Members wheresgrant3 Posted April 26, 2005 Members Share Posted April 26, 2005 I'm picking one up in NJ tomorrow for $135 in fair condition. I plan on using it in our band rehersal space instead of dragging my live setup with me to rehearsal every practice. I basically just need some piano, pads and organ. It would be great if it it had some decent synth brass, but I can live with out that for now. I figured for $135 for a programmable synth how could I go wrong? Anyone own one of these? What are the pro's/cons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sealed Posted April 26, 2005 Members Share Posted April 26, 2005 Pro: Ensoniq sounds. Lo-Fi. Morphing sounds by Transwaves. Also some 'Jam-loop' sounds. Receives Poly-Aftertouch via MIDI. Con: Ensoniq sounds. Lo-Fi. Channel Aftertouch keys (not Poly). See my site for how Ensoniq SQ sounds - I think it has unique synthetic sounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Meatball Fulton Posted April 26, 2005 Members Share Posted April 26, 2005 I've owned the rack version (SQ-R+) for about 15 years now. It will work fine for your application. Difficult to program from the front panel (too many parameters and you set them one at a time pretty much) but there are enough presets in the vein of what you want. It excels at airy pads and bell sounds which were all the rage back in the day (D-50, DX7, M1). #1 con is the backup lithium battery...it's soldered to the main circuit board rather than socketed and you have to take the synth apart to get at it. #2 con (for synth sounds only) is the filters don't have resonance so it's no good at filter sweep sounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wheresgrant3 Posted April 28, 2005 Author Members Share Posted April 28, 2005 Picked it up last night. Powered it up today. It sounds pretty damn good. Sounds are a bit dated (they have 80's written all over them), and the analog sounds are for {censored}, but the piano and organs aren't half bad. Pads OK... but yes the M1 did pads much better. The samples are very clean and very clear. I wish my XP30 sounded as bright as this synth. I'll probably never attempt to program this beast. It will just sit in our rehearsal space so I don't have to drag two or three synths to practice twice a month. I can't believe that this guy let this go so cheap! He said he wasn't using it and he had some bills to pay. It's not in pristine shape the keys are yellow (anyone know how to whiten yellow"smoking") and there are some small cracks in the plastic along the back end... still he could of got at least $250 on Ebay. He said he had it listed on Craig's list for 3 months and everyone flaked out. For the $135 I spent it will save me from making 5 trips from my car down those basement steps!!!! Now I'll only have to make four trips Now if I can just keep it hidden from my girlfriend until practice tomorrow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Meatball Fulton Posted April 28, 2005 Members Share Posted April 28, 2005 I'm not sure you could get $250 for an SQ-2 on eBay. Ensoniq boards have very little resale value these days, many have gone for $150 or less. I don't use my SQ-R+ since I bought my Motif ES, so I put it up for sale with no reserve and didn't get one nibble!!! I saw one sell for $65. At that point it's better to throw it in my closet, maybe I can find a use for it in the future. Great news for buyers like you, bad news for sellers like me. BTW if you can find a use for the onboard sequencer I think you'll find it's very powerful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wheresgrant3 Posted April 28, 2005 Author Members Share Posted April 28, 2005 The sequencer seems pretty easy to use. The manual is the easiest I've ever read. Although I understand this is a bitch to program. Wow! I'm a bit shocked at the price. For $135 at the very least I have a nice 76 key Midi controller. For all the "I need a synth and I only have $200 to spend?" I'm surprised the SQ1 & 2 don't get mentioned more often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Yoozer Posted April 28, 2005 Members Share Posted April 28, 2005 Originally posted by wheresgrant3 For all the "I need a synth and I only have $200 to spend?" I'm surprised the SQ1 & 2 don't get mentioned more often. Probably because Ensoniq's slipping away in obscurity and these seem to be bread & butter machines. But, congrats with the machine . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Meatball Fulton Posted April 28, 2005 Members Share Posted April 28, 2005 Originally posted by Yoozer Probably because Ensoniq's slipping away in obscurity and these seem to be bread & butter machines. Also, it's not considered cool to like ROMplers on this board Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tdempsey Posted July 5, 2005 Members Share Posted July 5, 2005 Originally posted by wheresgrant3 ...not in pristine shape the keys are yellow (anyone know how to whiten yellow"smoking") I just "inherited" an Ensoniq EPS with the same condition, and came online to post this very issue... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Boom Posted July 5, 2005 Members Share Posted July 5, 2005 For some reason the styling of the SQ boards reminds me of Miami Vice. It must be the teal. I think they look cool, all that's missing is a little palm tree sticker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members greenshag Posted July 5, 2005 Members Share Posted July 5, 2005 I love my esq-1, and you will have to pry it out of my cold dead fingers before I give it up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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