Emagic EVP88 Vintage Piano Logic

I am a PC user since 1990. I started with Cakewalk DOS and an Ensoniq ESQ 8-bit sound engine. Before that I played straight analog Oberheim, Hammond, Clav, Wurly and Arp. I first bought the Windows Logic 2.0 sequensor followed by Logic Audio 2.5. I upgraded to Logic Audio 4.0 and added the updates to 4.8. I could never get over the fact how paronoid skitso Emagic was over their security. When I bought the EVP88 the security issue became even more bizarre with the update CDrom every 30 days. I play guitar and other instruments and by the time I got back to playing the EVP88 I would have to re-authorize. After a major upgrade in equipment form Korg Trinity to Yamaha Motif ES and Nord Electro and other stuff, I didn't use Logic for a while. When I finally got back to it - it wouldn't work. Could not find the dongle hardware key. Lets face it, Emagic never did figure out how to get the their product to work seemlessy with Windows. I could not justify a Mac and the cross platform upgrade so I have since gone to Cubase SX - Much better solution.

The EVP88 was easy enough to use, too bad it is not VSTi compatile.

The sound quality when it came out was OK. Since then, there has been big improvements to electric pianos on hard and soft synths alike. I am very happy with the Motif Es and Nord Electro electric pianos andd don't miss the EVP88

If you are thinking of buying the EVP88 - you might be better served buying the EVP73. The EVP73 plugin will work with other hosts besides Logic.

Been doing music for 20 years and have been using Logic since 1999.

Like all of the eMagic interfaces, it is powerful yet intuitive.

I like using it for spacey piano tracks with a longer release and some reverb. It does the job very well and sounds very unique and expressive even with quick attack presets, unlike those that i design.

I use PC's and wish eMagic would have put something in their buyout contract to continue selling the PC version for at least a few more years...sure, it was nice of them to give a free crossgrade of 5.x, but I can build the baddest, fastest, glitch-free machines at the fraction of the price of a G5. Besides, the G5 is a Motorola chip found in IBM Blade Servers that are faster and can run SuSE Linux and 64-bit versions of Windows, so Apple uses third party software and hardware to make money, so I don't think that's too cool. Now they give away loops and GarageBand and other crap that makes electronic music sound like child's play, rather than a fine art of crafting tracks, patches, loops, and tweaking knobs. For this, I give it a 5. I give Apple a 3 for designing cool looking hardware and nice OS GUI's, and eMagic a 10 for all they do (did?)

20 Years Composing & Recording. I've been a faithful Logic User since 1993.

Simple enough.

The sound is very good. However, I believe this Modeller is meant to have its own sound rather than be comparitively this or that. Reason being is that the EVP-88 does NOT use Samples:
However, my intent really is to address some of the other reviewers who commented on things like "Sample Velocity Layer Switch-Points" being audible or simply comparing the sound of the EVP-88 to other EP Sample-Sets.
This is NOT a Sample Player nor does it use Samples as a basis for the sound.

It's a Digital Modeller of an Analog EP and consequently would have NO Sample Split-Points, Velocity Switch Cross-fades or any of the like audible or even existant.

As to clicking sounds and its overall Expressiveness, these elements are controllable (as they are on the other Emagic Digital Modelling Plug-ins e.g. EVD6, EVB3, etc.)

The overall value is truly fantastic considering that this and ALL other Emagic plug-ins are now bundled with Logic Pro and are therefore FREE.

Being an existing Logic User I paid $165US for the Logic Pro upgrade and got this and all other Emagic plug-ins :-)

Hats off to Emagic for that!

I'm primarily a producer, working on most modern styles.

The interface is fine. Though there could be more presets.

Initially, I was quite impressed.

The Rhodes was as good as many sample sets I've heard, not quite so good at the higher octaves (This suffers from the usual EP sample set problem; audible velocity layer switch points)- with the added ease of built in effects, which sounded quite warm.

Problems arose when I started trying to use it in tracks and listening more intently.

I had to do a lot of tweaking on each preset, and the 'Stage' models were way too clangy. The Wurli was actually pretty lifeless.

I was surprised to find clicks at the transients of many notes.

Note to eMagic... Get some feedback from some real EP boffins before you release next time.

End result, for recording I scrapped it, but I find it fine for quick demoing of ideas.

Grant.

This is a straightforward plug-in for Logic 4.0 and above. Just load it in, create and audio object, dial up a nearly perfect emulation of a classic electric piano, modify with all
of the classic effects, and enjoy. I'm running it on a beige g3 upgraded to a G4 with 700-something MB of memory, Delta 66 card. Plays like it was in my keyboard, 'cept
for that mouse part.

Polyphony is 88 keys--depending on how many are on your midi controller, of course. Responds to velocity; no pitch bend or mod-wheel control (unless these can be
programmed via midi;I don't see how at this point though. Built in effects are:Chorus, Tremolo, Phaser with stereophase, overdrive for a nice tube amp sound, bright/dark, 2
band eq, Bell and Damper controls. Everything to make these keyboards do what they do. Oh, also variable decay. Further modification available through Logic's plugins
and VST effects.

It's a cd-rom, about 80 pounds lighter than my old Stage 73. Emagic allows one back-up. Needs to be authorized every so often. I'm putting together a rig that includes this
on a Powerbook. Backup would be the e-pianos on my QS7, but they aren't in the same league.

Instant Love. You got your Suitcase Rhodes, plus the stage models I,II,and IV, with variations, a Wurly, and a Hohner Electapiano. As a former owner of a Stage 73, I'm
completely satisfied. This is the most satisfying software soundmaker I've played. Better than the B4, which I also have and am happy with. Use it for rock, jazz, church,New
Age, any popular music which might use a Rhodes. Cover Supertramp, 3 Dog Night, lose friends.

In 1983, as I was paying a month's salary to have my upright grand hauled by crane over the back fence, I imagined a day when tech would be this good. I'm happy to say
that most of my digital gear has fulfilled that dream. EVP88 has nailed it. I'm about to the place where my next keyboard will be a controller. I just got some killer inspiring
and totally usable sounds for a day's pay; I'm off to learn "The Logical Song."

makin music 4 longer...
1.0
Logic 4.81
...
G4 733 / 512 / Hammerfall+
Hammerfall -> apogee - A.D.A.M S3 mid nearfields ( german )

?Very nice interface
?No Probs installing, reauthorize every 3 weeks... hmmm - understandable
?No Need for automation really...
?Kinda weird presets... No really good ones
like -allround ones-
Very Easy going interface though - no extras - and all the knobs do what they should!
--- I miss a mono version of it though... : )
? ?

?sounds very cool at first...
- but if U listen really carefully, there are some strange wobbles in the sound...
This escpecially gets anoying when One uses a Filter on the plugin, like Autofilter...
?MORE presets needed! like really old sounding ones...
?Fairly good dynamics
? -Only- Stereo !?!?! why - the originals are mono, right ?
?64voices maximum I think... should be enough : )

Now as the hype is down - I think half-price would be reasonable.
?There is no other.... yet
?... there is no other...
?Quite heavy - yes - but once it's up one can tweak as much as can
-FX don't take much CPU at all - and they'r good !!
?Not one crash !
?Mono switch

I'm running Logic Audio Platinum 4.8 in Mac OS 9.2 on a 466Mhz G4 with 896Megs of RAM, controlled by a Roland RD-100 through a MidiSport 2x2 USB interface. I output though either the sound manager or audiomedia III pci card into Roland powered monitors.

If only Logic were as simple! it's all very intutive, just knobs that are self-explanatory. There's a wheel to select the various electric piano models, as well as knobs for the eq, decay, release, stretch tune, polyphony, and the effects (phaser, tremolo, and chorus)

I have to give it a mixed rating here. The Rhodes sounds are really good, as good as any other samples I've heard. They have a good range of sounds in response to velocity and the controls allow you to tailor the overall sound very well. They do get a bit thin and tinny in the upper two octaves or so, but still pretty good. The wurlitzer on the other hand is pretty mediocre. I play a real Wurli and this sound is not all that close. it almost sounds like they used the same sound source as the Rhodes and applied some eqing to it. The other pianos such as metalpiano and funk piano are ok but not useful to me. The Rhodes are definitely the best feature soundwise. All of the effetcs sounds great too, and are stereo. The tremolo is nice and smooth with a good range of speeds. The phase is totally vintage. I have an old Small Stone and with the feedback set low the EVP88's phaser can sound really cose. The chorus is actually nice too. i'm not usually much on chorusm but I really like this one. I also like the option to control the amount of tine sound you hear, or the belltone. I like a soft rhodes sound and most samples are too belly for me. I can dial that out here and get a nice round and dark Rhodes sound.

If I could do it over I'd probably just get the VST version with only the Rhodes sound, cause that's all I use anyway, and I could use it in other sequencers than just Logic. It seems pretty stable and low on CPU consumption. it's never caused a crash which is a good thing. I also don't like having to reauthorize it every 30 days or so.