Wind Controller EMEO (Electric-practice) saxophone

[TCTC222]

I have two Emeo’s and also the YDS-150. I had a career filled with travel and my only regret is that the EMEO didn’t come out sooner…all those nights that could have been used to practice my horn in the hotel room. I absolutely love everything about them. From the second it first arrived and I opened the package, I realized how much thought and care went into the Emeo. It is incredibly well made, packaged like a crystal vase and remarkably useful for practice AND performance. Not to mention that the Emeo support Team is beyond anything I’ve ever seen before…they spent an hour via Zoom (from Israel) to reprogram some of the fingering and have been so responsive and helpful with any questions. The Yamaha is a toy compared to my Emeo’s. Still useful but it’s only advantages are a built-in speaker and an easier method of customizing the fingering…everything else is inferior in my opinion. Yes, I probably sound like a paid Emeo employee…but I’m unfortunately not….just a sax addict living in Cincinnati and feeling grateful that I have my Emeo’s to complement my real horns. I actually think the horns are a bargain at $1,500. I would say the same even if they were more expensive…not a single moment of buyer’s remorse.

 

[Caz]

not disagreeing with anything you said. Their support team is un-par with anything else i have tried before. But
theres an issue with latency unless you cable it to some sort of hardware that can deal with the midi signal. Just an headsup.
I use the macbook air m1 - and there's latency that's non-negligible if you use the bluetooth connection. Using a cable will remove the lag.
The sounds there currently are availble for the Emeo is a matter of taste as they (imo) are very Synthetic.

 

[TCTC222]

not disagreeing with anything you said. Their support team is un-par with anything else i have tried before. But
theres an issue with latency unless you cable it to some sort of hardware that can deal with the midi signal. Just an headsup.
I use the macbook air m1 - and there's latency that's non-negligible if you use the bluetooth connection. Using a cable will remove the lag.
The sounds there currently are availble for the Emeo is a matter of taste as they (imo) are very Synthetic.

Hi Caz, I do agree with that. I mostly plug-into my laptop so I haven't had to contemplate that issue...but if I use my iPad, there is an ever-so-slight bit of latency that I notice mostly when practicing scales with a metronome...I chalked it up to old age on my part but I like to think that maybe it's just the Bluetooth! . That said, I do plug-in so it's bliss for me. Thanks and Happy New Year...

 

[federico]

Hi TCTC222, Hi Caz,

I play on intermediate level the tenor sax but for travelling and the hotel rooms a stay so often I thought I have to have an electronic solution. I got the EMEO which is is a beautiful piece of electronic. This said I have hopes that the instrument doesn't become a 1500 USD piece of junk when rev. 2 is out.

Before I start to get rid of my dislikes I am reaching out for EMEO owners how they set up their "horn" to fight latency. This is really stopping me to use it and I even consider to sell it. Anyway, how do you cope with that? Are there any after market products that could respond to

Here also my thoughts that could eventually make the instrument more useful so that it can be upgraded with eventually future features and with after market products to preserve the value.

1.Latency . . I think this needs some serious thoughts how to overcome the delays. I would challenge the decision to have no on board sounds. Think about it! Musik should be the driving force not MIDI.

2. Cleaning - I cannot agree with the manual that suggest that the instrument will not accumulate mold or sort of dried saliva! Please complete the section in the manual!

3. Accessories - "neck" and mouthpiece are not really matching the quality of the instrument . . rather cheap "amateurish" finish and not really fitting. The O ring is either wrong dimensioned but definitely lacking some lubricant.

4. The case is oversized and really not a fit. Small is beautiful and travellers will thank you.

5. The neck strap is to long!

6. Stand !

 

[Dr G]

All valid points - is it too late for you to return it?

 

[federico]

Hi Dr. G. - Yes it is to late. But I am very positiv that EMEO is working on fixes!

 

[Dr G]

Hi Dr. G. - Yes it is to late. But I am very positiv that EMEO is working on fixes!

I wish you the best of luck, Federico, and I hope the latency issues solutions work for your version too. I am disappointed that they would take a product to market in these times, knowing of such failures. That indicates to me that a business decision was made to accept the design flaw.

 

[federico]

Good Morning Dr. G:

I wouldn't be so harsh. I knew there is no on-board sound. I also watched all the available video clips prior of purchasing. It looked so smooth ...

My disappointment is that I need to deal with MIDI and Bluetooth, that needs a completely different skill set and my disappointment is rather that the practice concept doesn't play out right. I am getting challenged with apps, bluetooth, midi issues etc. not learning fingerings and beats. Particularly at my level of playing I need to but a lot of emphasis on timing.

But . . . .

I must also be said that response from EMEO and RESPIRO is 5 star. So my assumption is that concerns like mine, feedback form the market is taken seriously by Emeo and Respire.

In the mean time I fiddle around with bluetooth, headphone latency, instrument latency and . . . Garageband so that my instrument is not collecting dust. Lets also change the conversation to more sharing information.

Rumi said some 800 years ago:
THE FLUTEPLAYER PUTS BREATH INTO A FLUTE. AND WHO MAKES THE MUSIC? NOT THE FLUTE. THE FLUTEPLAYER!

Have a great day!

 

[Dr G]

G’day Federico,

Yes, I may seem harsh - because the instrument has been on the market long enough to have known problems sorted rather than you having to ask about them. Their customer service response is good because it is well-practiced - responding to the same complaints time and again have that benefit.

When Felicity was pimping the product, she would say that it was inexpensive compared to her handbags, and when pressed about performance issues, say that it was only intended as a practice device.

No need to yell about Rumi to me, I had the red book collection on my nightstand for years.

Enjoy your path of discoveries.

 

[Caz]

Hi TCTC222, Hi Caz,

I play on intermediate level the tenor sax but for travelling and the hotel rooms a stay so often I thought I have to have an electronic solution. I got the EMEO which is is a beautiful piece of electronic. This said I have hopes that the instrument doesn't become a 1500 USD piece of junk when rev. 2 is out.

Before I start to get rid of my dislikes I am reaching out for EMEO owners how they set up their "horn" to fight latency. This is really stopping me to use it and I even consider to sell it. Anyway, how do you cope with that? Are there any after market products that could respond to

Here also my thoughts that could eventually make the instrument more useful so that it can be upgraded with eventually future features and with after market products to preserve the value.

1.Latency . . I think this needs some serious thoughts how to overcome the delays. I would challenge the decision to have no on board sounds. Think about it! Musik should be the driving force not MIDI.

2. Cleaning - I cannot agree with the manual that suggest that the instrument will not accumulate mold or sort of dried saliva! Please complete the section in the manual!

3. Accessories - "neck" and mouthpiece are not really matching the quality of the instrument . . rather cheap "amateurish" finish and not really fitting. The O ring is either wrong dimensioned but definitely lacking some lubricant.

4. The case is oversized and really not a fit. Small is beautiful and travellers will thank you.

5. The neck strap is to long!

6. Stand !

I fixed the latency with upgrading my pc - which infact, made the instrument much more expensive than it should be! - bluetooth doesn’t work as it is now (at least not on a 2022 MacBook air m1) and you have to cable it - which is something the Emeo team said wasn’t nessecary.

Dont know about cleaning. My Akai ewi didn’t seem to need it that much (apart from the mpc - which i cleaned)

Absolutely agree on all points on the accessories.

 

[mizmar]

Rumi said some 800 years ago...

Yeah, but Rumi was referring to the Nay reed flute, lamenting having being torn from the reed-bed; not a lump of plastic extracted from the injection molding machine.

 

[Dov]

I tried one from a friend. It's incredibly good for practicing fingerings, rhythm, articulation etc. without disturbing anybody else. It has really working keys like a soprano sax even though the have the sole function to give the impression of a real saxophone. Thes they do very well.
Maybe it's because of this feeling why most Internet Videos sound more realistic than all these plastic controllers .
If you use the SWAM Synthesizer you can even do recordings to a certain extend and most people will not recognize the difference to a real saxophone.
It misses all the "acoustic" tone production. There is no bending unless you add a midi foot controller for this. That's why they call it "Practice Sax".

 

[Dr G]

Rumi said some 800 years ago:
THE FLUTEPLAYER PUTS BREATH INTO A FLUTE. AND WHO MAKES THE MUSIC? NOT THE FLUTE. THE FLUTEPLAYER!

Thus it is the wind that matters, rather than the fingerings. I owned wind synths for a time several years ago, and observed firsthand that the things that matter the most for producing a saxophone sound are coincidentally the things missing from EMEO and similar - embouchure and air stream. That's what makes or breaks the saxophone playing experience.