E-mu Morpheus

Price Paid: US $449

Ease of Use: 6
Just after I bought my first synth, the Yamaha DX-21, I decided that I wouldn't buy a synth with a small LCD. This is why I had shied away from E-mu modules. I just didn't want to program via the small 2x40 LCD. I recently got Emagic's SoundDiver and noticed that lots of E-mu modules were supported by it. So, I thought I could finally enjoy E-mu modules. I digree. Anyway, I was looking for a synth that could make excellent synth sounds. I didn't want to have another me-too sample playback synth since my other synths were capable of delivering authentic accoustic sounds. I already knew that the Morpheus could generate crazy synth sounds. So, I visited E-mu's homepage to check the specs, and to my surprise the Morpheus was on blowout sale for just $449. I couldn't resist. When I was first auditioning the presets, I kept talking to myself, "What the hell is going on?". To tell you the truth, the Morpheus impressed me more than any other synths I've owned & own including the k2k, wavestation, JV-1080 and so on. Most of presets are synth sounds, and I was very impressed by the uniqueness of its sounds. I wouldn't want to use the Morpheus without an editor. I'm not saying that the OS is illogical. There are simply too many things going on in the Morpheus's synth engine, so without help of a good editor you'd be easily lost. For those who don;t have an editor like SoundDiver, there's a free editor for Morpheus called MorphEdit available in the Internet. The manual is EXcellent. Its quality is on par with the quality of the K2k's brilliant manual. Good job, E-mu.

Features: 9
32 voice polyphony, 2 effects processors, 8MB ROM sample....(drum roll, please)...198 different filters(!). The filters are the heart and soul of the Morpheus. Some of the filters are not really filters. Instead, they act like effect processors, and they can mimic the resonance characteristics of (un)real instruments. For example, you can use flanger-type filters to make some of the best flanger effects you'll ever hear, or you can use, say, brass-type filters to emulate real brass sounds. This is why I would call Morpheus "SUBTRACTIVE-MODELLING SYNTH". Some of the filters are so wickedly brilliant in altering sounds that you'll be hard pressed to believe that those sounds are coming from a ROM based sample playback synth. Jim Aikin of Keyboard Mag attacked the Morpheus's filters by saying that the filters work on only overtones. True, you won't notice great filter effects if you apply Morpheus filters on sine waveform. If you want to hear drastic filter effects, you better choose a waveform with lots of overtones. However, I find Jim Aikin's criticism unwarranted because 1) the fact that filters work only on overtones is not Morpheus's fault per se; it's the nature of accoustics, 2) it is FAR better to have 198 different filters than to have a couple of different filters, 3) I've found that waveforms without strong overtones are still very good raw material for Morpheus filters. Sure, the sheer number of filters will intimidate you at first. In that case, you can always use traditional 2 & 4 pole filters, then if you feel more comfortable, you can venture into more exotic filters. The downside is that you don't know which filter to choose when programming. This is because the end result of a filter is often unpredictable. So, for me some of my patches were the results of happy accidents. Did I mention the morphing capabilities? As the name Morpheus implies, you can morph between two different sounds. For example, you can morphe between, say, a grand piano sound treated with a human-voice filter and a synth pad sound treated with a flanger filter. Assign the mod wheel to control the morphing and move the mod wheel while you're playing. You must hear it to believe it. Are you into modulation? Then the Morpheus will certainly impress you. It sports a 10x10 modulation matrix where you can assign modulation sources/targets to your heart's content. The modulation capabilities of the Morpheus approach those of the Oberheim Matrix 12.Last, but not the least, you can play around with the ROM samples if you wish; you can modify looping points and so on.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 9
Like I said, I was looking for a synth that could make brilliant synth sounds only. The Morpheus can make incredible synth noise: from heavenly, lush pads to continually evolving ambient sounds to some wacko synth sounds from the Hell. If I had to sum up the sounds of the Morpheus in a word, it would be "ALIVE". I know it's difficult to understand what "ALIVE" really means for you. Let me just say that the Morpheus sounds really organic. It just doesn't sound like a cold digital instrument. Instead, it sounds like as if the Morpheus were a living creature. Play it with a good weighted action controller and control some critical parameters in real time, and you'll se what I mean. I didn't expect good accoustic emulation sounds from the Morpheus, but there are some superb accoustic sounds in the Morpheus. The guitar harmonics sound is one of the best I've heard, and the accoustic steel guitar sound is absolutely beautiful partly due to the fact that some of the Morpheus's filters can emulate various picking points.

Reliability: N/A
The Morpheus is much heavier than I expected. Surely, a good sign.

Customer Support: 9
Have you received email replies from synth manufacturers? If not, try E-mu. E-mu responded to my email questions within 24 hour. Very cool.

Overall Rating: 9
The Morpheus didn't sell very well. That's why E-mu's selling it so cheap. The Morpheus was introduced not in a right time (It was introduced in 1993). When it was introduced, everybody was going crazy about the General MIDI thing, and all the manufacturers wanted to put the GM logo on their synths. What's more, the user was expected to **program** Morpheus. Also, the Morpheus was not designed to be a bread-n-butter synth. True, the Morpheus is not for everyone. However, if you're sick and tired of all the digital synths that sound basically the same, the Morpheus is for you. If you need strange, new sounds, then the Morpheus is for you. Or, if you're into synth sounds, look no further. The Morpheus will deliver synth sounds that you can only dream in your wildest dreams. Call E-mu and buy it. You just can't go wrong with the Morpheus, especially considering its $449 price. In fact, I'm thinking about buying a second Morpheus.

Submitted by Hyeong-Min Kim at 08/03/1998 18:44

Price Paid: US $700

Ease of Use: 6
If you are planning on using the Morpheus for the presets, then it is very easy to use; you press on button, then go through a few pages dialing in which programs you want on which channel with which effects. actually programming the Morpheus is a bit more dificult; it has a lot of features and modulation possiblities, and it can be somewhat frustrating to get the program to do what you want it to when you have to navigate a ton of different screens on the little lcd (and i'm used to an akai s2000) my programmiong problems were remedied when i picked up a freeware patch editor. i don't know if it exists on any platform other than pc, but it works for me. the manual is great; easy to get around and very informative. goes into a lot of detail about how everything works; includes VERY detailed sysex specifications.

Features: 10
Nitty-gritty: 32 voices, a filter for each, 2 effects processors, 6 outputs 8 megs of sampleROM (expandable to 16), PCMCIA slot for storing extra programs, 198 different kinds of filters (yes, 198), modulation matrix like i've never seen.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 9
the preset stuff, for the most part, is typical of a sample-playback synth . it's acceptable for that sort of thing, but i think the reason why the box hasn't sold (which is why you can get it CHEAP) is that there are better boxes for that sort of thing. when you start programming it, however, it SHINES. though the sample library isn't huge, all of sounds are high-quality (typical of e-mu), and the extensive modulation and filters will allow you to create endless new sounds. while the small sample bank is obviously a limitation for genres depending on very realistic sounds, like film-scoring or classical, some of the more esoteric filters work to very realistic and subtle effect on a number of sounds. on the other hand, if you want to make stranger music (techno, industrial, experimental), this box is a huge resource. for example; you can adjust the loop length and start point of the samples, even extending the loop region into other samples (the manual provides a map of where the samples reside in the physical memory), or you can use midi to modulate at what point in the sample it begins playing. the effects are all very high quality and very clean. the distortions have a surprisingly full sound for being in a digital synth effects processor, though i recommend running the morpheus through a tech21 XXL velocity curvature and intonation are fully programmable on each preset. if there was one word to describe this synth, it would be dynamic. the amount of modulation possible is unbelievable.

Reliability: 10
it's rock solid; all the knobs and buttons feel very reliable, and the power switch and lcd are recessed so they won't get hurt.

Customer Support: 10
E-mu are the coolest people alive. they sent me a free e-mu sampling cd for returning the card. when i called and said that i didn't own a sampler, they told me to keep it anyway. of course, i never did get the instructional video they promised me, but he hinted that it might have been discontinued.

Overall Rating: 9
For $700 you can't touch the horsepower it packs. i would buy it again the only thing i'd like to see in it is midi modulation of the effects. this box sounds cool and always has something new for me. only thing that i could complain about is that there are so many features (especialy filters) that it is hard to decide what you are going to use in a given patch.

Submitted by Ethan Duni at 01/17/1998 20:12