E-mu ProteusFX (1996–1998)
The ProteusFX is what the name says: a Proteus/2 with a serious effects section bolted on. E-mu had been building the Proteus line of ROM-based sound modules for years, and this 1U rack unit kept the familiar architecture and added a dedicated DSP for built-in processing. It was a 32-voice, 16-channel multitimbral sound module in a 1U-high metal rack case, aimed at project studios and live rigs. It shipped with 16 MB of ROM sample data - samples stored at 32 kHz, with the DAC running at 44.1 kHz. It had four audio outputs (main stereo plus two auxiliaries) and a 24-bit S/PDIF digital output. The front panel carried a 2-line, 20-character LCD.
The effects were the headline feature. Each of the 16 MIDI channels could be routed to one of four effects buses, and the FX section ran on its own dedicated DSP, independent of the voice architecture. The algorithm list included reverbs, choruses, flangers, delays, a vocoder, and distortion. Sound On Sound called it one of the best-value sound modules on the market, praised the effects as remarkably good and the unit as very easy to program. The reviewer did note that the effects section reset to a default state on power-up, which could get annoying. The vocoder, apparently, was a lot of fun.
Voice architecture followed the Proteus norm: three envelope generators per voice, two LFOs, and a four-pole resonant low-pass filter. The OS was flash-updateable, and a pair of ROM expansion slots took additional sound libraries. User patches lived in battery-backed RAM. The original MSRP was US$549.
Known specs, in brief:
- 32-voice polyphony, 16-channel multitimbral
- 16 MB ROM, samples stored at 32 kHz (DAC at 44.1 kHz, 24-bit)
- Dedicated effects DSP: reverbs, choruses, flangers, delays, vocoder, distortion
- 4 audio outputs (main stereo + 2 aux), 24-bit S/PDIF out
- MIDI in/out/thru, 2×20 LCD, 1U rack-mount
- Two ROM expansion slots, flash-updateable OS
- US$549 MSRP
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