Ensoniq SQ-R

Since I have extensive knowledge of Ensoniq equipment and how their menus work, navigating is fairly easy. I did need the manual though on a couple of spots, and that required buying one off of Ebay. Once I got that, it was just fine. I own 4 Ensoniq boards, this being the most recent purchase. I have the original SQ-R, which is 21-voice and does not have all of the extra waveforms as the SQ-R Plus series does. I may get one of them soon as well.
The presets, to me, are typical Ensoniq; lots of expression and maximum use of limited memory. The piano sounds on here are very similar to the VFX pianos, so they, by themselves, are very dull. The Plus series added more waveforms and included a pretty good piano sound for its day.
Editing on this thing is cumbersome though, you'll want the editor for it. It has most of the editing capabilities as the keyboarded version, but it is hard to navigate through all of the menus (please keep in mind that this from an experienced Ensoniq user).

The polyphony on this unit is 21 notes. It does have dynamic allocation, so you really rarely notice voice-stealing. It also has EFX, which are the same as on the keyboarded versions. You can expand this thing with a sound card on the front.
The MIDI on ehre is good for its day and responds to everything that was pre-GM. There is not a sequencer on it, but it does allow for the creation and saving of presets, which allow you to put a different sound on each of the 8 available tracks. It is 8-part multi-timbral across all 16 MIDI channels.

The sounds, again to me, are typical Ensoniq. I love their sounds. I mainly use them for orchestral stuff (on the keyboarded versions), but I use this module for a few sounds mainly (Mystic, lead synth and a couple more), and also for presets where I have sounds that layer over my other synths for a fuller sound. I'll explain later. It responds to velocity just fine and works for me.

Can I rely on it? Yep, I already do. It is a permanent fixture in my live rack.

I have an issue with it though:

It heats up pretty good. This means that the other 4 pieces in my rig heat up too. I fixed it by putting a fan in my rack and shooting the air directly onto the SQ-R. This keeps everything cool in the rack.

You cannot really find support for this anymore, since Ensoniq is gone. There is a guy in Cali (www.thesoniq.com) who used to work for them and bought all their stuff when they sold out to E-Mu.

Overall, I love this unit. Of course, you have to love Ensoniq stuff to really appreciate what it can do. Why did I buy it? I lost my SQ2 32-voice in the floods here (I live in Cedar Rapids and lost some of my gear at church due to the flood). I found this unit on Ebay and the seller made me a deal that I could not pass up. I wanted Ensoniq in my live rig at all times, but really did not want to carry all these different boards around. I also own (2) VFX-SD and (1) SQ1+ 32-Voice. Having the SQ-R is a great addition and allows me to keep the rest of the Ensoniqs home, away from stage damage.
There seems to be a regular supply of these on Ebay, so get one and explore what Ensoniq was all about. I lvoe their stuff and always will, in spite of their shortcomings. Every brand has them, you just gotta know what you're getting when you buy. Even today, you cannot find just one unit that can do everything totally. You still have to rely on different brands for your stuff (although we are getting very close).
I own the aforementioned Ensoniqs, as well as a Yamaha DX7 and 6 Rolands. One of my Rolands is the E-09 which is an arranger. I play in a christian band as well, and I provide all music for the singer to sing over. The arranger sends everything out MIDI, so I use my other rack units (2-JV880 and M-SE1 along with the SQ-R), for layering to fatten up the sound. This is where the SQ-R shines. It has timbres that none of the others have (or can make, since I have tried). Each rhythm (and corresponding backing 'band') is layered upon with the other synths with presets that I have made. Example: Style 002 is a great rock preset on the E-09. I also, thru MIDI, layer a drum track with one of the JV-880 units, bass track with a JV-880 and SQ-R, and backing guitar tracks with the JV-880 and SQ-R. This really fattens up tne sound and adds a level of depth that otherwise I could not get. On top of while all of the back stuff is going on, I am also playing a piano/synth part on the E-09, and THAT track is also layering to the other JV-880 and to the SQ-R for added depth to my physical note-presses. Again, it fattens up the sound.
It sounded kind of dead, unless I had an Ensoniq in there, and with the SQ-R, I have it in there all the time.

It can be a little painful to scroll through all the pages; as another reviewer mentioned, a patch editor would be a really cool thing. On the plus side of that, it does mean that there are a lot of options, so there is a great range of editing possibilities. I have to rate it fairly low in ease of use, but it was one of my first synths ever and I managed to hack through the maze back then. Don't let this stop you from getting one, it's a versatile unit.

I believe it's 8 channel multi-timbral, or is it 16? I don't remember. You can add expansion cards, of which I have none, but I've heard there were some good sounds available on cards.

As mentioned, it has some good keyboard sounds, such as the rhodes, although the piano is inferior to Roland's (the reason why its previous owner sold it to me). Pads are also a great plus here, especially with the onboard effects. I always had some problems with effects, however; I don't believe it's possible to select only one channel to apply a selected effect to, which can be annoying if you want to use it in a live scenario. Many of the sounds have aftertouch response, which is nice, especially the analog synth emulation tones, which also have mod wheel effects. I don't especially like said analog tones, it's much better for "real" emulation, especially of keyboards. With a touch of the right reverbs, some of these tones sound downright authentic, especially considering you can get one pretty cheap and it's not exactly ultra-modern anymore.

I am currently not using mine because the power cable that runs from the main board to the LCD display is out and it's pretty well impossible to use blind. The screen was always a bit dodgy, though, and I expect it's from some serious abuse the previous owner dealt it on the road. Otherwise, it's a sturdy synth and you can save patches on cards so the risk of losing your sounds is low.

Never dealt with them. I don't know how this search for the LCD display cable will go, we'll see.

I don't expect I'd ever get another one, I use Sampletank now for my realistic sounds, but it was a great workhorse that powered a couple records and more than a few shows for me. I would recommend it to anyone who can find it cheap and needs a lot of sounds of reasonable quality.

There's no doubt, editing via the small 2x? LCD is a dog. However, knowing what this synth
is capable of makes it all worthwhile. I started with the SQ1+ 32voice which has more buttons
so easy to operate. I can recomend the SoundDiver editor and there's also a free editor out there
in www land which I found good too. Therefore a patch editor would be a great edition if you have
a computer with a midi interface. The manual's not too bad, but who reads them anyway..! Unfortunately
if you buy this sinth.. you may have to, to work out how to get to different parameters.

I believe it's actually a 28 voice instrument. I seem to remember that from the manual.
There are FX , which can add a lot to the sounds when used judiciously. Nice phaser and
gritty distortions. Quite reasonable on-board reverbs by early 90's standards and certainly
good enough to gig with.
As previously written there is room for an expantion card. The midi on Enqoniq gear always
was dodgy but only as far as sysex goes. So communicating with the module shouldn't be (isn't)
a problem frm either a keyboard controller or computer.

from

I give this an 8 1/2. I do mostly gothic and rock stuff, delving into dance
and some pop. The piano is quite good. The strings are excellent and using this
with a sequencer can build some good orchestra's. It makes for a great value string
modile. If you're a hard-head programmer, this sinth delivers, although the interface
could mess with you if you don't have a pc to do your editing on. I have created some
great original sounds using this sinth engine. Good (sub) kicks for dance and some
thick pads and analog type leads. It can also do a good impersonation of lead sounds
Rick Wakeman did in the early 90's with ABWH. I love the sinth engine. There's a great
range of waves to choise from including some TRANSWAVES which give a range on resonance
and wavestation like waves.
You can hook the mod wheel up to any of the parameters allowing you to move in and out of
two+ voices, or speed up LFO's or anything really. Good fun.

Yeah, no problems. I haven't had any battery drain problems either.. so I wouldn't
get too concerned about that, although every 3 - 5 years you will need a technician
to change it over. I'd gig without backup - no probs. Just don't rely on the sysex
too much .. as ensoniq have a weird delay before accepting sysex.
But it was the same bitch of a problem with the SQ1+ and the DP4 too. I REALLY wish
Ensoniq had have got their stuff together to get this right.

Don't bother, I called the US support line from Australia and they fobbed me off
to a 3rd party American company when I asked about my sysex probs.

I'd buy another one for sure. I love the sounds so much. It's definately worth what
I paid for it. The sounds and programability is good (interface warning - get Sounddiver
to edit the module). I'd put this a few steps ahead of an M1 and a few behind an SY85,
from what I've heard of the SY85 (if it came in module form). Basically the sounds can rock
if you get intimate with the sound engine. I wish it had more footswitch options and balanced
outs .. but hey .. how many modules or sinths have them! At least it has 2 (L and R)phono outs.
Once you've played around or happy with whatever preset you've picked, then it definately helps
get music done.. however all gear can get in the way ...
Basically this can be great value and a nice addition to strings and a good warm piano too
(dark grand). Lots of presets, but a neglected engine which will pay rewards to those who are willing
to invest the time into playing it.

Editing the thing is quite complex, i've so far only changed waveforms. after the waveforms, there's a whole bunch of parametres i don't know anything about..digital synthesis and analog programmers don't mix too well :)
I haven't read the manual too much, IMO it seems quite boring. I like to poke things and see what they do. As for presets, mine seems to have only one piano sound. strange..

I hear this has 32-note polyphony? dunno. As for keyboard action, i control it from a Alpha Juno 1, so it's great :) I guess it would receive pressure too, but the juno1 doesn't send it so i can't really tell. It has effects, or so the manual said. Haven't played with them yet.

Very very nice pads and electric piano-like sounds. Very ozric tentacles :) Not necessarily the greatest thing to buy if you're a techno/dance/trance producer (i do goatrance as my main project tho..), but good for ambient or spacey jamming at 3am in a hazy club.

You .can. depend on it, but it might not live up to your expectations. I would use it live without a backup, and just hope UNEXPECTED EVENT ID=131 doesn't pop up :)

Haven't dealt with ensoniq and hope i don't have to..seems that such companies don't like people asking about discontinued models too much..

I think it's quite worth what i paid. If it was stolen, i'd try to replace it. I was dreaming about a Korg Wavestation, but since i couldn't prolly ever afford one, i decided to go for this one..the main reason though was because Seaweed of Ozric Tentacles has one :)
I also have the Juno1 and a few other analog bits and pieces in my rig, so the little ensoniq is the black sheep of the family :)

Kind of complex at first, but not bad after you get used to the multifunction buttons. The manual is a must though for advanced functions (effects, editing, etc). The manual is well written.

It has an expansion slot for a memory card, which is very good, but the card sticks out about 2 inches after fully inserted in the card slot. They could well learn from Roland Product designers.
Call it picky, but I keep this stuff in a rack, some modules with cards in them. I don't want to have the card break or destroyed.

I have found some good sounds that are unique and quite different than other synth modules.
Pretty good analog and pads, which I used mostly.

The internal battery does not seem to hold a charge for very long. Technician must replace it unfortunately.
The display is poor. It is readable at only certain angles and very dim with no contrast settings!

Never dealt with them. Had to have battery replaced, which was done quickly.

It has been a good addition to my gigging rack. Though a poor display, the unique sounds make up for it.