When the PAiA Proteus 1 came out in 1978, it was still very unusual for a synth to have 16 storage slots. So it turned quite some heads, plus it was super rare, already at that time, since only under 100 units, or rather “kits” had ever been sold. The Proteus 1 kits retailed between 400$ to 500$ and had to be assembled manually by the purchaser! 

Many of the synths parameters could be controlled externally via the extensive patchbay on the back of the device, making it almost semi-modular. Its storage slots enabled the player to actually store and recall up to 16 user presets.