Ensoniq Fizmo

The stock manual is great, and typical Ensoniq. So if you speak English then it is clearly written in very casual language and takes the usual Ensoniq method of walking you through features, on an escalating basis, rather than just slapping you in the face with a feature dictionary.

There are many levels to the FIZMO and if you sat down and just tried to riff on the presets you'd probably be less than blown away. But those who are into digging deeper and twiddling will be greatly, and i mean GREATLY, rewarded.

i believe the poly is 48? correct me if i'm wrong.

the keyboard action is fantastic. has aftertouch too. all American Ensoniq beauty. i've been using my FIZ as my main synth and MIDI controller for years and nothing provides the satisfaction in feel, this is my opinion.

the built in effects are taken directly from the ESP2 chip, which is used in the ASRX and DP4+, and is, in my opinion, the epitome of hardware effects units, algorithms and sound quality. you are limited to a decent handful of presets which can be tweaked (to a degree) and saved on a per-patch basis. but don't be fooled. they sound BUTTERY. you can also run external gear through the effects via a 1/4" audio input on the back.

MIDI is a bit unique in the FIZMO. you get 6 tracks of MIDI response, one is the base channel which will play the entire current preset. base +1 is the current preset with the Arpeggiator, which is simply BANANAS. and base + 2-4 are the individual layers which make up the current preset. *each preset can consist of 4 sounds. each sound has 2 oscillators. each osc has independent filter, wave table (tone), lfo and envelope settings. it's just insane how much sound you can pull out of this thing. so expressive.

EVERY SINGLE KNOB (and there are lots of them) sends MIDI data. enough said.

this is a wavetable synth. some of the wavetables are realistic bell type tones but primarily are synthetic. every parameter is available via the knobs. even more if you have the software to edit as you get a bit more control over envelopes.

i'd be lying if i said the FIZMO was good for every type of music. it's a wavetable synth. if you make ambient music, drones, pads, atmospheres or the like i don't think there's anything better in the world. if you want immediate satisfaction or a ROMpler then this is not the unit for you. this is a tweaker's machine.

it's incredibly expressive. velocity and aftertouch are both well-implemented and adjustable.

solid. i bought mine second hand from the original owner (it's now 20 years old) and i've never had a single problem. i wouldn't gig with it simply because i don't want it leaving my house and don't want beer spilled on it. i have no doubt that it is road worth though. they are rare, mostly because of a well-documented factory defect with a capacitor. if you research this and take the appropriate measures then you are golden. the FIZMO rack is even more rare, ive heard recently that there were only 50 made.

non-existent. almost. Ensoniq is long gone but there is a guy in California who is the last existing Ensoniq repairman and will work on your FIZMO for an extremely fair rate. http://www.thesoniq.com

i'd never, ever, nerver, vever, vovenvon give up my FIZMO. there's nothing like it on earth, or in outer space. it is the last synth Ensoniq ever produced on their own. they were the best synth company ever. ever. ever.

you might be able to get by with a Blofeld these days. the FIZ is big, expensive and hard to find. i'd still seek one out though. Ensoniq's filters, effects and sheer genius are unparalleled now and forever. amen.

i wish it had an LCD screen. the 4 character LED is gross.

The Fizmo is not exactly a push button wonder, you actually have to think a bit to make a useful sound. At the time it was first introduced it was considered pretty knob laden but you really need to use the sound diver option to see the entire picture. Once you have a patch it is pretty decent for tweaking as you or a sequence plays.

Knowing about programming is useful with this keyboard. The presets are ok to show you the basic abilitys but you should over write the lot.

The best part of this synth (which I have owned since 2001)is the ability to tweak a few parameters and have a sound suddenly 'come out' of a layer of synths and weave new and interesting sonics then sneak back into the mix. The main knobs are pretty nice for this effect and the last one is assignable to your preference of control.

The pressure sensitivity works nicely for bringing in expression.The vocoder is not the best but for doing drum sounds or other synths it is very nice, it is a MONO input though. External sounds can be brought in too for FX processing if you want. The FX, by the way, are quite smooth to my ears.

This is the real section I find of interest.As others in these reviews have commented already this is not a beat box, Rompler or perfect VA synth. It is an exellent unit for ambient and drifting pads and closely resembles synths like the Korg wavestation series.
The wave tables are very nice and changing even one can thrust you into a new creative direction.

The preset drum sound bank is limp and not really good but it can be ignored and some have managed to process them to useful status but why bother with so many good boxes around to cover that.

I am a fan of the sounds of Klaus Shultze, Tangerine Dream, edgar Froese, Steve Roach, Can, and others like the Orb and future Sound of london. I have played analog synths (Moog, Arp 2600 and Oberheim 4 voice .etc)and full modulars and owned a few of the less expensive ones. The Fizmo (what a strange name!) fills my personal requirement for sound experimentation and I use it pretty frequently. After over 2 years I continue to discover a new and quirky patch almost every week.
The first few weeks I owned the thing I found myself wondering just exactly what others found in it to justify the ownership. The previous owner had 2 of these and his idea of patches was far away from mine. Once I went nuts and started going to extremes and using the patch editor I realised the Fiz is deep and quite versatile.

It can easily do pads that imitate a D-50 (Roland) or to an extent a JX (insert series number-lol) and actually compliments them when layered. Sometimes it can seem as though actual analog synths were somehow passed through digital effects, oh I can hear the screaming from the VA fanatics and Analog purists,but I am hard pressed to describe the way this keyboard can sound.It is interesting and challanging to use in a good way.

The Fizmo can be rude and hog the sound, crowding out several other synths in a mix but thats also a good thing in my opinion. I have to give it a 9 though since it is hard to say it is perfect. Compared to using CD samples of famous synths or buying a few thousand dollars worth of analogs and a mellotron I must say this synth can deliver strange, beautiful, ethereal and unusual sonic textures for a reasonable investment. The single word I would use to describe this is: creative. Ok I am giving this a 10 on second thought. (Insert creative instead of pristine?)

Solid metal case, very firm and large knobs also. (I heard that!) This keyboard weighs a lot and has never failed me. The power supply is a replacement and I have left it turned on a lot and never considered it as unreliable.

I downloaded the latest version of the sound diver OEM free from the website. Ensonic is kaput so if I ever needed any work done I would go to a competent electronics repair shop. Lucky for us Fizmo owners, these are pretty solid units!

I would enjoy the rack version if I did not have the keyboard already.I have been using synths for a long time, I remember when REO speedwagon played Riding the storm out in a park in Omaha...
Sometimes when I using this I get ideas which lead somewhere. My mp3 site (mp3.com.au/alien-mbc) has been in the top 300 before so I must be on the right track and my US site was in the top 40 for the pacific north west for over 2 years. Not too shabby for a breeder, eh?

This synth is plain fun to fool around on, keep the patch utility handy to save the results for later. The purple color clashes badly with an orange or yellow Waldorf, be warned! ^__^

The Fizmo is quite easy to use,allthough some features are only accesable via an optional computer program

Very nice keyboard action coupled with very very nice sounds make
it fairly good on the feature front,allthough it looks like a pile of
vomit and the screen is useless.Transwaves are very cool though

say no more

My Fizmo still works fine after nearly two years.
It gets left on for long periods.
touch wood this will continue for some years to come.
It's never ever crashed on me though which you can't say for a lot of
samplers or Virtual Analogues out there never mind computers

The Fizmo seems to have been removed from the Ensoniq/Emu web site.
If their was a carpet Creative Labs would sweep thw Fizmo under it.
Shame on them...

Killer sounds,loads of knobs,nice keyboard,useless screen,horrible paint job

Only major flaw is lack of backlit LCD - think Mirage (LED Baby!)

Geez - it's all in there! For the novice - just turn the knobs and listen; for the synthesist - 8 osc per preset, effects out the wazoo, and a freakin' ARPEGGIATOR!

If you checked this out in the store with one finger on the preset +/- button and listened to each patch for 3 seconds, you lose! You can hold a chord down for hours and just listen to this baby move.

Well, you should make sure you get the voltage regulator modification installed if you take her on the road, and (as all good electronic musicians should) if you're using a $5 wal-mart outlet strip you should probly watch the sales at CompUSA and buy a real multi-strike spike/surge suppressor or better yet a little UPS. Other than that, it's about as well put-together as similarly-priced boards.

Well it's all you can expect - downloadable OS update, additional sounds, and the whole users manual are online...

Damn Creative Labs for screwing it up, this could have been their DX-7 (as if they care). When I can find one more for backup I will snap it up - would hate to be without it! This is the next 303, OB-8, Prophet-5 - a true classic synthesizer!

I bought this for around $400(us) new. I am using whatever OS was in at the shop. As with most Synths, the presets are mainly rubish. Some are just plain painful but, all the patches are so easily "tweekable" you can salvage some of them. The manual is just about all you can expect from a manual, sometimes it treats you like an idoit, sometimes it dosnt.

NO ONBORAD SEQUENCER!!!.Still, I knew that when I bought it. I got because It was a cheap synth that is covered to buggery in knobs that alter sounds in real time. This is very good for playing live (leave your god-damn records at home) the F,I,Z,M and O knobs are great (ensoniq claim they are "revolutionary") but fairly standard on a modern "modelling" synth. It has your typical insert and global effects, some are VERY nice others requiry alot of practice to get sounding O.K.,a good thing is you can do it all live. Im not to sure of the polyphony. All I know is it hasnt missed any notes on me, and if you know what you are doing you can make a patch into a wicked throbing track almost on its own (just add a drum machine)by pressing one key. This brings us to "Transwaves"

the instruments arnt meant to sound realistic, its not that kind of synth (I think the days when people wanted a synth to be a violin are gone.....hopefuly). The whole "transwave" thing is quite cool, the longer you press the madder shit gets. I like that. I wouldnt use this synth for anything other modern dance, or perhaps a sci-fi sound track(patch 60 "raises you to another level of existence" apparently). You arnt really going to get big dirty bass lines for DnB though (although its possible i suppose)Think of it mor as an "ambience generator", and I thinkit is a very good one.

I cant rate it fairly in this since I havent giged with it yet. And as for the power supply problems the others are having, again I cant comment except it hasnt done anything of the sort to me yet..... still,time will tell

no prolems yet, so no complaints...yet

I would buy it again if I found one for the same price, And I would recomend one to someone. I think its worth alot more than I payed. I prefer it to the korg MS2000, but the transwave is a really REALLY very ugly synth, where as the korg is cool. But who really gives a shit what it looks like right?Anyway I wish it had a better screen (its tiny) more room for patch storage, and an onboard sequencer and a snorkle so I could take it swimming with me

I'd like to give a review of this synth from the perspective of a *serious* musician. The problem with alot of reviewers is they fall into 3 categories :

1. Guy saves his lunch money for 6 mos to buy the gear and wouldn't admit if the piece of gear sucked.
2. Someone has a bad experience with the piece and just wants to rant.
3. Someone bought the wrong piece of gear for the job they needed it to do and is pissed at the gear :)

Now about myself, I have a small project studio with ~10 synths, so, I feel I can review this one fairly and in the appropriate context.

-- onto the review --
I give this synth an ease of use of 8, your going to need the patch editor to edit patches -- which is a bummer -- but the realtime F,I,Z,M and O knobs on the front make up for some of those deficincies.

The presets are average, there are some good ones, some bad ones.

The FIZMO does suffer because of its display which is a bright red 1 line LCD that only displays 5 or 6 characters ... some of the abreviations are rediculous. For this oversight I give the ease of use a 5.

The effects on this unit are *very* nice and smooth, but not standoutish, your mostly going to get eerie reverbs and delays. The manual claims the effects unit is 24bit, and you really can hear it.

It has a built in arp, which really is pretty average, the demo sequences are extremly short (20 or 30 seconds each).

The polyphony and multi-timbral seem adequate.

However, there are only 128 flash ram slots for patches, this should be more like 512. It would have been nice if the synth could read the presets out of its rom instead of using the flashram to store the factory patches.

This is where things get interesting ...

The FIZMO is *not* a bread and butter synth, its not a techno synth, its not a synth for classical music -> its sole purpose is to make completley whacky enviornmental and pad sounds. If your dying to make an album like Morton Subotnik, this is *the* synth for you, if your dying to rescore the Forbidden Planet, this is the synth for you. I suspect many reviewers who didn't like the synth were expecting something else. None of the presets are identifiable as a particular kind of instrument.

This aside, the synth is extremly warm, and very very subtle. The first couple days I had it I didn't like its character, but this synth isn't good at first impressions -- it will sound thin at first, but as you listen to it you begin to hear the wonderfull textures it creates. Sometimes I will turn the arp on and play a chord and just listen to it for 20 or 30 minutes while I work -- theres SOO much going on with this synthesizer it can keep your ears entertained with just a chord.

I rate the expresiveness a 9 out of 10, the realtime control buttons on the front are great for doing this like filter sweeps and detuneing etc etc.

It lost 1 point because I feel the sample ram could stand to be increased a bit, in the lower end of the keyboard sometimes you can hear that mechanical sound of samples being stretched a bit too far. But this synth also cost 1/3rd of what my more expensive synths do, and it proudly stands among them.

I have read the power supply is bad but have had no problems with mine -- fourtnatley a power supply from the original nintendo is said to work with this synth quite nicely

I wouldn't expect much support, this synth has been out of production for awhile now, and since the emu+ensoniq+creative labs merger, theres prolly not much interest in support.

I believe this synth is the next Juno or 303, 808, 909, it has all the marks of a classic synth. They are already becoming expensive items on ebay.

I find when Im having trouble writing songs, pounding on this thing for a few minutes almost always gives me an idea. The harmonics in the pad/atmosphere sounds are perfect for those deep rich chord structures that all classic techno needs :)

One thing that would have been nice is if they could have included a theremin emulator -- it would have gone right along with the spacey sounds this synth makes.

This synth is a tweekers synth.Tons of knobs and adjustable parameters.
If you cant figure this synth out you got problems.
Not a major learning curve with this.
The presets are very weird!I find this very good!
I dont have soundiver yet so i cant comment on it.

I like the keyboard action but if your a piano player your not gonna like it.
The effects rock just like the asr-x,except it has the vocoder algorithm.
definetly cool to play with.
The arpeggiator was a pleasant surprise.Very usable.

This is the most futurstic/avant garde synth on the planet!
Its a "transwave" synthesizer.That means the waves evolve and change as your hold down the keys.
This is ensoniq-only technology.You have to hear it to believe it.
The ideas i get just by holding down a chord on the keyboard and tweeking knobs would blow your mind!
You can change the "transwaves" in real-time as well as the envelopes,velocity,lfo,the effects,ect.......
Im not aware of any other keyboard with this capability.
there are i believe 56 transwaves and a sinewave and squarewave.
The sound quality of this keyboard is absolutely top of the line(think of korgs organic sounds and you will get an idea).
this keyboard is good for jazz,dance,pop,hip hop,and especially trance.
Id does things everyday that continue to amaze me!

you should get a replacement power supply.
what you need is at least a 1.3A at 9vac supply which you can buy at radio shack for next to nothing!
its the nintendo replacement power supply.
this is the only problem ive had with mine.

havent been able to get in contact with kim wilhelmson(i think thats her name)from emu.
i want my soundiver!

Too bad the ensoniq as a company is gone.
So many innovative and truly groundbreaking products have come from this great company.
I love this synth!
I would buy another one for double or triple the price.The sonic possiblities are unimaginable!
The most groundbreaking synth ive ever seen!
I give this synth a 10 but really how can you rate something that so far ahead of everything else?

It takes awhile to remember how to access all the functions but once you get it down - it's pretty easy. There are alot of things that almost require the editing software (Sound-Diver). There are alot of parameters to screw around with and you can push some of the values way past what is "useful" - which can be cool for special effects but alot of people complain about distortion, clipping, or digital clicking/popping noise without realizing that it comes from having the oscillator's volume set too high going into the filter and effects. In other words - alot of the knobs go to 11.

Awesome effects. A kinda lame vocoder that is still fairly cool. Kick-ass arpeggiator. Good keyboard action (feels a little like an organ). The MIDI implementation is weird but it gives you some cool capabilities. For instance, you can play it like a 4-part multimbral source instead of a 4-part layered source (or a combination of both). I wish it had some way of saving your patches to disk (or card, or something). The polyphony sounds very high (48 I think ?) but that's not really note-polyphony, it's layer polyphony and each preset will have 1-4 layers so if you use all the layers, divide by 4 and you get a polyphony of 12 - which is still alot considering how thick and complex a 4-layer FIZMO patch is going to sound. Also, the real-time knobs transmit MIDI CC so this thing rocks just as a MIDI controller (except that it won't last long - you can't depend on the FIZMO).

I can't tell you how cool the sounds are; you have to hear them. The FIZMO doesn't always play well with others though - it mucks up complex layered mixes. The sound programming gives you tons of options for modulation on the various layers - it's easy to create complex evolving sounds or sounds that are expressive via velocity/LFO/mod wheel/aftertouch/ etc. In fact, you can program patches that almost play themselves (put one finger on the keyboard and listen to the motion type of sounds). Unfortunatly, when you send it in to have the damn thing fixed over and over, you will lose your awesome sounds so back up to MIDI often.

This review makes the FIZMO sound pretty cool so far. Well, it's just so awesome and fun to play that you will be doubly pissed when yours breaks. The FIZMO is really basically a software synth that runs on a bunch of computer chips on a circuit board inside the case. Those chips get fried by the bad power supply (hope you never use the factory one) but I think they also get fried by static electricity, dust, interference from TV and radio, exposure to temperatures other than 72 degrees, "bad vibes", ghosts, Bigfoot, basically anything. Honestly, my FIZMO is the least reliable device of any kind that I have ever used. Another guy in my band graduated from DeVry and his senior electronics project is more durable than my FIZMO. Mine broke 2 months after I got it. It spent 7 months in the shop (it took the place 2 months to get the replacement part - which they had to send back because it was defective - and then 3-4 more months to get another one). When I finally got it back - it lasted for another 4 months before it broke again and now (after 13 months) I am not under warranty anymore. I was using the semi-official replacement power supply at the time - so that is not the only problem. I am trying to find out how much it will cost to have it fixed just because I love everything else about this synth (except maybe the looks, but who cares about that ?). However, if it's going to cost much - I will probably just throw this dead beast into the garbage.

So far, support has been fairly helpful considering how much pain this product is putting them through. I haven't been able to get an estimate on repairs yet. Support via e-mail and on the phone has been courteous, fast, and mostly to-the point. Hopefully I can find out how much repairs will cost before I pay to have it shipped off (again).

I thought the FIZMO was going to be a bargain like the Kawai K5000's that were blown out a couple of years ago for around $500. Boy was I wrong. It it were lost ? >..... well, it basically is lost and I wouldn't dream of paying more than $150 ($50 is more like it) to replace it so I will probably do without. The saddest thing about this instrument is that I'm not the primary keyboard player in my group - I play electronic percussion and wind synth (the FIZMO sounded totally killer controlled by my Yamaha WX-5) so my unit never ever saw heavy use. I never even took it out of my house once (except to send it in for repairs). Still - if I found one cheap enough, I would think hard about it and probably save my money for something else. I'm going to give it a "1" here even though it sounds so awesome because no product (I don't care if you're talking about synthesizers or beanie babies) should ever be this fragile and allowed to come to market.

I am not going to elaborate about the FIZMO. Look at the other reviews . Pretty well everything has been said. This is a great synth.Don't look for piano/organ/sax/ukulele/bagpipe patches 'cause there are none. This "thing" sounds like nothing else. It is simply unique.

Again I have to agree with everything that's been said about it. True the one line display really sucks, and at time you'll have to check the manual to figure out what some of the characters in the display mean. True you need a computer to get deeper into some editing but this is not a necessity. On it's own, this thing rocks.

When I got it 3 months ago, I did not know what to make out of it. It sounded a bit thin. The keyboard action is great not too hard not too soft. The midi set up is a bit strange, check another review explaining what you can do -go to ch. 15- about it. The effects are killers. This thing is great for dance/ambient/rock/prog. Anyway after a while I started to get deeper and deeper and my first impression vanished rapidly. I hooked up other module to it to give it that extra bite sometime needed, but most of the time I use is as is , great for some solii . Also great arpegiator. I am not a big fan of arpegiators on keyboard, but I have to admit that the FIZ really shine in this department.

I replaced the power supply after reading the reviews. So far so good. I take it with me every friday to gig and no problem whatsover. When I gig I use it as well as a midi controler with a JV1010 hooked up to it. Great combination. So far no problem

Ensoniq is cool

I would definitely get another one if this one got lost. I've been playing for 30......a long time. I also have the ZR76 -another milestone from Ensoniq- , Korg N1, JV1010 and I just borrowed the EMU Xtreme lead. Yet it helps me to make music, it definitely oppened up some new doors, no question about it. The Waldorf Q retails for Can $4500.For $500 I got something that fullfil my musical needs. I tried them all. I did not like the Korg MS2000 because of it's short keyboard, otherwise it is a fine machine. I tried the Q, Novation, OB12, they sound great but nothing like the FIZ. The only other one that really inspired me was the Nord Lead 2. I'll wait for the 3 to come up and perhaps 6 months from now, I'll find the 2 for a reasonable price. Until then FIZ rules. Just one thing. I will make an atempt at repainting it. .

This is a very nice synth. One of a kind. In its own right. Nothing else out there to compare it with. The manual is pretty basic and does not even scratch the surface of the Fizmo-potential.
With the front-knobs 'only' you can already tweak this synth with amazing results. With the (optional) SoundDiver OEM editor however you are permitted to enter Fizmo-Heaven because all of the parameters become available to you. There is a lot te be discovered. This synth
truly offers a life-time of pleasue. My only gripe is the display and its messages. The display is way too small and the messages are horrific: you need to keep your manual at hand. Because of that: 9

Polyphony is nice, but can be lost easily when programming lush sounds. The keyboard is very playable. FX are outstanding. No expansion possibilities. No sequencer. The transwaves only seem to be limited by number but their potential (as with all programmable synths - up to your own likings and efforts) is enormous.
The MIDI-implementation is unique in a sense that it could give you the creeps. Fizmo always operates in multi-mode meaning that it will respond to six MIDI-channels all the time. The thing is that these MIDI-channels are allways in the same order. For instance by making channel 1 the basic channel Fizmo - automatically - will respond to the channels 2,3,4,5 and 6. Choosing channel 5 as the basic channels Fizmo will respond to the channels 6,7,8,9 and 10. In a bigger MIDI-setup this could cause some trouble keeping your synths apart from each other. I my setup I choose channel 15 as the basic channel, so Fizmo can only respond to channel 16 as well. This just works fine for me. Be aware of this 'Fizmo-Only-Feature'.
Another 'Fizmo-Only-Feature' is its multi-functionality.
On the one hand it is a synthesizer (because of its keys, knobs and sound-processor), on the other it is a genuine piece-of-art (because of its looks) that will make it fit nicely in your livingroom hanging on the wall as a sonic sculpture or just to impress your visitors ...

Fizmo is a synthesizer with little appeal to the bleepy, bass-booming and sqelchy flocks of the world of today. Yet nothing beats Fizmo. Having said that I feel the need to elaborate a little.
Fizmo is a unique synth not likely to become a major hit.
Apart from the way Fizmo was marketed it excels at strange, weird, organic, spacy and ever-evolving sounds. It is a wonderful synth in this area. So it will never be a bread-and-butter synth for everyone.
Does it compare to other synths ? Not a chance. It stands on its own. Remotely similar - only for the characteristics of the sounds - are the Kawai K5000s (dream synth with additive synthesis) and the Korg Wavestation Series (dream synths as well). So how does this end ?
IMHO Fizmo is a 'helluva' synth, with a supreme sound quality that fits perfectly in the more experimental fields of synth-music.

Some people have rather sad experiences with the power-supply frying Fizmo. Some Fizmo Racks suffer from auto-detuning. Never had problems with this one. Anyway, what are warranty-card for ...
I do not gig and never will. Fizmo stays at home with me.

On two occasions I had to contact Emu-Ensoniq. On the first-one I got
in contact with some-one whose name I erased from my memory. You don't want to know. But then ... I got in contact with Kim Wilhelmsen at EMU-Ensoniq. She is one of a kind with an outstanding performance. Some people should take an example. Thank you Kim. You really made me do it: a full 10 on this one ! Keep up the good work ...

I would never part Fizmo and get another if it were lost or stolen. It is not a synth everyone should get. But if you do you will get a unique synth/stunning piece-of-art. Therefore Fizmo will become a true classic over the years ...