E-MU Morpheus

There's no doubt about it...it's a pig...and anyone who tells you different should get out more. This is mostly due to the complexity of the synth engine and the immense number of parameters that can be edited...well you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs...
Definitely get a synth editor for it...MOTU's Unisyn is good but I've problems 'getting patches' on Win 2000 although worked fine on 98. There is a freeware editor that I haven't checked out yet @ www.users.dircon.co.uk/~pwhite/morpheus.htm Read the sad story and get the download. Cheers Phil!
The manual is excellent and essential bedtime reading for those without a girl/boyfriend. A book that you'll want to read again and again..well, you'll have to...
If you are ever offered this synth without a manual, run...you will never figure it out, if you have one without a manual I'll give you #10 for it.

Without going into the boring nitty gritty that has been covered so well by others on this page...basically it does loads and with 32 note polyphony you can pretty much write a whole track on it. Especially since it has 6 outputs. Interestingly the some of the outputs can be used as extra inputs for other synths...this just goes straight through to the main outs and is not processed in any way. Freeing up some channels on the desk.
The most frustrating thing about it is the free run function generator..basically a complex lfo..this is only available in hyperpreset mode (keyboard map) not within a synth patch or multi map which is just annoying as free running filter sweeps area are a pain to set up, whereas being the musical cliche that they are, they should be really easy.
There are only 128 memory locations which is not enough...ironically the factory presets on the user bank were better than those on the read only one...once again get an editor/librarian.

Everything else aside, this machine has really really DEEP synthesis. If you are heavily into programming and sound creation you will never get bored with it. If you just want to waggle the filter over the top of a flat 4 beat forget it.

Theoretically you should be able to do pretty much anything with it. In practice, despite the awesome Z plane synthesis, you are dealing with an early 90's sample and synthesis machine. This means that by todays standards the D/A convertors do not have the grit or sparkle of something more recent. Some of the real sounds are great.
I found it most useful for doing wonky ambient stuff as you can create really interesting pads on it that sound really lush in a sort of JV1080 style but much more twisted.

Good build quality. I've had it for 7 or 8 years and it's been fine.

Haven't dealt with emu over this model. The last time I did, which was about 2 years ago, was to do with a vintage keys which is the same kind of age. They were willing to supply service data and still had some circuit boards left.

I think they're great. At the time of writing you could pick one up for about #150 which is an absolute bargain. Destined never to be a future classic. No one will ever want to buy it off you.

Version 1.03
Tricky editing-tedious
Hyper mode is confusing. Some oft needed functions are buried deep
Excellent manual and VHS tutorial

32 voice
Expandable- but extremely hard to find

The thing I have never understood about EMU modules is why they have such limited memory and such low output. This is a great module with truly aweful sounding waveforms. Id like to see them revisit this with real stereo and true 16 bit sounds.Morphing is a very cool thing to automate or play live- its a damn shame they never expanded on this.

This unit literaly fell part on me soon after I bought it new.and it was always racked!

I would replace it because there are a few sounds I cant get anywhere else and sampling it would be a real bitch because of the real time morphing. I wish EMU would revisit this box in a professional capacity- they'd have real winner.

With Sound-Diver, editing the Morpheus is fairly straightforward. All in all, I'd call it a very well-designed synth in terms of interface. The manual is better than average. The only reason I don't give a higher score is the complex nature of Z-plane filtering.

The Morpheus is all about its 200 Z-plane digital filters -- formant filters, normal LP/HP/BP filters, parametric EQ filters, instrument simulation filters, etc, etc, along w/ some of the craziest hybrid filters imaginable. These filters are coupled w/ a well-matched PCM sample set, and a clever Function Generator feature (think offspring of an LFO and an 8-stage envelope, on steroids). The result of all of this is one of the coolest, most unique-sounding synths going. Don't think for a minute that this is just another ho hum Rompler; the Morph is a first rate sound design tool.

In a word, gorgeous. I got the Morph for its unsurpassed formant sounds, but I've been delighted by a huge range of other first rate electro-oriented sounds -- eternally-evolving pads and ambient soundscapes; good sync leads; decent EPs and organs; absolutely fabulous techno bleeps, gurgles, hums and snarls. And of course every single patch in this box includes filter sweeps to die for...

Were it not for the fact that the Morph is on the quiet side, I'd call the drum sounds excellent too -- they're lovely in principle (lots of nicely treated kicks and SDs), but they lack a certain 'upfrontness' and therefore probably won't cut it in terms of a main kit...but they do make for very good variation kits.

Don't know; looks sturdy and well-designed.

Got my fingers crossed.

I wouldn't give anything a 10 on principle, so call it a 9.5 for the Morph. I'll admit my expectations were high when I finally got one (just last week), but those expectations have been surpassed many times over. The sounds that come out of this box are amazing, and totally unique.

But keep in mind, even w/ not bad polyphony, the Morph shouldn't really be a first or only synth -- I think it's a bit too specialized for that (get a Kurzweil or SuperNova instead). But I can easily see myself building many a techno, dance and ambient piece totally around Morph formant sounds. All in all, the Morph seems to sit quite nicely in a mix, and also seems to get along fine w/ a wide range of other synth sounds.

One thing I'll add; the Ultra Proteus is a sibling of the Morph, w/ more filters and more PCM samples to boot...but I'd say go w/ the Morph instead. The UP is oriented more toward accoustic instruments, which won't really do justice to the Z-plane filters...the Morph has a much more generous supply of synth samples/waveforms which are perfectly suited to the filters.

morpheus was and still is my first synth. I had no problems in learning it as it was all I had. I can see it being difficult if used to other kit. Presets great especially that fizzy brass and real piano. Like all audio stuff once you know where everything is and you know what you want to do. Its a piece of piss. never used a patch editor as they require a continuous midi loop and use up valuable cycles 8).
Manual is almost too fantastic a tome on the filters alone.
sometimes very easy to save over settings after a long session.

The effects are ok, reverb is always usefull. Midi control of them would have made it unbeatable. Shame theres no expansion cards. One of my dreams is to find out how to make my own card, wouldnt that be blindin. I think Ill always have a use for the sounds it has.
would like to use the function gen if i had time.
The extra outputs are my favourite thing about this synth as I like to record mixes as realtime as possible.
apparently it has a ring mod for use with sub outputs as inputs bizarre. one day ill patch this up when im extremely bored.

it does a great sounding piano in my opinion. strings and pads can be broad and very progressive. resonant bass can be speaker damaging if the right filters are found (bring on the eq and compression).
controller matrix gives you a massive scope for creating movement.
try a scratch sample through c1-6 harms 4 and sweep it with the envelope hahahahahaaaaa bloop.

solid. the varispeed wheel has got a bit glitchy but with a firm push seems to sort itself out.

dunno

lost or stolen? id contemplate suicide or at least severe escapism.
My options when i bought it were :-
basstation. not enough scope
nord micro modular. no spare pc.
waldorf pulse plus. mmmm maybe shoulda but got carried away with the idea of 100s of filters.
I chose it cos its an allrounder and has mad sounds.
I wish it had midi controllable effects.
its still selling for the same price I bought it for 4-5 years ago quite amazing.
please someone tell me there are more sounds in there hehehehehe.

The interface is frustrating though I've seen worse. Be ready to push the few buttons and spin the single knob a lot.
If you really want to get into it the learning curve is the usual waveforms and the mixing of them as much as the filters and how they sound and work.
You know the scrolling through sample lists in an 'ordinary' sample playback synth - in the Morpheus you're searching for the right filter(s) as well.
Many of them ARE able to turn things over, inside out and back again.

The effects are cool although not of the highest quality. I like the fuzz, it is spot on with some of the filters, those that work more like equalizers, processing overtones.
Multitimbral operations are average. I prefer relative panning and volumes for instance, this one's got absolute, meaning what you send is what you get.

Yes put emulations aside (as noted though, some of the guitar and bell patches are very nice) and head for uncharted territories.

My unit seems rock solid

Never dealt with them

Great lush sounds, not the most accessible though.

v1.03. For a machine of such complexity, the user interface isn't forbidding, per se. Unlike my Roland G600, it doesn't make simple tasks needlessly complex. Yes, you're operating through a two-line lcd display; no, for the most part, operation doesn't feel like painting your hallway through the mailslot. However, even before I bought it, I got the distinct impression that in the Morpheus there was a keyboard dying to get out; perhaps even at one stage of its development it was intended to be a keyboard instrument. With its sheer overabundance of program parameters, some real-time controls would be nice, and I guarantee that, were it originally released as a keyboard with a ton o' knobs, it would have been a good deal more successful. Anyway, it was not to be, and we're stuck with the two-line display and one knob. I maintain the position I made in my review of the Akai S2000 that, while a linear menu-based system is most effective if you have a sound in mind and want to realize it as quickly as possible, it does not invite experimentation, and thus shields the user from the most spontaneous forms of synthesizer creation.
The manual is, well, awesome. The Morpheus was my first real synthesizer and I was creating new patches by the next day. Unlike the Roland G600 manual, the Morpheus manual is eminently readable as an afternoon's worth of non-fiction reading. Particularly helpful was a chapter that explained all the concepts of preset programming before the tutorial chapter wherein hands-on programming was described at length.
The only ease of use minus I would chalk up to the Morpheus is its ass-backwards method of bank selection. Unlike the G600, where you only send two control change messages to select a bank, with the Morpheus, the bank is actually a parameter of the midimap, and you either have to manually select a midimap from the front panel or send a sysex message selecting the midimap if you want to access patches not in the currently selected bank for the channel.

Forget endless possibilities; lots of synthesizers have "endless possibilities." The Morpheus has FRIGHTENING possibilities. Polyphony is 32, but sounds can use up to two sampled waveforms, either of which can be "doubled and detuned," so polyphony is effectively anywhere from eight to thirty two. Along with the two sampled waveforms, presets have the de rigeur two LFOs and two envelope generators, along with two 10x10 modulation matrices, one for note-on modulation and one for real-time modulation. An interesting addition to the standard digital synth specs are the addition of two "function generators", which are kind of like envelope generators, but with conditional looping and leaping (eg. you can have a loop terminate on note off or you can have an attack retrigger if velocity is greater than x.) As well, each segment of a function generator can have one of 63 different shapes, ranging from straight lines to exponential curves to chaotic noise. As well, a loop can have a delta level which increments or decrements the value each pass, a random level which resets the value randomly to a level whose absolute value is no greater than x, or a random delta which increments or decrements the value by a random amount with an absolute value no greater than x each pass. Function generators are not for the faint of heart- it took me half an hour to program a simple conditional loop,- nor is it for those at risk for repetitive stress disorder, as accessing the random and random delta parameters requires an assload of knob turning. However, for the adventurous, function generators provide a whole new dimension to sound creation. I, unfortunately, can't honestly include myself among those adventurous. The Morpheus' real ace up the sleeve is its selection of 197 different filter types. The Morpheus gets its name because the filter that is applied to a sound is interpolated between two distinct filter types, the point at which it is interpolated is determined by the "Morph" parameter, hence the name "Morpheus." Bear in mind that, upon the Morpheus' introduction, _Terminator 2_ was still fresh in the minds of America, thus the naming was a decidedly fashionable move on Emu's part. Unfortunately, this fashionability was apparently met with disinterest, as the Morpheus didn't sell very well.

In spite of the 197 filters, the Morpheus is, at heart, a sample-playback machine. If you're looking for a sound, and none of the Morpheus' samples approximate it to a reasonable degree, chances are you aren't going to be able to coax such a sound out of this machine. I had a sound in my head- an abrasive, FM-type sound, but with definite "aaaah" formants,- but was unable to realize it on the Morpheus. If you want the power of z-plane filters combined withy the ability to put your own sounds under the knife, as it were, then buy one of Emu's newer higher-end samplers, as they are basically heir to the technological advances of the Morpheus. So what sounds are there available to choose from on the Morpheus? From a machine with the sound-generating potential of the Morpheus, the sample selection is surprisingly limited; there are a total of 242 multi-samples, geared mainly towards pads and leads, and not much in between. There are selections of overtones grouped in groups of even or odd or both by octave, so you can attempt K5000S-type additive synthesis. There's one sample, Barber Pole, that does the Escher-staircase scale type thing where you keep coming back to the same middle-C as you go up the keyboard. The most notable synth sounds fall almost entirely in either pads or leads, and short, percussive synth sounds are kind of underrepresented. I guess that's what my Simmons SDE is for.
One of the ironies of the Morpheus is that it is known for its "synthy" type sounds, but, on the other hand, it also does one of the best acoustic guitar sounds you've ever heard from a synth. Indeed, there are two sections of ten guitar sounds, along with two guitar sounds in the first RAM and ROM banks.
Which brings us to the matter of presets, which, I must admit, has been my main point of reference in evaluating this synth. The presets are arranged in two areas- RAM and ROM,- each with 128 sounds. Additionally, there is a RAM section containing "Hyperpresets", along with two banks for an optional card. All in all, the ROM presets kind of overshadow the RAM presets, which is as it should be, since you are free to overwrite the RAM presets. Notable among the ROM presets is Ethereal Air, a drop dead gorgeous pad that makes even dumb block chords sound fascinating. More characteristic of the RAM presets is Astralix, a preset so trite it was just *begging* to be the first preset I'd overwrite. I have to admit I haven't done much with the Hyperpresets besides audition them, but basically they give one a sense of deja vu as they are based on split and layered versions of the existing presets. One interesting thing about the Hyperpresets is that they can have parameters modulated by what is known as a "free-run function generator", which is like a function generator that operates independantly of note activation
The filters are, for the most part, fairly subtle; it's difficult to dial up something much more dramatic than a simple resonant low-pass filter. Speaking of simple resonant low-pass filters, you have to jump through hoops to get one going on this thing;-- there is a "tone" modulation destination in the note-on modulation matrix, but with no resonance level, no filter cut-off settings, and no real-time control. If you want to get a real, functional LPF, you have to reference the manual, see which filter would be appropriate, and use up your one filter selection for the respective sample (remember, each sound is composed of a secondary and/or primary sample, each with their attendant filter.) It's called a z-plane filter, but that's kind of misleading; one of the dimensions of the filter cube is plain old frequency tracking, the Transform 2 parameter (what would customarily control resonance for an LPF) is only available as a modulation destination in the note-on modulation matrix (that is, its value is "frozen" for the duration of the note,) and half of the filters only use

Hasn't crashed yet.

I have no experience with E-mu's customer support.

I've owned the Morpheus for the better part of a month, and am sorry to say I haven't yet incorporated it into my sequences. I've created sounds with tracks in mind, but haven't created midi tracks that use the Morpheus' sounds. As I've indicated, I also own an Akai S2000, a Roland G600, and a Simmons SDE. I find that there's a learning curve beyond the learning curve,-- that is, after you've learned the ins and outs of operating an instrument, it takes much longer to discover how to use it well. As it happens, I probably got the Morpheus a bit prematurely, as I'm still in the learning phase of my Roland G600. Not to worry, I'll get around to using the Morpheus eventually. If it were lost or stolen, I would probably buy something with real-time controls, like a Mono/Poly or a BassStation; the Morpheus came up as an insanely good deal I couldn't turn down, but it still wasn't quite what I was looking for. I recently won an ebay auction for a Boss PC-2, so I'll see how that goes.
So what's the final verdict on the Morpheus? An excellent presets box that kicks ass when skillfully programmed. You could conceivably use the Morpheus only for its presets... but why? The only aspect of programming not self-explanatory is filter selection, and even that can be an engaging, albeit time-consuming, task. This is the kind of instrument whose possibilities make you wish you were more inspired.

You *must* get a patch editor for this thing - I recommend Terzoid Noize. It makes programming the beast easy, but still an involved process. It's worth it. You get what you'll work for out of this thing.

MIDI capabilities are the best - four continuous controller channels and Mono and Poly pressure mod. And they can be routed to damn near anything.

This is one of the all-time great boxes for creating new sounds. It's the equivalent of a Moog modular in this regard - you'll come up with stuff you can't imagine right now.

I've had mine since they first came out - it went in my rack and has stayed there, and hasn't come to any harm or ever stopped working. (it's a good rack - shock absorbtion! And I use surge supressors (never over 2 years old) everywhere I go - it's sure death eventually if you don't use surge suppressors in clubs)

If it were lost or stolen, I would buy it again and pay a lot less because I'd get a used one. I bought mine early and paid a bundle but what the fuck - I really like it. I love the sounds I can get out of it. I hate how complex the interface is - but you learn to use the aspects of the interface you need, and ignore the rest.

I'm the guy who wrote below about the ROM card for Morpheus being on sale....
I just received a reply from Frank Revel of E-Mu Sound Central, and it's not a good news..... :(
Frank Revel wrote:
> I'm sorry but we've discontinued our line of Morpheus Rom cards. The > "SongWriter" card should not be up on our site for sale, it's a mistake. We > will have the presets available for download off our web site around June 99'. > There will be a small fee for the download but very minimal.
Oh well.... That's too bad. I'd love to get new hyperpresets (E-Mu talk for basic waveforms) for my Morpheus....
Still it's a wonderful, WONDERFUL synth! No one should be without one!! :)

To those folks fortunate enough to own one of these beautiful modules, listen up!
I just checked the E-Mu web site, and they are selling a ROM card for Morpheus, named "Vol. 4, Songwriter" for $80. It seems to include 128 new presets and 64 new hyperpresets. (Check under Sound Central in www.emu.com)
Since there existed no ROM card for Morpheus before, and it is titled "Vol. 4," I just emailed E-Mu to ask what was up with that. Are there MORE cards for Morpheus???? Still, a ROM card finally being made for Morpheus is a great news. I'll probably order it even though I have no idea what it will be like. If anybody knows anything about this new ROM card, let me know. :)

I'm using OS V 1.03 with this. The presets are pretty good on their own, but they're not too useful for what I want to do. Some of them sound really neat, like one that says "why?" at you, and another called S/H that makes a really nifty resonant analog random sounding bleeps. Editing patches, however, is pretty hard... the tiny LCD screen makes it very difficult to see what you're doing in the grand scheme of things. I personally use MorphEdit, which works just fine for me, but its still hard to program, as they'res so much to do. The manual is absolutely amazing, I'm a newbie to synthesizers, and it was incredibly helpful in my understanding of both basic synthesis and using the morpheus.

Polyphony is 32 voices, of course the double-detune feature decreases the number of voices you can use, but does fatten the sound up some... however, as each voice has two layers to it without voice stealing, if all you need is a simple fat bass sound you can use the same sample on both layers and detune them from each other and then still have 32 voices. It has two effect processers, one with standard reverbs, delays, etc. The other has no reverbs and has shorter delay times, but it also has distortion and ring modulation. The effects are completely separate from the presets. They're pretty easy to use, not very programmable though. It has a card slot for storing programs on, and supposedly it was supposed to accept ROM sample additions, but Emu never made them... oh well, the onboard samples are pretty nice. It has full midi capabilities, including a massive list of sysex commands in the manual. No onboard sequencer though. As far as the synthesis engine goes, it's amazing. Two volume envelopes, a free envelope (six stage, DAHDSR), two LFOs with saw, square, sine, tri, and random. Two 8 stage function generators, with all sorts of crazy features, I'm such a newbie I've barely even touched them, but I know they're capapble of creating step-sequence type things. Also, the aforementioned 198 filters... my lord!! Too amazing to even write about, but make awesome synth sweeps and crazy out of this world sounds... wow!

Reacts well to playing, especially velocity, the fundamental nature of many sounds is totally changed with velocity and moving the mod wheel. The onboard effects are good, not very programmable though. The instruments are for the most part realisitc, a few very nice guitars, horns all right, strings sound a little mushy as far as orchestral fast attack string stabs, but great for basic pad stuff and warped sounds. Synths are fat and wet, with very nice filters providing killer sweeps and so on. Works well for industrial and ambient, and would be a nice addition for film production, although you'd need other things too. Rock would also be allright, it has nice leads and pads and so on... pretty nice drums from a techno or rap point of view.

I've never had it crash. It's built solid. I don't gig, but I can't imagine it giving me any trouble. I did get it as a used and reconditioned instrument from Emu though.

I bought it direct from Emu, they were very nice, and shipped it quicker than they said they would, which was a nice surprise =) I haven't had any problems, or called about anything else, so I can't say much about them.

Its definitely worth what I paid. If it were lost and stolen, I'd be very pissed, and if I couldn't get another one I'd be even more angry... I've been fooling around with synths for about 6 months, I own a Korg DW-8000 and an Alesis MMT-8 in addition to my Morpheus. I really love the organic, warm sound of it, and the programming architecture. I'm using it for almost all of my sounds right now... but then with the gear I have, I don't have much choice, do I? =) Also, I really dig the bottom end of this synth, I find the bass to be quite nice. It was definately well worth what I paid for, and will definately help me out a whole lot with making music.