E-Mu Morpheus vs. Roland JV-2080

[Rameses]

I am considering to eventually get my first piece of hardware gear soon and it has to be a rack unit sound module. After long research my conclusion was that it would be the best thing to get either a E-Mu Morpheus or a Roland JV-2080 (I wanted to recreate a certain sound but also my gear budget is limited)

What are the pros and the cons of those particular synthesizers/sound modules? Do you've got experiences when it comes to those pieces of gear?

[Magnut]

Can't imagine a mature human being is not able to find specs of both pieces and compare them or to use the search function for similar threads.

[Rameses]

I wanted to hear subjective opinions by active members. Don't come at me with that karma-crap.

[EvilDragon]

They're both quite different... What exactly do you want to achieve with either of these two?

[dellboy]

I am considering to eventually get my first piece of hardware gear soon and it has to be a rack unit sound module. After long research my conclusion was that it would be the best thing to get either a E-Mu Morpheus or a Roland JV-2080 (I wanted to recreate a certain sound but also my gear budget is limited)

What are the pros and the cons of those particular synthesizers/sound modules? Do you've got experiences when it comes to those pieces of gear?

I have never thought of the Roland JV-2080 as having a particular sound,although it is a good rompler. The Emu-Morpheus does have a more distinctive flavour because of its Z-Plane filter, which Emu made a huge thing about when they released it. Hence the word "morph" because the sound can evolve.

I realise you want to go hardware, but a lot of the sound of the Morpheus can be coaxed out of the highly underated Emu Proteus vst which can be downloaded for free. The downside is you will need a 32 bit daw to host it. The sound of the JV-2080 can be pretty much recreated with Air Xpand2 vst which is often found for very little or even free.

[Rameses]

Thank you very much for stating your opinion, but doesn't a hardware solution have a different and much richer harmonic spectrum than perhaps a software which emulates the presets or the filter methods? I have my reasons for wanting the hardware and not a workaround solution because I know the pros of hardware The character of a synthesizer is not only the vague description of the sounds it puts out but it goes more into detail.

[Rameses]

They're both quite different... What exactly do you want to achieve with either of these two?

I wanted to make better music, to keep it simple. hardware romplers and such have got a very rich sound and sound quite differently from "computer stuff" especially rack unit sound modules.

[EvilDragon]

but doesn't a hardware solution have a different and much richer harmonic spectrum than perhaps a software which emulates the presets or the filter methods?

Not necessarily. Especially when the hardware is also purely digital, like both of these are. If you want something that is not yet quite done in software, go with the Morpheus (although u-he's Filterscape has morphing filters and EQs similar to it). Roland's digital filters are good, but nothing very special and unattainable in software realm.

[mike_the_ranger]

but doesn't a hardware solution have a different and much richer harmonic spectrum than perhaps a software which emulates the presets or the filter methods?

no

[Rameses]

Not necessarily.

Actually it was a rhetorical question, sorry From my experiences rack units sound way better than plugins. Perhaps not measuring it by the realism of the piano sound patch but overall the sound is much more natural.

[Rameses]

no

Of course it does

[mike_the_ranger]

no

Of course it does

no. And of course you don't know the answer, else there wouldn't be a question mark at the end of that sentence

[dellboy]

Thank you very much for stating your opinion, but doesn't a hardware solution have a different and much richer harmonic spectrum than perhaps a software which emulates the presets or the filter methods? I have my reasons for wanting the hardware and not a workaround solution because I know the pros of hardware The character of a synthesizer is not only the vague description of the sounds it puts out but it goes more into detail.

There is no getting over the appeal of hardware, after all it is in the physical world,and half the pleasure from using it is the visual appeal and touch. Without doing a double blind test its hard to say whether hardware digital stuff is better than software because the hardware module has a different output stage which is bound to colour the sound.

I owned a Korg M1 up until a couple of years ago which I bought around 1990. The sound of the Korg software version is pretty much exact to my ears. Although the only way to prove it would be to have a side by side comparison.

[Rameses]

I really don't care about the haptics, I only care about the sound output and efficiency, but judging just by simple comparisions found on the internet a hardware rack unit sounds better, but back to the topic: What do you think, which one of those two is better?

[Rameses]

no

Of course it does

no. And of course you don't know the answer, else there wouldn't be a question mark at the end of that sentence

It was a rhetorical question, I actually was suggesting that the question is the answer. I don't want this thread to derail though