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

I've got a EII that has intermittant output - it occasionally does not make sound and after several reboots, it sometimes will work - sometimes not and I give up on it for a while.

I'm pretty sure it's not a computer issue as it loads disks fine and all the front panel buttons/operations appear to work. Sometimes, I can hear very faint sounds of the samples that were loaded, but very faintly.

I read somewhere on this forum of someone with a similar issue and they mentioned that if they gave the chassis a sharp tap above the output jacks, then the sound would start working. I tried that last night and the sound output began to work!!

Would this indicate that there must be a bad solder joint in the audio output section of the mainboard, or perhaps something else?

Any hints on tracking this down would be greatly appreciated. I've had my EII for nearly a year and I just love how it sounds.

This sort of problem has been discussed a fair bit..

reseat the IC's.

This involves.

1 - Unplug the EII.
2 - Open up the EII - Unscrew the screws on the back, and around the edge of the underside.
3 - Be careful, and don't touch around the power supply.. it may still carry a charge.
4 - With your thumb/finger, press down on all IC's one by one. You may hear a slight crunch sound as the IC's move slightly deeper into their IC socket. (Avoid touching the metal legs of the IC's.. as static from you could cause damage)
5 - Put the EII back together carefully
6 - Test it.

Essentially, after many years of operation.. the crappy cheap IC sockets that EMU used have become ever so slightly corroded - this can equal a poor connection between the IC and it's socket.

You * * may * * have a dry joint in the main out, but I'd try the above first.
(You could check this by checking all the individual outs)


Report back on your findings.

Mike

I tried the reseating technique a couple months ago - but I'll give it a second try.

Thanks for the reply.