Trend price : 100-150€
Early keyboard version of the famous module Emu Proteus 1 adding a special FX DSP section.
Overview
KEYBOARD (weight: 10 kg) 61 keys with velocity and aftertouch. Main panel features a 16 x 2 LCD display, 30 push button, 1 volume slider and 1 data encoder.
Rear panel terminal connectors:
-
main signal out
- Midi interface
- headphones
- 1 pedalswitch input (eg: SUSTAIN)
- 1 pedal input
(eg: VOLUME).
Voice
Up to 32 channels polyphony - a voice is composed by 2 elements samples called "primary" and "secondary" with some edit parameters:
-
pitch tuning (fine and coarse)
- keyzone assignment
- start delay
- stereo panning
-
mix level
- reverse playback
- chorus mode (thicks voice)
Wavetable
internal 4Mb ROM 125 PCM waves at 39 kHz / 16 bits resolution. PCM wavetable contains all kind of sounds samples including: piano, string, sax, trumpet, brass, guitar, bass, organs, drums, percussions and basic waveforms (digital, square, harmonics, short-cycled).
Some different wavetable upgrades were available:
- Plus Orchetral extra rom adds 4 MB of orchestral sounds
Performance
up to 16 parts some special functions:
- solo monophonic mode (for OSC1/OSC2/BOTH)
- crossfade balance between primary and secondary
- pitchbend range (+/- 1 OCT)
-
3 footswitch assignable controls (eg: sustain, portamento, hold...)
- key velocity control
- scale tuning 5 presets (equal, vallotti, just C, 19 tone, gamelan) + 1 user free.
LFO
delayed modulators (shapes: sin, triangle, saw, square and random) for pitch with variable amount and random fluctuation.
Envelope
3 EGS - structure : 4 segments + 2 times:
1- primary sample amplitude
2- secondary sample amplitude
3- AUX (assignable) EG can be assigned a matrix modulation control.
Midi
full sysex commands and some basic CC controls including: panning, modulation and 4 assignable controllers ABCD (see "matrix" below).
FX double DSP engine for effects A/B:
A - REVERBS: delay, reverb (plate, chamber, hall, warm), stereo chorus, EQ, echo.
B - VARIOUS: flanger, chorus, phaser, fuzz, ring modulator, cross delay, EQ.
Memory
-
100 ROM patches
-
100 RAM slots
RAM 256 KB S-RAM doubled if memory card fitted.
Audio demo:
Video Clip:
Review
OK: cheap / DSP EFFECT
NOT : outdated pcm / no filter
Bit old sample wavetable and no filter section. The fx section is a nice feature compared to previous Proteus module. There are a LOT of sample collections around just in case. Beware of some possible issues with keyboard, psu and display.
Text , review, special demos copyright polynominal.com / Eric Pochesci