Ensoniq TS-12

I am using version 3.0 The pre-sets are fairly good although the piano sounds have an obvious loop. The unit has a feature called sound finder which will find sounds of the same type by scrolling with each push of the button..kinda usefull for locating a specific sound type, i.e. all organ patches, piano, brass, strings...etc. Manual is better than the Roland D-50 manual. Also explains each effect in detail. My board came with several manuals. One huge overall book and two quick start books. Iwould have liked a more detailed section on the hype-wave feature.

Polyphony is 32 -note with weighted action. Lots of effects choices and very programable. I do like using a CV pedal for effect modulation, especialy for leslie effect on an organ patch. It also accepts samples from ASR-10 and EPS samples. Sequencer is pretty good and powerful with quite a few quantizing choices.

Piano sounds have an obvious loop.....Organ sounds good in the mid-range, terrible and thin in the upper range. Pretty good wurly sound on the stock disk. Great new agey sounds due to the hyper wave synthisis that allows you to program sounds that kind of morph over time or creat a rythm loop with bass and drums. Not much in the bass dept. Though I haven't used any third part sound disks. i am talking strictly the sounds that came with the unit. Effects are pretty good and thier are plenty of them. The aftertouch and velocity change are pretty good and easy to program.

I am a hard player and have had to use a back up keyboard (M1) once while on tour due to one of the curcuit modules on the TS-12 becoming loose and creating a loud buzz when the unit was played. It was awful. Several of the keys have broken and thus have lost thier weighted action. One key has lost it's touch sesitivity and plays only one volume....LOUD!!!! It is a drag when playing a pretty ballad. I have also had to replace the disk drive twice. That seems like a manufacture fault. Disk drives going bad is not good.

Support has been iffy . When my disk drive went bad (twice) It was replaced for free once under warranty. The second time I was charged $150.00. This is not a good thing for a musician on a tight budget, but I was on tour and needed the sounds from disk. They did replace my original set of stock data disks...though these are pretty dull and unoriginal.

No...I would't buy this unit again. I feel it is not a strong touring road horse. Too many things have broken on it and i use a heavy duty touring case to transport it. The disk drive has gone bad twice and the keys have broken internally which makes it expensive to fix. I will continue to look for the perfect working touring board.....I might as well go back to analog. It's just as unreliable on the road, though i've had better luck with my mico-moog. It hasen't failed yet.

Programs offer nice variety of sounds (version 2). Editing very straight-forward if you know editing in general. Haven't used an editor. Manual pretty good. Front panel has dedicated buttons for direct access to all major areas. Large screen with clear readout. Wish 6-soft buttons were a different color than black. Sequencer very,very friendly + quite powerful!

Keyboard action feels good, noisy. Built in effects offer alot of variety and sound quite good. Expandable: ASR Sample playback memory to 8 Meg, sequencer to a full 97,000! SCSI for loading of sampled sounds. Channel Pressure, Attack AND Release velocity. Many extra controllers just implemented by Ensoniq: Attack + Release time, Brightness (filter cutoff), Timbre mix, LFO Rate On board sequencer outstanding. Powerful, user-firendly, up to 24 tracks

Is dependable, use it on gig with no back-up Always. its built in sNo 800equencer is only sequencer we use.

Yes, I'd buy it again in a heart-beat. I kept switching keyboards until this one (much to my partner's dismay). Great Feel, large sequencer memory that retains if powered off. Wish it had reonant filters. It helps me make music better than anything else I've tried.

Sounds are great. This synth takes samples and there are plenty. I also have an Ensoniq Soundscape sound card. The TS output is much fatter. Editing is straight forward. I don't use a patch editor (although I'd like to try one if there were a shareware version available). There are two manuals. They are both typical: i.e., they could use some help. However, there are video "manuals" available. My local music store loaned them to me and I found them quite helpful.

Polyphony is 32 voices. My previous synth was 25 (or so)(an early Ensoniq SQ-2). I have not run out of sound and there were no 64 note polophony synths available when I bought my TS-12 (fall '94). Memory is upgradable using Apple SIM modules. This is a dealer installable (or so the owner's manual says) option. My dealer does it for only the cost of the chips. Warranty is voided if user opens case during the warranty period. This synth has all the standard features you would want as far as MIDI capabilities: after touch, velocity, etc..

The standard factory sounds are OK; but, if you want some special realism, look for after market samples. This criticism really only applies to "instrument" sounds such as tongued sax foe example. Velocity and aftertouch are programmable features. You can tweak sounds to react anyway you want; or, the synth has several "touch" settings you can select depending on your playing style. The action is 'piano action'. And very realistic, although a little noisy (the sound of the keys bottoming out [I play rough]).

I have had no problems at all with the KB. I've used it without a backup (always had an acoustic piano available, but never had to use it[except when I wanted to]).

Ensoniq is a great American company! Factory support has called me when I casually asked a question at a local Ensoniq clinic. Dealer support is excellent (at least at the two dealers I'v dealt with).

This is my third synth and my second Ensoniq. List price is/was $2999. Local dealers negotiate. Akter a clinic is a good time to buy as the factory rep subsidizes the dealer. I seriously looked at Korg and Kurtzweil. My first synth was a Kawai which I really liked. The TS-12 is a 76 note, 50 pound KB. Big, heavy, bulky; but, that's what I wanted.