EMT reverberation units

EMT was alsways among the leaders (and was the leader itself respectively) in the field of artificial reverberation.

First there have been the mechanical ones, beginning with the huge reverberation plate EMT 140. Mono and with tube amps. Later on stereo and with transistorized amps until the quadro version.

The idea behind: An audible signal source is reflected by walls, windows, ceiling, floor. The realization: A special kind of speaker stimulated a metal plate to swing, and one, two or, in the end, four special microphones took off the sound. As reflections differ due to the kind of material of the room there must be a way to reduce and enlarge the reverberation time. This was done by an absorber plate which could be moved to and away of the plate. The early units had a wheel with a pointer to the estimated reverberation time. As an option later on a motor could be placed on the axle of the wheel to move the absorber and an instrument could show the reverberation time in the mixing desk.

The next unit was the EMT 240. Much smaller, but not with really less weight. The principle was the same, but smaller: A really thin gold foil instead of the larg metal plate, two piezo speakers and two microphones. All built into a hermetically closed cage. The cage hangs on springs in the housing for amps and power supply. This one had the chance to be used in o.b. vans.

Then comes a large step forward: Entering the digital world. EMT 250 was the worldwide first reverberation unit. Looking like a cockpit above a heating unit; really futuristic. Still in our days people pay thousands of Euros for it. Different parameters could be set to achieve the sound of completely different rooms. Then followed EMT 251 which was equipped with a display to show the first discrete echos and the frequency response. EMT 252 then was designed for 19" rack mounting with a remote control and memories. EMT 244 as cheaper unit and EMT 245 followed. A really comfortable one was EMT 246, followed by the last unit EMT 248, which was a so called Swiss Army Knife not only for reverberation, but working with a lot of sound effects. Du to the possibility to equip the unit with up to four sound processors, some of the effects could be cascaded.

In the meantime EMT is concentrating only on the pick-up market and reverberation units are no longer serviced. In case of needing help for your reverb unit you may contact:
Vintagecity
Matthias Flache
Am Stoebersberg 3A
65510 Wallrabenstein
Germany
phone: +49 6126 6988
e-mail: contact(at)vintagecity.de


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