Ensoniq SQ2

This keyboard is very user friendly but you have to sit down and take the time to figure out how to work it but once you do you won't be sorry

The man feature that I like on this board is the sequencer ensoniq has built them an awesome 8 track machine. The sounds aren't that great but you can edit them to fit your playing needs and wants.

This Keyboard has a pretty decent set of sound alot of vintage stuff nothing I would call great, but like I said you can play with the sounds to fit your needs so overall i guess the sounds are pretty good.

This keyboard is very dependable but the things that come along with it are a little faulty. The sustain pedal has given me problems several times so be careful and treat it kind.

I back ensoniq 110% this is a great board and if mine ever goes down I will be ABSOLUTELY sure to buy another

I have been playing for ten years and I have yet to find a keyboard with a sequencer that I like better.It is very hard to find one of these keyboards nowadays but if you do I would advise you to buy it at any cost.

The presets are not good, they are terribly reliable on the effects which are superb. The editing sounds is a complete pig - you think FM is complicated!!! Saying that i've got some fine sounds out of it but its taken hours.

The sequencer is OK but not the most straight forward of arrangers.

My SQ2 only has 21 voices - there maybe an upgrade patch, etc but I've seen or heard of it. The built in effects are superb but the midi spec is very limited and you can hardly control any parameters over midi.

Note there is no cc for resonance or brightness -you can assign one controller but seeing there is resonance on the SQ2 squelchy acid bases are not going to happen.

I got my SQ in 1991 for then it was ahead of the game - now the poor midi spec and limited sounds reduce it to little more than a controller keyboard.

Rock Guitars on this machine are superb mainly due to the effects - no other keyboard I've heard is as good.

All sorts except techno/trance/dance for which it is pants!

If you edit your own sounds or use the on-board sequencer save to a storage device as often as possible. This beast has crashed on numerous occasions losing me hours/days of edited sounds/songs

Ensoniq on their old compuserve forum were almost surly - stay clear of them.

If it broke i would not buy another one or for that matter any Ensoniq product.

Presets are great with editing very simple. The manual is comprehensive.

The 32 note polyphony is cool. Effects are a key stroke away. Also include are card facility and on board tracking

The instrument of the SQ2 is the Dynamic Grand. Awesome piano. Its focus is on 70/80's music. The velocity and aftertouch are great.

Dependence is secondary. The gig question poses many situations. Like any computer generated device, their would have to be a second keyboard. If the world was good, I would only use one keyboard the SQ2

If the SQ2 was stolen, I would by another one. I have been piano/keys for about 10 years. Overall the sonics of the SQ2 make a great keyboard, sounds programmed with a current decade, still holding currency now.