E-MU Proteus 2000

Easy to use for both novices and tweakheads.

os ver 2.26

Good range of features:
-built in effects.
-expansion card slots (4)
-no onboard seqencer

OK the preset sounds might not be to everyone's liking, but it does have a lot of them. Somewhat dance oriented.

This is where I have a problem. Maybe I got a lemon.
The CMPSR card will not load. This means the unit is effectively useless.
'User' can be selected, but 'CMPSR' does not show up.
Since the 'User' area just holds patch data based on the sounds on the CMPSR card the whole unit has become very silent.
If anyone has an idea how to fix this I would love to hear from you!
(I know it's often not worth the expense, but I can't even sell this thing unless it makes some sound - shame to just trash it - but I might have to.)

A great little box considering that it's getting a bit old now. Has that 'Proteus' sound which is a bit thin, but can often fit into a mix of other instruments nicely.

1.24 is the version i'm using and seems fine.
The presets are a mixed bag overall with basses and piano's comming out on top. Strings are pretty bad though and i'm going to have to re programme this machine for a lot of them. As noted before there are qiute a few patches with pretty fast release times which sound unnatural

great polyphony, midi. Good overall fx, i've heard a lot worse (hello Korg!). I wouldn't bother with rom's, a waste of time. I;d rather use software to sequence.

overall it's not a bad unit for 140 quid but i wouldn't pay any more for one. Compared with a jv1080 which you can pick up for about 200 qiud or less nowadays, there's no comparison. Th jv wins hands down. But that isn't to say the proteus is bad, far from it.

very dependable.Bomb proof build quality, which is nice.....

Never phoned 'em, but the website is good for software downloads and the 'E-Loader'.

It's an interesting machine, i can get some strange stuff out of it and the onboard sounds do not do it justice. It's quite inspiring in some ways, and irritating in others.

Pretty straightforard and easy to use.The manual describes a lot about synthesis and really exposed some of the synthesis capabilities that I think are almost hidden the first time you use it.You can layer 4 different sounds together,but you can almost isolate different parts of the envelope,loop the envelope,and the patch cords are great(have the filter freq trigger the LFO rate etc...).It's worth mentioning that there are A LOT of really cool sounding filters in this module-good for instant satisfication.

2 FX busses as I'm sure has already been mentioned...

expandability is great with the rom boards

This is basically an all-in-one sound module.Pretty much whatever sound you want,it'll probably be in here(acoustic/electric gtr/piano/rhodes/percussion/synth/live drums/electronic drums etc etc..),and because of that there's always going to be an area that doen't quite deliver.The presets are at times awful and cringe worthy just listen to the demos!It's never going to be a Virus C,It sounds very General MIDI if you know what I mean? It's had enough sounds to keep me busy for a few months but I only use it to thicken and layer out sounds made elsewhere.At times it sounds dated but this is where the synthesis part and editing patches comes into play,it increases it's life span.But to give it justice,I will always turn to it for a nice piano sound,or to layer lots of percussion,and to use it with a sequencer is great coz it's 16 part multi,and has 2 midi i/o s,so EMU have really taken into consideration the future problem of 3 extra rom boards fitted,effectively having 4 sound modules in one!

I don't think I would replace it.If you made a track just using the proteus sounds then it's going to sound like a demo school project kind of thing.But if you use it as a composition layering tool then it's quite good.Would much rather have a virus c or try the roland JP8000.

I had it only for six months, few years ago. It didn't fit me at all and I didn't use it in any song. I felt it sounded flat. I went thru all 1500 patches and I found only 10 usable sounds Some sounds were very badly looped and you could easily hear it (for some sounds it's mented but other not. I bought it to replacement for JV-1080 I sold (stupid me). I bought Proteus 2k after reading reviews from here and SynthSite.

So all the the specs tempted me to buy P2k (128 poly, tons of filters and patches) and I was totally disappointed when I got it. Now I'm afraid to buy another E-mu synth because 2k sounded so bad. But features and specs are the best of this synth... but that sound.

I remember the best areas were: electronic pianos, basses and drums. But then I had some other synths to cover basses and so on. Those times my other synths were: Yamaha AN1x, Kurzweil K2000R, Waldorf Microwave XT, Waldorf Microwave I, Waldorf Pulse. I bought P2k for additional strings/pads and some synthy stuff, but it had lame string sounds etc.

I bought Roland JV-1080 back and I'm still using JV (2080 actually). P2k is NOT bad synth, it just didn't fit to my music and I don't usually make own sounds with "preset" synths (not even with my JV, and there is no reason). I make my own sounds with other synths. It's silly to make synth with over 1000 presets you can't even use. But I think there is many of you who likes it so try the synth before buying... There is synths for everyone, this wasn't for me.

The E-mu proteus 2000 is easy to use,calling up presets is simple with the control wheel!...however too simple to get into the habit of just using the preset sounds "albeit most of them good",and not using the programming functions to create your own sounds. The manual is pretty thick , o.k. and easy enough to understand,but there's a lot of "White coat" nonsense in there than need be!

An impressive 128 voice polyphony,the reverbs and effects are fine enough!,but are a bit limited to how you can use them!,Of course it comes complete with the nice composer sound simm,and you can add a further three. I urge people not to fall into the trap of buying a lot of these sound simms,i bought the protozoa,it's got some great sounds in it,but you are getting a lot of the older proteus module sounds in there as well,and some of the piano sounds are a bit too "casio tone!" for me!. And it's obvious that the latest sound sets are a marked improvement.
There's a pallete of sounds already there between the presets and the option to experiment with the programming functions, it's more than likely you would be able to emulate most of the sounds that come with the additional sound sets anyway,buy them if you must!,but i'm begining to think there not worth the extra cash really!.

Some of the instruments are very realistic sounding,as it's sample based,there is a few turkeys in there as well,like most other things,and probably sounds you wouldn't touch in a million years!. Over all,quite impressive sounding!!. The drum sounds i do like,and the vintage keyboard/hammonds are cool and? too many other sounds too list!. As i said before the reverbs are fine. It seems to react fine with your playing, again there is lots of filters and different ways you can set it up to respond to your different styles of playing.

Dont seem to have any trouble with this little beaut!,the only thing i've noticed is if your very fast scanning through the sounds with the wheel,sometimes it jumps to a sound you dont want "if that makes any sense at all" a bit annoying,but it's maybe down to turning the wheel quicker than the machine can process the information!!,Technology eh!!? And i would gig with it no problem,as long as it was racked up in a case of course!

Strangley enough E-mu u.k. are just a stones throw away from me!..i phoned them once,i hate to say this but "Ahem!...they dont sound like they have their act together very well". Although i have never had to phone them with a technical problem,and i hope i never have to!!!

If it got stolen,i would replace it at some stage hopefully,but with the music i make it wouldn't be a priority,just for that reason only though! and no other.
When i went to check this out,i tried a Korg tr rack "At least i think that's what model it was?" Anyway the Korg was a bit cheaper but sounded like shit!! in comparison to the E-mu!

It has helped out a little bit with the music side of things,as there is a lot of inspiring sounds in there to build with. But used as an extra tool mainly,as apposed to relying on it totaly to make music!

I use software version 1.24
Most of the presets sound awful, but who cares?
Editing is quite simple, following the vocabulary of subtractive synthesis, although I rarely use the full complexity of the machine on all four layers.
The manual is ok, there could have been some more practical examples.
But after 4 years of using the proteus, I got used to a very intuitive way of programming, which gives me the ability to recreate sounds, which are born in my imagination. That's most important for me.

Polyphony is great
Build in effects are average, prefer external processing
Never expanded it, 'cause i make my own patches
Midi capabilities and their programming are fantastic
Who needs an onboard seq??

As told above: Forget about the presets, use them as raw approach to the sound that you want to hear. P2000 worked good for me in D&B, Jazz,Metal,Industrial, Soundtrack and Special Effects

Giving the full note. Had never any problems, studio or live.

Communicated with Emu for sponsoring after the release of my first CD. Juggernaut will be on their web page soon. Don't know about the service, didn't need any.

I would steal it back. I wouldn't want to live without it.
Playing music for 19 years, mainly electric guitars, sax, drums, keys and work with bands and do a solo project with a singer.
Compared to all other synthesizers I tried before, it was a quantum leap. If I would lose my P2000, I would buy a P2500, which has a more intuitive user interface. Other synths I tried: Waldorf XT (which is also a jewel among the modules), Korg (nearly all series from Poly to M1), Access Virus (don't love it too much), Roland Digital Pianos etc.
The proteus is responsible for everything, which is not done by a guitar, sax or vocals. I also work with a lot of samples and always find the balance with the Proteus. Listen at www.invasionsystems.de.

Currently using 1.45 Version, w/ the Vintage Keys ROM also installed.
I've only STARTED figuring out how to make use of most of the features
included w/ this module (the manual is very thick!) but anything related to playing live (choosing/editing patches in "real-time", i.e.) is pretty easy, intuitive. Still haven't figured out how to drive two differet patches seperately w/ 2 different keyboard controllers at the same time yet. The manual is DENSE! To be fair to EMU, there's quite a few features that I haven't attempted to use yet (described in detail in the manual).....I bought it for the sounds and the price so I may NEVER use some of this module's features.

Most of the features have been described to death in previous reviews so I'll refrain from repeating them, except for the fact that no one seems to have mentioned how well engineered/constructed the patches are....it's been a while since I bought a NEW piece of equipment and I was well-beyond-pleasantly-suprised to find that most of the patches I use on jobs (Hammonds/Wurlies/Rhodes/Clavs) all have realistic and useful FX built in......by using the mod wheel you can have effective panned vibrato, Leslie, wah and other FX added to the patch being used.
Love the polyphony and ROM headroom. Multi-timbral possibilities will come in handy once I get the "bugs" in this one fixed (see Reliability). Great price for all that it will do. I DO wish that particular patches (that I know, ahead of time, that i'll want to use on a gig) could be found and retrieved faster. It's a bit laborious and "mad-dash" pressing buttons and turning knobs to get to the right patch--LIVE-while your bandmates (not to mention audience members) are all waiting.

As stated before, I've added the "Vintage Keys" ROM to the factory pre-sets and Orchestral ROM that the unit was shipped w/.
I'm having an absolute BALL playing through all the sounds and am absolutely delighted that such a high % of them are useful, well-conceived and engineered. I'ts nice to be able to add panning vibrato to rhodes sounds, wah to clavs, Leslie to Hammonds, octaves to horn sounds all by moving the mod wheel. I thought the added ROM ("Vintage Keyboards") was a bit pricey but sounds are very good.....I'm not kicking myself for not buying the Clavia Electro now.....a lot of the hammonds have "key click" that's so heavy it sounds like a xylophone was added but it may be possible to dial some of that out by twisting the editing knobs after calling up the patch......still exploring those possibilities.

Seems well-built BUT.......I've had it less than a week and it's already goofing on me.....there are 2 midi ports on the back ..A (w/ Midi in/out/thru) and B (Midi in/out)........the module causes my controller to shut down when I connect to the B Midi In(yipes!)....... (Sweetwater Sound) The distributor's tech support says they've been told (by E-mu) that the problem must be my controller (a Studiologic/Fatar SL880)--gosh, there's a surprise. No explanation as to why they think so, they just think so, apparently..... (see customer support below)......so apparently I'll have to send it back at my expense, have them check it out and then....?

E--mu was absolutely hands-down the worst tech support experience I've EVER HAD.....what total ASSHOLES! It's tempting to just return the Proteus for a refund or just buy another brand...there's plenty of them out there......After dealing w/ them and their condescending crap I tried Sweetwater Sound (the distributor, who I bought the Proteus from) and their tech support.......better results...at least they listened to me and are trying to help! The problem is described above in "Reliability".

I'll add another review at a later date to described how problems w/ my Proteus were resolved

I'd like to add something important to the reviews below. There is one HUGE and VERY ANNOYING problem with all Proteus sounds. Almost all of the factory patches HAVE IMMEDIATE ATTACK and DON"T HAVE DECAY. You press a key (no matter what velocity) the sound suddenly jumps on you, you release a key - and the sound dissapears in a milisecond, it just cuts itself. Especially this is unbearable with pads, strings and pianos (well, pianos do have a decay but very short). It is so ANNOYING! Of coarse, you can program those attack and decay times, but I don't think you'll want to do it with 1000 patches! Emu programmers are idiots, sorry!

Very easy, proteus have realtime knobs for deep and "light"
editing, and sent this parameters to midi out.
Edit-menu is simpy to use,like a nokia mobil-phones, or maybe
Roland jv 880.

128 NOTE POLY, 32 MIDI CH, 6 ANALOG OUTPUTS, DIGITAL OUT,
1024 PRESETS, 18bit D/A...

ACOUSTIC PIANOS-7
BASS SOUNDS-10,E-DRUMS 9,ACOUSTIC DRUMS-8,
E-PIANOS, CLAV, ORGANS-9 (AND VERY BAD PIPE ORGAN PRESET)
STRINGS-8
BRASS-10
GYITARS-9
PADS-7 ...ETC
EFX-7

EXCELLENT

For Yugoslav-Belgrade dealers (SKY-music)-not bad...

OK

OS 2.26 The presets are overall terrific, except for the acoustic pianos, which are passable in a mix setting. The front panel editing is very easy. It's much less obtuse than Roland equipment that I've owned.

Since I've added the "Sounds of the ZR" (primarily for the 'Perfect Piano')and the B3 ROMs, I'm invincible. I'd put up the sound set up against the Triton or Motif.

The OS 2.26 upgrade is killer! It's added a number of functions that didn't exist before.