Rossum Electro-Music Assimil8or — 28HP

A flagship multi-timbral sampler from Dave Rossum — the founder of E-mu Systems and one of the most important figures in the history of sampling technology. The Assimil8or brings that pedigree into Eurorack with eight fully independent sampling channels, 24-bit A/D and D/A conversion, 32-bit internal processing, and ultra-low latency (100 microseconds at the mix outputs).

Each of the eight channels has its own individual output as well as feeding the stereo mix output, and channels can be configured as eight mono voices, four stereo voices, or any combination. Up to eight samples can be assigned to each channel and selected between in real time via CV — enabling everything from chromatic multisampled instruments to CV-switched sound design palettes.

The standout feature is phase modulation of sampled audio: one sample's waveform can modulate the phase of another, producing rich timbral transformations and complex cross-modulations that go well beyond standard playback. Each channel has a gate/trigger input plus three CV inputs (one anti-alias filtered to 20kHz, two at 48kHz), and virtually every playback parameter is voltage controllable: pitch, level, bit depth, phase modulation amount, pan, sample start, loop start, loop length, and release time.

Sample rates of 48kHz, 96kHz, and 192kHz are selectable. Samples and presets are stored on a front-panel accessible micro SD card. Firmware is actively maintained with recent updates as of early 2025.