E-MU Proteus 2000

128 voice, 24 patchcords per layer, 4 layers per voice, 17 morph filters, 3 6 step envelope generators, 900+ wave/instument samples, 32 meg expandable to 128. Out of the box this is a great sounding proteus, with so much programmability . I can't wait for emu to release the rom sound upgrades. this is THE synth I,ve been waiting for and dreaming about.

Seemed good to me.

This synth is huge. incredible ang for the buck, assuming you're ok with amatuer sound (see below).

I spent 45 minutes with this in a store, limiting myself to presets. I am a composer, not a synthesist, so I "buy" rather than create my sounds. This makes me a wanker in some ways, but I know tone reaonably well. I defer to the judgement of others about what you can do with this synth once you start to edit. HOWEVER, I had hoped that this synth might work alongside my Roland JV-1080, but no way. IMHO, every sound I heard was below the standard set by the JV. Even the SALESMEN, who knew I already had a JV said "fuhgetabowtit!". Therefore I would strongly urge buyers to consider this as a huge, versatile synth that sounds generally like a sound canvas, X5DR, or QSR, but with hipper patches. I have a QS6 as a controller and for backup. The quality of sounds of the 2000 seemed comparable. Great for the money, but uninspiring. All emulative sounds were lacking, to my ears. Big disappointment.

GREAT amateur or semi-pro synth (at least as far as presets go). Not for emulations.

The module has a very nice interface, even though the display is quite small. Most presets sounds very good although a few are a bit extrem effectwise. The presets are easy to edit with the "Realtime-knobs" (thats a really nice idea). Most of the sounds work fine out of the box though.
I have had some problem to make it work with cakewalk, since i could not find an instrument definition file. The program/bank changes is not working as i want it to (I am workgin on that though).
And the other problem is that the stop button (all notes off) also resets the effects controllers (the sound becomes "muffled"'until l you reselect the patch). This is true with cubase aswell. I think there is a workaround for this, but I havn't had that problem before.

This box is feature packed. The module has 32MB on board samplememory (about 1000 presets) and can be expanded to 128MB. I use the SPDIF interface to connect the keyboard to my soundcard. Those were the two main reasons why I got it, but is has plenty of other nice features as well (such as dual midi interface). See the homepage (http://www.emu.com) for more info.

I think most of sounds are great. There is plenty of cool pads, basses, rhodes, leads and effects. There a big slection of drums. Many presets are a bit unusual, which I think is great. Many sounds are suitable for RNB, Dance or any other modern sounding music. The sounds are very "up to date" and there is still plenty of room for expansion.
The pianos/strings/brasses etc is a bit lame, but I havn't tried any other better sounding module/synth in this price range though. They work, but I wouldn't buy it if I primarily was looking for accousic type of sounds (there may be upgrades with better sounds later though).

I would never go on stage without some kind of backup I think. But generally EMU products are reliable.

Havn't tried that yet, but I've heard they are great.

If I had to select just a few keyboards/modules to use this woul be one of them. digital out. I can have 128 MB of samples in one module with digital output! Then I would add a sampler to this setup (for pianos, strings, brass and drums).
I compared the proteus with the ROLAND JV2080, but the sounds were not as cool as in the proteus. And the JV did not have a digital out. I could not find any other module with the same price/performance ratio as this baby.

Firmware version 1.02 No patch-editor software available--yet. E-MU is hard to beat in the ease-of-use department. Right out of the box, it's ready to blast 128 voices on 32 channels, multitimbral. As many drum kits as you please, on ANY channels (as opposed to some modules that allow ONE kit on channel 10 ONLY ? what the heck is that?!) The new sound browser/librarian and audition button are GREAT and super-useful, like Roland JV2080, but IMO quite a bit nicer. It has 1024 stock presets, well suited to just about any (mostly western pop) genre, so you can usually find a sound that's good enough to stick right in your sequence and let fly. The front-panel interface is excellent?well thought out and logical. Could've had a larger display, but heck, ya can't have everything! The manual is decent--very "plain english" with lots of illustrations & diagrams.

Check out E-MU's website for the specs?they're very impressive, and no hollow boasting; this thing has twice as much of virtually everything as any other module out there! It is a true and sophisticated digital modular synth. It packs MIDI-syncable LFO's, resonant filters, 2 independent stereo FX processors, 4 assignable realtime controller knobs that transmit MIDI (killer feature!) and almost any parameter can be routed to control almost any other parameter. The potential boggles the mind! It has 3 internal expansion slots (32MB each) for a max. 128 meg of sound ROM. (no expansions available as of this writing, but I'm told they are coming literally any day now...) 3 sets of stereo output jacks and SPDIF also. Since it supports 32 channels, there are two sets of MIDI ports (2 in, 2 thru, 1 out). It uses a newer, faster 32 bit processor, so it handles dense sequences without time lag problems.

I agree largely with the other reviewers. You get lots of everything (but very few ethnic sounds). Most of the sounds range from "very good" to "mind-blowingly beautiful", although E-MU's sound designers could have spent a little more time on the presets ? they're good, but many could be improved with a little tweaking. The pianos are absolutely superb (both acoustic and electric), the basses are fat and powerful, the numerous Synth and Pad sounds are...mind-blowingly beautiful! Strings are rich and clean, and even the vocal-type sounds are surprisingly tasteful and usable. There are many, many drum kits, of all flavors, many of them are excellent. If you are familiar with Orbit / Planet Phatt, this module contains most of the best stuff from both of those. In fact, it's phatter than Phatt and more versatile than Orbit! Each sound can have 4 layers (compared to 2 for Orbit/Phatt) ...and there are only a few sounds that are downright awful: some of the horns suck, and it would be a challenge to use them at all - but then again, I find almost all synths' horns pretty dreadful. I could also do without those dumb "vinyl slip" noises and orchestra hits, but there are only a few.

I trust E-MU products ? they're built like army tanks. I have gigged with E-MU gear without backups, never a hiccup.

Never had a problem with 'em. They answer their phones. Gotta love that!

All this for $800? For all you get at this price, you'd have to be a serious jerk to criticize this synth very harshly. Maximum bang-for-the-buck. A perfect first module for the novice who's graduating from PC soundcards. If I had to choose only one module, this would be it, without question. It makes me want to write more music! I'm gonna trade in my Orbit toward expansion sounds for this synth!

This is version 1.02 software (?). The presets are WICKED great right out of the box. You could EASILY, EASILY produce an entire hiphop CD with the presets alone. For pop music, they are OUTSTANDING. To my knowledge, no patch editor yet. Sounds are fairly easy to program. The manual reads like collateral. Very superficial. The interface is great except for the tiny display.

Polyphony is a whopping 128 voices, not to mention there are a & b MIDI ports giving you 32 MIDI channel capability. It's a BEAST. It has effects and they are --to my ear GREAT. Only thing is, one global effect per multi :( However, there are 17 filters in this bad dawg with 4 real time controller knobs on the panel. It kicks major A$$ in this dept. This baby can be expanded to 128 MB ram. Apparently E4 owners can make samples for it too.. along with those which EMU are coming out with.

All instruments are realistic. There is no junk in this machine. I kid you not, the pianos are the best I have heard on a synth box, PERIOD. They ROCK. This box is geared for pop music, IMO. It contains a LOT (probably 75%) of the stuff in the Phatt and a lot of stuff from the Orbitt as well. Oh and then the basses... MY GAAAAWD. The basses are OFF THE HOOK. Attn: rap, dance, techno, etc producers: THE BASSES ARE OFF THE HOOK. UNBELIEVABLE fatness. Congrats to the EMU sound design team. WOW. The epianos are great, the strings are VERY cool, sweet pads, FANTASTIC hiphop kits, nice horns, etc etc etc. Love it.

It's an EMU. Of course you can depend on it. Would never use it, or anything, without backup at a gig.

EMU is great.. one of the best support-oriented companies in the game. LOVE 'EM!!!

I LOVE THIS BOX. It is the PERFECT comapnion to my Kurzweil K2000. To boot, it will only run you $800 new so you just can't go wrong for all the features and great sounds. Particularly for guys just getting started, this is the PERFECT All-in-one BOX FOR POP MUSIC.

Ease of use is outstanding. The enhanced sound browsing idea is late for EMU synths that have needed something like this for a long time. This GREATLY increases the usabililty of the synth, especially since it has about 1000 presets. What I really like is that it includes the MIDI bank switch numbers right on the little screen to help you with sequencing. This is a GREAT detail which shows that the EMU people are really thinking. However, a measely two-line display has always been aggravating to me, so I can't give this unit a "10" -- but it does deserve an "8" ON THE OTHER HAND, the "Audition" button goes MUCH FURTHER than any other audition button I've ever seen -- it actually plays a little sequence for each patch so you can hear the sound in a musical context this makes the Proteus a 10+ in my book!

Features galore -- just visit the EMU website to get the details -- 128 voices, 32 MB onboard ROM, expandable up to 128 MB!!!!!!!! SPDIF digital output, two MIDI ports, great resonant filters......for what? How much was this thing? For the year 1998 this is very impressive for this price.

Sounds are very good, but lack the depth of the rest of the instrument. The patches really don't live up to the potential of the synth. There are many, many, many patches, but the sound design was not as deep as I had hoped. Fortunately this is a REAL synth with a HUGE amount of sample possibilities, so you I'm sure I'll get a lot out of it, espcecially by editing. The knobs really add to the expressiveness, and of course the upgradability of the synth more than compensates for EMU's lack of great sound-design. The bulk of the patches don't sound as good to my ears as, say, the Trinity Rack (TR-Rack), but the fact I can have 128 MB of samples and incredible polyphony, and edit this baby till I die is WELLLLLL worth the price. This synth makes a great complimentary synth -- but there's nothing shockingly "new" to add to your audio-world -- Just MORE, MORE, MORE, and for me I expect it will fill in when I run out of my favorite sounds from other synths. It beats the QSR, MU100R, N5, etc. any day of the week, but it lacks a bit of the warmth of some higher-end Roland and Korg gear. Overall, however, the value is incredible, and I'd still pick it over a Roland piece if I had to choose only one synth.
Note: Surprising number of synth patches, which it handles very well with the great filters.

EMU -- it should last forever. Still got that old Proteus 1 in your rack?

Talked to them today to find out when the extra ROMs are coming out. Got through in 30 seconds. They put my name on a list and said they'd call me when some ROMs are out.

In an ideal rig for me, I'd want a variety of modern (and not-so modern) synths that cover a wide range of sounds. This would fit in very well. If I had to pick just a few synths, this one would also be in there. The simple fact that it is SOOOOOOO expandable --- INCREDIBLY expandable -- in fact you can make your own ROMs with the upcoming Emu UltraSamplers coming out -- this is a no-brainer. In theory you'll even be able to buy ROMs made by other people (anyone need a new business idea?) So if you don't like the great 32MB it comes with, the price is so affordable, just buy more patches. This synth is fabulous. Everyone will play catch-up now. It's missing the raw FX power that some Yamaha and Korg gear has, but it more than makes up for it in a dozen other ways.