Dave

Everything has a knob on it! Meaning you can twiddle every parameter of the sampler setup, the user has complete control over everything. It is possible to get the most out of the basic EPS16+ even without the extra memory or scsi the thing is totally useable, twiddle to the max. This is not possible on the Esi32 which really needs to be fully loaded with scsi, ram, hd, cdrom etc. The most basic EPS16+ comes with a really useful effects unit, reverb, echo, etc. even the Lesile simulator is good. There is a large sample library, the factory sounds are really very good. There a number of websites from which you can freely download 100000000000 more samples. Everything works. There is some valuable aftermarket software tools - it is possible format and load sounds in EPS16+ format on your computer! Superb make 1957475 disks straight out of your computer. The sound is funky - it's not as clean as the ESi1 and tends to have an "Ensoniq" sound. I would describe it as very 1980's. When I put tracks together the EPS make things sound of that era. You might hate that but I like the music of the 1980's so for me it's a dial in experience!

I bought some official EMU library CDroms from EMU at the same time as the scsi card at their blowout sale. I think they were £10 each, a snip I bought 3, they had limited stock. I also bought a few more off eBay, which came from a shop called Dolpin music. Again they were cheap - and orignals - not copies. Nice Easy way therefore is buy the CDroms off eBay - beware as some can be copies. There are a very few ISO images (data copy of a CDrom) available off the 'net but it's a risk downloading 600Mb and burn a Cdrom only to be un-umpressed. I really do suggest to buy any old CDrom, WAV or audio, convert in your computer and upload. Much more meaningfull. I use CDex 1.3 which is a Win95 friendy audio cd ripper which I use to extract audio files from the commercial sample library CDrom - I have Datafiles 1 and 3 from the Time&Space collection, yes they are a number of years old. XXX 1000 drum loops and so on. I rip the track, edit the sounds ready for upload to the ESi. Then use ESi-Win software to communicate with the Esi. Esi-Win can be a prob to get running but it does work as promised and is free! Samples are a personal thing, what I like you may not. That's why I find the above system so attractive - nomatter what format the sounds are in I can get them into the Esi. I assume you have all the factory disks? A 10 pack I think. If not I know where you can get them for free.

I have EPS16+ both key and rack. I like them. Be assured there is quite a large global community supporting these machines. Disk drive failure is trivial! - if the display fails then you have a problem!

From my own experience with this sampler, I have found the factory CDroms to be a bit poop. I also have an Ensoniq EPS16+ (similar) and the CDroms that are available for that are really very good. I have found the best way to get sounds for the ESi is to make your own. There are many tools freely available that convert other manufacturers CDroms to ESi etc. I've mentioned in another post - get your ESi hooked over scsi to your computer - then upload. Works fine for me, took a huge amount of effort but was worth it. I now consider it to be an easy sampler to feed and so use it regularly.

an old topic - here is my comments. Indeed I do use an ESi32 and why not? But the biggest trick is to get the thing set up so you can upload sounds over scsi from your computer. This little trick has taken me hours of trial and effort. Also I maxed it out. For me it was a bad purchase, I had a choice make the effort to make something of it, or bin it. I upgraded the RAM to max for next to no money, bought the lates OS chips for a chap in the states (not much cost), bought a scsi card from the EMU blowout sale, again cost very little. Spent time on eBay and got for little money CDrom drives, Zip drive, Hard Disks, scsi enclosure etc. Hooked it onto my scanner scsi card in a win95 100MHz PC. After MUCH effort got the whole package to work. So now I collate my wav samples on the PC, when ready upload them to the ESi, save on the hard drive. The system I have is a bit of a hassle but does work well. My final trick is to burn my own CDroms, everything is in place just need sufficient data (samples) and I'm there. So now I have a fully working ESi setup and am very pleased with it. I regulary use it for drum loops. No probs but it was a rough ride getting there.

I know this post is old but... I had a U110 - it was very good in its day. Think of it as 6 sound modules, each can be assigned to the various outputs on the rear of the unit. It is a sample based unit, Roland did a fine job of filling it with good sounds. It is 31 note poly, I seem to recall that when I set it up to play multiple instruments, MIDI delays became noticeable. But it can be very difficult to understand what goes without a manual, its a multi-menu driven things. It does not have any built in effects (it has tremolo but why bother) no reverb, everything is dry. Good you have extra sound cards.