Ensoniq SQ80

The one I have has the version 1.8 software (latest).
The most user-friendly keyboard in the universe!
18 years later, this is still my main keyboard.

8 notes polyphony. Keyboard action is okay (a bit loud, because of the polyphonic aftertouch). No built-in effects.
The best on-board sequencer ever. With only volume change limitation within a sequence.

Contrary to what has been stated before, this is an 8 bits samples wavetable, not 12 bits. But it doesn't matter, because it sounds quite good (41k sampling rate). Curtis Analog filters for each voice (same as in the Sequential Circuit Prophet V), but not self-oscillating (because of auto-tune algorythm).
It can sound warm and analog (a la Prophet V), or cold and digital (a la PPG 2.2), which is pretty versatile.

Never had any problems. Changed the battery for the memory only after 15 years!

Never had to use it.

I find this keyboard to be very useful even in 2006, both as a workstation and as a MIDI controller.

i had no problem learning how to alter the patches and create my own. i got mine with out the manual so i was searching the net for one to learn more about the 8 channel sequncer. currently im using my laptop to sequence it and getting 8 different patches going at once but it is a little hand to figure it out more then that on your own unless you have alot of experience using hardware sequncers and know what sorts of buttons or button combinations usually do what.

it has one of the more expressive keyboards ive played without looking at synths that are currently over $1000. it does this thing where you can hold down a chord and then press one of the keys a little harder. but the aftertouch only registers on that one key and does what ever you programmed the aftertouch to do, filtersweep. go up in volume. whater pretty much anything you can think of. ive never been the type of guy who cares about weighed key tho so im saying ten

along with the analogue sounds in it you have three occilators to make your sounds with and probably about 30 waveforms to use. some of wich sounds convincinly like pianos or snares, others like phat real analogue sounds. i seem to remember someone telling me it was analogue or one of those 80s hybrids. tho the patch editing has a very digital setup. the highend on this synth is easily overpowered by the monsterous bassy swell it can produce so it take a bit of practice avoiding that at first

hasnt done me wrong yet. disk drive still works. that seems to always he the first to go

ive been looking for a manual for a while now. i think the company esq was bought by e-mu or something but they sure dont have any help for you. theres a few fanatic groups on the net that has archives of info on how to take this thing apart and put it back together a million different ways. but no basic manual!

my budget for gear is verrrrrry tight so this was an aboslute steal of a deal for me. it pretty much dwarfs my little moog keyboards and takes up alot of space in my little 'lab' but still get a front row seat during most projects. if anyone has a manual they would be willing to scan certain parts of please please contact me

It very much works similar to my Prophet VS in that you push the knob dedicated to the parametre you want to access, and then use the data entry slider to change the value. Considering that the software-structure is good and intuitive, it is really dead easy to program. Dedicated knobs for all major parameters would of course be the best, but the digitalsynth-style layout is really great.

75 12-bit wavesamples, 3 LFO's, 4 complex envelopes, cross-modulation(AM,hardsync), no built in FX (but a nice pseudo reverb-function in the ENV-section), and a very intuitive 8-track sequencer, and, floppy drive (DD), is the major features worth mentioning. You can program it daily for the rest of your life and always dig up something fresh. It is very sophisticated.

This is a great, and sadly underrated synth. The filter chip is the same as in the Prophet VS, so as far as analogue goes, it is second to none, shines and sparkles supremely. It can also go industrial, if that is your thing. The possibilities are really endless, but, it is a synth. Expect no acoustic sounds out of this. One of the best synths, though. It is often overlooked, because of the fact that it is not a looker. It is really one of the best synths, I sould know, I've tried most of the giants.

Good, except that I had to fix the floppy-disk once.

Check ot Syntaur prod. for that. They know this machine in and out.
But forget Ensoniq, E-mu doesn't support these oldies.

I will NEVER part with it. I love the sparkling analogue sound, and the vast programming potential.

I have a rev 1.8, which was the final OS for the SQ-80. The presets are not that great of an indicator for what the SQ is capable of, but then again, if you judge a synth solely on it's presets without tweaking you deserve to be stuck with crappy sounds.

Editing patches of course would have been easier if there was a knob or slider for each function, but the parameter buttons are logically laid out according the voice structure and you have a button for each parameter, so no menus here. It's easy to tweak, but will take some time.

The manual is logical and isn't written using badly translated Japanese. What a concept.

Polphony is 8, which was fairly common for the time in which it was released, so I'm not going to bitch about it. A nice feature is the split and split/layer function. You can assign a split anywhere on the keyboard between 2 patches. Using the split/layer, you can actually layer one of the split portions with another patch and store it in memory. Quite handy for complex textures and makes up for lack of polyphony.

The keyboard action, as has been mentioned, is quite clackety (however you have polyphonic aftertouch), but responsive and light. The ESQ-1 actually has a nicer feel, but it doesn't have polyphonic aftertouch.

A feature which is often overlooked is being able to bend the last note in a chord without affecting notes that are already held down or being sustained. Also, the sounds don't abruptly cut off their sustatins when a patch change is made. You have neither of those features on more modern synths.

Sounds can be loaded and saved via diskette, cartridge, and cassette. I'm not sure if there is a sequencer memory expansion or not, but if there is, I'll be buying one (laugh if you will, but the sequencer is dead-easy and much more fun than more modern workstation sequencers).

Typical MIDI implementation. You can drive other synths from the SQ's sequencer, so that's handy.

The sequencer is the easiest one I've ever worked with and I've used those on the XP-50 and K2VXS. It's very simple, but I learned to sequence on it when I was still a teen, and it was actually very conducive to me writing material when I was much younger (although my material then was fairly cheesy synthpop). You can chain sequences into songs and save them to disk, or they will also be retained in internal memory. 8 tracks per sequence, which is fine for me, as I'm not doing orchestral scores. No real-time mixing can be recorded, though.

I think people are missing the point if they're looking for ultra-realistic acoustic sounds. You're working with one-shot, somewhat grungy samples, so they are more for an attack portion of a sound than the actual sound itself. I don't even use most of the acoustic waves anyway, as I prefer the synthetic side of the SQ. It, as has been mentioned, can cover lots of ground as it can do the grungy, edgy industrial textures, as well as crisp, shimmering digital textures that bring to mind the PPG Wave, DX, and sometimes even the D-50 to a lesser degree, and can produce analog textures that are rich, solid, and substantial. It has no trouble replicating several Matrix-6 and JX-8P textures.

I don't normally classify synths as to what types of music they can be used for as it's somewhat limiting, but I do know that it's always been a fave synth within the industrial and synthpop communities. So as long as you are happy with it's synthetic sounds, it can be used for anything you want it to be as long as you're not trying to reproduce acoustic instruments.

There are no onboard effects, aside from a couple of parameters which offer a pseudo-reverb effect in the release portion of the envelopes. It does sound very upfront and dry on its own, like most any synth would without f/x, but you can use a cheap unit like my Lexicon MPX-100 to animate the sounds more fully and give them some life. A little verb and chorus does wonders, although detuning the 3 oscillators already adds some richness.

It's a fairly expressive board. Although sliders would have been nice to have in order to manipulate the sounds in realtime, you can assign several modulation sources to sounds such as the mod wheel, key pressure, aftertouch, and to the CV pedal, which there is a jack for on the rear panel.

I've had both good and bad luck with Ensoniq gear, but the SQ-80 hasn't given me any probs since I bought it 2 months ago. I would have no problem using it without a backup.

Ensoniq was acquired by Emu, which was acquired by Creative Labs, so forget about support. Ensoniq owners have long since been abandoned and are on their own. Rainer Buchty has a very informative site and there are several newsgroups for users, so there is some support provided by the users themselves online.

An ESQ-1 was my 2nd synth (my first was a DX-21 that I received instead of the Juno-106 I really wanted) and the 1st synth I ever actually drooled over and actually got when I was 15 back in '87, so the SQ has sentimental value to me. If something happened to it, I would get another because of not only that reason, but because I sill like what it has to offer, which is more important. For the money, it's very versatile, flexible, intuitive, and I simply like the sounds I've gotten from it. When I was able to acquire the SQ a couple of months ago, I didn't have to re-learn anything and was felt like I was easily being re-acquainted with an old friend.

I've been playing and programming synths since I was 13 ('86). The only other synth I currently own is a Kurzweil K2VXs.

If there was anything I wish the SQ-80 had it would be more sliders for real-time control, more polyphony, and slightly more solid key action, but those are minor gripes. It's a shame that the company who produced it is no longer around and didn't continue to combine it's ease-of-use + quality of sounds concept when they were still in business. My ratings might seem quite high, but considering the price, I feel the SQ has quite a lot going for it.

The best thing about this instrument is it's ease of use. It is fantastic. All the buttons are right there. Especially for using the sequencer and editing the patches. I have 2 other more recent keyboards that don't come close to being this easy to use.
The presets are not fancy by todays standards and are more simple but some of them sound great and I don't have sounds like them on my other boards.
The manual is fine.

The polyphony is awful and is my biggest problem with this instrument.
8 voices disappear very fast. Especially when this is supposed to be a multitimbral instrument with a sequencer. There is not a lot you can do.
It also has no built in effects. Another major problem if you don't own an effects processor.
The MIDI stuff is great and has everything you need. The sequencer and patch editing like I said are very easy to use and are quite usable even by todays standards.

It really is great and awful. The drum sounds are absolutely awful. Even at the time it came out they were bad.
The piano sound also is awful especially by todays standards. Almost all the other sounds are pretty good, especially strings, synth, other acoustic type sounds.
It also has aftertouch and kep pressure so it's very expressive even by todays standards.
It does make that clicking sound when you play the keys which can be very annoying. If you play live it won't be a problem. But if you practice in a house or apartment with other people you will drive them crazy.

I've only had one problem with it, when I followed the advice of the transoniq hacker magazine and removed the plastic cushions on each key and replaced them with felt to get rid of the clicky noise.
Something bad happened, not sure if it was just a fuse or what but I wasn't happy.
Other than that I've played it a lot and very hard. No problems.

NA

This keyboard is far out of date. The 8-note polyphony is extremely restrictive. No effects on board will make your sounds flat. No good piano or drum sounds can be a problem.
However I just can't bring myself to throw it away. There are sounds that I don't want to lose and don't have the time to try to replicate on another instrument.
I would say if you buy this instrument now you will need- a drum machine, and effects processor, and another device for piano sounds.
That's what I did. I have an ART effects processor which makes the SQ80 sound absolutely fantastic. Reverbs, delays, flanges, and chorus really help get the most from this instrument.
Drums and pianos should come from somewhere else.
The biggest thing this instrument still has going for it is it's ease of use, flexibility, and hard to find sounds.
There are no bells and whistle sounds like you'll find today, but the basicness of them makes them so useful. I personally have not found a better more versatile string sound.
I could also see some people, knowing the handicaps, still wanting to use this instruemnt a lot for the following-
patch editing, it can't get much simpler even for the slow.
sequencing- if you have other keyboards and hate software sequencers you may actually find using the SQ80 sequencer even if you are mostly using sounds from your other keyboards.
I have an ensoniq KT88 for great piano sounds, 88 note weighted keys, and 64 voice polyphony. I have a Korg 01WFD to get the crazy effect bells and whistle sounds that Ensoniq doesn't have.
Before I had those instruments I bought a Boss DR550 drum machine and an ART effects processor to use with the SQ80.
If it were lost or stolen I could probably live without it but I'm sure there are some people that could not. Because of it's age and feautures I wouldn't pay more than $200-300 for it today

Latest version - 1.8 I believe.

I bought the machine "brand new" as it had been sitting in the music store for more than a decade without use or purchase. Not a bad deal at all!

The presets really didn't show what the machine was capable of as they tended to focus on the competition of the time - the Roland D-50. Suffice to say, they're all gone now - replaced by much more useable sounds IMO.

Editing patches is something that must be experienced to be believed! The combination of the big flourescent display, the rows of soft buttons and the dedicated sections in the editing section makes this thing MUCH quicker to dial up new sounds on than you'd think. There really are NO nested menus or confusing pages to deal with. Very easy!
Never needed a patch editor for it. Try it and see!

The architechture is simiar to semi-modular synths: 3 Osc - 4 Amps - 3 LFO's - 4 EG's - and one glorious analog filter + OSC Sync and Amplitude Modulation (similar to ring mod). Almost ANYTHING can modulate ANYTHING. Very neat - especially the LFO's - they can modulate each other to create rhythmic patterns. Lots of synth for the buck.

It can sound VERY analog or VERY digital. Your choice. The quality of the raw osc waves is eight-bit, and the waves are derrived from a variety of sources (additive, FM, sample). This, coupled with the filter gives a sort of PPG/Microwave-ish type of sound. Grainy and aliasing, but very satisfying. It can sound HUGE if you like.

The manual is fine - as far as manuals go. You really won't need it except for deeper functions.

8 notes - that's it! Not horrible, though - sometimes I just treat it as a dedicated chord machine or as a "collection" of eight mono-synths. Works nicely for techno.

The keys tend to be loud and "clackey" due to the individual pressure sensors under the keys. Remember that this baby features polyphonic aftertouch - kind of a rarity - so I can deal with the clicks and clacks.

No built in effects other than some special "reverb" settings for the envelope generators, but given that there are three oscillators, really beefy sounds can be created without always relying on effects.

The machine offers a disk drive and cartridge port for storing extra sounds and sequences. You'll want a cartridge as there are only forty sounds available from the internal memory banks.

MIDI is quite good for it's age - nothing has really hampered it's integration into my modern MIDI setup.

It has an incredibly easy to use sequencer - very similar to the Alesis MMT-8. Eight tracks and pattern based, so you can switch patterns on the fly, muting/un-muting tracks and messing around as it plays. Great for adding some live variety to songs. I've created some very good tracks just using the internal sequencer. Easy editing too.

As I said, the internal factory programmed sounds are OK at best. Nothing really surprising here as it was made in 87-89 (I think). Once you realize how flexible the architechture is, you'll be producing any sound you like (within reason) in minutes! I filled the first two banks the first day it came home!

It does tend to hang up on me sometimes. I was told that if you re-seat all the cables and IC's, then re-initialize, things would return to normal...and so they did! Make sure you back everything up.

The only thing I can forsee happening to it would be the floppy drive dying - and there are replacments available.

As far as gigging goes - I'd trust this baby before a Prophet or PPG any day. It still can be a bit needy - just don't throw it around too much.

Never dealt with Ensoniq and proabably won't now that they've merged with E-mu. I hear they've been more like Roland in their customer service these days :( Shame.

Repairs - no, with the exception of opening the hood up and re-seating things once in a while then dusting. Had the battery replaced once by a friend.

YES!!! I would HAVE to buy another one if this one was stolen or injured. I rely on it FAR too much. Worth every penny you'll spend on it.

Been playing since the mid eighties - worked with/owned most digital workstations of the eighties and early nineties, plus the typical range of analog and digial synths. I tend to be favoring hybrids these days.

The only thing I think could be done differently would have been to: add a high-pass filter of some sort, allow for a real sample and hold for the LFO's, and maybe have included a better range of pulse waves.
Other than that, I cannot complain at all.

I chose this due to the sound it had - hybrid sounds. I love the PPG Wave/Waldorf Microwave, Prophet VS, D-50 and the like, currently. This one is no different really - a great melange of sounds at a steal of a price.

This is a fantastic synth!!!!! I have now owned three of these babies, and I must say that out of all of the boards that I have owned, I keep comming back to this one as my main ax.I have had the TRITON, Trinity, X5d(all Korgs),as well as the Alpha-Juno 1, XP80(Roland), K2500 (Kurzweil) and any number of moduals and soft synths(I am a keyboard salesman)so I know all about keyboards. While each of these have it's own unique plusses and minuses, The SQ80 definatly is the hands down favorite board for me. The one that I just bought happens to be in mint condition, even in it's original box! As far as the sounds on board, I must agree with many of the others that have reviewed the board on this site, they are a little wimpy if you are looking for realism. But for those into synth orriented music {dance, new age, ect...} this is a great board. With it's deep rich pads and quirky mooglike patches, it works very well for many synth heavy types of music. You may want to run individual sounds through a prossesor to add another demension to these patches. Personally, I bought the board for the third time specifaclly for the sequencer.

The sequencer is extreamly easy to use, in fact, I like it better than any of the software sequencers. I have used all of the major ones for the PC(sonar, cubase, logic audio) and I still prefer the hardware based one in the SQ80. As far as the midi capabilities are concerned, I have found that the lack of bank change capabilities to be the only area that I wish I could change. Using the board with a modern day sound modual such as the JV1010 require some thought.Other than that, it is perfect.

AS I stated earlier, the accoustic insterments are not very convencing. This board is well suited as a controller and for dance/ambient music.

It is heavy! It is solid!
With average care, you can really depend on this instremnt. It does sometimes have the tendency to lock up, especially if you have been working on it for a long time(like 6 of 7 hours straight!) But re-initializing it always brings it back. Dont forget to back up your work onto the disk drive or your computer's harddrive!

It is very difficult to get any kind of support for this intrument. Ensoniq has had a very hard time of it since they were bought by Creative Labs and merged with Emu. From the Emu rep that I deal with, I have been told that the company for the most part does not even exist today. Syntar seems to be the only reliable place to get any parts or sounds, unless you develope your own sounds. I highly recomend doing that by the way-it is so easy to do with the SQ80.
Even our own service dept will not do work on an Ensoniq board any more other than replacing the internal battery. Take care of your boards!!!!!

As I have already stated, this is my third SQ80. I vow never ever to sell it again! My writing and composing have suffered as a result of not having this board. It is me. Now I must say that the Triton had come close to fufilling my needs, I still find that the SQ80 made things much easier for me. Sounds aside, you could not ask for a better/easier workstation.

Pour un synthe numerique fin eighteen, c'est vraiment facile de s'y retrouver et de le "piloter".
C'est un synthe concu pour titiller les sonorites grace au synoptique sis a droite du panneau.
Le manuel francais est pitoyable de mediocrite : aucune attention concernant les niveaux du LFO (parametres L1-L2... )
Un comble pour l'acheteur de ce clavier a 19000F (prix neuf 1988)
Depuis, l'importateur a ferme ses portes et on comprends pourquoi!!!

Excellent! 3OSC+3DCA+DCF+DCA+4ENV+3LFO
3 Oscillateurs avec 75 formes d'ondes 12 bits (ouais, pour ceux et celles qui ne jugent un synthe que sur le son de piano, c'est loupe!).
Ces oscillateurs peuvent etre modules par deux sources distinctes et separees. On peut synchroniser l'osc2 a l'Osc1 ou le moduler (effet de ringmod)
Ces Oscillateurs passent dans un Mixer indepedant (OSC1->DCA1, ... )
Chaque mixer possedent le niveau de sortie de l'oscillateur et de 2 modulations
Les 3 mixers entrent dans le filtre resonnant (mais non autoscillant)
La frequence de coupure peut-etre modulee par deux sources distinctes.
Ensuite Nous attaquons le dernier ampli (DCA4) module par la 4? ENV et dont le panoramique est module ou non par une des sources aux choix.
Les sources de modulations sont :
(LFO1~3;ENV1~4;Vel;VelX;Kbd;Kbd2;Wheel;pedale;Xctrl;Press)
Press = After-touch qui est, sur ce modele, polyphonique (assez rare pour etre precise)
Un excellent sequenceur de 8 pistes est inclus avec sauvegarde sur disquette 3"1/2. Il possede edition microscopique et assignation complete(extmidi, interne ou les deux)
La polyphonie de 8 voies est un peu limite mais la multi-timbralite est flottante!
Le toucher du clavier est plutot mauvaise, mais on s'y fait.
Un parametre interessant sur les enveloppes (mais "oublie" sur la doc francaise!) : Le parametre Release (T4) possede une variation nomme R
(on affiche soit 15 ou 15R) qui simule une reverb.
L'implantation MIDI est vraiment tres complete surtout lorsqu'on le compare aux synthes sortis a la meme epoque

Les sons ne sont pas realistes! Pour le piano, vaut mieux acheter celui a queue ou droit...
On peut neanmoins jouer beaucoup de chose avec le SQ80 et une fois le toucher du clavier et l'after-touch assimiles, c'est carrement expressif!
Au niveau synthese, il manque, a mon gout, un filtre Passe-Haut resonnant 12db/Oct en aval du filtre existant, la possibilite de choisir le nombre de poles sur ce dernier et la possibilite de moduler la(es) resonance(s)

Bon, pour un synthe americain des annees 80, il n'y a pas a se plaindre... Voire meme etre tres content de son sort!
Mise a part des clignotements intempestifs de l'afficheur et quelques derives du clock du sequenceur (l'effet est vraiment amusant), RAS

Quand meme Ensoniq, il pourrait faire un effort!
Car ne plus proposer sur son site d'informations sur le SQ80 (et surtout sur d'autres produits bien plus recents) me parait un peu limites cote respect du consommateur... (Remarquer, Tascam, c'est pareil...)
J'aurai aime trouver quelques informations utiles et une notice facilement accessible...

Plutot satisfait...
Neanmoins, je le ferai bien evoluer avec des formes plus precises, une polyphonie accrue (16 voies) et surtout par l'adjonction d'un second filtre avec modulations des resonnances, qui seraient auto-oscillantes.
Le sequenceur est un modele du genre! et le midi vraiment complet
J'ai bien regarde quelques workstations pour le remplacer mais mis a part le K2000VP - en retard cote ergonomie -, d'un cout relativement eleve, aucuns ne seraient apte a le remplacer!
Ah, si seulement, le Waldorf Q pouvait avoir un sequenceur digne du SQ80, je crois...

Sound carts from the ESq-1 are compatible with this one.Very easy to use as it is similar to the ESQ-one but still easier to use that the VFX for sequencing.The sounds tend to be a little more richer in texture to my ears than the ESQ.

The SQ-80 using something called "cross wave" technology which allow you to graft the attack characteristics of one sound onto the begining of another.If you like making your own unique sounds, then this might be a good keyboard for you.It's not near as complex as my VFX,but saving to disk and sequencing couldn't be easier.It also has some basic onboard effects such as a form of digital reverb.

I'm of the opinion that this keyboard is strongest in the category of synth type sounds.It has 75 sampled and synthesized waves onboard to pick from the esq one had 32 while the VFX has 141.Expessiveness is about the same as the esq-one.

Reliability seems to be fine.I actually have a case for this one and also my VFX.My poor esq and mirage doesn't have this luxury.This keyboard is definetly the newest and best looking one of my outfit.

See my comments in the esq-one section.

I would probably want to replace this one in my system if it ever died on me.I wish ensoniq would have made the led displays on a hinged panel so that I could mount my keyboard stand mounts closer together and still see the displays.

i love this thing. there is a button for each parameter (which, to me is as good as knobs) and a slider to tweak them with. i just my manual from syntaur for $30 and am still waiting for it. the presets are like most other presets on most other boards.... they only scratch the surface of what can really be accomplished

8 part poly-timbral / 8 part midi as well. You will hear alot of people say the keyboard action is very clanky, noisey, loud. and it is.... but that is the mechanics of polyphonic aftertouch at work so i dont really mind. no built in fx. expansion wise, there is an EEPROM card out there that will add 80 patches to the onboard 40 patches. you can also save patches AND sequences to floppy disk. i've heard some people say that it will only allow the 800k DD (not HD) 3 inch floppies. but i just formatted and tested four 1.44mb disks and only 1 did not format. so you CAN use standard modern floppies. Midi capabilities.... wow this was one of the earliest workstations and im sure that at the time it was thought to be Loaded (i still think its loaded). 8 part midi / 61 note velocity, polyphonic aftertouch. pitch & mod wheel. all these features make for one awesome controller keyboard with some sick sounds inside. very expressive, the aftertouch can modulate the oscillators which is REALLY cool... lots of different modulation routing options. The Sequencer seems really cool. i have only recorded in realtime... dunno if there is step time or not. there is a step edit feature. you can save 60 patterns and 20 songs and i beleive that is a 20,000 note capacity. not to mention backing them all up on floppy disk (YES!!!) i plan on utilizing the sequencer alot!

good pads, bass, brass, strings, and even some decent moogish sounds. works well for anything that needs some good synths.... techno, trance, trip-hop, ambient. back to the keyboard action.. you can adjust the sensitivity between some 10 or 12 levels (from soft to med to firm to hard), this is one of the most expressive synths i have put my hands on. once again, thanks to polyphonic aftertouch

its built like a tank... very heavy. i'd gig without a backup simply because i would hate to have to carry 2 of these beasts.

i'd definitely get another one if i lost this one to a crook or the elements. I love the sequencer, polyphonic aftertouch routing capabilities, editing, etc. etc. I'm using a 909 which also controls an XD-5... chained to the SQ-80, and i plan to buy a few rackmount synths (pulse, virus) to be controlled by the SQ-80. so the 2 main workhorses in my setup are the 909 and SQ-80. which basically boils down to 2 awesome sequencers. obviously i wish it had more voices and more outs but i understand the time period of its production and things just werent to that point yet. it makes my synth lines sparkle and my bass lines bubble. i obnoxiously recommend this thing to everyone. before i purchased i was comparing it with other synths that had sequencers. Rhodes Chroma Polaris, JP-8000/8080, Ensoniq ESQ-1, Kawai SX-240, etc. i almost bought an ESQ-1, but seeing how they are practically identical price wise used and this had twice the sequencer/waveforms, poly-a-touch, and a disk drive... it would have been stupid to get the ESQ-1. at this point i'd rather have a second SQ-80 than an ESQ-1. and i have always been a big fan of analogue/digital hybrid synths (juno1 was my first keyboard). if you can get one for around $250-$300 i highly recommend it... make sure the disk drive works, and make sure all 61 keys work. i wouldnt pay more than maybe $400-$500 for one just because i've seen them go for half that so many times.

Excellent! Everything about this synth is very easy to use. Some of the Preset sounds are lame, and some are not... Editing Patches is very easy. The results are very neat. Manuel is very descriptive and easy to understand.

Polyphony is good. I sometimes run out of it becuase, the SQ-80 is my prime instrument. I am not aware of any upgrades, but it does have expansion capabilities with the Prom cartidge which is available from Syntaur Productions. It has every midi capability imaginable. I don't use the onboard sequencer much. But it's flexible and is very easy to use.

IT MAKES A LOT OF REALLY COOL SOUNDS. Although, the acoustic sounds aren't very good. I believe this instrument works well with New Wave type music or Dance. Onboard effects are good. Velocity and aftertouch are excellent.

I've never had any trouble with the synth. Sometimes it wont' calibrate on startup, and thats do to static, but it's very easy to take care of the problem. You just reinitialize it. I don't recommend leaving it plugged in, however, because I have found this causes it to not calibrate upon startup. So leave it unplugged. But other than that, I am the second or third owner of this synth , and it still works great.

I've dealt with Syntaur Productions which offer all the original factor stuff for the SQ-80. I have been able to order a lot of cool disks and sounds from them for the synth. You can find the Syntaur Company on the internet. They are a pretty neat company.

I wouldn't ever sell my precious SQ-80. I love the thing to death. I have been playing for about ten years now, and I really like the SQ-80. I compared it to a lot of Roland synths, which I really don't care for. I love how advanced this synth was in the late 80's. It offered a lot more than many synths of that age, I believe. I wish the synth had more Polyphony though. 8 just doesn't seem to be enough at times. This synth is extremely helpfull in making my music.

Sound editing is a breeze on this keyboard because every editing function has its own front button - no flipping through parameter pages. The buttons are laid out very logically. The display looks a bit crude compared to modern LCD displays, but it's bright enough to use in any lighting conditions - even direct sunlight. Ten patches can be directly selected from the front panel. The sequencer was hot in 1988, but 48ppq and 8 tracks are primitive by recent standards. The manual is very well written in plain English, and makes a great synth primer.

The SQ-80 has a polyphonic aftertouch keyboard - a very rare feature at any price. The sound programming is extremely flexible - more so than later Ensoniq synths or most other synths. Eight analog filters give a classic sound and have sweepable resonance. Hard sync and amplitude modulation are also useful features. The basic keyboard has 40 patches in memory, or 120 with an EPROM cartridge. A floppy disk drive is included for storing additional patches or sequences. No effects are included. Very fast MIDI/keyboard response with no timing slop.

The basic sounds are a bit rude and grungy, which makes it superb for analog-type synth sounds, mellotrons, pads, special effects, bells, and organs - helped considerably by the analog filters. Although there are only 8 voices, 3 oscillators per voice can give some very fat sounds. It's possible to overdrive the oscillators a bit - not a bad thing! The built-in ROM patches frankly stink, but the ease of programming readily encourages experimentation. The drums are kinda nasty, though, and the SQ-80 is not good at acoustic instrument or piano sounds.

I've owned this keyboard since purchasing new in1988, and I've had some major problems in the past with the keyboard action and software stability - although this was after extensive touring ang gigging under fairly harsh conditions. Once those problems were fixed, the instrument has been very reliable.

Ensoniq was very helpful when I had problems in 1991 and 92. They even replaced major components for free or at nominal cost well after the warranty had expired.

The SQ-80 was very hot stuff in early 1988, but some of its features (sequencer, polyphony, patch memory) have been greatly eclipsed since. However, the sounds are unique and the flexible programming makes creating sounds fun - I still use it everyday and I can't imagine doing without it. Besides, how many digital synths can make a really convincing "Lucky Man" Moog sound? - the SQ-80 can! I've seen Korg and Roland owners drool when they hear the sounds I can get out of this synth.

The software comes in disks and cartridges, but as it's an old model, the disks are no longer available retail, and the cartrdiges are usually only available from the U.S. The software is compatible with the SQ1 model. The presets are generally pretty good, given you use the mod. wheel. The number one problem with the presets is that the piano programs are pretty awful. The rest are quite usable though. Editing is easy. The keyboard has a built in sequencer too. The manual's very user friendly. If you're looking at an SQ80 my advice is use it as a motherkeyboard - they're a good base, and a sequencer's a great thing to have.

The keyboard action is good but given later technology (the SQ80 is an .... 87 model?) could be better. The built in effects - it has a pitch and a modulation wheel, ports for pedal effects as well as pedal switches, MIDI of course, tape ports, disk drive, cartridge drive,digital display, 16 track sequencer, editing facilities ... And they're all very straight forward: the screen provides you with prompts for just about everything.

Some instruments are realistic but some are pretty unrealistic. Use your imagination and you can work with any of the programs (patches) though. It works well for effects (synth stuff), rock, even for some jazz if you pick it right. However, the piano patches being the way they are it's no good for art music (Classical). And since 1987, synthesized strings have come a long way too - some of these (there is an abundance of every instrument!) are pretty rough. The velocity and aftertouch are good though - they can both be adjusted to your playing requirements.

It's a dependable keyboard, but like I said, it's really a bit old to be thinking of gigs, unless you're using it as a mother. Ensoniqs haven't always had the best name for reliability and endurance, but I've found the SQ80 workable and friendly enough!

I've never dealt with Ensoniq, but I can tell you that an upgrade is difficult and if that's what you're thinking of, get a later model or use racks.

When I bought the SQ80 it was worth the $900 but I'd be thinking hard if someone tried to charge you that price now!
*****A request of my own: I'm desperately looking for programs for my SQ80, long story but mine have gone missing and all I have left is the internal memory!****