A multi-parameter measurement system was designed and built to process signals from acoustic emission (AE) transducers in real time. The system makes selected measurements of each detected AE event as it occurs and stores 23 measured parameters which describe that event in digital form on a standard diskette with IBM format. Measurements recorded on the diskette include information on the shape, magnitude, and frequency content of each AE burst, its timing with respect to location on the specimen under test and its timing with respect to load conditions, pressure, test time, and event count. Over 8000 AE events can be stored on a single diskette at a maximum instantaneous rate of 6000 events/sec and a maximum average rate of 1000 events/sec. Two floppy disk units are included in the system so one can be operational while the diskette is being changed in the other. After a specimen test, the data are transmitted to a remote minicomputer with a standard RS232 interface. Rapid analysis and display of the data by the computer has been demonstrated using up to 8 of the AE parameters at one time in a pattern recognition routine.