E-mu Mo'Phatt (1999)

The Mo'Phatt is a 1U rack-mount sound module that E-mu released in 1999, aimed squarely at hip-hop and R&B production. It's built on the same engine as E-mu's Proteus 1000, with 64 voices and a 64MB ROM soundset. Sound on Sound (February 2001, p.8) introduced it as the dance-directed addition to E-mu's Proteus-derived series, and noted its completely new set of hip-hop and "urban" samples.

The front panel is simple - a two-line LCD and a handful of navigation buttons. The interface works, but it's dated. The menu structure is clumsy until you learn the button combos. Inside is a stereo 24-bit effects processor with reverbs, choruses, flangers, phasers, delays, and distortion, plus 24-bit DACs on the outputs. MIDI In, Out, and Thru are on the back, along with the main stereo outs and a headphone jack. Two ROM expansion slots take E-mu's expansion ROMs for more sounds.

The soundset is the whole point. These are sweetened, punchy, mix-ready presets, the kind that made the Mo'Phatt a go-to box for early-2000s beatmakers. It does one thing, and that one thing is exactly what a lot of producers wanted. The limitations are real: no deep subtractive synthesis, no sample import, no sequencing. The effects are decent but not spectacular, and the distortion gets harsh at higher settings. Used units typically sell for $150 - $300 depending on condition and whether expansion ROMs are included. Common issues are a dimming LCD backlight (replaceable) and internal PSU failures in units left powered on for years.

Known specs:

- 64-voice polyphony, 64MB ROM

- 24-bit effects processor and DACs

- Dual multimode filters, 3 LFOs, 2 ADSR envelopes per voice

- 12 modulation routings

- 1U rack-mount, MIDI In/Out/Thru

- 2 ROM expansion slots