Description

The front panel closely resembles all of Emu’s recent rack synth releases. From right to left across the front panel we first encounter the power button, followed by the large, clicky data-entry knob. Beyond these are the main editing buttons, which access more than one task depending on the current context. They include a pair of left/right cursor controls, plus keys marked Home/Enter, Save/Copy, Edit, Master, Audition and the Arpeggiator/Beats button. In the centre is the 2 x 24 character backlit LCD, and to the left of the screen are the real-time control knobs. The Control button to the upper left of the control knobs determines the function of the latter; each time the button is pressed it steps through three control groupings, whereupon the parameters controlled by the four knobs changes. An LED denotes which control group is currently active and the control assignments are printed above each knob in line with the LED. A further LED for each control knob signifies when a knob has been moved away from its default programmed value within the current Preset. These knobs will transmit MIDI data, allowing the movements to be recorded and played back from a MIDI sequencer, or for use with a software synth, for example. The knobs can be set to provide only real-time control, or can also act as editing knobs when paging through the Vintage Pro’s editing screens. To the far left of the front panel are a headphone output and volume control.