Price Paid: N/A
Ease of Use: 7
Easy enough to use if you know your way around the PC. IMPORTANT NOTE: The Proteus X LE sampler that comes with this keyboard has copy protection which only works when the keyboard is plugged in to your USB port. That means if you plan to use this with a laptop, you HAVE to take the keyboard with you to listen to your songs. It's a limitation that makes Proteus X LE worthless to me.
Features: 8
Pretty good keyboard action for the price. At least it's better than the M-Audio boards I tried. The knobs and wheels feel excellent.
Expressiveness/Sounds: 4
The Proteus X LE that comes with has some decent sounds. Nothing stellar, but good enough to get your point across. Just don't plan to use on a mobile studio without the Xboard plugged in. See my note in Ease of Use.
Reliability: N/A
Too soon to tell.
Customer Support: 8
I sent them an email with a complaint about the copy protection, and they responded within one business day. Not bad even though they could't help.
Overall Rating: 7
For the money, you can't beat this thing. Especially if you can actually use the Proteus sounds.
Submitted by Bobby at 01/09/2006 18:57
Price Paid: US $169.99
Ease of Use: 10
Very clean and simple layout makes it a pleasure to use. The patch editor (I use the OS X version) is probably the best I've used with any USB keyboard controller I've owned. The manual is well written and explains everything without being too long.
Features: 9
This the the least expensive controller that I know of with channel aftertouch. The CME boards have aftertouch, but it won't work under USB power. The Novation ReMOTE does, but is over twice the cost.
For a $170 keyboard controller, I was surprised at how solid it is made especially compared to the M-Audio/Evolution/Edirol alternatives. It seems the be heavier that similar 49 note controllers from other manufacturers. The sixteen, 270 degree knobs have a firm feel to them as do the switches. The feel of the keybed is the best of any of the controllers I've tried, including those I just mentioned above. It is similar to the feel of the original Yamaha DX7 keybed, which is generally agreed to be one of the best synth actions.
Some people, particularly organ players, might not like that there are no sliders or faders to use as drawbars, only the 16 knobs. Since I'm a synth player, I don't find this to be a
problem.
There is an input on the back that takes either a sustain pedal or an expession pedal, but not both at the same time. It would have been nice if there was a seperate input for both.
The controller's design is very sleek and minimal with nice silk-screened graphics.
Expressiveness/Sounds: 9
There is Proteus software included as a bonus for Windows users, but this isn't available for Macintosh, so I have no opinion on the sound from the software since I use OS X. There are eight velocity curves to choose from and the default linear curve has a good response (I haven't tried the others). Aftertouch works beautifully, with good tactile response when a key is held a pressed down.
Reliability: 10
This board looks like it will hold up to continued use and shouldn't be a problem on a gig.
Customer Support: 10
I called E-mu for product info before I bought this and after to register it. They were easy to contact with almost no wait time.
Overall Rating: 10
This is without a doubt, the best synth action controller in the under $250 price range and is a great value. I would definitely get another if this one was lost or stolen.
Submitted by Ed Arszyla at 08/11/2005 23:16
