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Average rating:
4.1 out of 5
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I have a Korg N1, which sports legendary woeful piano patches. This EMU unit isn't perfect, but I can at least gig with it, sound good and enjoy myself without worrying constantly about my sound. If you're a bop style pianist or play standards style material in trio/quartet settings I think you'll find this to be a pretty nice solution. If you play confidently and swing, the "holes" in the sound don't distract in the least.
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The piano samples themselves are good all across the 88's, low to mid to high.
My nit-picking complaint is that (as I read in another review somewhere) 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 devote any more sample memory to correct this...if only there were just a velocity sensitive filter envelope I would be ecstatic about it's playability and expressiveness.
Having said 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.)
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I've just been reaquainted with a Proformance+ and can't believe how bad it sounds. Maybe when it was released it was good by those standards but it's very, very poor indeed. Very artificial sounding with strained dynamics, and most patches are simply variations on the main samples. It's like listening to a Korg M1 today. If you're offered one, don't buy it!
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I totally agree with Pat. I have many different piano sounds to choose from in my studio, but my ear keeps tellin me to reach for the Proformance 1 Plus and I do. The sound is simply superb, and for the price, it is one of the best deals you can find.
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I've played grands for my whole life. When I set out for a piano mod, I listened to them all EMU, Korg, Roland, Yamaha, and Kuzweil. Just forget about it, there is only ONE of these units that truly, truly sounds like a real piano with a consistent stereo sample across the full 88 keyboard - the EMU Pro/formance.
I use this module with a Yamaha CP80 Electric Midi Grand controller. In stereo, the feel of the CP80, with the pro/formance stereo sample, convincingly recreates the experience of playing a true concert grand!!
At current prices on the net, this HAS to be the absolute greatest steal a musician's money can buy!
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