Ensoniq ESQ1/M

OS 3.5 (the latest and last)
One of the most accessible interfaces ever built. The synth section is so easy to get around on it is almost embarrassingly easy to generate complex sounds fairly quickly on the fly. The onboard sequencer is also quite friendly, but unexpanded lacks sufficient memory to be of any serious use. Get the expansion if you can. The factory presets - as with many machines..especially in the late 80s - are bloody awful. Erase them immediately and start making your own patches. The manual is pretty straight up and is more than sufficient.

8 voice polyphonic/multitimbral. The keyboard action is decent though nothing to write home about. No built in effects. Can be expanded via voice cartridge (which triples the memory) and also a sequencer memory expansion which greatly increases the amount you can record. MIDI capabilities are generous for the day including a variety of modes that alter the general usage of the machine (omni, poly, multi, mono)

Little known secret! The foot pedal input on the back while meant for a passive volume/mod pedal will ALSO take an *active* pedal which means (more importantly) that you can use this as an assignable modulation input and plug in say, an external LFO from a modular synth... etc. A very handy feature.

The modulation routings in the ESQ-1 are powerful and stand up today against any 'virtual' analog synth. While I would never suggest it is close to an Oberheim Xpander/Matrix 12, the general layout is reminiscent of them. The whole modulation matrix is based upon those machines and the ESQ even keeps the +/-64 range for parameter values.

The combination of digital oscillators and analog (curtis) filters makes this machine very versatile. It is easily the top of the late-80s hybrid synth crop.

You are not going to get a realistic piano out of the ESQ-1. While there are 32 waveforms available (including 'piano') I personally never use anything other then saw, pulse, square, and sin. Think of it as an analog synth with some extra superfluous waveforms.

There is really only one main drawback to the ESQ-1 which is the 8 bit resolution of its waveforms. Once you get into the upper range the aliasing is very present. If only someone knew a way to upgrade the bit resolution..sigh. All the same, this is a pretty minor point. The filters are quite decent but have a reasonably 'neutral' sound about them. They don't have the 'thickness' of Moog, nor on the other hand, the 'squawk' of Korg machines. This is all well and good. They don't *fully* resonate but have a good amount of bite and grit when needed.

Like many machines of the era it is built like a tank..unlike today's machines. Why does build-durability *always* seem to diminish over time in the manufacturing realm? I have owned many ESQs over the years, only one of which bit the dust for reasons unknown. It was an electronic problem with the LCD display board. Considering how cheap they can be had these days this is a non-starter.

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If lost or stolen I would replace it in a heartbeat. Amidst my synths the ESQ gets fairly regular usage. In truth, I would probably replace it with the later SQ-80 which added more waveforms and polyphonic aftertouch and a disk drive. I understand the build quality on those polyphonic aftertouch keybeds suffered a little bit though.

I will shortly be making available a series of patches with a supporting booklet on taking advantage of certain features of the ESQ which really 'thicken' up the sound in terms of emulating classic analog gear. Something the machine excels at. In my opinion this is the single-most underestimated synth ever made. Considering the prices I'm seeing right now (around $150) you could not ask for a better bang for the buck in a first synth.

I have the ESQm, so my comments will reflect that. Very easy to program despite the 1 line display. It's intuitive if you've programmed anything other than an FM synth. Having an editor helps with the modulation chains, which are very oberheim-like.

Perhaps one of the most capable synth modules of its time. Read the other reviews to get a sense of its impact. Still an incredible value at $300. I only give it a 6 because we're talking about relevance to today's gear. It has aged far better than 90% of the gear from its era. You ever hear Fairlight sounds today? Not unless you're watching Miami Vice reruns.

Modulation options are still modern. They can be daunting sometimes since anything can mod anything. It took most digital synths another 10 years to get filter control right. Useful panning effects, but no onboard processing. Run this thing through a decent reverb or chorus and it sounds like a million bucks.

Absolutely amazing. You will not find a more comprehensive and unique sound out of anything costing this little. It is incredibly capable of generating a lot of different sounds. Other reviewers have not rated this highly for classical, but it has a great mallet sample and can produce some incredible bells. Brass isn't bad either at the low end because it's so fat, but it's not clear enough for midrange brass. Works well when combined with higher quality brass samples. High end can be too gritty for instrument reproductions, but it's so effective in other timbres. Filters offer amazing color and expression. A little slow on the response, but not too noticeable. NIN, Skinny Puppy, Nitzer Ebb, Front 242, Meat Beat Manifesto, Ministry... if you are trying to sound anything like these artists, don't sample them, just buy this synth.

It's 15 years old and still ticking, what do you think?

Haven't used factory support. User support has been great. There are many resources online and many knowledgeable users.

Very versatile. I've been trying to replace it over and over again, yet it still comes back into my work because it just sounds that good. Want a fat bass line? It won't disappoint. Cutting lead? Let er rip. Pads? A very impressive compliment to older Oberheim or Roland gear. Need bleepy bloop stuff with bite or character? The ESQm is your man. Now tell me what other $200 you've spent that can offer that much range?

About as easy as it gets. I've heard the keyboard version is more user-friendly, but it's hard to complain about this. I didn't give it a 10 only because the screen is small. I've been using synthesizers for a number of years--beginners might find this harder to tackle than I did, but the only easier thing I can think of would be something covered in knobs, for which you'll pay A LOT more money. The manual is simple, straightforward, and thorough. I don't know what software version I have, but wouldn't make a big difference in programming ease, anyway. I can't comment on the presets, because I bought mine used and all the presets had been changed. Sounds fantastic, though--kinda digital, kinda analog...awesome!

8-voice polyphonic, with dynamic voice allocation. This means you don't have to tell it how many voices to limit each half of a keyboard split to; even better: you can change programs while holding down a chord and those notes will continue to sound while you begin playing new notes using the new program! On-the-fly keyboard splitting...very cool. This is the module, so no keyboard action, plus it's got no effects and no sequencer. Midi response is minimal, but useful (note on/off, velocity, pressure, etc.). Accepts proprietary E-EPROM RAM cartridges for storing more of your programs. I guess the feature list is minimal and should warrant a low score, but this is a 15-year-old synth that's cheap, sounds fantastic, and has all the basics, so I didn't ding them very heavily.

No realistic instrument emulation at all--this is a synthesizer, not a sample-playback machine. That said, this thing has really unique, diverse, wonderful sounds. Simply cannot be beat for the price, or for five times the price. Digital waves (lots of 'em), analog filters, three oscillators and three LFOs per voice...get one! I would think the ESQ-M would work for any type of music except (probably) classical. No, it won't give you as realistic a B3 emulation as many other synths out there, but if you want something unique and with some character of its own, then this would work fine for classic rock or jazz. It's an obvious choice for electronica of any type. The reason I didn't give it a 10: it's waveforms are not the cleanest by today's standards, but who cares? It's a monster, and it's dirt cheap!

I haven't had mine that long, but it's 15 years old and works perfectly. Being in a rack, it doesn't get banged on and bounced around the way a keyboard does, so I expect it to work for a long time to come. The only thing I don't know anything about is battery changing--how often it should be done, when mine was done, etc. Other users have commented on this, though.

I've only dealt with them regarding a TS-12, and they were as good as they could be, given that the company no longer supports this machine. If they're no longer supporting a 8-year-old machine, I can't imagine they're supporting this one. There are a lot of web resources, though.

SO worth the price I paid! I'd replace it as soon as I could if it was stolen. I've been playing non-professionally for ~8 years, and I also own an Ensoniq TS-12 and a Roland JP8080. The JP is more fun to program because of all the knobs and the built-in effects, but it was almost 10 times the price of the ESQ-M which can still produce edgy, digital sounds that the JP can't. If the ESQ had all the knobs and the built-in effects, I would never have bought the JP. Comparing the ESQ to the TS is apples and oranges. The TS can realistically emulate some acoustic instruments, but it's more complicated to program. Each can do things the other can't. That's saying a lot, given that the ESQ is 15 years old and dirt cheap. Did I mention that it's dirt cheap? That it sounds fantastic? Get one!

I've got two of these puppies running versions 1.0 and 1.2 respectively. I've never reset them to factory specs, I like to mess with the programming... Patch editing is about as simple as it gets with a synth, but that is deceptive as this thing has amazing capabilities. Read the ESQ1 reveiews to get an idea. This is the module version of the ESQ1, so... same guts in a solid metal box! There's a patch editor on the web that works great. You can get it here: http://www.buchty.net/ensoniq/index.html If you have one of these then you need to know that address! The manual is pretty simple, but very easy to get through. Some very useful info on EXACTLY how these machines run... Some things are not intuitive, like figuring out what software you have! This unit is supposedly not quite as user friendly as the ESQ1, but I don't know. I needed space, not another keyboard. These pack a massive sonic punch in a small space. Oh, the editor on that page comes loaded with a whole bunch of sysex dumps you can use straight after you unzip it. Gotta love it! Thousands of patches I think... But, the thing is so easy to tweak you'll still mess with the programming. Great piece of gear. Everything is labelled pretty clearly. The patch editor is nice, but honestly, I mostly program it on the front panel. But, take your pick... I only gave it a nine here because some of the abbreviations on the rather small screen are cryptic. The manual is a real help here... Plus there are some variables that you might not know without having them explained. And all of them are useful.

Eight note poly. Patches can be layered which takes you down to 4. However, Ensoniq realized this was a limitation and allows you to overflow midi data to a second ESQM or ESQ1. A very good reason to have two! The unit can receive midi on 9 channels and respond with a different patch on each channel! It's like having 8 mono synths if you have a sequencer. No built in effects, but for what these things go for you can afford a really good one and still not have spent much. It takes memory cartridges which can either be ROMS or EPROMS for storing patches YOU make. No expansion capability. Also, the module DOESN'T have the sequencer that so many of the ESQ1 users like so much. I use a QY70, so no big loss there... The ESQm isn't a midi monster. It receives velocity and pressure and the standard pitch and mod wheel plus a wild card called xcntl which you can program. However,it has a sustain/CV pedal jack on the back. Used with a CV pedal these things can sing. YOu can route the filters (which are stunning!) to respond to the pedal and you can set whatever sweeps you want if you set the patch right. Magic stuff... You can get some classic Jarre type stuff easy... Which is saying something... The key to this synth is that you have 15 different modulators. They can be routed all over the place and you can have multiple modulators for oscillators and DCAs and filter... Three LFOs that can be modulated and then used as modulators... The routing possibilities are amazing for such a deceptively simple looking box. And the sound is just sweet. You can get super mellow pads and piercing electrical chaos out of it... It can do a LOT! Three oscillators... You can use less if you want... or layer the patches and have 6... Whatever... I'm biased towards these machines or I wouldn't have bought two, but I got the last one for $200 with three cards. The aftermarket cards can be bought on the web for $74, so I got the synth basically for free... How can you lose if it works - and it does! These things are tanks. Almost forgot. This machine also has ring mod (called AM) and hard sync of oscillators 1 and 2 for those looking for that kind of thing... The AM can give you some wild stuff... You want to be real comfortable with the oscillator tuning settings for those patches as they can be real sensitive... For the money these are definitely a ten. All you have to do is listen to one with some nice fx and you're hooked. Beats the hell out of the modern thin sounding clones... This thing bites! It will stand out in a mix, maybe too much! I give it a ten on features, but that's given the price. Obviously an E-mu Ultra has a bit more features, but you're going to pay for them and they are a lot harder to use. This is a great analog sounding digital synth, that can do some weird digital stuff, too...

This is not a realistic sound synth, though some patches can be amazingly realistic. It excells in wild electronic stuff... It can sound like so many other classic synths that it is hard to say what it really sounds like. I would say this is a good machine for rock/electronic/dance... Classical? No way! Stupid question for THIS machine... What onboard effects? It responds well to playing... Good expressiveness, especially if you get a CV pedal... Must thank an anonymous friend for giving me that tip... Thanks! VERY good tip. Velocity and aftertouch are nice, but you have to understand the architecture of the patches toget the most out of these features. Modulators add to the level you set for the oscillators. So, if you set the oscillators at max there's no room for modulation. So, you have to play with it... But, the upside is you can make it VERY responsive if you want. However those 15 modulators can sometimes make it hard to remember what is modulating what in the chain... The PC editor is nice int hat respect... As long as you know this is NOT a realistic sound module, the sound is just amazingly good. Liquid electric... shimmering layered chaos... Incredibly versatile... And the outs are pretty hot. Very clean sound. But it can be gritty... It really depends on what you want... It's a synth from the 80's... The music sounds kind of lame now, but the synths were half the fun. And it was new then... This was the budget wonder boy on the block. And for the money you can't find a better mod (well the SQR would be a bit better if you can find one) if you like cutting synth sounds. This thing can do trebel ranges that are painful and shake the house with bass. What else do you want? Did I mention it can be subtle? Really... However, this is something to widen your sonic arsenal. You're going to need other gear to supplement this because it's only 8/4 poly.

They sit in my rack which never leaves my studio/room... And I like it that way... I'm not a performance player. But, it's a metal box that's still going after 15 years. I think it must be pretty solid...

Upgrades... As far as I know Ensoniq no longer has any more upgrade chips. So, don't know... Ensoniq got back with me pretty fast, but only to say I had a dinosaur, which is true, but I love it anyway.

If they were stolen I'd be REALLY furious. If I cought them in the act, well it wouldn't be pretty... These are the main boxes I play with these days. But, they are ugly as hell, so probably some of the more flash gear would be taken first even if it does sound worse (well, not really true - different is a better word...) I've been playing guitars since I was 16, now well late 30's Started messing with synths 8 years ago. I've got two of these, two Casio VZ-10ms (another highly under rated synth, but a bitch to program and no filters, unfortunately...) A Casio CZ100, Pss-480, an E-synth which I love! and an aging EmaxII. This is the most intuitive machine I have other than the Yamaha which only has two oscillators, but sounds good for a toy FM unit. I bought the first ESQm after three musicians recommended the ESQs with RAVE reviews... All of them said it was the best synth for the money you could buy to do electronica... One of these guys is more into the gothic scene and likes to mangle the sounds with mutliple modulators for disharmonius effect, or so I hear... Anyway, I have to agree, you can find these for $150 and they are a steal at that price. You'll pay more for an electribe which is a joke compared to one of these. If you can find one cheap or even not so cheap -buy it! They are addictive and they don't make them anymore, sadly... I plan to play these things until they fry and then look for a replacement... Hopefully a long time from now!

For: nearly as viable today as when it was built - plenty of guts (front men will respect you) - three oscillators per voice! - loads of programming options - if you're selling one, prices (especially for the module) remain strong
Against: sampled waves aren't the cleanest in the world (won't be confused with a Kurzweil) - module not as friendly as the keyboard.

Display: 80-character florescent (ESQ-M's is smaller)

While Yamaha was resting on its FM laurels frpm the DX7 and Roland continued to churn out analog, Ensoniq, the company that made a stir in the sampling world with the Mirage stirred things with its first synthesizer, the ESQ1.
Coming out with a good sounding instrument for $1395 in the mid-80s was nothing shattering. But blowing everyone else out of the water at the same price created a throng of happy customers and a stunned competition. The ESQ-1 proved that Ensoniq wasn't a one-note wonder.
The ESQs are completely digital instruments that offer 32 sampled waveforms as sound building blocks. These are no where as pristine as you'll hear on newer Ensoniq's (or any one else's new synth for that matter), but they were a revelation then and sound respectable today (some, like the piano, are multi-samples, creating reasonable acoustic facsimiles). Ensoniq is also to be commended for creating a digital instrument that harkens back to the best features of old analog machines.
First, there's power. Each note can feature up to three oscillators (shades of Moog!) using any of the 32 waveforms. You have hard sync and ring modulation, plentiful EGs and modulation sources, and strong filters. There's even stereo variations like random pan.
The keyboard is slightly weighted and velocity sensitive. The board can also be split at any point. And you can layer two sounds. Most outlandish of all, each split can have its own layer (the module can do the same)!
You also have what is arguably the first useful sequencer on an affordable keyboard before the word "workstation" was coined (memory is expandable to 10,000 notes).
And you have an intelligently designed panel with a plethora of buttons and a roomy screen that makes programming fairly easy (the display also shows 10-patches at a stroke). The ESQ-M was $400 less than it's brother. You forgo the nice keyboard, sequencer, and large display, but you still get that big, electric blue sound that cuts through anything anyone else might be doing on stage.

The ESQs can be a little rambunctios and if any unit in your arsenal will have a tendency to have stuck notes, it's these. Other than that, I had no problems.
Considering how many keyboards have come and gone since the ESQ debuted, you shouldn't expect to pay more than $350 for a good one and that should include a cartridge. The module can be had for $250 and at that, it's a good buy.