Ensoniq ASR-X Pro

Easy once you learn how everything in menus and submenus are laid out. Coming from a EPS/ASR took me a bout 2 hours. Very easy and simple to use and begin rocking beats.

I must say for the money this machine is a steal. Dope FX, Dope filters, resampling and pretty much all I need. My problem is this: I hate rack samplers, I wish I could work with them but I cant, feels like pressing buttons on a intercom and after hours it sucks. I've had the s900 / s950, emax I , asr 10 , eps_m - eps +16 all on rack jus get the feel of the workflow. I prefer the drumachines all day long. and since i coe from a ensoniq background, this is perfect.

Finally this is where the asrx/pro shines. I have sampled the same drum break on asrx and then sampled it on the mpc2500/2000xl and its a joke how the nexe pc's sound compared to the X. I used to be all caught up in the " MY DRUMS MUST BE 12BIT" spell but I broke out of it. I did keep my emax 1 but rarely se it. The x is all I need this machine sound thick and the drus really hit hard.

its realible because the bugs dont cause work stoppage.

The main problem with this machine is the knobs and how the values jup all over the place when rying to adjust. I does sucks but you will learn to adjust and becoe proficient and keep rocking it because i sounds that good.

the soniq com

for the moneycant be eat. the sequencer is a bit flaky and i have better results when I DO NOT quantize.

You can use Asr-x tools to edit via windows or other software for mac and pc

but its best to edit straight up on asr-x

more features then u can shake a stick at, makes ur samples come alive

i have some killer piano / rhodes sounds that i got off the net and dumped em on the asr-x ,,, this unit will blow the socks off anything thanks to the avail of windows/mac sounds and the 48khz playback

its cool

suppport is via communities on the web- OUTSTANDING

Pretty good unit, what a worthwhile thing to discover, its a treasure but u gotta be patient and hard working , to get your ASR-x payoff

first off just want to say i picked up 2 of these bad ass machines in 2004 for just over $600. On was fully maxed with an 8 out expansion and the other has since been maxed out. Anyway, as you can see 2 ASR-X PRO's for less than 1 MPC....

Machine is straight forward...manual is helpful.

pads are alright, must say i like the feel on the MPC a little better, although the layout is done octave style, which is dope.

sounds and effects are alright...definately blows away what comes standard in the akai family.

can be expanded to 66 mb i beleive...and if your lucky try and find (for a reasonable price) the urban dance expansion ROM...buttery.

Full MIDI capabilities --> 15 pressure sensitive pads

Sequencer is bugged out at times...play with it, you'll be able to make it work...the newest OS will enhance your sequencers performance

Sounds are kind of weak, effects are OK.
This thing was designed to compete with the MPC family, so its designed for percussive heavey music -->HipHop, RnB, Dance, House, etc.

They keys have a nice feel, veocity sensitive/after touch is fine...if they do stick you can unstuck em...be carefull you dont lose those tiny springs.

never had an issue with this machine. Structurally its solid. I use mine mainly in the home studio or as a sketch pad.

N/A

2 of these beasts for $600.00...cant beat that...i keep the one with 8 outs in the studio and the other sits in the living room so i can bang some joints out while im hanging out, watching TV, whatever.

even as a midi controller this thing is cheaper than MPDs and Trigger Fingers, and look at the additional capabilities...not sure if i prefer this over an MPC since i have not had the oppourtunity to use one for an extended period.

ASRX PRO is a dope machine!! Most cat's don't know how to program on the machine so have problems working!! So therefore they tend to diss it!! I myself go back to the Scientists of sampling music (Ced-Gee (UltraMagnetics) and Marley Marl(Juice Crew)DJ Priemer
(Gang Starr). The art of chopping obscure samples and refunking them, by changing octaves and tones and replaying them totally different on the pads is a science that goes back to the individuals I just stated and works to this day!!(Check Kayne West, Alchemist, No Id, Just Blaze, Paul Johnson) Customer support is totally shit, a bunch of kids who never produced a record in there lives!! So don't expect to get any help from those guys!!

Most important advice when sampling a one or two bar loop, you must chop the samples into parts. If it is a one bar loop it is usually chops perfectly into four pieces. One sound on each pad!! Exact same advice when choping up drums from out sources, (records,cd's etc)

The only problem sometimes you may experience glitches when chaining sequences together. So I tend to use one total long sequence when writing my songs into song mode then dump into the computer systems board when time to mix a song down.

Also, if there are any technical problems with the machine you can contact a guy in California who actually owns the catalog for ensoniq. He will repair the machine parts right away and send it back to you.

Any questions about how to program on the machine please contact me.

Peace,

Marc

I am familiar with the Ensoniq family and it was easy to figure out. the presets are so-so, very digital and flat. Editing patches is easy. i mean, if you got a brain, it allows you to individualize the sounds you have sampled. the manual is rather helpful if you are new to the machine.

The builyt in effects are cool but they run themselves redundant after awhile. I have mine with a scsi, 8 outputs, and midi. It works well with other equipment, as long as it is NOT the lead sequencer. I've hooked it up to MPC's and Tritons with out a problem. It worked well with the Planet Phatt modules.

I guess this is better for dance and hip hop. I've made a lot of interesting stuff with it. I like it as a sampler. I'm old school, so i use records and hook the sounds up within the module. I just hate the fact that the ASR-X pro does not allow for live sequencing and the quantizing is drunk.

I feel the machine is as reliable as the person who keeps it. It is subject to some wear and tear, the buttons tend to stick once in awhile, but she holds it down for me.

Yeah, good luck. Ensoniq no longer exists.

I swear by this little beast. i hear the crap made by these dudes that use acid or fruity loops. they can't hang. This is an instrument. you need practice and heart, not a mouse and a loop.

The presets are aiight! I mostly use the drum kit. The manual is cool but it lacks some vital information.

The efx are wonderful. I have expanded the memory to 64mb and added a zip drive and that made a huge difference in my ability to store music because I don't have to deal w/floppy's anymore. At 1st, the asr was my only piece of equipment. The machine allowed me to be a 1 man band and drop some serious hip hop shit. The sequencer has been good to me.

I think the asr is a hip hop sampler because it is so powerful. The kick and snare samples come out nice. I used to wonder what people meant when they stated that the x is powerful? After heavy usage, I can clearly see why. The only thing I don't like is that when you attempt to mute out tracks during play the beat skips.

I use it mainly in the comfort of my home (so I can hit it any time I want). I have encoutered some problems when I've brought her to recording studios. Most of the time the engineer will give me props for using it but he'll be clueless when it comes to midi syncing it w/another sequencer. Don't get me wrong, the asr works well w/other sequencers (cakewalk). The problem is when you use the asr as your main sequencer and bring it to a professional studio.

As we all mutherfuckin' know, ensoniq no longer exists because emu bought them out. The only time that I have called support is when attempting to daisy chain the asr with a keyboard and sound module. Support wasn't very supportive. Every one (emu, chickensys, samash, guitar center) seemed to be oblivious to what I was trying to do.

I would be heart broken if some took the red dragon. I would purchase it again for sure. This machine has changed my life, it was def. worth the $$$. I love the simplicity of the sampling functions such as key pad assignment, chopping up the beat, adding efx, etc. The only thing I don't like is the fact that it is not easy to use in a studio. I've had minimal exposure to the mpc and I feel that the asr is comparable. I wish it had a tempo finder to help w/my sample loops. The x-pro is all a true hip hop producer needs. The asr is RAW, I am very impressed with it's capitlity and I wish ensoniq was still in business because I'm sure by now they would have had some monster sampling machine that would dominate competitors.

I'm Using O.S. 4.0 and there is nothing at all I can complain about.
the presets sound kinda gay and editing patches is a lil complex but I just chop samples off of vinyl so I dont really care about all that stuff. The manual is VERY thorough, almost too thorough. Only serious gear heads will get some of that stuff but it really explains everything you need at a ver basic level before it gets complex.

The pads are nice and responsive. Many compare these pads to mpc pads by saying these feel less natural but to me asr-x pads feel better. They actually give when you bang em. Mpc pads feel as tho you arent even hitting anything. Asr pads are also pressure sensitive and they have several parameters that you can adjust to your liking.

The sequencer works FINE for me. I truly dont see what all the negative fuss is about. You make a sequence that has as many bars as you want, then make the next sequence, and so on. When you have made all of the sequences you want, simply append them and save. No problems. Load it up when you wanna hear your track and push play!

It may skip or lag a lil if your twisting knobs and changing banks and everything while the track is playing but other than that, this thing is glitchless with the 4.0 o.s. upgrade

Its a sampler. If your looking for onboard sounds that are usable, go cop a synth module or a keyboard.
I guess it would be good for that trance or drumb&bass stuff but I just use samples from records so I'm not really concerned with internal sounds. As far as sample editing options this thing is as good as it gets!
It really gives samples a thick warm sound. Dont even get me started on drums. It gives drums that warm punchy sound that that just sits right in a mix.

The effects are dope too. you can make just about anything sound warm as if it came fresh off of vinyl or just as clean as a cd. I love ensoniq for their sound converters.

I think its dependable for studio use but I dont recomend giggin with it simply because you wouldnt really be able to improvise without a lil skippin.

Ensoniq doesnt even exist anymore.

If it were lost or stolen I would definately cop another one. I'm so use to how these things work its like an extension of me. I sample a record and chop it up in a matter of seconds. I have an asr-x and an asr-x pro and given the opportunity I would cop one more just to have a backup for either one of em. I love all ensoniq samplers. They have a warmth that no other sampler can touch

Not sure what level of the OS but its whatever they would have had
in 2002 when the unit was puchased new. As well all know the ASR-X
series has been discontinued since EMU bought out Ensoniq though EMU
took the pad setup and arrangement and applied it to their Command Stations (XL-7,MP-7)

the included manuals were adequate and more than enough to get you
started. The unit is easy to use and I didn't need to read the manual
to get up and running. I used it as a reference and went from there.

This is a sampler designed primarily for percussion sequencing.
The pads can be used as a primitive keyboard but for melodic sequencing you should attach a controller. In terms of drum sequencing just bang on the pads while recording with the sequencer. Speaking of which there was an ASR-X maling list which seemed to have lots of posts concerning the alleged lack of stability in the ASR-X sequencer. I've not noticed this on rare occasion though I seldom push the limits of the sequencer. Dig up the archives of the list to read more about it. Some people treat it like an offense against humanity that the sequencer isn't as good as say that found on the MPC series. My philosophy is that its only a piece of gear. A good musician will
find a way to get the music made regardless of the problems with
one piece of kit. Less capable musicians will whine and moan about
gear as an excuse for their lack of musical output. If the gear is
that bad then unload and move on. Terminal complaining seldom helps
a case of writers block. I'm not slamming people for pointing out
problems with a given product - just that some take it to extreme
levels as if their lives are heavily invested in some red box.

In general the ASR-X archives are an *excellent* source of information
on how to get alot out of the box so you should definteily dig it up
and check it out. Don't let a few whiners turn you off from what was
an undeniably helpful internet resource

Its a SAMPLER ! anyone who complains about "cheesy sounds" must be totally clueless because no one buys a sequencer to use included, factory presets. What an absurd notion. You are supposed to sample
in your own sounds or from quality sample CDs and move forward.

the pads are so so and depending on how much the unit is used they
can suffer over time. Obviously the MPC series has "the pads" so anyone looking for that should find a MPC.

the effects are okay and capable of impacting the sound to accomplish
interesting results. The cool thing about the ASR-X is that you can
resample the outputs as effects are being applied and assign that to
a pad. You can go on like this forever so your imaginiation and patience are the only limits.

Well on one level its pretty solid but the pads are the weak point.
then again I've seen people who hammer the pads like they were
playing a set of congas and they wonder why the pads break. They aren't made to sustain that kind of pressure. Even the MPC pads
aren't made to susatin that kind of abuse.

I was able to upgrade the memory with no problems. I've heard people
complain about this procedure but I never had a problem with it.
It worked first time with no problems.

At this point the ASR-X is just a studio only box. Its okay to gig
with I suppose but if it breaks I'm not going to buy another so just
leave it at home.

I never had an issue which required me contacting support.
I did email a question about the time they introduced the Red-X
and they responded with some basic info but I wasn't reporting a
specific problem - just asking for projected delivery dates.

But now since EMU now owns Ensoniq and the ASR-X line has been
retired I don't think you could get support. Again the ASR-X mailing list has lots of stories of people complaining about Ensoniq.
the list archives also has some very good performanc suggestions.


At this point if you pick up an ASR-X on ebay or from a friend then
you are going to be on your own. Don't buy this if you are the type
of user who needs frequent hand holding and relies heavily upon tech support for answers. There ain't none so don't bother.

Well its okay for what it is which is hardware sampler with a built in sequencer and some pads. Obviously there are lots of soft samplers
that blow this thing out of the water. Even The Boss SP-606 can be consideted superior to this. And of course the EMU command stations
are capable of lots of sounds but those are ROMplers so no facilty
to work with your own sounds at least without investing in their
Ultra series samplers to burn your own ROM cards. But thats not
practical since its old , expenisve technology.

Obviously the new thing is the Akai MPC 1000 which is laptop sized
and has some effects, USB, and the famous pads. For those seeking a
harware sequencer ,sampler, with pads then you might want to look at
that. In the Us its around $850. Of course the MPC 2000s still linger
around $1200 but far less portable and no effects. Hip Hop guys obivously love the MPC series and its their devotion to this gear that
keeps the price up on the Akais.

I'll buy any fully blown X-Pro out there... lost mine, need one, will pay five for a used one, performance over looks.email Aqwar@hotmail.com

wanna buy yours

gimme da machine

on a gig? are yu nuts?1?!
still it's a ill box for the house...
gimme ya machine!

they quit on red... I aint too happy with ensoniq...
they realized a lotta hip hop was made with it so they stopped building em stopped supportin' em, and made all their new products cater directly to all that trance rave type shit...
-fuKem!- still lemme get yours offa yu...c'mon...

yeh one last note... Gimme ya box, my money is as good as ya machine... c'mon yu know yu need a new mic or guitar strings or somethin' email me. Aqwar@hotmail.com

latest O.S. according to previous owner.
the presets are whatever. but hey, who the hell uses a sampler for presets?
Editing patches is a breeze once you mess around and become comfortable with the interface.
I received both manuals and they covered all the stuff i needed/wanted to know.

polyphony is 64 (right) ?
the built-in effects kick ass. you can really do some damage with them and the resample function. there is even a compressor/eq kind of effect that's called "sweeten" and after i was able to tweak the effect settings, I turned some pathetic little drum hits into really cool sounding samples with a lot of punch.
This is great for people who want to engineer their own hits and mold their custom drum archives. If you are familiar with that signature neptunes aggravated rim + clap combo, i was able to recreate a number of rim hits that sounded nearly identical to those used in "give it to me" "danger" just by messing around with the effects and using the resample function. i am a fiend when it comes to clean punchy-ass drums so this baby is untouchable to me when it comes to ability to take normal sounding hits and spring life into them.
i connected a scsi cd-rom and a zip daisy chained and I load samples for days with out having to worry about messing with the floppy.
as far as the onboard sequencer goes... i don't even bother. I use Logic 6 for front end sequencing and pro-tools for recording so my sequencing needs are taken care of. i have heard a lot of nightmare stories about people who tried to use this box as an all in one studio solution. but since i just use this as a sound module of sorts i never run into problems with it.

Oh god. I don't know where to start. There is a reason that neptunes/timbaland and many other cats in the industry use the ASR series.
It's because this sampler's sonic character seriously kicks ASS.
I have messed around with akai's series for a while and while I think they are really nice in their own right, nothing can come close to the warmth and punch that these little babies can deliver.
I have forsaken soft-synths and samplers for their hardware equivalents and after getting ahold of this baby, I have no desire to ever touch a virtual sampler ever again.
The effects and the overall feel of the noises that come out of these boxes are just superb and i cannot emphasize how great they sound. period.

since i don't sequence on it, i never run into problems. after a session of sampling, molding, and creating i usually record my samples into the computer and so i never worry about having to save files, hence no major problems with the bugs that many people complain about. i stay away from sequencing on it period so that eliminates a great deal of the hassle that many people complain about.

haven't dealt with them

Ohhhh, I would most definitely acquire this again if it was lost.
I have fallen in love with ASRs so much that I will be buying an ASR-10 and even another ASR-X just incase this one dies on me!!!!!!!
Sure its clunky and not the most reliable sampler but the sound quality is just amazing.
Utter bliss!!!!!!!!!!

I found it pretty easy to use.

Some of the features are pretty dope. The effects kick ass

I have a hip hop sound card for it-nice drum kits

When I first got it I had problems. I let a homie use it and he put on stick of memory in it without telling me, so every time I hit a key the sucker would cut off on me...talk about frustration. I ended up putting it on the shelf for about 2 years...pawning it when I needed extra loot. But every since i took that stick of memory out I have not had one problem

n/a

Im selling mine for $500 bucks if anyone is interested. I love it but I dont have enough time for it since it's two year rest period I have bought the MOtif6 and the su700 so I really dont need her anymore.She's a great gal but she kinda broke my heart in the beginning so I just have to let her go.

Its easy and yall can check my page!! All songs were created using nuttin but the ars and nada else!! Mad samples and dope drums---Shit-C'mon--Gimme all of your asr's!! Ill take care of them!!
Check my page and read the responses on my page!!!
www.soundclick.com/namebrand
Sorry it wasnt as useful for yall!! Peace

V.I.N.C.

Effects are good to flip the sound and compress to a more realisti sound!

It freezes up alot and that sucks but when I give my CHRISTINE some love, She creates heat!

I give it an 8 and thats only cause of the freezing it does!

I would recommend the AsR X Pro, I have one and purchased it in 1999 for about $1,500. it came with the 16 mb, dance or urban card. It is very easy to use and was taught to me in the music store. i liked the versatility and the fact that to play it it did not need disks, the resampler and sampling with sequencer makes it almost unbeatable. On drawback is that they do not support the machine anymore and have moved to include the drum machine with a sound module. Very easy to understand and is built mainly for musicians.

The ASR X Pro is feature laden drum machine with built in professional effects, built in keyboard, 64 polophony, built in sampler and resampler, built in sequencer and very flexible. The expansion boards range from world sounds to urban rhythms to any other instrument, the only draw back is that only one card can be useed at a time so a scsi device would be handy for storing while you switch the boards. TRhe options are to many to list but there is a board which allows 8 inputs, pedals and other gizmos, it is an extermely flexible machine.

The ASR X PRO has 20 bit sound with 24 bit sampling. the instruments are arrwanged in kits and a typical drum kit will have 40 section with with 4 octaves. With the dance card the keys, horns and synths are very realistic sounding, this is not a groove box where most of the patterns are re-arranged, you have to create the rhythms, 16 tracks and seasones users use tricks with sampling and doubling up on tracks. I have had it for 4 years and I am just a novice when it comes to the technical aspects, but it is very easy and very rich sounding machine that lets you produce right out of the box.

It is very relaible but the floppy's sometimes do not work at gigs. I am in the process of upgrading to a scsi device for greater reliability.

When customer support had the product in circulation then I never had a problem, the problem now is that thewy no l.onger produce the machine and have intergrated the sound modules, proteus with the ASR X Pro to make a hybrid, like the P-7 and XL.

I wish that the machine was still able to be serviced through Ensoniq, I think it was way to overbuilt with way to many functions but to producers it was a life saver. From the standpoint of learning it is an incredible tool that is comparable of getting a post secondary training in sound production, there is just so much....

DO NOT BUY THIS MACHINE!!!!!!!!!

PADS WEAR DOWN AND GET STUCK,DO NOT BUY THIS MACHINE!!!!!!!

SOUNDS ARE CHEESY, DO NOT BUY THIS MACHINE!!!!!!!

CHRIST NO, THIS IS THE MOST UNRELIABLE PIECE OF SHIT EVER MADE! DO NOT BUY THIS MACHINE!!!!!!!

NEVER CALLED THEM, I HEAR THEY JUST GIVE YOU SOME GUYS HOME PHONE # WHO CAN'T HELP U OUT TOO MUCH.

I WISH SOMEONE WOULD HAVE STOLEN IT BEFORE I WASTED MY TIME AND MONEY ON THIS JOKE, I HAD TO TAKE IT APART TO GET THE WORN RUBBER KEYS UNSTUCK AND FOUND THAT HALF THE SPRINGS THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO BE UNDER THE PADS WERE MISSING AND THE ONE DAY I LOADED A DISK AND THE FLOPPY DRIVE STARTED SMOKING, IF YOU WANT TO THROW SOME MONEY AWAY BUY THE ENSONIQ ASRX PRO.

Like everyone else in here, I only use the preset Drums & Bass. Besides that, I sample what I need. The manual is alright. It's like an "ASR-X Pro for Dummies" book. Real easy to follow.

The pads are great. Very durable and pressure sensitive so they know how hard you are tapping. The built in effects are real good for tinkering with choppy samples, although cakewalk sonar, cubase, and protools (which you will need eventually) have all those effects and then some. The expansion is great as far as ram is concerned, but I had trouble getting a 250mb scsi zip to work. I guess I'm just a retart. So I am not able to save completed work to a disk. Once I get everything sequenced, I just put it on my PC anyway, so there is no need to save anyway.

HIP HOP!!! I'm sure it works fine for club, trance, jungle, and all that other techno crap too. DOES EVERYTHING I NEED IT TO!

I bought mine brand spankin new. I have been sure to take excellent care of it and there are a few problems. The "stop" button does not always respond (I do use it a lot, but I press others more). The "sequencer" skips when there is a lot going on, but that's only visual anyway (it does not affect the sound). AND YES, IT FREEZES!!!!! Sometimes I think I am pressing buttons too fast, but I would like to think that an expensive peice of production equipment made SOLEY for that purpose can at least do it's job as fast as I can tell it to. For this reason I make it a point to save VERY often. Besides that, for the last 3 years, EVERY time I had the urge to use it, it fired right up, and worked without hesitation.

You should really take the customer support section off for this product because there is none.

If it were lost or stolen, I would buy one used for a lot less money. All I own is this, two 1200's, and a PC with cakewalk sonar. The ASR preps the sounds, and I use sonar for the breaks.

I am really astonished by the number of people who are not pleased w/ the x pro. The presets suck overall except some of the percussion instruments. Some of the bass instruments are nice you just need to filter them.But you know its a "sampler" some samplers dont come with any sounds. I have the latest version 3.04 and really doubt if another will come out. The manuall is the good overall. Sometimes I still take look at it. The unit is easy to use its an ensoniq.

All machines have there quirks. You can get around the polyphony (32) by resampling any tracks that have a lot of notes on it. I expanded to 34mb couldnt imagine needing anymore. The pads are good but sometimes I use a midi keyboard to play melodies. I have Iomega zip 100 hooked to it and have not had any problems. The sequencer may jump if you got a lot of samples and are up to track 10. All you have to do is resample some of the stuff that you put effects on or tracks with a lot of notes. Effects are excellent! I wish it had more midi ports like the mpc 2000 but I couldnt afford the mpc.

Its a sampler. I could care less about onboard sounds. If you have Awave or Translator sounds are able to be had. I make hip hop. If you got friends who do music just sample sounds off there boards. I sampled sounds off of my boys mp7 last month.About 2mb's worth.

Only locked up 1 time. Before I expanded the memory. I do hip hop so im not concerned with gigs. I have let the x stay on for days and it does fine.

They suck.

No I wouldn buy it again if it were stolen. I would get something up to date. I have had it for 4 years now. I had an asr-10 before the x. I like the fact its so easy to use. I sample in soundforge so the screen is not an issue. If I had the loot I would have an Mpc 3000. But I work with what I can. Its not the Machine its the Man behind the Machine. I would like for them to include the 8 output as standard cause I cant find one now. I now sequence in cakewalk so a lot of the sequencing issues are dead.

Quit easy to use, when you dont get into things to much. The RAM-Kit structure is a little confusing, since the ASR X PRO always wants you to make a RAM-Kit when editing something. Multisampling? No. This is not a multisampler but a great sample playback unit for the Ensoniq library. The last software update was 3.04.

Great sample playback unit, especially with 66 MB RAM (fully expandend). The Ensoniq library is fabulous! Import of AKAI works fine with most samples, although with huge AKAI multisamples you have to correct wrong imported tones in the RAM-Kit area, which is annoying. ROM sounds quite good, dont have an expansion board installed.
Effects are best! Never heard anything comparable from a sampler. 24 bit, thats what they sound like. Especially in the mix: FANTASTIC! Very hard to programm though. I use X-Tools from Chicken Sys to program effects, which works fine.
DOS -based sound storage. Easily stored on a windows computer. You can burn your own library on CD. Great back up possibility. Edit samples with software, load them into the ASR X PRO.
Many complaints on this site about the tightness of the 16-track-sequencer: I do all MIDI recording with my computer and then record it on the ASR X PRO on 1 sequence. The ASR X PRO replays my songs without any problems. Since its only one sequence, tightness is not a problem here.
Polyphony of 32 voices is enough for me. 16 channel multitimbralitiy as well. Less is more.
Resampling: Editing samples is not up to date. Display is not graphical. Use computer software for wave editing. SCSI SMIDI doesnt work with my computer, so I swap 100 MB zips between both, which is a good compromise.
Stomper feature, never used it.

The best sonic sound I ever heard from a Synth/Sampler. I have heard all there is on the market in the past 10 years and the ASR X PRO has IMO the best sound of them all. Sounds great right from the start. Warm and punchy, very professional. AKAI sounds neutral, Emu sounds warm, Ensoniq sounds warm, clear and punchy at the same time.

People write it is bad. I only use it as a sample player and an effect unit. Sometimes I resample. I dont go into editing to much. Do not sequence. Havent had trouble so far, have the newest operating system.OS 3.04 is OK. SCSI with Iomega Zip 100 works fine. Used to freeze a lot when SCSI was not set up correctly. Needed a lot of time to find out what was wrong. Since then no problems.

They dont exist anymore. Emu is helpful, their web site has a lot of information. Many tips in the net

For me its the best regarding sonic quality. Isnt that the thing music is all about? Other than that it is not a PRO-unit. To hard to program (small display, many subpages), the sequencer is a problem and SCSI is not stable enough in many cases. For me the unit is fine, would never sell it. Have found a stable SCSI system, dont sequence, dont edit to much .No Freezing in the past few months.

easy as hell...mess with it for a few weeks, then go back and read the manual to plug in the holes...very simple layout though...perfect

mad features...not going to say anything that the rest of the people on here didn't allready...fully editable synthesizer...sequncer...effects processor...what more could you want...

umm...its a sampler...why in the world would anyone use preset sounds anyway?! there are a few nice basses and kicks you could really edit the hell out of!

I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE REST OF THESE GUYS ARE SMOKING?! this IS THE MOST RELIABLE PIECE OF GEAR I OWN...i've had it for 3.5 years...NEVER HAS IT FROZEN ON ME...NEVER HAS IT HAD ANY PROBLEMS WITH SCSI...OR LOADING, OR SAVING...its been PERFECT...at one point I HAD IT ON FOR 4 MONTHS STRAIGHT...and STILL sequenced a song without a single glitch...that's not turning it on and off at the end of the day, that's 4 months STRAIGHT...now show me any other piece of gear that'll run flawlessly for 3000 hours?!!!! I don't know, maybe some of these other guys just mistreated their machines...hehe...i bought mine as a floor model...been used and abused...but it was still solid as hell!!!

what customer support?!

hell yeah i'm keeping one of these forever!!! SEQUENCER SUCKS...i don't really use sequencing in the same way most of these guys do anyways though!!

It's easy to figure out...if you can't (RTFM)Read the fucking manual.

Sample rate and filters are incredable, if have the means expand to 34mgs, can't do much with 2. The sounds are cheezy, thats why you resample!

The pads are very handy, the aftertouch is great.

If you were giging on anything without a back up, well thats very ballzie. It's an electronic instrument, not going to be 100% perfect.
but it has froze up on me loading sounds and when formating the HD.

Tech Support, I think they were on an extended lunch break.

I bought it out of stupidity...It's a fun machine but not what i need it for. The sequencer absolutly sucks! buy for the sampler first, then a drum machine, then a sequencer. If you are serious about your music...get an E-mu 6400...you cant put a price on great music!

Very Simple and Straight forward.

Basically a studio in a Box. Great expandability. Synth, effects,and
Sampler all great. Sequencer, should be merely used as a scratch pad.
Use an external seq. for your compositions. Software or hardware based.

Sounds are all good. At first I thought the sounds actually sucked.
But the more I dived into the box, the more I appreciated the sound
editing capabilities. There are a lot of phattttt!!! sounds waiting to
be discovered in this box. And the Resampling capabilities are just the icing on the cake

I not had any of the problems other users are expierencing. like the
SCSI save problems mentioned elsewhere. It has hiccuped a couple of times during seq., but I really dont use it for seq. Im using Cubase
VST 5.0... But I admit I would have problems going into a live gig with it.

I dont think it exists. Had some sucess with, I think his name was
Eric Montgomery about 2 years ago. But thats about it. Its been kind
of invisible since the merger with EMU. Still waiting on software upgrade 4.0 hopefully soon

Once you take the time to learn this instrument i.e its strenghts and
weakness it is well worth it. If it got stolen, I would definately
replace it. Especiallly now that it can be had for around $700. For all the nay sayers I challenge u to come up with a phatter beat. Me and my ASR-X Pro w/Cubase vs You and yours

Very easy to use being I've only had it for about six months and have made some pretty phat shit.Editing is semi easy if you know what your doing. And the manual isn't really that helpful in my opinon, I figured out most of everything on my own.

The pads are fun to use.Some of the effects are phat some are the same even with editing and some are plain.It is expandable to 66mb which will give you 13mins sample time.It is midi capable and expandable for 8 aux outputs.On board sequencer is easy to use.

I personally like alot of the instruments in it, they are coll if you tune them and put the right effects on them. It is mainly a hip-hop machine but I use it exsclusivly for techno/dance music. Like I said if you are creative enough you can make the effects sound even better than they are.It reacts well.It has velocity sensitive pads which I think is cool.

60% of the time you can depend on it. this is what really pisses me off and I want to pick it up and throw it out a fucking window, Sometimes you'll be in the middle of making a track and the bastard just freezes, leaving you no choice but to turn it off losing everything. This is why I start saving from track 1 now and up because it's very unpredictable, in the five months I've had it it has either lost or froze about 5 of my sequences.

They don't know shit.

I would get something else.I've only been playing for a year.I will soon be the proud owner of the yamaha rm1x. I love the sampler capabilities and internal effects, I fucking hate that it freezes.I compared it to the mpc2000 and chose the asrx pro because of price and the sounds on board it such as the synthesizer. I wish it had more Dance/techno based sounds.It is a big help.If you are considering buying the asrx pro sampler I would say go for it if you want a pretty phat drum machine ,sampler,synthesizer just beware of the risk of loosing some of the best songs and sequences ever produced.

worst machine ever invented crapola crapola crapola
glitchy!!!,freezes!!!,loses data!!! manual is weeek gives you no
feeling that they really even care especially seeing how im still waiting for the 4.0 to come out ......was waiting

polyphony is good the pads are good expansion you can put 64 megs of ram and a sound board for some killer internal sounds ...,the sounds that come with it reek of moldy limberger cheese. exept some of the drums the onboard drum emulation synth and the effects are the only cool things if your a pro like me you already have these cool features in something else

p-u smells bad in here expressive though but.....

you can NOT COUNT ON THIS INSTRUMENT TRUST ME YOU WILL NOT BE ASKED BACK IF YOU PUT YOUR FAITH IN THIS INSTRUMENT YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

WHAT A JOKE ,,DUDE!! ... THEY PASSED ME TO A GUY WHO WROTE AN ARTICLE ON ONE OF THE OLDER ASR MODELS ...THIS IS SO TRUE I SWEAR ...AND IT WAS THE GUYS HOME PHONE NUMBER AND HES ON THE WEST COAST AND I WOKE HIM UP OUT OF BED AND HE WAS PISSED BUT HELPED ME ALITTLE ..THE PEOPLE WHO SENT ME TO HIM WERE IN THE TECH DEPARTMENT AT ENSONIQ ...DOES THIS ANSWER YOUR QUESTION?????

IM A PRO HAVE BEEN FOR YEARS HONESTLY I MADE A FEW KICK BUTT LOOPS AND KILLER TRACKS WITH THIS MACHINE BUT ICOULD HAVE DONE IT ALOT FASTER SIMPLER ON A YAMAHA SU20 AND PAID 150.00 DOLLARS FOR IT

I TRADED THAT JUNK BOX TO A DEALER BECAUSE IF I WOULD HAVE SOLD IT TO ONE OF YOU YOUD BE HUNTING ME DOWN TRYING TO WRAPP IT AROUND MY NECK

Very easy to use, a pre-schooler could pick things up in a matter od a few hours. Just look to the manual for any questions that you need answered.

This is the Ultimate All-In-One Workstation. All except for the the things I'm about to say below. Features are very good if your using this thing as a hobbyist or as a toy. If your serious about your music then do not get this box.

Drums are good. All other sounds suck the fat one. This machine has the worst sounds I have ever heard in any unit. I admit, I have used the drums but basses and leads and everything else is just plain horrible.

The most un-reliable workstation ever. I have lost numerous days of work because of this shit box. Do not get the asrx no matter what anyone tells you. There aren't any proffesionals who use this crapola box. Sequencer is the worst I ever used. You can't sequence nothing on here and when you do, by some miracle, get a tight sequence, Guess what? It's either gonna disappear(Asrx's infamous disappearing sequence problem) or you won't be able to save it to disk drive or scsi. This machine is so bug infested you might as well call it a roach motel. Freezes more times then the arctic.

They don't give a crap about their users. Haven't answered my e-mail or phone messages goin on 6 months now. If you have it, sell it right away. If your looking for one, look elsewhere.

This is a toy. Don't be fooled by people saying it's a good machine. If some one tells you it's good, ask them a technical question about any gear and I bet you they can't answer you. You know why? Because asrx users are twits. I've verbally bashed this machine for over a year now and some people have told me that it's the person behind the machine who has to know what they're doing. I have produced several albums, I know what I'm doing and I know quality gear. I have several peices of gear in which I use my skill to work around their limitations. The ASR X Pro is one big limitation, WORK AROUND IT, FIND SOMETHING ELSE. Honestly the worst peice of gear I ever wasted my money on.

pretty easy to use though i had a hard time at first due to the crappy operating system(3.0 ) it came with. took me almost a year to figure out why this awesome machine wouldnt do simple operations like tap tempo its real easy to edit patches and such and can really go deep into the editing procces .make sure you get the 3.04 or youll experience a most unpleasrueable time

the pads are good and the sounds are very clear but they are only useful if your going to change them in some way tons of effects and they sound top notch . easy to use but will take some practice for the novice. expansion capabilities are adding 64 megs to the ram for 6 minutes stereo and 12 minutes mono sampling times
extensive midi capabilities sequencer is so so not as drum machiney as i would like

you can do any thing you want with this machine if you can figure it out

havent had a problem since getting the new operating system but when i first had it data would disapear and crazy poltergeist things would happen we will have to see what the future holds it was a 3 for reliability before but now its up to a ......9

the customer support really sucked they refered me to some guy who had no affiliation with the company and i ended with his home phone # he wasnt to happy although he was very helpful. the tech support was iffy too makes you wonder who even built the dang thing to start with

at this point i wouldnt buy it again but i also wouldnt trade it unles i was getting alot of gear for the trade. ive been doing hip hop and drum n bass and you name it for ten years. i wish this thing had a pitch wheel and non-volatile ram memory.so you could just go right to work with out loading your last session. from disk oh yeah
get an iomega zip drive to use youll need it to save your work.youll need a special adapter for connection to the zip drive