E-mu Carnaval (1997)
The E-mu Carnaval is a multi-timbral, 16-voice sample-based synthesizer module built around 8-bit samples running at a 29.4kHz sample rate. E-mu released it in 1997 as one of three style-specific modules, along with the Orbit and Planet Phatt. Each was made for a particular musical genre. The Carnaval was the Latin one, named after the Rio carnival and painted in flamboyant swirl colors. The soundset covers flamenco guitar, accordions, Latin percussion, Brazilian pop, and Afro-Cuban styles. Sound on Sound (July 1997, p.63) noted that the Carnaval arrived alongside the updated Orbit V2, and the reviewer was able to make interesting comparisons between the two.
The module is compact, with a small two-line LCD and a built-in 3.5-inch floppy disk drive for storage. Each of the 16 voices has two independent oscillators feeding a resonant lowpass filter, with two envelope generators, one LFO, and a modulation matrix for shaping. It ships with 512K of sample memory expandable to 1M, plus 64 preset patches expandable to 128, and over 100 preset samples on board. The Carnaval has stereo audio outputs plus a headphone jack, and full MIDI In, Out, and Thru covering all 16 MIDI channels.
The record is thin in places. The one price figure that appears is £999, though the source doesn't give a year. Sound on Sound (July 1997, p.64) lists the Carnaval at £899 - suggesting the street price landed somewhere in that range at launch. The period sources also conflict. One Muzines article describes the Carnaval as a cheaper, more compact version of the Emax, while the dedicated review treats it as a self-contained sample-playback synth module. The review is the more detailed and specific source, so that's the more reliable account. No production years beyond 1997, no dimensions, and no collector pricing have surfaced in the documentation available.
- 16-voice polyphony, multi-timbral
- 8-bit samples, 29.4kHz sample rate
- 512K sample memory, expandable to 1M
- 64 preset patches, expandable to 128
- Two oscillators per voice, resonant lowpass filter, 2 EGs, 1 LFO
- Built-in 3.5" floppy drive, two-line LCD
- Stereo outputs, headphone jack, full MIDI
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