Most E-MU and ENSONIQ products use some kind of mass storage to store or retrieve sounds or recordings. Since the product lines of both companies span over a quarter of a century, it is impossible to list hard drives that will work with all products. However, we often receive reports from end users who have purchased one drive or another, and their experience over a period of time is probably the best recommendation that can be made for a specific drive and model.

With that in mind, below is a list of CD-ROM drives, Hard Drives, and Removable Storage systems that are reportedly known to work properly with E-MU Samplers.

NOTE: E-MU tests these SCSI drives externally. EOS 4.0 series support hard drives up to 20Gb (EOS 3 and below support up to 9Gb). We know larger drives should work provided the meet the specifications stated here and in your owner's manual.

Important! E-MU samplers provide a maximum drive spin-up amperage of 1.7 amps / 12 volt for an internal hard drive (IDE or SCSI). If the drive requires more spin up power it should not be used internally. Spin up amperage differs from operating amperage. Consult the documentation of the hard drive to confirm your drive's spin-up amperage requirements. This is usually not a problem with IDE drives (Ultra only).

Important! E-MU samplers use proprietary power harnesses. Using an off the shelf power harness may harm your sampler or your hard drive. EPR sells the correct power harness.

Please be aware that E-MU Systems Inc. cannot guarantee that every drive listed will work, due to drive firmware changes and other factors. If you are in the market for a new drive, we highly recommend you purchase a drive from a reputable supplier who will allow you to either try the drive before you buy it or return it if it proves to be incompatible with your sampler. It should be noted as well that, although there are several CD-R and CD-RW drives listed, they can only be used as read-only drives in conjunction with your E-MU sampler. E-MU Systems does not make or sell hard drives.

Tested Drives