What’s the closest thing to an EMU Proteus plugin we have?

Discussion in 'Samplers, Synthesizers' started by grrarrrgh, Apr 4, 2026 at 4:52 PM.

  1. lbnv

    lbnv Platinum Record

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    Yes, 999 999 999.99 pounds is a bit too much...
     
  2. liquidlove

    liquidlove Kapellmeister

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    The Digital Sound Factory libraries suck. They’re Kontakt recreations of the sounds, all drenched in sucky Kontakt reverb. They do not sound the same.

    The only correct way - the patches actually sound close to the hardware units - is the already mentioned Emulator X3. Which can load all the rack units in software form, and also E-MU IV sampler libraries.

    The only problem is that it’s ancient PC software, hard to get to run on Macs (some have managed, via ”wine” type Windows emulators).
     
  3. Synth Life

    Synth Life Platinum Record

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  4. orbitbooster

    orbitbooster Audiosexual

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    (Below) The remnants of Emu stuff I still have. Last year I tested them, reset with factory sysex, they still work even with no backup battery replaced (I'll do).

    Little history: I bought Vintage keys just for ONE preset I loved, and I used only that ever, but I forgot to get its name, I have to power it again and compare it with a clip I made in 1994.

    Then I bought UltraProteus THINKING it had all previous Proteus presets, I was wrong. I searched "Whistling Joe" to play X-Files... stupid boy I was.
    However I discovered that it was a huge improvement from Morpheus, it had much more Z-plane filters, and to date I can't find any vst able to emulate them properly.
    Yes there is Filterscape and many other vsts, but no, I tried and they're not comparable and it's not the old war hardware/software, it's just that no one bothered to recreate them, maybe because of copyright.

    So I won't sell them.
    IMG_20260405_101843_678.jpg
     
    Last edited: Apr 5, 2026 at 9:55 AM
  5. PulseWave

    PulseWave Audiosexual

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  6. Djilaani

    Djilaani Newbie

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    Again, the Kontakt libraries don't sound like the actual unit, but the SoundFonts do. :)
     
  7. orbitbooster

    orbitbooster Audiosexual

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    Hey I didn't know yet but I have all libraries still.
    At last I could try Whistling Joe, but I found it disappointing, something missing, fxs, duh.
    Clipboard Image (05-04-2026, 12.20.52).jpg
    Clipboard Image (05-04-2026, 12.23.11).jpg
     
  8. clone

    clone Audiosexual

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    The samples for it are in there, but the preset is from the 2, The famous 90s pick bass patch is from the 1. Do you have any of the data cards for it?
     
  9. orbitbooster

    orbitbooster Audiosexual

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    All the stuff you see in folders pic plus other stuff I didn't care to load.
    The X-files Whistle is from Proteus 2 while other sounds come from Synclavier, but I can't say which one.
    I try to load Proteus 1 and see if I recognize some sound.

    If you mean rom cards, I don't think I have them, but I may have unbeknown to me.:winker:
     
  10. PulseWave

    PulseWave Audiosexual

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    E-mu Emulator X3 Plus Library

    As E-MU ended production of their hardware samplers in 2003, they were getting ready to release the final Emulator in 2004 – Emulator X. This was a software-only Emulator, and was backwards compatible with the hardware Emulator IV series samplers as it could both read and write .E4B files.

    The first two versions (Emulator X in 2004 and Emulator X2 in 2006) required either an E-MU audio/MIDI interface to be installed as part of the copy protection scheme, but the third (Emulator X3 in 2009) only used an activation server. The activation server is confirmed working (as of 11/15/18), but–in the event it ever goes down–we’ve archived an activated version of the software using the open-source VirtualBox virtualization product by Oracle.

    Here’s what the final version of the E-MU web site had to say about Emulator X3:

    E-MU’s Emulator® X3 is the world’s most powerful and complete software sampling tool in the world, featuring E-MU’s new Xstream™ streaming sound engine with a up to 192kHz sampling and playback, 32-bit and 64-bit native applications for both Windows XP and Windows Vista, an arsenal of automated sampling/beat analysis/editing tools and almost unlimited sound manipulation that builds on E-MU’s 40 years of synthesis experience.

    Emulator X3 features:

    – Xstream™ 24-bit/192kHz Streaming Engine, featuring E-MU’s patented pitch interpolation and precision 32-bit floating point processing for unmatched sound quality
    – 32-bit and native 64-bit applications included (32-bit: Windows XP and Vista; 64-bit: Windows x64 and Vista)
    Optimized for Multi-core and Multi-Threaded processors to intelligently balance the processing load across all available resources for exceptional performance
    – Automated sampling, pitch detection and preset creation with integrated waveform editor
    – Powerful synthesis architecture with over 50 Z-Plane filters and 100 tempo-based parameters per preset
    – Standalone (64 MIDI channels) or VSTi operation (16 MIDI channels per instantiation)
    – Sound Engine supports RAM and streaming playback
    – Integrated effects processors
    – Improved sound format support, including EOS, EIII, GigaSampler, MP3, REX2, .AIFF, SoundFont 2.1, .WAV, File Converter Application, and more
    – Ships with over 3GB of sounds, including the complete Proteus 2000 soundset, a stunning 1.5GB Grand Piano, 24-bit drums and grooves, Xtreme Lead X, and more – additional soundsets available
    – Xplode™ beat slicer with MIDI and Tempo Map Export
    – Comprehensive DSP Tools including Transform Multiply and Xtractor™
    E-MU Sound Central Library

    • Platinum 88
    • Modern Symphonic Orchestra
    • Xtreme Lead X
    • Techno Synth Construction Yard
    • Protean Drums X
    • Beat Garden X
    • MoPhatt X
    • Planet Earth X
    • Virtuoso X
    • Vintage Pro X Vol 1
    • Vintage Pro X Vol 2
    • Vintage Pro X Vol 3
    • Street Kits
    • Beat Shop Two
     
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