Ensoniq KS-32

Bought this instrument in 1996 for $1,000 and used it as the controller for an off broadway show that I scored. Definitely the Chevrolet of that era and there is no shame in that. Used Kurzweils in the studio but like this instrument alot. Love the action and the piano and organ sounds are quite good. Just pulled it out of storage after ten years of non use and it fired up and sounded great. Not looking forward to soldering in the battery re placement but there it is. Great gigging instrument except for the weight. Presets and internal rom are easily accessible and it just wears well in a live gig. Most of the good sounds are easy to get at. Grew up playing a B3, fender rhodes and a mini moog so I am definitely old school. Nice overall instrument.

Expansion capabilities are limited and it is 32 voices and many presets use two voices per note but I have never had an issue with it and found that it plays well with other insturments and modules. Sequencer is limited and I have not used it at all. Keyboard action has meat to it definitely keeps your hands in shape, but I like a keyboard that bites back a little bit. Makes you lean into it and this one does. If I have not played in a couple of weeks and I do two sets on this thing my hands feel it.

Onboard effects are limited but the modulation wheel and pitch wheel are very good. Again grew up a Mini Moog and the expanded circumference of these wheels gives a little more sensititivity. Play mostly rock and cover gigs with this thing would perhaps even use it for a solo piano gig if there was no instrument provided. The piano sample is quite solid not the best one out there but the samples despite being of small size seem to have some air in them which is usually the issue with Piano samples. Standard presets could use some more analog synth sounds i.e. Oberheim pads etc.

Used the instrument rigorously for 4 years and then put it away for 9. Never had a problem other than the battery issue. Never had an issue at a gig. EVER. . . more than I can see for my old DX 7.

Never dealt with the company and now they are gone which is too bad. They made some good instruments back in the day.

If it were stolen would mourn its loss but would proably upgrade. Just think it is a very solid instrument that does a great deal at a very fair price and with good reliability. A poor man's kurzweil, was definitely a great ax the four years I used it extensively. With the case it is heavy, but it has held up under some fairly austere conditions and less than careful handling.

NA (This an addition to my earlier post)

The more I learn this keyboard, the more I like it. At the same time, I would only recommend this instrument to someone who understood how to use samples--it may not be a good first instrument, since the presets sound weak. If you come straight from big multisamples and want to sit down and play it immediately, you'll be very disappointed.

But if you've worked with samplers and synths for a while (loud samples that need to be controlled) and know how to program ADSR stages and filters and use modulation:

Since you can assign three multisamples to each instrument and assign an upper and lower velocity layer to each instrument, and then stack instruments into a multi, you can create nine velocity layers to any instrument, with separate pitch, amplitude, and filter envelopes on each. The samples are brief, but bright, and the looping is good-- with the great envelopes, you can do a lot. (Much, much more control than in the much later Yamaha S-80.)

You have a lot of control over the samples: reverse, sample start, sample end, number of times a loop repeats, length of time a sample plays after it's struck again, etc.

There is a PC patch editor available from ksedit.com.

You can assign just about everything as a modulation source, including each stage of the three envelopes and the parameters of the effects.

Time and amplitude for each stage of each envelope (and a preattack level for each envelope). Maddening to use a lot of contemporary softsamplers that neglect these tools.


Some limitations:

You can just use the mod wheel, the pitch bend wheel, and the data slider to control midi cc's: a good keyboard feel, but it's not a way to control every parameter of a softsynth\sampler.
No resonance on the filters.
No question, the samples last only about 2-3 seconds. And on mine, there's sometimes some grainy hiss on the releases, but if can program, you don't hear it--use the Decay stage to let notes die and mimimize or completely cut the amplitude on the Sustain.

It's old, old, old. I can't imagine anyone using the default presets. This came out before the KT and MR and ZR series, and the memory is low. But you can get good sounds if you stack the layers and use the envelopes. Has the bright, loud samples that samplers needed at the time. Also has the controls to let you shape them.

So far.

Emu bought Ensoniq. Creative bought Emu.

Great keyboard and programming possibilities. Only two things I wish it had:

1.The ability to load samples, even a meg or two.
2. More assignable midi controls. (You can just assign the mod wheel, the pitch bend wheel, and the data slider.)

Fairly straightforward keyboard once you learn your way around. The map on the face of the board tells you what each button does and the text on the screen is easy to read and clear. Has some limitations--only 3 voices (samples or multisamples) can go into a sound, so to create more complex instruments, you have to create tracks and layer them. Not hard to do.

All of the midi functions can be found off of one button. Very good. Makes it very easy to switch between using the internal sounds and using this as a controller for vsti's.

It's an older keyboard, so I expected more limitations than it has. Good features:

Gives you both levels and times for every stage of all three envelopes.
Has a pre-attack level for all of the envelopes.
Has dynamics control that lets you adjust the ratio of velocity to amplitude, so low velocities can sound louder without raising the volume of the hard strikes.
Lets you create release samples.
Lets you set a restrike time, so notes don't stop as soon as you strike them again. Nice.
Effects are good and offer more control than some software instruments today. Particularly the chorus which lets you get good clear sounds, not just the cliche 90's chorused piano sound.
Good 76 key weighted action. Responds to channel aftertouch.

No ability to load other samples. You can only load programs, called sounds, which all use the on-board sounds.

I'm giving the sounds a 10, but understand that the wave files are from 1993, so they are brief and (well) looped. But the piano sounds great. (Mine had an obvious loop on the C below middle C that seemed to be programmed in, since I did a system reset and it was still there. But a few minutes in the pitch and amp envelope got rid of it. Sounds very good now. Has one basic piano that is in three forms: a full multisample that covers the entire keyboard and the same samples mapped to a left side and right side of the keyboard multisample. Since you can assign the same multisamples to several layers and then assign those layers to splits, you can set up just about anything you want & adjust the envelopes and filters for each split.

And the piano was well-sampled. It's only one meg of samples, but it's much better than many samples I hear on hardware and software today: recorded dry and loud so you can add effects without mush. Onnly one layer, but again, by creating sounds, setting their velocity layer, and assinging the sounds to tracks, you can create several layers.

Great, forceful organs, too.
The other sounds I haven't really listened to much--I knew this wouldn't give me a great string patch. But the nylon guitar, for a synth, is decent. As good as one you'll find on a synth today.

To hear the sound of this instrument, I should say, you need a good keyboard amp or a good monitors.

Fine so far.

A great loss, Ensoniq.

I'm giving this a ten because at what it sells for today on ebay or as a trade-in in music stores, it's great. Just the keyboard action makes it excellent. It's not a Juno or Motif, obviously.

Don't know software version-bought used long ago. Presets-this is a great workhorse live playing axe. No general midi soundset-but at a time when most keyboards had sound categories scattered around without any logical or musical framework, this one organized all similar sounds together-pianos, e. pianos, organs, strings, etc. Patch editor does make it easier to program (there is a freeware one on the web). Very easy to set up splits, layers and edit sounds. Manual is fine, just need to be reasonably intelligent to understand it, doesn't require an advanced degree in geekspeak. Overall, considering how little memory was used for the basic sound sample set, this proves how much can be done with properly programmed samples.

32-note polyphony, although many sounds use two elements-I have created pretty full-sounding arrangements with no note-dropouts. Built-in effects, although missing the more elaborate effects of later instruments are very workable-the reverbs tend to sound a little muddy to me-I use sparingly. Can accept dedicated RAM and ROM cards, although these are not readily available, I've purchased two used and it adds alot to the sound capabilities-cards can be used to store sounds or sequences. I also upgraded the internal memory which increases the built-in sequencer from 30,000 to 80,000 events. MIDI capabilities are fine-I use a computer librarian, editor and sequencer with this and have had no problems swapping soundbanks in and out. There is a freeware editor on the web that allows for saving KS32 sequences onto the computer in a crude (non smf) way. One of the easiest on-board sequencers I've used. Not as deep as some, but all the important functions are there, copy, paste, quantize, filter, event editing etc. More difficult due to the small LCD, alot of button-pushing to get around. I am more of a piano-banger than an organist-but the keys are pretty close to the real piano, a little harder than others, but long-throw if you really like to lay into chords, I do! I had to replace the felt keybeds-not for the faint-hearted, but it improved the action considerably, no more clacking and less rebound on the hands and fingers.

Keyboard reacts as expected to velocity and after-touch, but has gotten a bit uneven with time. Even by today's standards-many of these sounds are very professional. I purchased one after hearing the keyboard player in a famous cook's show using it and the acoustic piano was as realistic as I've heard-better than some real pianos I've played! And the organ fooled me on another double gig-another keyboard player played it miked through a Leslie and I thought it was a Hammond B-3, and I've played B-3s and C3-S. So the stock organ sounds, though small in number, represent a very useable selection of percussive and non-percussive organ sounds. Other sounds-drums are ok, but not as much of a variety as newer instruments, not as much snap but realistic enough. Need to be brightened up in a mix. Bass sounds-not up to modern standards again for variety and impact-but with editing can be very powerful. Some noticeable weaknesses in some sounds' split points-trumpet has this problem. Woodwinds and strings are surprisingly good and analog sounds are there, but again editing and aftermarket sounds improve these alot. This instrument works well for rock and jazz, not as well (with stock sounds) for dance, hip-hop or techno. However-if you are good at programming, you will be amazed at some of the sounds you can get out of this. I didn't realize until I loaded some of the alternative soundsets-can create some very interesting time-based patterns and esoteric effects I didn't think it was capable of (I'm not a very deep sound designer, but I own an SY77, QS300, TS-12, Kurzweil RG-200 piano and a Generalmusic S3T to compare and have played Moogs, Prophets, Wurlitzer and Fender stage pianos and Steinways). This one still keeps me interested-every time I think about selling it, I play it one more time and always change my mind. I'd give it a 10, but newer instruments do have slightly more clarity (not by much though)and a larger variety of basic sounds in ROM to work with.

I've carried it around alot-dropped it once on asphalt no less and nothing broke but the end cap, which only chipped. It played without a hitch. It feels so well-made, sometimes I forget its electronic, weird I know. Steel top and bottom, hoo-haa! You better have a strong back-I can port it around myself-but then I grew up in bands carrying B3s and leslie speakers around to every gig. Happy, happy. The end caps are stronger than some, but the plastic screw anchors that fasten the end caps to the steel frame break-I repair these with epoxy but the end caps are very strong-single piece molded construction, easily repaired or replaced. I always bring at least one backup keyboard to any playing venue. This instrument will occasionally scramble its brains and has to be reset, but most of the time its fine. Inside-its the simplest keyboard I've seen-one mainboard, a power supply, mainboard for the buttons and another small board for the RAM cards in back. Amazing. Took less than ten minutes to take out the mainboard. And the buttons are hard plastic and have never failed-just the right size for my sausage fingers. Get a real lithium battery for the mainboard which stores the sequencer and RAM sounds in memory when the KS32 is powered down-cheap drugstore batteries aren't the same and only last a year or two at most. Final advice-Get steel-tipped shoes for gigs in case you drop this on your foot. And a wheely-cart for taking it on walks.

What? I can't seem to get Ensoniq on the phone. I guess that's because they went out of business ten years ago. D*** I've heard they were pretty good. Where are they now? In a black hole somewhere in California, come on guys give it another shot and knock the c*** out of the competition. You still are, even with instruments over 10 years old. Memory upgrade still available using off-the shelf chips if you can find a supplier. And the RAM cards, although hard to get, are floating around eBay and elsewhere. I have two, and you can't have them, hoo-a!

I paid $500.00 ten years ago, and it was already played upon and it has been well worth it. Only Ensoniq made an instrument like this and if they made it again, with a blown-out ROM, I'd buy it again new or otherwise. I have been playing for way too long-I remember what a thrill it was when the first Wulitzer tine piano came out, ow! I own many electronic noise-makers in all the major food groups-Electronic drums, Generalmusic, Ensoniq, Yamaha keyboards. Digital recorders, tape recorders, mixing decks, etc. Have played Hammonds, Prophets, Moogs, Korgs, Rolands played one of the first Memory-Moogs which fried my poor little brain. This doesn't compare to anything-its a baby monster in the keyboard world. I wish it had sampling, I wish it it weighed five pounds. I wish it would wheel itself onto my keyboard stand and pack itself up at night. And I miss some cheap auto-accompaniment patterns-maybe a nice Tango beat or something (whee). Other than that, I can't think of anything else. And nothing gets in the way of my making music, except my hands and my head.

Very nice keybaord.
Presets are excellent especially the pianos they are superb!
Not done much editing of the sounds because they sound so good.

Drum kits are great quality and there are some great percussion sounds that are not found on other equipment.

Polyphony is 16 or over i havent got that many fingers so thats good enough for me.

The keyboard has an excellent action one of the best ive come across. full size piano keys is a plus.

The Ensoniq KS32 has an onboard sequencer but i dont use it so i could not tell you how good it is.

Very realistic piano sounds the organs and drum sounds are also good.
Not much else.

Very good quality build.
If you can play then this is a great piano.

Never needed customer support.

Ive had many keyboards and the Ensoniq KS32 is a gem.
If you can find one buy it!

eBay
musicmark3264

Some of the presets do it for me but I just bought this thing and it could use some tweeking when I get around to it. I have a gig comming up and since I primarily play guitar I think I can get away with the basics of this keyboard, It does everything my old board did but now it's armour plated

I'm a self taught Bonehead Wannabe, It's got just what I need but all my legit real keyboarding buddies alway's scoff at my old gear but I can't wait to show this off! The action is awesome!!! it's got so so sounds so so features in a housing that is superb. And it's as good as any of their lesson oriented lounge lizard crap!

It's got some inspiring sounds, I play guitar,mandolin,and keybord in a classic rock cover band, and I play keyboard by default because all of our former keyboard players are unreliable and my grandmother had me take organ lessons one summer with that I say I go for preset's if I can't get what I'm looking for I get frustrated quick and go shopping. This gives me all the sounds I had before plus a realistic B-3 (with practice) sounds, like all digital boards you have to know how slur the notes to allude to distortion and this board seems intuitive to that. that awesome keyboard action can be a liabilty here as it requires snow shoes! Sequencers? man one of these days! I wish I wasn't a nerd.

I feel confident I can gig with it, you should see what I've used before! besides my back up is my guitar!!

I bought this used from my friends at music go round and they've always backed up the stuff I've bought from them 100%

I doubt I'd find another of these at this price so like all thing's in life enjoy while you can!!

It is fairly easy to use, however, some of the sequencing programming isn't very user-friendly.

Keyboard action is AWESOME!!!
programming sounds is great - there are many options as far as frequency and phase adjustments go.

basic sound are really good. There aren't a lot of "cool" or different sounds, though.

very reliable - although I've had problems starting it up before.
But, overall - works well...even in cold weather!

I bought mine used, so I have to complaints with the company.

I'm not sure I would buy another one of these. They are very heavy to carry around. Many newer and better keyboards are out on the market now.

Once you get the basics down, the machine is pretty easy to use, except for some quirks, which get frustrating. For example, when using the sequencer, sometimes it replaces sounds without notice. The piano and organ sounds are pretty good, though the piano sounds little thin sometimes. I didn't like the drum sounds when they stand alone, but they sounded great once they got into the mix. I'm partial to the flute sounds too...and the harmonica is realistic enough for some short solo lines. The manual is not so good but can be helpful if you take time to figure out the style of its organization.

Polyphony is pretty good. Action is quite good on my instrument. I have used 8 instrument sequences without any real problems. It doesn't work too well with my Allegro or Cakewalk programs, however. Had a lot of problems with getting the right sounds to play, especially for sequences.

I found the keys fairly realistic and nice to play. Pretty expressive on several programs. Some patches are not of much value for me. I play mostly rock and blues and church music though, so I don't have much call for the wind instruments. Never have gotten a good horn sound from it when I have tried.

The keyboard had to be replaced shortly after I got the machine. That was dissapointing. Since then, the plastic screw holes have broken and now I am using duct tape to hold it together...yeah, no kidding. Its a bear to carry around but I've never felt I needed a backup keyboard.

No problems getting it repaired from the dealer, but that was several years ago. I bought it new but on sale from the dealer in a close out situation in '97, I think.

I would get something else but mostly because I have sort of run my course with this instrument. This is one of the best all around keyboards I have had. Its really simple to gig with. There's no loading time, like with my earlier ESQ and with my Emax. I like that a lot...easy to change on the fly. It does a nice MIDI interface with my Hammond XM-1 drawbar module...though its hard to get a full B3 feel with the weighted keys. You can really bang this keyboard hard though. Keys are very sturdy and I like that feature alot. Mine is 6 years old and the battery has never gone out...how long do I have????

Aunque la pantalla es algo peque?a, la edicion de patches no resulta complicada si se esta familiarizado con la sintesis sustractiva en sintetizadores PCM. El modo permormance-multi resulta verdaderamente versatil y una multitud de LEDs encima de los botones ayudan eficazmente a la programacion de layers y multi-splits. Por otra parte el secuenciador, aunque completo, resulta verdaderamente complejo de utilizar y solo aconsejo su uso en casos de emergencia. Volviendo a lo positivo, el manual de usuario en castellano es uno de los mejores que han pasado por mis manos.

Cuando aparecio este workstation en el mercado, ningun teclado de su categoria de precio era capaz de enviar la se?al midi de diferentes zonas del teclado en diferentes canales midi para controlar modulos externos. Esto, unido a sus completisimas capacidades de sintesis, su excepcional capacidad como controlador midi, su polifonia de 32 voces con asignaciones de prioridad por oscilador, su multiefectos de calidad "estudio" y el mejor teclado contrapesado de la epoca para los Teclistas-Pianistas hacen que, incluso hoy en dia, sea un teclado excepcional.

Los mejores pianos de la epoca. La calidad de los pianos acusticos aun esta por encima del 90% de los modulos midi que pululan por el mercado. Pianos electricos, Organos e instrumentos de teclado muy buenos, Las mejores cuerdas y violines de todos los tiempos, Bajos y guitarras muy buenos, Vientos rotundos, Instrumentos orquestales super-realistas, Percusiones excepcionales... Solo flaquea en los sonidos de sinte que, aunque buenos, resultan algo escasos y repetitivos ya que la mayor parte de la memoria de Samples-ROM esta dedicada a los pianos e instrumentos de teclado. Los sonidos resultan muy expresivos gracias a unas complejas envolventes, una matriz de control de efectos muy completa y la capacidad de programar hasta 3 osciladores por voz con diferentes filtros, LFOs y envolventes que incluso hoy en dia solo encontramos en sintetizadores de gama alta. El sonido general del aparato se puede calificar de "Grueso", Potente y muy americano, con unos graves con mucha pegada y un realismo en los samples que no tienen muchos instrumentos japoneses.

Dependencia total. Incluso 8 a?os despues de su compra y con mas 10 sintes en mi arsenal particular ( incluyendo contrapesados ), el KS32 sigue siendo una herramienta ideal para directo. Durabilidad demostrada en cientos de actuaciones en vivo. Solo dos puntos oscuros: 1?. El sistema operativo a veces puede causarte alguna trastada que normalmente se soluciona apagando y encendiendo el aparato. 2? En Europa, si lo usas en directo, aguanta peor las oscilaciones de voltaje que los instrumentos japonenes. Por estos 2 puntos aconsejo siempre tener a buen recaudo una copia de volcado de sistema exclusivo con todo el trabajo realizado. Otra curiosidad: Con algunos sistemas de amplificacion el instrumento no suena limpio si no tienes el mando de volumen a tope.

Soporte pobre. Tendras que buscarte la vida para conseguir un editor software y si quieres nuevos sonidos te los vas a tener que progranar tu mismo ya que no encontraras en la WEB el material de este tipo que existe para otros teclados (excepto pagando). En cuanto a los servicios tecnicos, no me han hecho falta nunca pero se, por experiencia ajena, que todas las partes mecanicas estan fabricadas por FATAR y que hay disponibilidad de repuestos y servicio. En cuanto a las partes electronicas, ahora los servicios de EMU son los encargados de suministrar repuestos ENSONIQ.

Si consideramos que estamos hablando de un Workstation del a?o 1992 y que, en muchos aspectos es comparable o superior a muchos teclados actuales, solo queda se?alar que, una unidad en buen uso sigue siendo una buena compra de segunda mano para un teclista con formacion pianistica incluso 10 a?os despues.

Presets are average. I still like the Piano & I use the basses quite a bit. Programming is way harder than it needs to be - always jumping back and picking the OSC on multi-osc patches is no fun.

I love the keyboard action. Wonderful! A "9" for this alone.
32 note polyphony.
Effects are average but certainly better than none.
Can expand the sequencer memory and accepts cards for sounds.
Nice MIDI implementation, a fine controller.
Sequencer is easy to use but I prefer a software sequencer.

Piano is *still* good - I still shut my eyes and just play it. Basses are good. I like the cymbals in the drum sets.
The KS-32 is pretty good for bread-and-butter sounds. Fits well in a mix. Despite the lack of filter resonance the programming options are pretty huge but the programming interface is pretty bad.

Mine has been perfectly reliable though I have been gentle. Replacing the battery requires desoldering/resoldering (you have to be kidding Ensoniq!). I soldered in a socket so I wouldn't have to deal with that any more.

I guess I'm lucky, mine has always worked well so no reason to judge.

If lost or stolen I'd get a Motif 8 because I need the wooden keys and a great piano sound and I think the Motif has the best of both now. However, the KS-32 keys are really nice and the piano sound is quite good (and can be had used for about 1/4 the price of a Motif). It was worth the price paid because it had a good piano sound and those keys (not common when I bought it new). I dislike the interface as much as I like the keys. It stifles programming and I like to program. I wish the filters had resonance.

It sits good in my mix but the more adventurous sounds come from other synths. Worth the current used price as a controller alone. Did I mention I like the keys?

The manual stinks (don't they all?). As a classically trained pianist, I enjoy the piano sounds. The harpsichord patch is still one of the best I've ever heard. I really haven't tweaked the sounds much.
I have a problem using an outboard sequencer always changing to the internal bank.

Love the keyboard. Effects are OK. Expansion needs work. Don't really use the sequencer. I use a computer based MIDI setup. Even with the sequencing I'm doing, I rarely run out of notes.

I think it works really well for classical and jazz. As it ages, it takes more work to have notes sound even.
Some sounds react to key velocity better than others.

After 10 years, I'm on my third motherboard - and now it's acting strange again. There is no authorized service in my area so I may need to replace the whole thing. That battery is low again too.
I never really gigged with it much - just kept it at home. Solid and heavy case works well, but the electronics seem iffy.

Never dealy directly with company. Now that they've merged with E/mu, they don't seem to care about the old boards. They make no mention of keyboards on their new website - are they even selling them anymore?

I like the board still. I wish it were more reliable. I'm getting tired of the sounds, but they are still effective.

Very straightfoward. Very easy to use. The presets sound good enough for me. I use it live and everybody thinks its a real grand piano. Ive never edited the patches, but it doesnt look very complicated. The manual is useless

32 voice polyphony, sounds incrediable. Built effects are OK, good enough. does the tricks. Weighs a lot, but its still awesome. I was reading the other reviews, someone sold theirs for $379?? Thats messed up, I never seen these used for under a grand.

The sounds are very realistic. One of the best feeling/sounding keyboards Ive ever touched.

Extremely dependable, been there done that, dropped it, kicked it, spilled beer on it. Still sounding great!

never delt with them

I love this keyboard.

Most presets out of any board or box need tweaking. The KS-32 is no exception. There are some nasty/noisy artifacts that occur after envelope release. Perhaps an external noise gate will help. There is an organic analog quality to many of the sounds. Although this board was marketed to pianists/organists, you can get some rally fat Moog or Oberheim-type patches...if you spend the time programming. Not the most intuitive programming design- beware newcomers! I despise synth manuals...Roland should be run out of business for their horrible manuals, but I digress.

32-voice polyphony...not too bad for a near vintage synth. The Fatar keyboard is what first sold me on this board and has held up well for over 10 years. Maybe a little mushy for blinding 32nd note runs. The effects are fairly good, but no delay algorithym. I must admit that I found this board frustrating to use as a midi controller, especially in sequencer mode. Probably my own shortcoming from my manual phobia. It's all your fault Roland!!!

Ten years ago, the piano presets sounded great. Today, well... the #00 grand piano preset still works for me. Generally, the traditional type sounds are fairly realistic. . .less mid-rangey and boxy than many other digital synths of its day. You can pull a very eclectic range of sounds from this board, but you must sweat to do so, grass-hopper.

I've been gigging with this board for a long time. My KS has been very reliable...knock wood. It's been banged around alot and has held up well. And you save money from not having to work out at Gold's Gym! It's a beast to carry around. And my internal battery just died...lost all my personally tweaked sounds. But I can't blame Ensoniq for that.

I've never dealt with Ensoniq support. Customer support in my experience is a crude afterthought to most technical companies. They've got your money already. What's their incentive to spend time on a phone with you?

Buy a soft-shell case for this behemoth. This board is a tank to begin with, so you won't need an Anvil case -unless it's going on a plane. I'd never sell it...what would I get for it? $500? I'd sure replace this one for that price if I had to. I wish there was an easy way to replace the internal battery, like a stomp box-type latch or something. What really bothered me was when I turned on the KS and there was a "battery low" warning- but my programs were already gone. Arrrggghh! What I enjoy about the KS is that you can really slam the keys hard without having to worry about breaking them. My Korg 01W/fd begs for mercy with its stuck keys and broken springs, but the KS-32 can really take the hammering. It's a good board for preset-heads and tweakers alike. Buy the RAM card and save your sounds! Actually, you should back-up any software based gear. But then, I'm being obvious, aren't I?

Display is tiny, but the amount and distribution of buttons is decent. Layout is logical and sounds are easy to find once you've used it. Programming is fair.

Polyphony of 32 for its time was decent. Like others (roland comes to mind) the polyphony is very dependent on how thick the sounds are you are using. Keyboard is one of the best feels out there if you like hammer action/piano style. I bought this board for its feel and I have no regrets. Built in effects are good. Expansion is very limited and expensive. Good Midi Implementation. I've used this board as a master controller with good results. The sequencer is best used as a scratch pad for ideas. For any serious sequencing you will want something better.

Nice main piano sound, about 3 of the other pianos are useful. Good organs for a variety of music. I've done everything from rock to church gigs with this board and seldom had to use much else for basic organ sounds. Fair strings and pads, good woodwinds and a few nice solo brass round out the main sounds. The drum kits are useful, but not for anything to serious. The nice keyboard feel combined with good aftertouch makes the board a pleasure to play.

Never had a problem. I've heard horror stories about the keyboard, but I've not had a single issue and have used this board heavily. The case is very solid. (Read very, very heavy!!)

Never had to use them.

This has been a very good board to me, but I'd be skeptical about buying another only because so many people have had keyboard issues with them. I would probably go with a dedicated Fatar keyboard setup if my KS-32 was gone. It's their keyboard I love, after all.

This board is extremely easy to use. The menu heiarchy is planned very well, and the buttons respond with speed. I like how there is a button for each group of 10 patches in a bank. With this fact combined with the grouping of sounds by type, I can find a sound faster on this board than any other.

The sequencer is powerful, but the memory doesn't hold a whole lot. I've used memory cards with it. The built in effects are good. It's fully MIDI functional, and I've used the sequencer to control other boards in real time as well.

The strings leave a bit to be desired, but the pianos and woodwinds are wonderful. The drum kits are pretty cool as well. I'd have to say the most striking feature of the board is its incredibly realistic weighted piano keys. They're full size (not just width like most but length too), and have a realy wood feel to them.

It's never let me down. The sturdy metal casing is indestructable, however be prepared for a little more muscle use than with a cheap plastic cased board.

The only time I dealt with Ensoniq they were really cool. Their website has some good customer support, and local music retailers like dealing with them.

I love the board. It's great for someone who enjoys playing all types of music. It's much more suited to classical playing than most portable keyboards. I love the feel of it, and it's expressiveness is a real asset.

I think this is the easiest keyboard I've worked with. The sequencer is simple. Even though there are some missing features I would have liked to had on the keyboard. Like cloning tracks and copying measures. Overall, pretty straight-forward.

I do wish it had more expansion capabilities. I had a soundcard with extra patches and the internal battery ran down and I lost all the sounds. I also had a storage card that the same thing happened too. That was majorly frustrating.

The Pianos are ok. Overall I think the sounds are flat and lifeless. Many of the patches are useless and I never use them. It is not an expressive board. It seems lifeless to me.

Very dependable. I have never had a problem with the keyboard or the sequencer.
I just wish it didn't weight five thousand pounds. I have about broken my back carrying into gigs.

I have NOT had good customer service. It is impossible to get ahold of anyone. Then when you do the repairs are an arm and a leg.
The website is the worst of all. Horrible site.

I would NEVER buy this keyboard again. It is NOT worth what I paid for it. When I purchased the KSk-32 I was new to the market and didn't know what I was buying.
The features are limited to say the very least. I wish I had bought the Roland XP-90. I never use the keyboard because it's so heavy and the sounds are lifeless. It's a burden to me to use while performing.
What a disappointment for the amount of money I paid.

WOW! I couldn't believe it. I bought my KS-32 12/15/00, used, $379.00. All reviews mention prices three to six times that. Granted, the track 5 button is stuck down, but I use it 95% as a controller in my midi studio w/ a Roland SCC-1 card, Proteus 1 emu, Yammy TG-55 & Digital Orc Pro, so I easily work around it. Sequencer: don't use it. The "K" replaced an Ensoniq SDP-1 bought used ($600)in 1987. It's only problem was the need for was a "slap on the butt" every now and then 'cause every 7th note would go silent. The cure never failed. It's otherwise reliable history, and "feel", made me jump on the "KS-32. Also have XB2 v2, into Pro 860. A wirly 200, and a Clav E-7 for occasional live sessions. Sold my B3/122(tears)because of lack of space. I think the "K's" presets are great. Remember 90% of the ears you play to are totally unaware of what ANY instrument really sounds like. Gigged w/ real Hammonds for 30 years. You don't play a real Hammond, you RIDE it. There's no comparison for the thrill mounting the real beast! Roland & Ensoniq and others have done a fine job in reproducing the BASIC B-3 sounds. An easy-to-tap Leslie speed control would be nice on the "K". A manual more suitable for midiots like me would be really appreciated. The "telephone book" that comes with it, and most other comparable boards all seeem to have the same fault. First they explain the VERY VERY basics of midi, then immediately jump to terminology that assumes prior and vast knowledge of midi... and their product. Can any of them fathom the step-by-step concept? Once I get a decent understanding of the "K" (I figure ten years) I'm sure I'll never let it go. Mine's a little road-worn but it will never leave the studio. Chances are, based on other reviews and it's now permanent installation problems will be minimal. Bottom line, love the sounds, hate the programming aspects, and book. But keep in mind my admission of being a 1st class midiot. A Clav, a Wurly, or a Hammond require time to get a feel for them, not an education. In all fairnesss, my implication of being stupid might be tempered by the fact I've been using computers before IBM made PC's. But midi, and edititng, setting up for all the options... this stuff drives me up a wall. Theres gotta be an easier way accces the capabilities of these monsters. I'm lucky in having someone wh does have an understanding of midi. to assist. God help those that don't. Would be happy to discuss with anyone via <renles@epix.net> Yes, I'd buy it again. An expression pedal would be nice, It's a class A b*t*h to program.

The "8" overall reflects what I paid, what I use it for, and being realistic about my lack of understanding the manual. I played gut bucket R & B and Rock for 35 years. using the conventiona instruments mentioned. Onlt the XB2 leaves the studio now, and I hate that manual too!

Compared to other synts it do the job here, though its calculator sized display doesn't inspire you. I have maked some sounds and find it passable. The midi controller use are great. Havent tried the sequenser in very advansed ways, but learned it relativ fast.

polyphony = 32, yes sir, does the job. Find the effects very good, very alike a stand alone prosessor, its even an gate effect for the drums. expansion capabilities is bad to nothing, should have some expansion boards here or samples in such an excpensive unit. The MIDI capabilities seems very rich, love the hammer weighted keys.

guess you dont buy Ensoniq if you are like realistic sounds. Except from ONE ? good (16bit?) piano sample !! (vell done Ensoniq), the rest of the samples is very flat and tastes of zero dynamic. Seemed that Ensoniq forgot install a filter (that with lo pass and feedback), it has only "equalizing like" filters.

But i didnt say this synth is missing personality or good sides. The piano is ok, and some of the presets are also, but no dynamic. It is really the onboard effects that is saving this unit to sound ok.

solid as rock, German iron, some plastic parts that may fall off after 10-15 years.

It does the job on the gigs year after year, solid. Good midicontroller, good keys but sounds boring, found it to expensive when i bought it when compared to its sonic quality.

Sound editing 6; Sequence editing 7;factory sounds 5; manual 5.
The biggest problem with editing is the calculator-sized display.I own what's lest of an ESQ-1, an older sequencing synth with a far superior display. Why did they change that?

Polyphony is 32 voice(if you like unmodulated sine waves and the like), more like 8 voice if you want rich sounds. Fx are there, not as routable and flexible as they should be. Expansion is expensive -$125 each for RAM sound cards, $200+ for sequencer expansion. Since 20 of the 100 sound slots on any card are dedicated to the SAME drum sounds, there's a lot of waste. Some of us still play with real drummers.
MIDI integration is a huge problem. Some limitations I've found:
1)Cannot access layered sounds from outboard gear. The best sounds are stacked in presets, but only play that way from the keyboard. Bummer for a guitarist with foot pedal keys like me.
2)Cannot call up sequences or presets via MIDI, only sounds.
3) MIDI out and MIDI thru are separate and cannot be routed any differently, so sending prog change from the KS-32 and note info from a controller is impossible without a MIDI patchbay.

Sound quality and musical style of the KS-32 varies widely. It doesn't seem to know what it does best. Great for church organ work, but then why a 16 track song sequencer? Or why only 32 voices with that sequencer? Ensoniq knew this would be a problem, because they set up this whole "voice-stealing" hierarchy for the presets. Would have been way smarter to add a few more DCO's. Some of the orchestral sounds are excellent; maybe I'll sequence some Mozart. My unit also has an irritating amount of digital noise in all the sounds, making it useless in the studio

About 100 live gigs so far, and it has never died on me, unlike the ESQ-1, which periodically goes insane. However, it often is muted upon power up, and no front panel buttons work. Shutting it down, then repowering up fixes it, but that ain't right. I've had none of the keyboard related problems other users report.

I found this site when the Ensoniq site offered NO support whatsoever for any but their new keyboards. That's no way to build loyalty, guys.
This thing wasn't cheap.

I've bought my last ensoniq. In '93 it was a good product, but it doesn't roll with the changes very well. Oddly, now that I'm playing guitar more and keys less, I've outgrown it. If you can find one for under $800, it might be worth it, if you know exactly what you want it for.

As boards go I love the sounds. Most of my keyboard gigs are of the meat and potatoes variety. Great Piano and Rhodes and useable organs. The drum and bass sounds are great. Manual is OK as is the onboard seq but I use outboards sequencers as the editing is easier.

Poly is 32 notes with 8 channels, at least thats all I've ever been able to get. I bought this thing for the action but as someone said, more on that later.

When I bought it I loved it. As I said it is a good allround gig board BUT!!!!

ARRRGGGHH!!!. Within a year of studio only use there was already plastic bits falling out of it. Stupid me I never bothered to get it fixed within the first year. As a gig keyboard it has fared even worse. As a last resort I put a stick underneath the little plastic weight things so At least the thing will play. Now I'm lugging around a heavy(well not as heavy as my hammond /leslie setup) but heavy nonetheless and the action is somewhere between semi weighted and semi mollasses. I've had to reinitialize a few times and spent 175 bucks replacing some board that fried. I feel sad that this North American product does not stand up the way my Yammy Roland gear has. To be fair the keyboard is Italian. Italian design is great design but manufacturing execution is something else. Think Fiat, for that matter think GM

The word from my best techie - I've got a lot of gear, is that service for this company can be very slow. In terms of upgrade, the Ks-32 was the end of the line for that synth engine. I still like it I just wish it would hold together better. As it is I'm looking for a road replacement as I don't think it will take road work much longer.

If lost I think I would go for the rack mount or non weighted version. My main complaint is the keyboard which ironically is what made me choose it in the first place. As and earlier poster said, it is a love /hate thing. Hello ensoniq are you listening?

The KS-32 sounds pretty good right out of the box. The sounds are fairly easy to edit. The interface is easy to follow, and the sequencer is adequate.

The Fatar action is the best that I have ever played, but more on that later! The built in effects are adequate, no more, no less. The unit isn't very easy to expand upon. The memory cards are fairly expensive and there isn't a great variety of sounds that you can purchase for it. The on-board sequencer is ok, but I would have wish that they would have left it off, and saved me some money.

The sounds vary greatly on quality. The organs are pretty good, the brass are deplorable. It has a variety of clavs and pianos that are good in a variety of different situations. The strings are quite effective in a pop situations.

I have hated this keyboard as much as I have loved it since I purchased it. I love the action and like the keyboard, but it constantly breaks. I would say on average every couple of months I have had to get it fixed. I have had an entire new keyboard assembly put into it, no help, it is simply not reliable, I finally just gave up and play with it broken.

I have dealt with both Ensoniq U.S.A. and Ensoniq Japan with this keyboard, so I have two vastly different opinions of the customer support of Ensoniq. I bought the keyboard in the states, and have had to deal with the lousy service here in the U.S.A. and was totally dissatified. Then I moved to Tokyo. I have pushed this keyboard about five miles on top of a small luggage cart through the tokyo subway system to and down streets to get it to Ensoniq Japan. I could not believe the amazing service that I received there. I believe that the guy's name was Ichi. He is one of the most competent people that I have ever dealt with. They actually repaired the keyboard by reglueing it somehow. I was totally impressed. I don't really miss living in Japan, but I really miss the workers there. I am going to give them a 5 for customer support, a 1 for the u.s.a and a 10 for japan.

I just want this to work!! I have played on the "best" keyboards available and I always want to go back to the KS. I love it as much as I hate it. I will probably still own the KS in 50 years, still hating it, but refusing to get rid of it. I refuse to put a rating on it.

Very intuitive operating system. Pretty good presets & I usuallu hate factory persets. Editing is very easy & intuitive. Good manual.

32 voice polyphony. Kybd action is pretty good. Fairly good effects, but limited voice/effects mixing capabilities. Virtually NO expansion. Good MIDI implementation, incredible for a master MIDI keyboard controller. A dream in this aspect. OK sequencer but I had so much trouble w/ sequencer hanging my operating system & causing re-initializations (loosing ALL my patches & sequences), I had to stop using sequencer. I don't even go near it.

Fairly good expressiveness. Good pianos, B3s, clavs. Mediocre strings & brass unless you "create" them yourself. Probably good for all kinds of music. Good velocity & aftertouch.

Poor reliability. I've been through 3 motherboards & 2 keyboards. I really need a 3rd keyboard but can't afford it. Ensoniq has been really good about working with me on some of these replacements but still, too many breakdowns. Keyboard weights ALWAYS break off. Portamento totally unuseable while using multitimbrality.

Fairly unfriendly & mucho runaround but they ultimately came thru on some out of warranty issues for which I was very grateful.

I've played for 30 years. I'd probably buy another if stolen just because I have so many hundreds of hours invested in creating my own sounds. Otherwise, I'd never replace it for the bad reliability issues. I love the MIDI implemntation & incredible master keyboard implementation..

Ease of use-6 Editing patches-3Manual-7

Polyphony=32 (on really, really good day...) 8built ins=Reverbs, Rotor, Leslie, Flange, Phaser...EASY USE 7Not much expansion, except for RAM cards 2Good Midi capabilities, key pressure, mod wheel, only no tuning....6Fairly good sequencer, 16 "Song" capab's. 6

Sounds? Hmmm. Great Organs & Flutes; Ok Pianos,Brass, Reeds; Cool Synth sounds; NO BAGPIPES!!!! }:-0 8Works for just about everything.....8 Onboards good=7, Reaction=what YOU put in.....N/A, Good velocity and aftertouch reactions=8

Yup! andYou bet.

Very courteous and understandingHeck, I WISH there WAS an upgrade.... :-(

If I knew then what I know now, probably not, It's a GREAT intro to the Pro World. It makes learning MIDI alot easier. The selling point is the wonderful weighted key action. Not ALOT of other boards have for the price range. I wish to heck they had installable boards...