The Emu Emax SE HD Rack is the much smaller and lighter version of the Emax keyboard. Weighing in at less than a ton and a mere three rack spaces tall, the Emax Rack answered many a roadie's prayers. The SE HD model included a factory installed 20meg hard drive preloaded with the SE operating system. The Emax Rack is functionally identical to the Emax keyboard and even retains the keyboard version's built-in sequencer. The Emax was touted as a 12 bit sampler, although in reality it stores its samples in 8 bit memory using a proprietary Emu compression and voice controller IC. Base memory is 512k and not expandable, but is more than adequate, no doubt due to compressed 8 bit sample storage. The Emax features eight notes of polyphony, however each voice is capable of playing two samples at once. This allows layers and detuning without eating up precious polyphony. Filtering is done in the analog domain courtesy of SSM single chip voice ICs. The filters are resonant four pole 24db/oct low pass filters. The ICs also feature VCAs on three seperate busses, allowing samples to be placed in the stereo field in addition to the mono outputs. The Emax SE software opens the door to many creative possibilities, including additive synthesis. Although the software has a fairly steep learning curve, it is definitely worth the extra effort for the variety of sounds it can provide. Note: For replacement power supplies, the place to call is Mendelson Electronics of Dayton, OH at (800) 422-3525. The part number is 500-0131F - Kepco/Memorex Power Supply 5V@5A 12V@2A -12V@.1A, and costs $14.95 plus shipping. The Emax User's Group