E4 Ultra Sampler Options

The hardware design, chassis and mainboard for the Ultra samplers allowed for several additional options to be added.

Option spaces included:

• 3 Option 'ports' (covered with blanking panels) at the rear of the unit.
• Spaces for the DWAM (Digital I/O, Wordclock, ASCII, MIDI) sockets.
• Internal 72-pin ROM and Flash SIMM sockets.

The Ultra Sampler upgrades were as follows:

Polyphony Upgrade
E-mu Part Number 6860
Upgraded the E-Synth Ultra or E6400 Ultra to 128 voices of polyphony.
This upgrade plugged in inside the unit, and was physically invisible once installed.

ADAT Option
E-mu Part Number 6861
Upgraded the Ultra with 8 channels of ADAT input, and 16 channels of ADAT output, on 3 TOSLINK connectors.
This upgrade consumed 1 of the 3 "upgrade port" blanking spaces on the rear of the sampler.

Output Expander
E-mu Part Number 6313
This option expanded the number of analogue outputs by 8. The outputs were all balanced, on TRS jacks. On the E6400 Ultra and E-Synth Ultra, this expanded the number of outputs to 16. On the E5000 Ultra, this expanded the number of outputs to 12.
This upgrade consumed 2 of the 3 "upgrade port" blanking spaces on the rear of the sampler.

D-WAM Option (Digital, Wordclock, ASCII, MIDI)
E-mu Part Number 6862
This card for the E6400 Ultra and E5000 Ultra added digital (AES/EBU) I/O on XLR connectors, Wordclock I/O on BNC connectors, a second MIDI In, Out and Thru socket, and an ASCII keyboard input.
This upgrade consumed the blanking holes on the rear designed for this upgrade, and did not affect the ability to install any other upgrades.

RFX Effects Processor
E-mu Part Number 6864
This option added a quite powerful internal effects processor, bringing with it 32 channels of effects with highly complex routing options.
The RFX card was installed internally, and was physically invisible once the machine was reassembled.

EDI (E-mu Digital Interface)
E-mu Part Number 6863
This option never made it to market, but was developed from the proprietary multichannel audio bussing system that would later be seen used to connect E-mu soundcards to breakout boxes on products like the 1820M and 1616M soundcards.

E-Synth Sound ROM
E-mu Part Number 6870
This was an internally installed optional 16M ROM board of sounds for the Ultra samplers. This meant that upon booting the unit, you would have sounds straight away ready to go. Standard on the E-Synth, it was optional on all other Ultra units.

Orbit/Phatt Sound ROM
E-mu Part Number 6871
This was an internally installed optional 16MB ROM board, featuring every sample from the E-mu Orbit and Planet Phatt sound modules.

16MB Flash ROM
E-mu Part Number 6876
This option allowed you to internally install a 16MB Flash SIMM, and then store your preset/sample data on it, allowing for instant sound playback upon booting.

32MB Flash ROM
E-mu Part Number 6877
This option allowed you to internally install a 32MB Flash SIMM, and then store your preset/sample data on it, allowing for instant sound playback upon booting.

SCSI HD Mounting Kit
E-mu Part Number 6301
This kit allowed you to install an internal SCSI drive in your Ultra sampler.

IDE HD Mounting Kit
E-mu Part Number 6303
This kit allowed you to install an internal IDE drive in your Ultra sampler.