The E-mu E-Synth is a instrument that combines a digital sampler with on-load available preset sample playback and synthesizer capabilities. It's essentially a modified E4X sampler with a 16Mb sample ROM board, running on the same EOS (Emulator Operating System) software, even cheaper than the E4X itself.

To achieve the lower price point, Emu removed the internal 540Mb hard drive and AES/EBU interface card, making them optional features. The E-Synth comes with 4Mb of volatile sample RAM (upgradable to 128Mb), 64-voice polyphony (upgradable to 128), and 8 audio outputs (expandable to 16). It can address up to 9Gb of storage internally or externally.

The 16Mb sample ROM contains over 900 samples and 256 ready-programmed Presets stored in 4Mb CPU flash RAM. These Presets are fully editable and cover a wide range of professional-quality sounds, including pianos, basses, strings, pads, and drum kits. The sound character is clean and rich, though some might find it too polished compared to Akai samplers.

The synthesis architecture is sophisticated, allowing each sample to have its own synthesis parameters. Samples are combined into Voices, and up to 256 Voices can form a Preset with free key and velocity split/layer configurations. Each Voice features a morphing filter, dynamic amplifier, envelopes, LFOs, and a modulation matrix with 56 sources and 53 destinations.

Sampling capabilities include stereo sampling at various rates (22.05-48kHz), automated keymapping, truncation, normalizing, and looping. The device can read and convert Akai S1000/S1100 and Roland S700-series formats, and comes with two CD-ROMs of sound libraries.

The E-Synth successfully combines preset sound convenience with advanced synthesis and sampling capabilities, making it a powerful professional instrument at an attractive price point, though users should budget for potential upgrades like additional RAM, hard drive, and CD-ROM drive to maximize its capabilities.