Members evildragon Posted December 21, 2011 Members Share Posted December 21, 2011 Transwaves. I know Kurzweils also use a "wave table" method of storing sounds, like Ensoniqs. It would be totally amazing to...how do you say...play through a bunch of them, like on the Ensoniqs, with a start/end point and modulation amount. Kurzweil doesn't actually use wavetables. They use keymaps. Which makes wavetabling around a looooooooooot more complex. Kurzweil needs a dedicated wavetable mode/oscillator/DSP/whatever, in which you would then build your wavetables and/or wave sequences. See OASYS/Kronos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted December 21, 2011 Members Share Posted December 21, 2011 I had a Mirage, then later a Mirage rackmount version, and then an EPS. I still own the EPS and use it as a practice board sometimes. All very cool and easy-to-use boards for their time, although they could be glitchy as hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Franz Schiller Posted December 21, 2011 Members Share Posted December 21, 2011 Kurzweil doesn't actually use wavetables. They use keymaps. Which makes wavetabling around a looooooooooot more complex. Kurzweil needs a dedicated wavetable mode/oscillator/DSP/whatever, in which you would then build your wavetables and/or wave sequences. See OASYS/Kronos. By "wavetable" I mean, a series of samples all strung out in a single file, that the synth dips into, to play. Although I can't find the exact part of the K manual that explains it, this short excerpt from the explanation of the sample editor references it: "The start points of ROM samples can be set lower than zero (you can set negative numbers for the Start (S) and Alt (A) parameters). Doing this will cause portions of other samples to be played, which can create interesting effects. Note that for RAM samples, you won't see any waveforms displayed to the left of the Start point, but you will for ROM samples." This implies a wavetable, at least. It also makes me realize a cheat to make Kurzweils "trans" a wave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members evildragon Posted December 21, 2011 Members Share Posted December 21, 2011 Hm, yeah - but you have only one fixed order of samples in that one wavetable. You cannot change it to a custom order, which is a shame. Also, you cannot set S and A to negative values on the PC3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members playstation Posted December 21, 2011 Members Share Posted December 21, 2011 I just brought an Esq-1 back to life. It had a 1986 battery in it and OS 1.7 LOL!!! Stuck the 3.53 Hidden Waves Roms in it and soldered in a new battery and it is like new! The CEM analog combined with the digital front end sounds so nice. Why on earth can't modern companies see the potential of the hybrid format? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Franz Schiller Posted December 21, 2011 Members Share Posted December 21, 2011 Hm, yeah - but you have only one fixed order of samples in that one wavetable. You cannot change it to a custom order, which is a shame.Also, you cannot set S and A to negative values on the PC3. The Ensoniq VFX/SD/and others also have a fixed order of samples, something like 250 samples all in a row. You can set the start and end samples, say from 8 to 63. On certain later Ensoniqs, you can program a list of which samples you'd like to scan through. I actually don't have a PC3, I have a K2661, so I can set the S and A to negative values. I just don't know why I've never done it before. I actually was able to create a very crude, sloppy wavetable effect by modifying PoserP's xOxOx creation he discussed on Sonikmatter. But, my mutant version really isn't very usable for playing, just blips and bloops...which is cool on occasion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Synthaholic Posted December 23, 2011 Members Share Posted December 23, 2011 Jay's Music & Sound, in Augusta, GA has a KT76 and an EPrime for $899 each. I had never heard of an EPrime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Conbrio Posted December 23, 2011 Members Share Posted December 23, 2011 I had never heard of an EPrime. Me either. Here's some information about it: http://www.sweetwater.com/publications/sweetnotes/sn-fall97/page-04.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Synthaholic Posted December 23, 2011 Members Share Posted December 23, 2011 Me either. Here's some information about it:http://www.sweetwater.com/publications/sweetnotes/sn-fall97/page-04.html Thanks! That's the board - the pitch/mod wheels definitely caught my attention, walking past it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Real MC Posted December 23, 2011 Members Share Posted December 23, 2011 One cool thing.... they sampled the ebony 11' Steinway grand that belonged to my high school and that sample was what was in the KT76. Dave, I'm a big fan of Kurzweil but Steinway never made an 11' piano. The longest they made was 8' 3/4". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gregwar Posted January 6, 2012 Members Share Posted January 6, 2012 what if ensoniq could take some of their sampler heritage and effects algos and make a dedicated hardware controller like akai and ni ? just a suggestion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members elsongs Posted January 9, 2012 Members Share Posted January 9, 2012 The ASR-10 took care of the sampling lust though, one of my biggest regret sales, Same here. I used to be sooooo prolific in terms of songwriting/production with my old EPS, then ASR-10. I bought an MPC2000XL, then I sold the ASR-10 after realizing most of my samples were drum hits and loops and didn't need any pitched instruments (my Roland JV-1010 rompler module filled that role). I was low on cash circa 2003 or so and I hardly used my ASR at that point, so I sold it. Dang thing was hot and heavy, both literally and figuratively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mediterranean Posted April 1, 2012 Members Share Posted April 1, 2012 MR-76 is still my main DP, sitting under my NE2. I'd love to find a suitable replacement -- after a few too many blues jams a couple keys are broken in ways I can't fix. (They still work but feel wrong. I can fix the white ones when they break, but not the black ones.) And I want more than just a DP, for occasional strings or lead synth parts.When it's finally gone, the sound I'll probably miss the most is the SuitcasePiano (rhodes). It's not my favorite or the best Rhodes, but it has qualities I've never found in anything else. For example, the stereo vibrato triggers per-note, which is inauthentic, but makes for a remarkably lovely effect in certain cases. It also layers sweetly with piano and other sounds.Creative bought Ensoniq for its DSP technology, and as a competitive buyout. The fact that Ensoniq made keyboard instruments was irrelevant, and probably just an added nuisance. They swept that technology into their EMU dustbin. Such a shame! I'd love to be able to get at some of the underlying samples. Hi Jeff, What's the most one should pay today for the Ensoniq MR-76 in your opinion? There's one at an online auction [so far: $400.00, 9 hours left at the time of this post]. Shipping is $85.00. I love the sounds of this keyboard [pads, strings, drums, but especially its gorgeous piano sound], 76 weighted-action keys, 64 polyphony, 16-track sequencer and a great feature called "Idea Pad" which constantly captures whatever you're playing. Also, it's advertised as a Kurzweil instrument. Did Kurzweil buy Ensoniq? Listen to this thing. Hard to believe it was released in 1996. Dayymmm! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chevybusa Posted April 1, 2012 Members Share Posted April 1, 2012 +INFINITY....Back when I had an all hardware rig I had an ESQ-1, Mirage, Fizmo, and VXFD all at one time or another and loved all them, the ESQ-1 and Fizmo being my favs, probably cuz I spent the most time with them, but they were all great... I know this may be heresy to some but since I'm all ITB now I'd really really really love it if whoever owns the rights to the patent/design whatever to all of Ensoniq's stuff would do what Korg did for the M1, Wavestation, etc etc and make them softies, that would be absolutely FANTASTIC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Casio Man Posted April 1, 2012 Members Share Posted April 1, 2012 I still believe in Ensonics return in some form or another...although, I think that belief starts to require believing in magic, but the now removed info about come back in their Wiki page makes me a believer. At least I think the chances are some what higher than seeing the come back of Jesus in our life time...although Jesus's come back info has not been removed from his wiki page, so I don't know. A while back I thought that Ensonics come back could happen in soft form, but perhaps coded in Creatives latest Quad core DSP -sound card to promote Creatives processors, as the cheapish sound card market has gone real cheap lately and Creatives position in sound card market has suffered a bit from chipless "sound -USB stick" spamming. Perhaps it could be even a midi controller, that has that Quad core DSP inside of it, which could work without a computer, as well as being an accelerator for audio applications in your pc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members evildragon Posted April 1, 2012 Members Share Posted April 1, 2012 Listen to this thing. Hard to believe it was released in 1996. Dayymmm! It does share quite a lot of Kurzweilesque sound quality of that time. K2500 was also released in 1996. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJ RAZZ Posted April 1, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 1, 2012 Kurz and Ensoniq were and are America's versions of the big three. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members evildragon Posted April 1, 2012 Members Share Posted April 1, 2012 You forgot E-MU there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JeffLearman Posted April 1, 2012 Members Share Posted April 1, 2012 It has nothing to do with Kurz. I think the piano sound almost competes with some of today's better digitals, and is way better than a number of the mediocre digitals. For example, I like the CDP-100 but the MR much more, and the Nord NE2 is horrible in comparison. Plus it has a lot of cool stuff I haven't even scratched, since I'm not using much polysynth tones or world beats. Oh, the drum kits in it are awesome, for a board of its age. $400 is a reasonable price if all keys are good. Be sure to ask if any keys "clack" when played. It's a common result of frequent/hard playing (happened to mine). If only white keys clack, they can be fixed. It's a REAL pain in the ass to get the keyboard open to the action the first time! There's a screw you can't get out until you've taken it apart, but have to unscrew to take apart. I've had mine apart 3 or 4 times and just never replaced that screw. If black keys clack or don't feel like all the other keys, don't buy it. They can't be fixed. The clacking on white keys is due to a little peice of plastic that breaks off causing the key to bottom out at the bottom plastic-to-plastic when the flyweight hits the underside of the key. It doesn't affect action or velocity or playing or anything, but it's loud and feels annoying. The fix is to put some fuzzy sticky velcro on the underside of the key. Black keys tend to fail by the flyweight breaking off. If there's a way to fix it, I haven't found it. I really like the sounds of mine. However, you might also want to consider a ZR76 if you'll be using it live. The main difference is that the ZR76 has patch selection buttons. With the MR, you have to either use the scroll wheels or hold a button and spell the sound (using letters over the keys). You can set up patches as sequences, but then you can't quite use the other features, like transpose, layer, and split. (Well, there's a way to layer and split, but with restrictions.) I've seen ZR76's go for $600-800, though that was a couple years ago. My MR is in its last days due to broken keys, and the buttons are starting to fail. I"ve used it a lot, and taken it to blues jams where heavy-handed players pounded it. It's held up as well as can be expected. But when it finally goes the way of the dodo, there will be a number of things about it that I'll miss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JeffLearman Posted April 2, 2012 Members Share Posted April 2, 2012 PS: I've played those demos a lot! It's what I put on whenever I have some issue in the PA chain so I can sort it out, usually in the studio because live there's someone else to take care of that crap (lol) BTW, don't ever expect to get the guitar patches to sound like the guitars in the demos like the hard bop one -- I'm sure whoever recorded it used a MIDI guitar to get the strumming/picking to sound that authentic. There are a few other sounds in the demos that aren't standard patches and for the life of me I couldn't figure out how they did it. Don't remember which ones, though. I did get a lot of use out of the acoustic upright. To hear that and other sounds from this keyboard in amateur "productions", see the "collaborations" section at my website (http://learjeff.net), and it's also used on my "CD" which is mostly acoustic guitar stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mediterranean Posted April 2, 2012 Members Share Posted April 2, 2012 lol Jeff. I waited for your reply sooner. It's gone [sold for $401 plus $85 shipping]. It's ok though. Thank you very much for your reply By the way, there are tons of keys on eBay if you ever need to repair your MR76:) http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=ensoniq+mr+76&_sacat=See-All-Categories Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JeffLearman Posted April 2, 2012 Members Share Posted April 2, 2012 Sorry, just got home from a weekend at the beach. Those parts won't fix the problem, but thanks. I did buy a low E key for my NE2/73, which is now a 74. :-D It's way better that way! PS: it took more than just the key, had to have a friend fabricate a part from my drawing. The only fix for the MR76 is a new keybed, which is no longer made and can't be found anywhere for 5 or more years. The broken parts are hinged to a long metal hingepin that runs the full length of the keyboard. Earlier Fatar keyboards had sections, but this one is full length. No way to get a new piece on without taking way too many off, and I have no idea how I'd slide the hingepin out, and the parts aren't available anyway. Superglue lasts a month on the broken flyweights. Ah well. I'll sell it to someone cheap to use as an oversized rackmount studio unit. I don't have the spare room for it to sit. But I'll probably keep it and use it even with damaged keys for quite a few years. When I find a replacement I'll leave that in its case and use the MR76 for home use. Unless I really like the new piano a whole lot better. At home I often use TruePianos, especially when I feel like a change from the MR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted April 2, 2012 Members Share Posted April 2, 2012 Does any one think Ensoniq will ever return? No.I loved Ensoniq back in the day, but no.They won't return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AnotherScott Posted April 2, 2012 Members Share Posted April 2, 2012 Kurz and Ensoniq were and are America's versions of the big three. I remember when the Big Three would have been Moog, ARP, and Oberheim... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AnotherScott Posted April 2, 2012 Members Share Posted April 2, 2012 No. I loved Ensoniq back in the day, but no. They won't return. I half expected an April Fool's post about their imminent return... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.