Members johnmoorejohn Posted April 6, 2009 Members Share Posted April 6, 2009 Ensoniq had some great products. Was there some market competition issue that would have benefitted Emu by buying out and dissolving Ensoniq? Who knows the history of this? I for one wonder what would be if the TS and ASR line had been allowed to continue to develop all this time into 2009. Does anyone remember if the ASR-X line was there to replace the ASR-10? They were headed in the wrong direction there, but I'm sure they would have eventually come back to create a killer all in one TS/ASR Workstation that would be killer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Pro Posted April 7, 2009 Members Share Posted April 7, 2009 There's a good explanation of what happened to Ensoniq in Wikipedia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stikygum Posted April 7, 2009 Members Share Posted April 7, 2009 I wish Ensoniq would come back They were a great company with great gear. I think the ASR-X was supposed to be an updated ASR-10 to compete directly with MPCs. Those pads on the ASR-X didn't feel good to me and the screen was tiny. It was a step back for sure in my mind. Some encoders were buggy also. It's one of those machines that make you so happy there are software samplers. I own a ASR-10 now. Great sound and has the Transwave abilities. ASR/TS workstation...HA! Sounds cool, but they seemed to be ahead of the curve imo and probably would be into some other crazy synthesis by now. I couldn't even begin to imagine where they would be with their products now; meaning I think they would've put together some quite spectacular products. From what I heard, the Fizmo was supposed to be the name of a Physical Modeling ( Fiz - Mo ) synth they wanted to make. But they were going under and decided to use the name on the Fizmo we know and love. Dang I wish we could've seen their PM synth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members midi Posted April 7, 2009 Members Share Posted April 7, 2009 Didn't they both get bought out by Creative? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members plaid_emu Posted April 7, 2009 Members Share Posted April 7, 2009 Didn't they both get bought out by Creative? ....who dumped their hardware line:confused:....then made software instruments:idea:....for Windows only:facepalm: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gunslinger69 Posted April 7, 2009 Members Share Posted April 7, 2009 If i saved music on a floppy disk from the zr 76 keyboard. can i transfer it to a cd without hooking it to the keyboard like running a floppy disk straight to the cd my keyboard is mess up and i saved a lot of music i can no longer get to This was posted on the wikipedia discussion page for Ensoniq. In fact, it's the only entry. I would think the answer is no, but perhaps someone who knows the answer could post a response on the Wikipedia talk page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Woody4 Posted April 7, 2009 Members Share Posted April 7, 2009 yep some great products my first was and eps, that was very easy to use!! last, recently an asr-x, was pia and though sounded great the reason i piffed it. with emu 2 great companies now disappeared up a corporaste ass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xpander Posted April 7, 2009 Members Share Posted April 7, 2009 yeah, emu and ensoniq are essentially dead as far as i'm concerned. many of their key employees are still working around here, and i think a couple went to Universal Audio (santa cruz/scotts valley border each other). if i remember, some employees were also involved in the avant garde woodstockhausen event that used to run every year at some guy's gorgeous place out in the santa cruz mountains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members no eats yes Posted April 7, 2009 Members Share Posted April 7, 2009 I still own an ESQ-1. The best key action of all synths I played. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OFM Posted April 7, 2009 Members Share Posted April 7, 2009 Also the Ensoniq DP/PRO an outstanding effects processor still underratedtoday... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Meatball Fulton Posted April 7, 2009 Members Share Posted April 7, 2009 E-Mu probably was interested in Ensoniq's CMOS chip design prowess more than their instruments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mega Jon Posted April 7, 2009 Members Share Posted April 7, 2009 I bought an SQ1 when I was in high school. I was so keen to have multiple boards (to look really cool and like I knew what I was doing) that I lugged around a huge Roland piano. It was quite a machine and I wish I still had it. Patch #40 was "Super Pad' and I have compared every other board I've ever played to that ;)fat sound. It seems that everything that the guy from Commodore/Atari touched was a really great product and then went right off the market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TropicThink Posted April 7, 2009 Members Share Posted April 7, 2009 I bought an SQ1 when I was in high school. I was so keen to have multiple boards (to look really cool and like I knew what I was doing) that I lugged around a huge Roland piano. It was quite a machine and I wish I still had it. Patch #40 was "Super Pad' and I have compared every other board I've ever played to that ;)fat sound. It seems that everything that the guy from Commodore/Atari touched was a really great product and then went right off the market. I bought the SQ-R brand new in 1993. Got a great deal on it seeing as the SQR + had already come out. Used it heaps, of course - it was my first ever rack mount synth. It had a good ole gritty sound that was a useful contrast to the JD-800 I had just borrowed what then seemed like an absolute crapload of money to buy. A few years later it seemed like it had 'run it's course' so to speak and I ended up selling it, but I will buy one again when someone decides to throw theirs away for cheap. I've been missing it lately - could have used it a number of times on a few tracks I've been toying around with lately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Woody4 Posted April 7, 2009 Members Share Posted April 7, 2009 forgot I own a fully loaded emu MP-7 with 2 extra romsone of the best all in one boxes ever..imo One of the guys who developed it helps on the forum sometimes!! still!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TropicThink Posted April 7, 2009 Members Share Posted April 7, 2009 I never bought the ASR-10 keyboard I always wanted, just because it didn't have resonant filters. That makes me feel retarded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Numina Posted April 7, 2009 Members Share Posted April 7, 2009 A fellow collaborator of mine (R.I.P.) told me once of a story he was proud of relating to Ensoniq. He lived in PA and was a programmer and somehow got in touch with Ensoniq and they questioned him on the Korg Wavestation and why it was so popular and he explained to them the ability to wavesequence any choice of waveforms and the other features of the WS, etc. This was at about the time of the pre-production of the FIZMO and he felt like Ensoniq moved with the FIZMO in an attempt to market the wavesequence "craze" based on his consultation. He felt like he had something to do with it, albeit minor perhaps. J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Miket156 Posted April 7, 2009 Members Share Posted April 7, 2009 Recently, the Ensoniq TS series has been popular in Europe. Some time ago, I sold my fully loaded TS10 to a guy in NYC that outbid everyone on E-Bay. I thought i got a decent price for it considering the company is long gone. Some months later, someone else from the New York area and asked me if I still had my TS10 for sale. I used my sister's Ebay account to sell it, so I don't know that my email address or phone number was ever posted. How he got that information, I have no idea. Anyway, I believe that people are buying them up in the USA and shipping them to Europe and making a profit on them. That's fine with me, can't blame people for trying to make a buck. Even though a buck isn't worth much anymore. Mike T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Meatball Fulton Posted April 7, 2009 Members Share Posted April 7, 2009 an attempt to market the wavesequence "craze" Ensoniq's Transwaves were around long before the Wavestation, starting in the VFX. Like many of their innovations it was misunderstood and overlooked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members poumtschak Posted April 7, 2009 Members Share Posted April 7, 2009 One of the guys who developed it helps on the forum sometimes!! still!! After so many years, Aaron is still THE man indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members setAI Posted April 7, 2009 Members Share Posted April 7, 2009 I am still waiting for a soft-sampler with transwaves and effects based after the DP/4 with the waveboy algorithms built-in- updated hardware would be cool as well- like a small table-top box or micron/x-station-like usb keyboard with basic transwave sampler/ESQ/SQ sound engine - DP effects chip with waveboy algorithms- and analog filter- all of that stuff has no modern representation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Numina Posted April 7, 2009 Members Share Posted April 7, 2009 Ensoniq's Transwaves were around long before the Wavestation, starting in the VFX. Like many of their innovations it was misunderstood and overlooked. True... but I think Ensoniq and my friend were going over the more advanced features the WS had that made it so popular... correct me if I'm wrong, but the Transwaves are fixed wavetables, right? - J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tjwett Posted April 7, 2009 Members Share Posted April 7, 2009 a lot was special about Ensoniq. they were IMHO one of the most innovative synth companies that existed. they had tremendous filter technology and an amazing handle on FX processing. toward the end they were trying to ride the "groovebox" bandwagon with the ASR X and while it came up short in the sequencer dept, the onboard sampler is possibly the best sounding hardware sampler ever done. the converters sound just beautiful. the filters are probably the warmest, most "analog like" digital filters ever done. that box was also set apart by its sound set. Ensoniq were an American company and their sounds reflected that, in my opinion. the ASR X sounded like it was from Pennsylvania, which was a vastly different sound than the rest of the grooveboxes out there, basically all of which were Japanese. my Ensoniq gear is among the few pieces i'll absolutely never consider selling. E-mu didn't make any good use of the amazing intellectual property and technology they acquired when they bought Ensoniq, at least not in the musical instrument market. E-mu bought its most talented competition and, driven by Creative Labs, basically just let it die. Creative were way more interested in soundcards and software and they really just didn't stand a chance at getting any more R&D for musical instruments. E-mu and Creative ruined something really special. bummer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tjwett Posted April 7, 2009 Members Share Posted April 7, 2009 I am still waiting for a soft-sampler with transwaves and effects based after the DP/4 with the waveboy algorithms built-in-updated hardware would be cool as well- like a small table-top box or micron/x-station-like usb keyboard with basic transwave sampler/ESQ/SQ sound engine - DP effects chip with waveboy algorithms- and analog filter-all of that stuff has no modern representation agreed. there isn't any worthy replacement for either of those lines. would be amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Real MC Posted April 8, 2009 Members Share Posted April 8, 2009 The TS boards are in demand. A friend has one plus a spare because they sound great and the sequencer/operating system is so intuitive. He has yet to find a workstation as good as those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tjwett Posted April 8, 2009 Members Share Posted April 8, 2009 The TS boards are in demand. A friend has one plus a spare because they sound great and the sequencer/operating system is so intuitive. He has yet to find a workstation as good as those. been hearing buzz about this lately, mostly in Europe? in the age of the computer DAW i am wondering why the sudden interest in this piece, i assumed it was the transwaves. the ROMpler sounds were pretty sick though too. i wonder what everyone wants with them. i do have a lead on a couple of used units at a silly low price too. maybe will pick one up. is the keyboard on the TS-12 as amazing as i imagine? the TS-10 i'm looking at is a fraction of the price of the 12. hmmm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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