Has anyone had experience of this unit? If so, is the sound quality good? How easy is it to use and what are filters and FX like?
Chris
EMU Xtreme Lead
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ElectronicaDub
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King of Snake
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I've had one for a while and i really liked it, but in the end sold it and bought a nord rack cause i wanted something with more hands-on control.
I'm thinking of buying one again though. The sounds are very good and varied, the filters are great and there's loads of modulation options. It does take some digging trough menu's to edit some parameters, since it only has 4 knobs on the front panel so it would be a good idea to use a midicontroller with it. Also i'd try and get the turbo version with the extra outputs, since the standard model only has one stereo out. I'd say if you can get a turbo for a decent price, it's definitely a very good and versatile little module.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: King of Snake on 2006-03-04 13:15 ]</font>
I'm thinking of buying one again though. The sounds are very good and varied, the filters are great and there's loads of modulation options. It does take some digging trough menu's to edit some parameters, since it only has 4 knobs on the front panel so it would be a good idea to use a midicontroller with it. Also i'd try and get the turbo version with the extra outputs, since the standard model only has one stereo out. I'd say if you can get a turbo for a decent price, it's definitely a very good and versatile little module.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: King of Snake on 2006-03-04 13:15 ]</font>
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ChampionSound
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I have a Proteus 2500 with a Extreme Lead expansion rom/card, so I guess this equals an original Extreme Lead module (mostly).
- Is is easy to use? Yes it's a rompler and I find it quite easy to navigate through the presets. Fortunately the Proteus 2500 has 16 programmable knobs instead of the 4 knobs on the original XL-1 module, so that makes the hands-on control a bit better.
- How does it sound? Some/quite a few presets are not that spectacular. I think the power of the module lies in the editing possibilities. You can change the sound in a lot of ways. You can go as complex as you want. There are 4 layers (oscillators or wavetables) per preset, with a lot of patchcords (modulation sources and destinations) for each layer. The Z plane filters are quite popular and unique sounding too. I managed to create some cool and unique sounding presets.
- I don't find the effects (reverb, delay, chorus, flanger, etc.) that special. They are ok. nothing more, nothing less. But that's no problem since I have enough scope FX to use instead of the Extreme Lead FX.
Bottomline, it depends on one's creativity to make this device a nice sounding and useful module (or not). Some don't like it because of it has some weak presets (and they don't want to put any effort in it to make it sound better), and some might love it because of the large amount of editing possibilities and Z-plane filters...
Personally I'm glad I have one
my 0,02c
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ChampionSound on 2006-03-04 13:57 ]</font>
- Is is easy to use? Yes it's a rompler and I find it quite easy to navigate through the presets. Fortunately the Proteus 2500 has 16 programmable knobs instead of the 4 knobs on the original XL-1 module, so that makes the hands-on control a bit better.
- How does it sound? Some/quite a few presets are not that spectacular. I think the power of the module lies in the editing possibilities. You can change the sound in a lot of ways. You can go as complex as you want. There are 4 layers (oscillators or wavetables) per preset, with a lot of patchcords (modulation sources and destinations) for each layer. The Z plane filters are quite popular and unique sounding too. I managed to create some cool and unique sounding presets.
- I don't find the effects (reverb, delay, chorus, flanger, etc.) that special. They are ok. nothing more, nothing less. But that's no problem since I have enough scope FX to use instead of the Extreme Lead FX.
Bottomline, it depends on one's creativity to make this device a nice sounding and useful module (or not). Some don't like it because of it has some weak presets (and they don't want to put any effort in it to make it sound better), and some might love it because of the large amount of editing possibilities and Z-plane filters...
Personally I'm glad I have one
my 0,02c
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ChampionSound on 2006-03-04 13:57 ]</font>
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ElectronicaDub
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A stereo output does not bother me too much because I record each instrument/track separatley anyway. My other synths only have a stereo output. As long as I get an almost completed sound when composing I'm not too bothered about a muddy overall mix. For me, the recording and mixing stage of a song is just as important as composing.
Are CC's easy to assign? Say, for example, I had a pad sound and wanted to vary the filter cutoff with CC1(modwheel). Can I assign the modwheel to the cutoff without affecting pitch? Do the filters produce zipper noise at high resonance, ie, as you alter the cutoff via midi, do you get interpolation artefacts? Are the filters steppy? Sort of thing
I edit my existing synths to death. I jump in at the deep end when it comes to editing, and love to make my own sounds.
Also, what is the Super Beats mode and how good are the arpeggiators. Do they glitch on busy tracks? Do you get hung notes?
Many thanks
Chris
Are CC's easy to assign? Say, for example, I had a pad sound and wanted to vary the filter cutoff with CC1(modwheel). Can I assign the modwheel to the cutoff without affecting pitch? Do the filters produce zipper noise at high resonance, ie, as you alter the cutoff via midi, do you get interpolation artefacts? Are the filters steppy? Sort of thing
I edit my existing synths to death. I jump in at the deep end when it comes to editing, and love to make my own sounds.
Also, what is the Super Beats mode and how good are the arpeggiators. Do they glitch on busy tracks? Do you get hung notes?
Many thanks
Chris
I always liked EMU's soundsets, compact and well tuned.
I once considered the XL-7 (or MP-7 as Roms are interchangeable) groovebox version. This might be an alternative with more knobs, triggerpads and sequencing capabilities - not sure if there's any old stock left, afaik they are out of production.
cheers, tom
I once considered the XL-7 (or MP-7 as Roms are interchangeable) groovebox version. This might be an alternative with more knobs, triggerpads and sequencing capabilities - not sure if there's any old stock left, afaik they are out of production.
cheers, tom
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ChampionSound
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Yes, you can assign the modulation wheel (cc01) to whatever you like. You can modulate the filter cutoff frequency with the modulation wheel (static or with LFO), but you can also use the modulation wheel to control the volume, pitch, panning and many more parameters, or all at the same time with one controller...
As far as I can remember I never noticed any zippernoise when I altered for example the cutoff frequency with a high Q through midi. I won't be surpriced if there will be a little zippernoise with very fast cutoff changes automated with midi, I'll try it tomorrow if you like. As far as I know frequency cutoff sweeps controlled by a LFO always sound a lot smoother than the 127 midi steps, but I guess that applies to most synths in general.
*edit* I have no experience with superbeats mode, because the Proteus 2500 doesn't have that feature.
The arpegiators are extremely versatile and besides the normal up/down/random/etc the module has a lot of additional arpeggio patterns with up to 100 programmable user patterns (32 steps).
cheers, Darce
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<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ChampionSound on 2006-03-04 14:51 ]</font>
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ChampionSound on 2006-03-04 14:59 ]</font>
As far as I can remember I never noticed any zippernoise when I altered for example the cutoff frequency with a high Q through midi. I won't be surpriced if there will be a little zippernoise with very fast cutoff changes automated with midi, I'll try it tomorrow if you like. As far as I know frequency cutoff sweeps controlled by a LFO always sound a lot smoother than the 127 midi steps, but I guess that applies to most synths in general.
*edit* I have no experience with superbeats mode, because the Proteus 2500 doesn't have that feature.
The arpegiators are extremely versatile and besides the normal up/down/random/etc the module has a lot of additional arpeggio patterns with up to 100 programmable user patterns (32 steps).
cheers, Darce
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<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ChampionSound on 2006-03-04 14:51 ]</font>
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ChampionSound on 2006-03-04 14:59 ]</font>
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ElectronicaDub
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Thanks all for your replies.
No synth is perfect all of the time. And that includes Scope synths. I find my Ensoniq sampler easier to use and more functional than the STS series. The STS sampler and the standard sample player are not that good, but they do have their uses.
I love my Scope card, but it is just tool in my sonic arsenal. My Ensoniq sampler certainly has bad points and good points. Same with Scope, same with Scope XP 2006 Plus 64 or whtever the new version may be called, I suspect.
I have been listening to an EMU Orbit demo CD and there are some great sounds there, even though the demos are.... crap. The Xtreme Lead, as far as I understand, has better sounds than the Orbit. You have made up my mind to buy an Xtreme Lead.
I sold my MC303 a few weeks ago for £100. The MC303 is really awfull, and a waste of money. I shall put the money towards an Xtreme Lead, warts and all
Hmmm, if this sounds like a ramble then I blame the lager. And the music I'm listening to. That's the Spirit of the Age.
Chris
No synth is perfect all of the time. And that includes Scope synths. I find my Ensoniq sampler easier to use and more functional than the STS series. The STS sampler and the standard sample player are not that good, but they do have their uses.
I love my Scope card, but it is just tool in my sonic arsenal. My Ensoniq sampler certainly has bad points and good points. Same with Scope, same with Scope XP 2006 Plus 64 or whtever the new version may be called, I suspect.
I have been listening to an EMU Orbit demo CD and there are some great sounds there, even though the demos are.... crap. The Xtreme Lead, as far as I understand, has better sounds than the Orbit. You have made up my mind to buy an Xtreme Lead.
I sold my MC303 a few weeks ago for £100. The MC303 is really awfull, and a waste of money. I shall put the money towards an Xtreme Lead, warts and all
Hmmm, if this sounds like a ramble then I blame the lager. And the music I'm listening to. That's the Spirit of the Age.
Chris