Price Paid: N/A
Ease of Use: 8
For: the only rackable philharmonic; generous, first-chair sounds for the budding Elgar or Elington
Against: no space for a ROM upgrade - string choirs aren't up to rest of the ensembles - no pianos or sax family (though there was hardly room)
Features: 7
Sound Method: Sample Based (8 Mb ROM) Module: 1 Rack Space Voices: 32 polyphony; Multitimbral (dynamic) Sound Memory (2): 128 ROM/64 RAM Sound Memory (2XR): 128 ROM/256 RAM Connections: In/Out/Thru, 2 stereo pair
Expressiveness/Sounds: 8
There was a time, not too very long ago, when you had to own a bank to get CD quality orchestral sounds; we're talking synth/sampler/digital work stations that approached the $300,000 mark!
Unless you played pop, synth manufacturers ignored anyone with Dvorakian aspirations. You might find the odd violin or bassoon sample on affordable machines, but to find a whole orchestra? Never. That changed with the Proteus 2.
Not only did the P2 provide timbres unavailable to the average musician before, it set a standard. It's a rare machine today that doesn't house a substantial set of symphonic sounds, all thanks to the P2. And still the P2 offers contra bassoon, alto flute, bass clarinet, etc., which other boxes (especially the dreaded GM speced machines) pass over.
To appreciate the attention to sound detail, you need only play through the patches. Virtually all of them are beautiful and the voicings of woodwind, string, and brass choirs is correct and a blast to play (wow, that really sounds like a wind ensemble!). You might quibble about a flute here or a trumpet there, but the only noticeable disappointment goes to the massed, but dry strings (yet these sound terrific when married to a string patch from another machine).
In the Emu tradition, there's a lot of editing power and resilience in these patches and some foundation-rattling drones can be produced, along with the more common "synthy" textures.
Reliability: N/A
Half a decade after its introduction, the P2 still gets respect and has respectable specs and an ease-of use that belies its simple datawheel/small screen interface.
The casing is plastic, and some poo-poo this. I think it's great. Rack units don't need to be solid steel, so the lighter the better.
P2 prices vary wildly. I've seen them going from a cheap $200 to an outrageous (and unbuyable) $600 in the past year. A decent price would be around $350.
Submitted by Thomas Clement at 03/01/1997 12:37
