The sheer number of Emulator IV models can be overwhelming to the novice and expert alike. The owner's manual for EOS 4.0 is over 400 pages long, which is just one indication of how deep the Emulator IV is. All of this was complimented by a programmable arpeggiator, 48-track sequencer, and a full set of sample management and manipulation tools. The high quality resonant filters were a highlight of this sampler, with the typical high pass, low pass, notch, and parametric filters complimented by a selection of Z-Plane morphing filters from E-mu's famous Morpheus and Ultra Proteus sound modules. Every voice could be manipulated by two LFO's, three six-stage (AADDRR) Envelope Generators, and a 24-point modulation matrix. The synthesis engine in the Emulator IV was based on the traditional model, with a 16-bit sample-based sound generator sending its output to a filter which then fed an amplifier stage. Internal and external SCSI was standard on all models for storage expansion, and memory used standard computer SIMM's instead of the proprietary chips from the Emulator III series. When compared to the previous generation of samplers, the Emulator IV offered a larger display, more polyphony, better sound quality, more input/output options, better filters and effects processing, more memory capacity, and several other benefits that added up to one very large evolutionary step forward for the sampler category. When compared with earlier samplers the Emulator IV offered more of everything, and only high-end models like the Akai S6000 or Kurzweil K2500 could be considered as direct competitors.

The digital synthesis engine in these instruments was unfortunately overlooked by most musicians as it became caught up between the two prevailing trends of the new century - on one hand there were many excellent virtual analog synths offering immediate results and inherent simplicity, and on the other there was the advent of software instruments which used PC hardware that was becoming far more powerful and less expensive with every passing year. The fourth and final generation of E-mu Systems' emulator hardware samplers were immensely powerful machines that were at the leading edge of music making technology for the eight years they were produced.

Emu emulator ii