E-MU Orbit V2: The Dance Planet

too few knobs for realtime control, but programming is quit easy if you are familiar with rompler synthesis

32 voices are enough i think, but if you layer sounds or even use chorus you need up to 4 voices for each note. this can exhaust in mutli mode. midi control is good. unfortunately no effects, only a simple chorus. it features 6 outputs - this is luxus even on many synths of today

excellent sound quality but sometimes too few multisamples. LFOs and filters are excellent - EMU like. if you like dance, you like the sound!

i think it's OK

i can't say anything about

i think i use it for some tracks then resell it because i'm interestet in the new orbit 3....

Right iut of the box this unit is smoking! It is set-up in multi-timbral mode; and you can easily change BASIC parameters with very little effort.
The presets sound PHAT, and don't let others fool you....this is NOT strictly a 'dance-techno' module. Although it may have alot of 'dance' sounds; this unit complements any contemporary genre (R&B, Hip-hop, Pop, CCM)

As stated by others, it does not have any internal effects. However, where others see this as a drawback; I see this as a positive.
IF I am going to add any effects, I would much rather add MY efffects than some cheesy internal spring reverb! :)
Furthermore, I HAVE NOT needed to add any effects. Frankly, where contemporary music is today & where it's headed; MOST MUSIC TRACKS ARE BONE DRY!
The only drawback to the design I have found is the inability to save presets/configuration set-ups. It's not a major hangup, just a preference thing. You will have to do MIDI dumps (transfer programs, settings, etc. to your sequencer). Speaking from experience, the MPC2000XL works flawlessly when interfaced for MIDI dumps; as I'm sure most every sequencer would.

It's just phat.
The drums are a bit weak, as are some of the 'hits,' but the other sounds more than compensate.
It has alot of 'in your face' synths that work great for pop music. I have done complete tracks with just the Orbit & Akai MPC2000XL (not because I have no other gear...Trinity, JV-2080 maxxed w/8 boards,. Korg WSSR, e-mu Pro1+, ensoniq ts-12, JV-90, Technics WSA-1R, etc); but because the ORBIT IS THAT TIGHT!

Basically it is rock solid (as most e-mu gear is).

E-mu/ ensoniq has great support.

Here's the deal:
There is NO REASON why you shouldn't buy this unit. Unless you are a classical composer or country producer, you will love this unit. Coupled with the Akai MPC2000xl & a Roland JV2080 (or 5080); you can do some SERIOUS damage!

PS: I also purchased the 'e-mu launch pad' which was specifically designed to assist in some programming of the Orbit. Personally, I don't think you NEED the launch pad with the Orbit. :)

- I have the V2 rev of the box.

- The presets for the most part sound really good, but there's a lot you can do with
editing that isn't made obvious by the presets.

- Editing patches is really quite easy, if you've ever used any E-Mu synth before (same layout as the Proteus family) -- data wheel and cursor buttons. I had no troubles, other than sitting on the floor in front of my rack for 3 hours.

- The manual is really quite good, especially on patch editing; they take the time to logically explain how everything fits together, and (HELLO ROLAND) they use standard names for ideas like "oscillator" and "LFO" instead of making up gibberish. I think it might actually have been written natively in English!

- No way to save your whole multitimbral setup, other than externally in a sequencer. This doesn't bother me personally.

- Polyphony is something like 32 I think. I've never run into note-stealing, but I don't use this as my only synth.
- No built-in effects. This sucks, as so many of its sounds can really benefit from some chorus or reverb.
- No expansion capabilities.
- MIDI response is excellent, each patch can have 4 realtime MIDI controllers patched into just about any parameter in the synth. Responds to velocity/aftertouch. Can run multitimbrally on all 16 channels.
- The "beats mode" seems useless to me.

- Few realistic instruments other than organs, but that isn't what it's for, is it? All the built in PCM samples (384 of them, I think) are well-chosen and widely sculptable.

- The presets, for some reason, aren't very reactive (some of them don't even react to mod wheel!) but when editing you can build a LOT of expressiveness into a patch. I like that. For instance, there are extensive portamento and solo features, but almost NONE of the presets use this.

Let me digress for a moment to editorialize on the sounds. I REALLY like the sounds in this box, the whole thing has a distinctive "mood" of its own (unlike a lot of other ROMplers), but this also means this couldn't really be your only synth. All the sounds feel very breathy and ethereal, cold almost. It's a very ambient distant synth. If you want warm fat leads, this ain't for you.
However, it's a GREAT workhorse for that extra soft pad to fill your arrangement, or a tinkly arpeggio; it makes great ear candy to round out a mix, and that's the role I use it in.

I was surprised at how editable the thing really is, and only really discovered this after owning it for about 9 months. The Z-plane filters are cool, much more options than your standard 4-pole lowpass (although it'll do that too). You can map any realtime MIDI controller to almost any parameter (filter params, sample crossfade, "tone", LFO speed/depth, alt envelope, etc). The main editing limitation
(other than lack of effects, sigh) is that you're limited to two samples per patch. This isn't really a problem though, since you can layer two or more presets.

It's been turned on in my rack 24/7 since I got it, and I've never ever had a problem. Rock solid.

Never dealt with 'em.

Well, I'm currently replacing this with the Audity 2000 (its Xtreme ROM expansion has all the Orbit presets). However, I would NOT have
got rid of it if the Audity didn't have its samples and capabilities, just because I've got so intimate with how it works and sounds. When
I'm working on a track and I hear that pad or tinkly noise or soft filter-swept bass in my head, I can get it on the Orbit in minutes.

If you can get this thing cheap (like $300 or less), GRAB IT if you're a beginning/intermediate electronic musician. The wealth of extra textures won't
disappoint. If you're shopping for a first synth, look elsewhere, but come back to the Orbit when you've got a few
extra bucks.

The user interface is intuitive, logical, and easy to figure out. Editing patches involves stepping thru a bunch of screens, but they are really well laid-out and not at all confusing. The ultra-simple-yet-effective front panel interface deserves a Nobel Prize, IMHO, especially when compared to some of the user interface nightmares currently on the market! Navigating through programming screens and presets is FAST thanks to the data wheel (why don't ALL synths have one?!) As far as I know, there is no PC patch editor available (there is a shareware BETA called Metal Control, but unfortunately, it was never finished, and I had no luck getting it to talk to my orbit) Nevertheless, patch editing is straightforward enough without one. The manual is adequate, I guess, but this synth is so easy to use, you'll probably skim thru it once, then file it away on the shelf. Here's the irony: the factory presets range from *pathetic* to *mesmerizingly gorgeous*. Funny thing is, most of the factory presets barely scratch the surface of what the beast is capable of.

If I remember correctly, it has 32 voice poly. Each preset can consist of 1 or 2 component samples, each with independent envelopes, two Midi-syncable LFOs, a morphable/sweepable/resonant filter and an 'auxiliary' envelope that's assignable to any parameter/control (neato!) and there's a sort-of 'patch-cord' approach to programming controllers and parameters, which is extremely powerful and flexible (absolutely brilliant)...unfortunately...All this makes for the Absolute Biggest Bummer of this synth: TOO SLOW PROCESSOR ENGINE! Pick out 5 or 6 really dense & complex presets and play a multitimbral sequence...it's likely that you will get noticeable time-lag. Horrible! This synth is definitely not to be used as an all-in-one workhorse-type synth; it bogs down too quickly! There are no built-in effects, which is only a slight drag; so many of the sounds are great without any additional effects, and wouldn't be improved much by adding them. There is a sort-of onboard sequencer for 'beats mode' that basically consists of a library of UNEDITABLE rhythm loops. I find this feature utterly useless and ignorable. There are a couple of other interesting performance-oriented features that I never bother with. Example: you can assign a controller (i.e. mod wheel) to "scratch" back and forth through a sample. Does anybody actually use that cliched "rap-scratch" effect anymore?! Let that sound die already! Incidentally, one strong programming feature is that any preset can be edited/tweaked live (while a sequence is actually being played) and you always have simultaneous access to (and response from) all 16 channels (you are always in multitimbral mode) very nice, no single-channel-mode hassles.

It has 640 factory presets, 256 of which are overwritable with your own creations. Obviously, this is a genre-specific synth. It's for dance/trance/house/ambient styles (perhaps even abstract film scores!) but in my opinion, not really suitable for convincing Jungle/drum-n-bass (you'd think it would be--go figure!). Sound quality is very good: woofer&eardrum-abusing bass and zero line noise. Because of the time-lag problem, I wouldn't recommend Orbit for dense, rigid, fast tempo music, but it is great for slower, looser, spacey experimental stuff. As mentioned above, the preset quality varies wildly. Some of the presets are of the lame "outdated $20 PC FM-soundcard" variety, but then, many many others are AMAAAAAZING! Where the Orbit really shines is with the dense pads, synths and LFO sounds. Several of them are such ethereal ear candy, that you can just hold down a key or two and bliss out for a while... Ironically, some of the nicest sounding presets aren't the most USABLE, but make no mistake, there are a couple hundred SUPERB sounds to work with. Personally, I also find the drums a bit lacking. There are many, many kits, but they all sound too similar. If you spend the time to tweak them out, you can get some and unusual results, but the factory presets are just too damned recognizable and redundant. When I heard "Alarm Call" by Bjork, I immediately identified the drums as being a factory preset from the Orbit. Immediately. To sum up: Lots of beautiful sounds, some crappy ones, but surely you will get your BEST results if you take the time and effort to program your own presets. It seems as if the E-mu programmers held back a little, so you would be more inspired to improve upon the existing presets, and believe me, you CAN!

Not an issue; it's built like the proverbial tank. Thick faceplate, recessed LCD, heavy steel case, etc. Would I gig on it without a backup? Yes, I have--it's never given me a moment's trouble.

N/A -- never needed support.

I've had the Orbit for about 2 years, and get a lot of enjoyment out of it, but frankly, I would NOT buy it again (mainly because I'm ultra-sensitive to the time-lag problem). On the other hand, if I lost it, there would be a handful of sounds and features that I would miss terribly! I love the user interface. I love the syncable LFOs and filters and assignable envelopes. Programming it is a blast! I don't like that it uses E-mu's ancient Proteus architecture (only because the engine is too damned slow to effectively do all the sophisticated stuff the Orbit is capable of!) Summary: Of all the groove/techno-specific synths I've heard, the Orbit is the most friendly toward ambient-ethereal-ear candy-experimental music, as opposed to most others that are more gritty and canned-urban oriented and rely too heavily on the lovely-but-way overused 303/808/909 sounds.

This is a very easy to use module. The presets kick ass (if you dig the Dance/Trance/Rave groove ;) ), and editing patches is a breeze (so many settings! Fun, fun!). The manual isn't in-depth enough, I'll agree with the others on that.

Polyphony 64 (more like 48 IRL). It tends to get pretty lagged after about 55 voices get going (it's that damned old Proteus architecture, I tell ya!). It supports all MIDI, I think, but it's not expandable. There's a sort-of half-assed on-board sequencer for the beats (which suck, IMHO - but that's not why I bought it).

The sounds are fucking beautiful. You can map anything to anything (i.e. - I've got some groovy analog bass sounds with the pitchwheel mapped to the filter cuttoff... awesome for realtime). This is definately a Dance/Techno box. No question. Velocity and Aftertouch response can be tuned from dead to incredible. :)

I would gig without a backup for this baby. It won't break (not that I've tried).

Ergh - don't ask. I think everyone at E-Mu has their thumbs up their asses.

Overall rating? Get yer ass out and buy one if you're into the dance/trance/rave scene - this will replace alot of your synths. It just plain rocks. The only thing - the *only* thing wrong with it is that it can't always handle having all 16 channels going at once.