Rhythmic Robot Emulator II OMI Universe of Sounds: Vol 2 review

Here comes a sampling heavyweight

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MusicRadar Verdict

Not for everyone, but brilliantly retro, and well worth exploring.

Pros

  • +

    Great retro sounds.

Cons

  • -

    A bit niche.

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Vintage samplers are still sought out for their distinctive sound.

One undisputed heavyweight in this area, the E-mu Emulator II, with its 8-bit sampling engine processed via analogue amp and filter sections, was widely used in the mid-'80s by those who couldn't stretch to Fairlight or Synclavier systems.

Third-party libraries fulfilled the sonic needs of EII owners, with one such being OMI's Universe of Sounds.

Rhythmic Robot Audio have painstakingly re-sampled, edited and looped large portions of this library direct from an Emulator II, and recreated the full experience in NI's Kontakt. Volume 2 focuses more heavily on analogue and digital synths - though real instruments aren't neglected - and is all the better for this in our view.

There is old-school digital character on offer here in every one of the 534 instruments.

Bruce Aisher