Audity 2000
Synthesizer/Sequencer
Emu-Ensoniq
“Aloha!” Such is the greeting that introduces the owner’s manual of the Emu-Ensoniq Audity 2000 mega-monster groove machine. As the opening salutation suggests, the Audity 2000 is a sonic transportation device capable of taking you to just about any rhythmic landscape from here to Timbuktu and back. A mere one-rack space in size, the Audity 2000 manages to pack a tremendous amount of sound and compositional technology.
The Audity 2000’s sound set consists primarily of analog, noise and modern synthesizer waveforms with the powerful Emu filter banks providing broad timbral control. The unit contains 640 ROM presets, 256 user presets and a powerful synthesizer tool kit for programming your own sounds. Up to 64 modulation sources are available including three multistage envelopes and two LFO’s per sound layer, as well as full MIDI control over virtually every parameter. A digital patch bay adds yet another layer of programming flexibility with the availability of 24 patch cords per layer.
As great as the sounds are, the Audity’s real strength is its Rhythmic Pattern/Arpeggiator. With this advanced arpgeggiator, up to 16 rhythmic loops can be triggered at once using a different sound source for each. Patterns can be edited using pattern flow commands such as delay for two bars, play for four bars, hold for two beats and repeat. You can also program or download up to 100 user patterns to add to the 100 factory patterns. Also, version 2.0 of the unit’s operating system is now shipping with the Audity, doubling the polyphony from 32 to 64 voices, allowing for an even greater density and lushness to the sequenced patterns.
Although the small size and simple layout of the front panel only hints at the depth and breadth of musical possibilities hidden under the hood, only a few short minutes with the Audity 2000 is all that is needed to realize the power of this instrument. If your music calls for rhythm-based grooves, then the Emu-Ensoniq Audity 2000 is a box that must be checked out. Emu-Ensoniq, 1600 Green Hills Road, P.O. Box 660015, Scotts Valley, CA 95067; http://www.emu-ensoniq.com
