E-MU Mo Phatt

The Mo' Phatt comes with a printed manual and one on a CD as well. I have never been one to sit and read a manual, so I sat down with Cubase and plugged this bad boy straight into it. The MIDI functionality and ease of use is pretty decent (maybe an 8) and I was able to sort out sending notes and program changes and recording movements etc. pretty quickly. ONE THING... Be sure to disable the channels that you are not using for the Mo' Phatt as its default setting is to receive MIDI info on all channels. I was trying to get it running with my MS-2000R and couldn't figure out for the life of me why the notes I thought were going to the MS-2000R were not changing sound when I scrolled through that synths presets. I had to go into the manual to read about that one. Otherwise, pretty straight forward... The audition button is great... Beat latching is also great, but it would be nicer if it actually would shut off if STOP is pressed on the sequencer.

I won't dive into the features since others have written about them already and you can go to the E-Mu website anyway. It's pretty flexible and easy to use... And upgradeable (which is almost as expensive as buying a second Mo' Phatt.... E-Mu needs to do something about their prices.)

The "hip hop" and "R-N-B" presets that come with this machine do not sound very organic to me... Sounds like maybe E-Mu is a British company that has a very English idea of what hip hop beats should sound like... Rather tinny and thin sounding, especially the bass drums. Some lower bit samples would have really added warmth to the thin and digital sounding unit (a la SP1200)... I run it through a tube compressor just to give the sound some character.

Extremely reliable... And flexible enough to use as the centerpiece of your performance gear, although I would never use it alone.

It is a very intuitive and fun machine to use, despite my complaints about the thinness of the sounds and stuff. Especially if you warm it up with some sort of tube preamp. Definitely fun to use and (NOW) an essential part of my gear.

It is very easy to use. I bought the module for extra sounds in my songs and flipping through the sounds on the display is very easy.

I like it for the 64 note polyphony (upgradeable). I plan on getting the X-Lead 32MB rom card in a minute. The only thing I don't like is you DO have effects but CAN'T use but two at a time. I am using Cakewalk 9.0 as a sequencer, And with the RIGHT .ins file I was sync'd and recording in minutes.

There are some tight ass sounds on it! If your looking for that Neptunes or Timbaland kind of sound your in the right place. Mainly drum kits and synths. Not all that good for the ALL AROUND collection of sounds. No regular piano's or band instruments like trumpets or saxs. I am going to get another sound module or rom card for that anyway.

I have only had it for a couple of weeks. But so far so good.

Haven't had to repair or replace anything yet.

Overall I love it! Like I said, I am using Cakewalk 9.0 and it sounds a whole lot better than the soundfonts I was using at first. It is very response with Cakewalk. They should've put more effects-at-once on it. But I think it is going to work out pretty cool.

Software Version 1.21
The presets sound good. I was able to compose a groove after 10 minutes with this thing. I have not edited the patches yet, so I can't go into much detail. The manual is on the light side. It is much smaller in comparison to the P2k manual. Of course the p2k has more features, but I think the manual is weak.

64 voice polyphony is good for this box. I'm definitely plannin on getting the turbo upgrade which will increase the polyphony to 128. The effects are ok, but not as flexible. I've seen conflicting information on the number of expansion cards it can accept. I don't know if it is two, or one. The manual says two, but E-mu's sales flyer that came with the machine says one. Anyway, with the turbo upgrade you can add three. I think this plenty for a box at this price point.
The midi capabilities are strong. It has no onboard sequencer, but it was easy to integrate into my midi set-up.

The sounds are killer on the box. I'm very happy with the expresiveness of the sounds. WARNING - this box is for R&B, Hip-hop, Dance music. Get a P2K if you're looking for a standard instrument set.

I've never owned a E-mu product before.

I called customer support to get the info on the turbo upgrade. They were very friendly and was helpful.

For what this box is design to do, it executes very well. I was crossing my fingers hoping that I wouldn't be disappointed. I happy to say that I'm very impressed. I would be it again for the price ($649). for an additional $429 I can get the turbo upgrade that includes: 4 more analog outs, digital in/out, 128 voice polyphony, 3 additional expansion slots. If you fill those slots with the a couple of their cards and you have one hell of a 2 rack space sound box.
I own a Triton, MR-76, x5dr, Kawii k1, Akai s2800. This box will definitely complement my other stuff. If you're into hip-hop, r&b, or dance, this box is a good piece in your arsenal.

Am the very proud owner of a P2K. And the use is very similar.

Great polyphony! very good expansion capabilities but why only ship the thing with just 1 pair of stereo outs? makes very little sense form a customer point of view.

Brilliant effects! truly exellent sound! the most important thing about any sound module is the usablity i.e. on most synths 60% of the sound are not usable but the baby!!!!! allthough sound many different sounds and just 2 OUTPUTS.

Have not really had it long enough!

Very helpful and freindly in the UK.

Love the sounds! this module would have got a 10/10 but #600 = at the very least 4 outputs in my opinon

V1.21
Man just plain and simple.....Kicks Ass!! Rhodes patches,Basses. Old Skool to da Maxx.
Very cool Manual

Great Poly... Great Effects...Will expand soon

All the rite Sounds and they sound very Real. I use it in my Studio and I feel it will work Live.

Put it in a Rack of course. It's my new Child

Man, I will admit. I have NEVER liked any thing from E-mu but, hey, you Cats have won me over. I have heard your other new products and they win me over too. Also you have done a good job with Ensoniq. Take this 9 and my Money too

Ver 1.21
The presets sound kicks your butt.....so cool

64 voice.....can expand 2 128
Good expansion capabilites. I will buy that ZR76 and Orchestral 1 & 2 4 sure.
Very user friendly built in effects

More realistic than triton-rack.....I do wanna sell my triton-rack thuogh, although it's only 2 months old and hardly use.
This baby is stictly 4 Hip Hop and R&B.
It hv more loops than Xtreme Lead.
Very good onboard effects.

I will keep this baby 4 the rest of my life.

Very good email support.

I will kill that person who stole my baby...!
Less than 700 bucks is a steal....!
Beside this, I also hv Xtreme Lead, Planet Earth, Triton-Rack, XP30, N1, A5000, EX5R and S5000.
I love this baby and won't let anyone else 2 use it.
It really help my song-composing and arranging.
I recommand everyone 2 buy this baby; get the turbo option then add the Techno, X-Lead and World cards in it. Buy a second hand P2k, add the Orchestral 1 & 2. U will be the king of the world!