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What is it?

E-MU has made some great sound modules, the Proteus range was amazing and the XL-1 is a logical progression.  It has some nice knobs, great samples, cool beats, and as many arpeggios as your music can handle. For a 1U rack the XL-1 looks really nice, it’s great to see it’s cheerful orange front panel (albeit plastic rather than metal) and tweakable knobs.

The XL-1 is a synth for dance, techno, garage, house etc.  Anyone who already has a lot of synths may want this for the sounds, the filters, the arpeggios, the SuperBeats mode (more about that later) and the ability to add more sounds.

Sound Generation 

The XL-1 is not a physical model of an analog synth, like the Korg MS2000, or Z1.  This is traditional sample playback technology with state of the art digital filters.  As a result you have a lot more options than just a low pass filter and resonance.  Because of the combination of great analog samples and great digital filters and knobs you get the capability to go far beyond modelling and can get timbres analog could never do. As a bonus you get more polyphony. Instead of 4 or 8 voices that you might get in a modelling synth, you get 64.

Presets and Filters

You can have four layers per preset so you can make things as rich as you want.  Massive pads are possible.  Incredible soundscapes await the more adventurous programmers.  There are some great presets that can be used as starting points for your own patches. I personally liked some of the really dreamy Aphex type sounds, which are made out of layers of sounds triggered at different key velocities. I was investigating the presets of the XL-1 when my verysexyladyfriend grabbed the keyboard and starting doodling about and announced, “Is it me making that lovely music?” - this says a lot for the complexity of the sounds possible.

There are 1,200+ samples in this box.  Of course, many are short drum sounds and some timbres are looped rather fast, but it’s all within the character of the box.  It's nice that there is no bloody great multi-sampled grand piano eating up the RAM or any of that GM nonsense. There are some really warm and smooth analog sounds with excellent bottom. 

There are some good drum patterns that really kick too. These aren’t actually loops, they are really looped arpeggios of drum hits, but they act and sound like loops.  You can sequence your own patterns, perhaps just using the beats mode for a quick fill here and there. 

On most patches filters are assigned to the 1st and 2nd knob.  You can tweak in real time and record knob movements into your sequencer.   

There are 4 controller knobs, each one with 3 functions: filter cut-off, resonance, shape, image, attack, decay/release, movement, rate, and then ‘wild’, 1,2,3,4.  After going through most of the sounds it appears that these categories were used as a guide and not a rule by the programmers. The ‘wild’ category is not particularly wild and does very little on some sounds.

If you want to edit further you hit the edit button to enter “deep editing” mode, scroll with the wheel to a parameter and then use the knobs to change values. 

Arpeggiators

Arpeggiators are fun, you can choose between factory-set arpeggios or you can create your own preset arpeggio. The "manual" modes of arpeggiation are vast.  You can do up, down, up/down, random, forwards/backwards and vice versa.  You have a choice of note value, speed, and can even set it to transpose after a cycle to any interval you wish.  Powerful stuff!   Each midi channel can have its own unique arpeggiator. You can choose exactly what MIDI information is sent out from the XL-1, e.g. each note you actually play or each note that the XL-1 produces from an arpeggiator or a ‘beat’… 

SuperBeats Mode

The XL-1 is more than another module with loops and it's more than "just a DJ box", though it would work admirably in a club, being able to “latch” breakbeats by a single key press. You can add kicks, snares, hats, effects in any order you want, or all at once, “latch” a bass riff and jam away.  This is SuperBeats mode.

SuperBeats can have 16 parts.  These 16 parts are assigned to the keys that typically make a drum layout. C1-B2. You can actually select which drum hit (i.e. kick, snare, hat) goes on which key.  And you can group these parts into 4 groups so they all play from hitting one key. If you want to be original, there is no end in sight to what you might come up with.  It’s relatively easy to come up with a totally synced drum and bass pattern triggered by one key that is totally unique. 

The Operating System

This is the standard Proteus style OS and has no surprises.  Parameters are where they should be, it’s easy to navigate and you can use the knobs for deep editing.  As you might expect with this small display, there are a fair few sub-menus.

Newer versions of the OS will be downloadable from the internet.

Outputs

The XL-1 has just one stereo output. No other outputs, just L/R, that's all you get (plus the headphone jack of course). No digital out either. These are available in the Turbo option (see below).

Effects Engine

You have 24 bit effects with variable wet/dry mixes.  You can select which bus each preset goes through.  There are all the usual editable reverbs, delays, echoes etc. The effects quality is good.

Expansion

The XL-1 has an additional internal ROM expansion slot (or more with Turbo upgrade), that allows you to expand your sound arsenal with the many Proteus 32Mb expansion ROMs available- these are rather expensive at around £249 each (see http://www.emu.com/online_shop/byproduct/xtremelead_shop.html). However you can create your own custom ROMs using E-MU's E4 Ultra samplers if you are lucky enough to own one.

The optional Turbo upgrade adds 128-voice polyphony, 4 sub mix analog outputs,

32 MIDI channel operation, 2 additional sound ROM slots and S/PDIF stereo digital output.

Conclusion

The power of the XL-1 lies in the arpeggiation capabilities and in the ability to make loops and beats.  If you are after just an authentic analog sounding module, you might want to consider others, like the Korg MS2000, Novation BassStation, Nord Lead etc.  Yet this box does have 64-voice polyphony and that's hard to match in virtual analogs. Its analog sound comes from samples of analog synths. The E-MU filters are not analog filters, but digital filters, and they are quite good and very versatile.   With the incredible array of filters paired with SuperBeats and arpeggios, it’s easy to come up with new material and sounds. Anyone who delves deep will be surprised at the power, and those who don't will also be happy with great beats and sounds. 

Upside

Downside

XL-1 Suggested retail price: £649
32Mb expansion ROMs: £249 each
Turbo expansion board: no price available yet, due for release in November 2000.

More info:

tel: 0131 653 6556
fax: 0131 665 0473

Rick Lomas

October 2000