Ensoniq ZR-76

Before I bought this keyboard, I sequenced with my computer(via pc host cable). The program was called Freestyle. Which was hooked up to Korg N-5. It was a great tool but the sound quality was decent. The quantizing and sequencing was perfect. It couldn't be any better in my opinion. But the I found out the more and more I recorded music with keyboards. I wanted a more vesitle keyboad, that doesn't need a computer sequencer. So i searched and searched and stummbled across the ZR-76. The presets are quality sounding, if you really know sounds. Editing patched I haven't had a chance to use because, I am still waiting for a better program as of 1/7/00. This is a sound builder of some sort. So I am waiting for it.

Everyone has there preferences and I agree with some of what was said by the others. But i did hook up a JV-1010 and does it work great. Sounds good, but the problem with volume level can scare the daylights oout of you sometimes. But overall a great tool to have.

One of the best real piano samples that I have heard. If you can play anything, then this keyboard can do it. Mostly all keyboards can manipulate the way you play a note, so the ZR-76 has good editing capabilites, like most manufacturers. Just waiting to expand or build some sounds to see how it really works.

Well see, she has worked to its potential so far. But you have to keep it nice and clean. Exteranally and internally like a computer. So treat her right when shes off and on and she will play hopefully all night long.

????, hope I don't need them. Its hard to find good tech support now a days...............to be continued...................... :O

well, if someone steals it, I'd just look for the latest and greatest. Anyway its insured. But its a great tool, but like most musicians, most use different instruments and differnt keyboards. I have 3 other keyboards and mostly recording equipment. Out of all of them the "Idea" option, drum machine and mix down track is totally great on the ZR-76. It's what you prefer and how you use it. So if I would ever need one, I would consider it again. Compare and contrast various products (like most people should before jumping into it)and see how it can make more productive. Hopefully the ZR-76t will never depart me hands. Please all thieves stay away!!!!

software ver. 2.11
The presets sound good but when you mix it down to the sequencer, it will not stay.
The patch editer sucks.
The manual is too big. you have to flip back & foward to find answers No good.
Ensoniq is going down hill in their Synth's department. The guitar sounds like crap.
I have a ensoniq SD1 and it's guitar sound is great compair to the MR 76.

The polyphony is 64 voice. Keyboard action is great.
It has effects but they are not stable.
Expansion capabilites ( YES ).
Out/In/Thru.for midi.
The on board sequencer is easy but I can't figure out how to send midi out from the 16 track recorder. This pisses me off.

Most of the instruments are very realistic, except the guitar. it sounds like crap.
I play jazz and it works good for that or for whatever music style you play.
The on board effects are good but to route them from the soundfinder to the 16 track is not good.
It will react to your playing.
After you touch a key, you will hear a nasty sound after the sound has been played. (Put on Headphones) you will here it.

You can depend on it to a certain extent.
I would not use it without backup.

I delt with the company, and they were helpful.
I have upgrades on both of my ensoniq keyboards. Sending it to PA. for repairs
really sucks. You will be without your instrument for about 2 months. I live here in
Las Vegas NV and there is no repair station for ensoniq here. Everything else but that.

If it were stolen, I would replace it with something else, maybe. I just love the sounds.
I've been playing for 25yrs. I love the sounds/sequencer. I hate the Manual & midi.
If you play one man gig's like i do sometimes, it takes to long to load song after song. I've checked out Roland & Alesis Keyboards
and they are nice. I wish the screen had more space to name your songs, & while your playing a song,It will show the name of what your playing.
It is a very good pice of equip. to make songs. I do it almost every day.
You have to adjust your to & from Region in order to get somewhat of a smooth flow of your song. The ZR 76 is too touch sensative.

Latest software version (bought January 2000). Very easy to use right out of the box.

64-voices. Keyboard action great. 16 track sequencer. 4-bus effects built in. Top notch features w/ drum machine (110 rhythms w/ 8 variations each + 8 fills each variation). Better than any of the stand alone drum machines out there as far as sounds and features.

Perfect Piano is just that - PERFECT. Electric piano sounds, Rhodes, Bass, Drums, etc. Great for Acoustic type recording because sounds are very real. This is the main strength of the ZR-76.

I depend on it and will continue to depend on it.

Never dealt with them. Hopefully, it won't be necessary.

I would buy it again if stolen (after crying for a few weeks). Worth more than what I paid for. Would never part with the keyboard unless another Ensoniq Holy Grail keyboard is developed. Of course, this would never happen after that EMU-Ensoniq-Creative merger/aquisition deal. Say goodbye to the original Ensoniq keyboards forever - they will never be the same. Compared this keyboard to Roland XP-80, Alesis QS8, Korg Triton and Trinity, General Music, etc. All these keyboards are great but the ZR-76 is designed for songwriters. The ZR-76 permits the flow of creativity more. IMHO, the greatest keyboard in the planet.

I purchased in Feb 1999, so whatever software version that is.
Some of the presets are wonderful... some of them are cheezy sounding..and of no interest to me
I have not delved into editing patches very much at all.. but I am anxious about having time to do some
editing.
The manual is most excellent. I like how it is laid out and the are no translations errors from another language as I have
found in some other companies' manuals. It's straight forward and fairly easy to use and to get to excactly what you want to work on

the polyphony is good... so far I can layer sounds without much problem.
I love the built in effects. (24 bit) the reverb is wonderful...I don't use alot of
effects usually... chorus is nice once in awhile.... they have some esxellent piano patches
with effects pre-assigned...great Rhodes sounds.
Ah...expansion capabilities.... one of my pet peeves with music industry in general...
they are so anxious to sell you a product...but, there are soooo many products on
the market, I personally am still not sure what the full capabilities of this synthesizer
are. I am excited that it is general midi based... however! It failed when it cam to
using it to upgrade my Roland VS880EX ... (you're supposed to be able to download files...
which I did, and then use the keyboard to download SYS EX msgs to the VS880.... didn't happen
with the ZR76... had to go into the store and use a roland keyboard to interface and download
the same files.
most of the midi things seem to function just fine... I use this keyboard in my personal studio
and also am a Jazz musician...so have done several gigs live with it.
The sequencer is wonderful.... I am not that well versed in using it...again a time constraint
not so much the fault of the manufacturer.... I think the sequencer is well laid out and
fairly well thought out.... I am using it for the basis of my studio..as far
as doing all the parts and dumping off to the VS880EX.
One big problem that I have found...is the sensativity of the knobs ...you just barely touch
them and the settings change....not too happy with that...also if
I split the keyboard and use the drum machine all at once.... depending on the patch...
I get the impression that the memory chip is filled....and cant handle it...since the
synthesizer freaks out and all of sudden one of the sound (keybaord usurally) shoots way up
in volume....it does some strange things.... tech support (as expected by me ) rather mum...
they did make a few suggestions...but like most musicians...I don't want to give up
the keyboard and send it in for months...to get trouble shooting done on it.

some of the instrument sounds are extremely good....the flagship Coakley piano
is wonderful.... piano sounds these days are very confusing...I have heard many
different manufacturer's piano sounds...some (roland, Korg) are very very good
depending upon what you play them through.... I particularly like the "Keith J." patch
that the ENSONIQ people put in here.... I use it all the time....it's extraordinarly good.
effects...again I think are good, velocity touch etc. is good....I also have other synths
(Kurzweil PC88) ... which have faster keyboards...but it's playable.
Some of the sounds.... are terrible..(horns, guitars etc...) one suggestion was made that I
clear out alot of the sounds that I don't use...to free up some memory, see
if the weird glitches dissappear....when I get some time I will gladly
remove alot of the cheezy sounds.

So far reliable.... I don't use splits on gigs, or of course drum machine
but have used it on several gigs with no breakdowns...

tech support was freindly enough...but not really really interested in
my problems with the synth.....I happen to know that the store model that I
tried....did the same thing as mine (freaked out when split was used w/ drum
machine.... )
I am thinking about trying to get the memory upgrade and see if that helps...
Once big dissappointment is that from what I understand they don't make other
drum sequences that you can just go out and purchase and upload in general midi
format... for the drum machine...(which does sound great....) the samples are
good and the fills etc...are fairly realistic....) I would just like to have
a much larger library of drum sequences for it.

OVERALL: I would rate the ZR76 as a good keyboard...the action is acceptable...though
not outstanding. I have been playing piano since I was 2 (47 years), I own 2 other keyboards, a roland VK7,
and a Kurzweil PC88. If this keyboard was stolen...I would think twice about buying it again....
only because of the electronic problems that I think are inherent in it. I love the piano sample, the rhodes sounds
and some of the other sounds in the library... the action is OK.. it is fun...to just jump in and start
playing with the drum machine....but now htat I have had it for 8 or 9 months...I am hungry for a whole new
library of drum sequences...and have to figure out where I'm going to get them.
I think this keyboard...helps me make music in my studio...I wish they would have spent
time with better samples for the BASS, and strings and horns etc....
there is much memory used up in what I consider cheezy sounds.

v3.00. Newest version that I know of. This is my first synth, and I am very pleased with it. The presets are presets; some of them are fairly good, most are too similar sounding to be of any real use. The EXP-4 Perfect Piano Expansion is wonderful, though. It features the best piano sound I have ever heard. I haven't done any real intensive editing yet, but editing from the synth itself is a joke. A two-line display makes it difficult to keep the whole picture in mind. It comes with a version of Unisyn, which so far has been pretty easy to use. The manual is very extensive, answered all my questions so far, but the layout could be better. One of the best features is the idea pad, which records everything you play, so if you get a good idea, you can have it play it back, then send it to the sequencer for further use.

64-voice polyphony. So far it's been enough for me, even with the sequencer. Playing this keyboard truly is a joy. You bring up your favorite patch, then start playing, you could lose yourself in the feeling. The FX are ok. Again, as this is my first synth, I don't have a whole lot to compare them to, but they are pretty extensive, IMHO. Very tweakable, also. There are, to my knowledge, two expansion boards for the ZR: a dance board and a sampler of world instruments. There is also a 4 meg flash ram board that can be purchased, but for $250, 4 megs seems too little memory. Standard MIDI in/out/thru. 16-track sequencer. Works very well. My only complaint is that smetimes you can't change patches in the middle of playback on certain tracks. But this hasn't become a problem yet. Also, I heard that when all 64 voices were used, the ZR would stall before playing the 65th note (if that made sense); I have yet to have that, or anything similar, happen to me.

The Perfect Piano justifies the cost of this synth! Beautiful!! Some of the other real instrument samples sound quite good (ie the guitars, strings) and others not so good but not bad (ie brass, bass). The percussion kits are excellent sounding. But the synth sounds are incredible! Blows away everything else I heard when looking for a synth, even the Trinity! The effects are almost unnecessary when you hear these sounds, but they also sound very good. Some sounds react very well to velocity, some don't.

Never had any problems with it. Since I don't have another synth, I have to gig without a backup. But even so, I have no problems going with just the ZR.

Never dealt with the company. Heard some real bad stories, but I can't say from personal experience.

If it were lost or stolen, I'd definately get another one! Like I said, this is my first synth, but I've been playing pianos my entire life. This definately is a keeper. The idea pad, though I'll admit sounded stupid initially, has really come in handy. I despise the two-line display. To me, the extra $200 or so would be worth getting a nice big display. My only other complaint is having to go through a computer editor to get to most of the parameters. But with a two-line display, what are you going to do? I compared it to the Korg Trinity V3, the Yamaha EX5, and the Alesis QS8, and this was the best bang-for-my-buck. The sounds were much better, and it has NO bugs or glitches that I have come across (unlike the EX5), though like I said earlier, a nice big display would be nice (ie Trinity, but without the touch interface). This is definately a winner, and despite what I've heard of Ensoniq from other people, I'd have no qualms about buying another synth from them.