be willing to end the auction early if a forum member contacts me with a competitive offer, or is willing to pick up the unit locally (I am based in New York City.) I am only selling this piece because my home studio is packed with equipment, and I recently purchased an EIII rack.

The auction description includes all of the information you will need, but some major points include:

This EIII has fully expanded memory (8 MB) and a 1GB CompactFlash card installed in lieu of the old, unreliable hard drive. The CompactFlash card is loaded with the complete "Emulator Standards" sample library volumes one and two. It also includes the E-mu Systems "Universal Sound Test" bank, which you will need if you plan to calibrate the machine or have a technician perform any maintenance. And if you ever wish to re-connect the original 40 MB hard drive (though why would you), it is functioning properly and mounted in the keyboard chassis.

I purchased this Emulator from its original owner - a Florida recording studio - in early 2009. When it arrived, it was only partially functional. I subsequently had it restored by Jeff Blenkinsopp at EARS in New York City, one of the three best synth technicians in the New York tri-state area. Jeff stripped the machine down, cleaned all the cards, connectors and ribbon cables, re-capped the power supply and restored the original floppy drive. After Jeff returned it to me, I repaired the original internal hard drive and installed the CompactFlash card. Since then, then it has been used exclusively in my smoke-free home recording studio. It has never been used live, nor even left the confines of my apartment building.

This  unit has a couple operational issues:

1. Voices 9 and 10 do not appear in stereo at the main stereo output. They only appear in one channel each. This is probably due to a faulty resistor pack on the output board, as both voices appear correctly at the individual voice outputs. This should be a quick and easy fix for a synth technician or anyone with PCB soldering experience (the schematic is included in the auction, see below.) I worked around this problem by disabling voices 9 and 10 under the "Main" module, effectively making this a 14-voice unit.

2. The backlight is dim, though still green and easy to read. New backlights are available from many sources online.

3. There is a small cosmetic tape or sticker blemish on the lower left side, below the pitch and mod wheels (pictured).