Hi Digiboy,

You're in for a surprise. The Emu Ultra series support both IDE and SCSI disks. I believe that there is room only for one hard drive internally (after adding the HD mounting kit). You can have an IDE HD internally and connect SCSI HD's and CD Roms via the SCSI interface on the back.

Paul,

I did not mean to imply that the E-mu is unusable for drum sounds. This is purely a matter of taste. In some situations, the E-mu will be better than an Akai for drum sounds. However, I have found that for pop, hip-hop, etc. type of drum sounds, the Akai has a certain crispness and punch that I like for those styles. When doing jazz-style drums, the E-mu has a warmer tone which sometimes lends itself better.

Don't get too hung up on the gear itself. At the end of the day it should be what works best for you. When you look at it, these samplers are just boxes with circuit boards and wires inside of them.

Good luck Digiboy.
Fernando