E-mu Proformance Plus

Price Paid: 50 euro

Ease of Use: 10
The only good thing for this unit is the ease of use

Features: 1
16 voices polyphony, Many problems with midi reception from my Korg DW8000 (sound changes while I play without any kind intention).

Expressiveness/Sounds: 2
This unit is awful, piano sounds like a TX81Z harp with bad equalization. Organ are not bad, but the modulation is awful. Good fingered bass, the only good instrument of this awful module.

Reliability: N/A
I think the only risk for this unit is the dust, because I think that i don'turn it on again.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A
Is the first and last time that I buy an instrument without testing his performance.

Submitted by Ciopa at 09/24/2004 08:09

Price Paid: 95 (euro) used

Ease of Use: 9
It's very easy to use. Just 5 knobs and that's it.

Features: 7
It has a polyphony of 16, which is only lacking for solo piano playing. This can be expanded to 32 by hooking up another Proformance to it. There are no effects.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 9
As mentioned above, very nice and neutral stereo piano sounds. However, you won't use it for solo piano playing. It reacts to velocity too static. When you play a very soft note, you hear a tone which is too loud and too bright for that velocity. So expression gets lost. It doesn't have snare resonance (when pressing the sustain pedal). Maybe this explains that the manual says that you saved 18 grand by buying this unit instead of a real grand piano.
There are 4 piano sounds: 2 "normal", one dark and one bright (rock). These sounds merge well with other instruments. I use it both in a rockband and in the studio.
The rest of the sounds (e-piano, vibes, organ) are reasonable, but not wonderful.

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A
Even considered the fact that there are keyboards/modules with better piano sounds, the Proformance isn't out of date yet.

Submitted by Patrick at 06/16/2004 06:37

Price Paid: US $75

Ease of Use: 10
It couldn't be much easier.

Features: N/A

Expressiveness/Sounds: 9
The piano samples themselves are very good all across the 88s, low to high.

My nit-picking complaint is that (as I read in another review somewhere and agree) although the amplitude responds to velocity, the timbre doesn't - The soft notes are too bright. I'm a little spoiled by having played a DX200 (DX7) so much recently and Yamaha FM IMO is the absolute reference standard for that kind of expressiveness. EMU wouldn't have even had to have velocity switched samples to correct this, if only there were just a velocity sensitive filter envelope I would be ecstatic about it's playability. Having said all that, if you really want a grand piano then go buy a grand piano! The Proformance Plus does fine for most live situations. Your audience will probably never notice the finer points. (Disclosure: I'm a synth player, not a classicly trained pianist.)

Reliability: 10

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 8

Submitted by Dan at 09/16/2003 18:50

Price Paid: US $70 used

Ease of Use: 10
as easy as toaster oven! simple, yet effective, just the way I like it!

Features: 10
polyphony is great... I never run out of voices even with the sustain pedal always to the floor.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
Instruments may be not as realistic as some crybabies would want them to be. Well, if you really want that B3 sound, then go out and buy B3 instrument! However, the clarity and punchiness of every instrument is just right.

Reliability: 10
toaster oven... you can drop it, toss it, spill that beer all over it, and it still runs!

Customer Support: N/A
didn't need any

Overall Rating: 10
Excellent unit. Get one!

Submitted by Rutger at 05/23/2003 15:52

Price Paid: US $75 used

Ease of Use: 10
Very easy to use. I put my module on the "midi" setting and control the patches through Cakewalk.

Features: N/A
I think polyphony is 32 voices, but I've never run out of voices.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 8
I really enjoy the sound because it is "neutral". You can make it sound however you want when you mix, because the sound is not "colored" coming out of the module. It's not easily recognized,like most piano sounds from other keyboards or modules.

Reliability: 10
I would use it without a backup. It's very light, but still seems durable.

Customer Support: N/A
Haven't dealt with them.

Overall Rating: 9
This is my 2nd EMU Proformance, and if this one was lost or stolen, I would probably buy it again. For sequencing, this is my favorite piano out of everything I've heard. The Kurzweil Micro Piano used to be my favorite, but too many people have used or are using it, and it's a VERY recognizable sound.I would definitely recommend this module to anyone.

Submitted by Reginald Reid at 02/23/2003 23:36

Price Paid: US $91 (ebay)

Ease of Use: 10
Very easy. Just remember to keep the MIDI switch on the right channel

Features: 8
It doesn't do a whole lot. It's just a piano module. But it's very good at doing what it's supposed to do

Expressiveness/Sounds: 9
The acoustic grands sound very realistic. Very nice. The only thing is it's not to velocity sensitive so your really soft notes sound louder than you want them to. Not too bad though. And it hisses. Not a whole lot of gain. But the piano sounds are so nice I still give it a 9

Reliability: 9
This is a tough piece of crap. Just don't let it get dusty.

Customer Support: N/A
I've never dealt with them

Overall Rating: 10
If I had it lost or stolen I would get another kind of module but I'm very happy I bought it and I'm very happy with it's performance

Submitted by Anonymous at 01/09/2002 09:41

Price Paid: US $125 used

Ease of Use: 9
It doesn't do much. You turn the knob or send the patch selection message via MIDI and you're done.

Features: 6
Never had any polyphony issues. The piano sounds are good, the vibes are OK and the organs are pretty cheesy. It is NOT multitimbral. The + gives you some additional patches accessible only through MIDI which have pre-set splits and that's all you've got. For the most part I use patches 4 (rock piano) and 8 (electric organ 2) exclusively. Can't complain too much for the price.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 4
See above

Reliability: 7
I had to replace the power supply because the original had a bad connection. It also has a tendency to overheat and behave strangely which is complicated by the lack of an on/off switch.

Overall Rating: 6
I'd probably look for a different module to replace this. Maybe something with a good rhodes sound on it

Submitted by Don Hosek at 04/08/1999 11:40

Price Paid: N/A

Ease of Use: 10
Can't be too difficult with only a few knobs.

Features: 2
There's nothing else in this box except sounds. All sounds comes natural without any effects. Polyphony is more than sufficient unless you're thinking of playing a duet.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 9
Can't get better piano sounds than this. I've been using my Proformance for 9 years and I've not come across another sound module producing a more realistic piano sound. The high and low notes are just great. Very expressive - like playing a real piano. Forget about the other sounds in this module, especially the e-piano. The vibraphone is quite good - able to appreciate the effect of the mallets hitting the vibes when playing hard.

Reliability: 9
Have absolutely no problems with it. I've even dropped it on hard cement floor a few times - it's still working with no hiccups.

Customer Support: N/A
Haven't met anyone from E-mu.

Overall Rating: 9
I will not give it up for anything else. I use it solely for the realistic piano sounds - just can't find anything else that comes close to the Proformance. One of my sound engineer friends first brought the Proformance to my notice and told my how great it sounded. I was at first a bit dubious about it since I'm VERY picky about piano sounds (being a pianist). I bought it not long after my first try-out and I have no complains about it for the past 9 years. My JV 1080 piano sounds with all the boasted expansions are a far cry from this small unit.
If you're looking for the best piano sound out there, the Proformance is a definite buy.

Submitted by Anonymous at 04/01/1999 09:32

Price Paid: US $150 used

Ease of Use: 10
Just a few knobs on this half 19" module. Only a real piano is easier to use

Features: 5
It doesn't have much features accept that it has that one piano sample that has stood the the test of time. Many professional users and recording studios own one.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 8
This module is famous for its main piano patch. You can hear it on many recordings of the nineties. It is a clear and neutral piano sound, very good in the highest octave. In comparisson with todays standard it still can stand the test. However it's a bit thin and has been surpassed by marketleaders such as Roland and Yamaha. But the differences are remarkebly small, regarding the fact that this module has been on the market for almost 7 years.

Reliability: 10
I think this thing will work even after mankind has ceased to exist.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealed with them, but from what I hear they seem to be very nice and helpfull guys.

Overall Rating: 8
You can find these modules second hand for reasonable prices. Owning one will most certainly improve your setup. The pianosound is better than almost any sample find in any workstation or synth. For example it's better than Trinity and JV series pianosound. If you can find one buy one. You'lle like its natural sound!

Submitted by Peter at 08/25/1998 13:07