E-mu Audity

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The E-mu Audity was a computer controlled, analog synthesizer made in 1978. It began life as a project for Tangerine Dream's Peter Baumann, and eventually evolved into a state-of-the-art, 16-voice polyphonic analog synthesizer with an included digital keyboard and sequencer that was intended to compete with Sequential Circuits' Prophet 5. The project was funded with royalties from Sequential Circuits for their use of E-mu's digital scanning technology in their keyboards, and was made available to the public at a price tag of $69,200 (approximately $185,000-200,000, when adjusted for inflation). [1]

Only one Audity ever came off the assembly line. Unsurprisingly, it never sold, presumably due to its exorbitantly high price tag. In addition, soon after it was exhibited at the May 1980 AES convention, Sequential Circuits notified E-mu that it was not going to continue paying royalties, which ensured the Audity's death. [2] However, research on the Audity led to the development of the influential and successful Emulator, one of the very first digital sampling keyboards.

The only Audity ever made resides at the Audities Fountation in Calgary and no longer functions.