Before I go into how great this thing is, let me explain a little about what I do. That way you'll see how it's being used, and how much.

First of all I produce music full time, everything from hip-hop to r&b to techno. So I'm pretty profficient in the use of various synths, sequencers, software programs, and hardware. My Proteus 2500 sits along side several other pieces of gear in my home studio. I have a lot of digital and analog gear, so this thing provides sounds like strings, piano keys and acoustic drums, that I usually can't get out of my other boards unless I sample them from somewhere else. And that, for me, is the Proteus 2500's greatest strength.

I'd never consider using this thing as a stand alone instrument, simply because the sounds sound better mixed into half-finished track than as the lead. The drum kits are amazing and if you stack the the bass kicks and snares you can kick out some pretty rough beats!

Although I usually sample the 2500, and sequence my tracks as audio, the other great aspect of this machine is the sequencer! The only time I use it is when performing live. It's easy to program, a breeze to edit and it's very reliable.

What I love most about this machine is it's versatility. I bang out syncopated Neptunes sounding hip-hop beats, rythmic Neo-Soul R&B and Pulse raising techno... all with the the same set-up. Now that's getting you money's worth!!!

Jon Gos http://www.copatone.com

The basic sounds are the same as the Proteus 2000 I believe, but theres a tonne of extra features, 3 x faster processor, a sequencer etc which i'll leave someone with more expertise than me to go into.

As for the sounds, its a mixed bag, of note are the Strings, Pads, Bass and the Drums. The Guitars, pianos and acoustic instuments are OK in general although some are pretty poor and some are pretty good. There are also some nice analog type sounds. I bought it to compliment my Triton, the Triton of course does a lot of sounds better than the Proteus 2500 as you'd expect, but the Proteus has a good selection of sounds not found on the Triton and of course it has those nice Strings and Bases.

Dont look for any nice vocal sounds on the Proteus the Choirs are really poor, there is also no Pipe Organ at least not that i could find. If i want a choir or Pipe organ the Triton or the Akai S2000 do me just fine for that :)