Ensoniq ZR-76

One of the easiest to use midi composer system out there, and I own a Korg Triton and Yamaha ES-8. But the thing that I love about this keyboard is creating splits and layers on the fly in the middle of a song while playing live.

The biggest draw backs is the company is gone to my knowledge.

I had a ZR-76 I purchsed new in 1999. I sold it last year. I actually missed it. Even with the fantastic abilities of my Yamaha Motif ES-8 and Korg Triton, there are some voices in that ZR=76 that I really missed. The barri=sax split with horns was fantastic for Motown live tunes. Or the Barri=sax split with a B=3 for Mustang Salley. The strings are one of the best on the market. However the "Atomic Lead" is one that makes your toes curl.

I've had no problems out of either I have owned.

this scares me as I understand the company is out of business

This is my second ZR=76, I kicked my self for selling the first one. I gave $2,200 for the first one new, then like a fool sold it for $1000 with a road case last year. I just paid $650 for a used one that wasn't in near the condition of the one I let go.

The keyboard itself standsout on the ZR. Excellent piano feel. The "perfect Piano", is probably the best I've ever owned for recording purposes. If you do not mind the weight, 60 lbs. Live is a snap with the "favorites" buttons dead center in the keyboard. You can program/assign them to whatever the ZR has internal and loadable from floppy! The display for its' day, is all that is needed for Christ sakes. There are no big hoopty doo displays. Not needed for this keyboard. Constuction as everyone who can spell ZR-76 is non less then a tank. Very rugged. Great for putting it in place somewhere, church, recording studio and leaving it there for all to be enjoyed.

Controlling the unit is so easy, you will need the manual in order to quickly learn how to assign and program it. I was able to beging assigning and changing without the manual. Not smart but it did work. Drums and percussion are outstanding, clean and pure sounding. Typical Ensoniq studio recording cleansliness in the sound. With the sustain pedal, and that is the only external control I use, makes the piano sound very very realistic. Very Cool.

Connectivity is legacy and it is what is was. You can do some computer control. No USB, USB was not invented at the time. But I have still given high scores here because it is what it was, quite ahead of its time.

There is all kinds of transposing and global control of the unit. You really need the manual here to fully appreciate its functionality in this deptartment. The ZR's come with the EXP-4 sound expansion card which is the "Perfect Piano". These go for about $200 on Ebay themselves. Great sounding piano.

The sound of Ensoniq is truly legandary, warm, clear, realistic. Strings are so powerful, you have to back off to stay in check with what you are supposed to be playing. You get carried away. Brass and sax is THEEE very best in the industry. I have a Korg Karma, I have a Nord Electro 76. Yes they are probably better in some respects with newer updated sounds, but, they are also $1700 and $1700 new. I beleive the ZR was about $2700 new. The sound is my absolute strong point with this unit. It really belongs in the recording studio to give your clients this opportunity to lay down tracks that are quite unique! They'll love it!

Fortunately, as a ROMPLER, the sounds are adequate and in some cases very very good for my style of playing. I just acquired the ZR after a semi-challenging search and already had used the MR-Rack which has the same base ROM set less 2 meg of drums (I had installed the Piano expansion). Surprisingly the architecture is a little different. The knobs on the MR rack are better for selecting items, and the ability to save performance setups to USER RAM is excellent, and missing in the ZR, including the STACK feature which allows voices to share a STACK midi channel. I am disappointed that the ZR does not store its sequences to non-volatile RAM, and this means saving to floppy all the time. I am certain this was a design issue which was discussed at length and was a cost cutting move at the time. Fortunately the saves were to floppy and the MIDI standard is maintained and works well. They could have easily went to a SCSI, ZIP, Syquest or other less ubiquitous solution (glad they didn't), and although slow, the reliability of floppy drives has been good for me. I am always a little nervous about built in hard drives for instance. Still Saving your ideas always to floppy is a bit of a downer.

Nonetheless, I HAVE to give this board all the praise in the world for it's immediacy and overall functional ease of use. The layout is superb, intuitive (although I am no newcomer to Ensoniq having owned an ESQ-1 at one time, and still own a KS-32. I tried a bunch of contemporary boards, but none have the quickness and agility for getting ideas down quick which was essential for me as a songwriter and arranger. I now have a powerful enough and good enough sounding workstation that I can decouple from the studio. I cannot tell you how much I love this board despite its RAM config. The idea pad/recall is irreplaceable. I like the favorites, but wish that I could save layers and splits to them more effectively, but this is a small quibble. At least it gives you a fairly elegant split/layer option, and the mix dial and control 'strip' are very nice. Again, did I tell you how much I love this board.

64-voice - still not a bad standard.

The keyboard action is a bit stiffer than my KS-32, feels more solid, but less 'hammer' kick back. I am told it is a superior assembly and the weights will not break. We'll see. I like the feel. 76-keys is better for portability.

Oh and yes, the pressure sensitivity is essential to my playing as well. Had to have it. Something the Yamaho MO did not have unfortunately, and the Korg TR is cheasy feeling to me. Nice range.
Onboard sequencer is great and works wonderful. Can't think of how to improve except if it would have stored to non-volotile RAM.

As to the sounds, there is a musicality to many of them and transparency added by the excellent FX. My only beef is with the chorus, but I might just have to get a little deeper into programming it. The drums and patterns are DYNOMITE. Very good. Would like more latin styles, though.

The pianos and electric pianos, and pads are very good, and are part of my meat and potatoes style. Organs are OK. Brasses so so. Synth textures can work very well. Not thrilled with the bases or guitars, but haven't found a synth yet that I like in that regard. Strings are outstanding. Drums, again superb. Just the sounds, sans organ that I need in a board. Add real guitars, brass, etc. in the studio anyway.

This is more of a board more for a musician 'player' not a tweaker, which works very well for me.

Only issue I've uncovered is that with loud playing, if I run master volume above 50% I get some digital distortion. Might be an issue with my op amps, not sure, but also I note that all sounds are programmed at high volume levels. My solution is just to bump the gain on my mixer, and the sounds are still very good with nice dynamics. The programmed FX in my opinion need tweaking on some sounds - the chorus is a little thick but dialing back works wonders. This was an issue with my MR too.

I've always had excellent success with Ensoniq products. This board appears to be built very well. I am hanging on to my trusty KS-32 as a backup for a little while. I miss Ensoniq and their straightforward user-driven design. They really went overboard. The dwindling support network is a concern, and I would love to find the MR-Flash board for this but probably will have a tough time.

Nonexistent now, except for www.Thesoniq.com which is an excellent repair / resale center.

Until a board with ease of use and a MIDI oriented Idea capture comes along, this will be essential to me. I may buy up a few just for parts. Although 10 years old in technology, I cannot find anything like it. Fits the bill for me perfectly. I finally have the 'board I've wanted for years.

I have the latest version (3.03). In general, the presets are ok but you would be amazed at what you can get out of this thing if you sit down with it and tweak. For example, some of the Ooohhs and Aahhs may sound too bright or harsh, so you can adjust the filter cutoff and make them sound very smooth and mellow. Also, some of the effects that are assigned to some of the sounds by default sound ridiculous. For example, "mass strings". I believe the phaser effect is assigned to that one but I'm not sure. All that baby needs is a lot of wet reverb. One cannot properly assess the potential of this keyboard in one sitting. I've had it for 5 months now and still, once in a while I will be amazed at what I'm hearing and suddenly I'm inspired all over again! Editing the sounds on the keyboard itself are simply a matter of turning a couple of knobs (those wretched knobs!) to adjust any parameters you see fit. I have yet to try out software patch editors (SoundDiver) but I am anxious to do so because I'm not satisfied with the limited options provided by the keyboard itself. The manual is awesome! Makes webster's dictionary look like a travel brochure. Not only because of the complexity of the board, but also because the writing is so detailed.

64 note polyphony, blah blah blah. Keyboard action is fine. Action is not important to me. As long as the keys press down and come back up that's good enough for me. The built in effects are just awesome. (40 I think, with many many MANY variations for each, many of which could easily classify as an effect all their own) There are so many different combinations of settings you can adjust with each effect that I would not be surprised if there are sounds this keyboard is capable of producing that have never been heard before. Remember that it's up to the PERSON to make the music. When the creativity is there and the mind is open, the possibilities are almost endless. Like others have said, this keyboard relies very much on YOU to tell it what to do! Adjusting effects is just a matter of pushing a button and turning a couple knobs (bad knobs!) The 16 track onboard sequencer works great. EXCEPT that I've had difficulty getting it to jump smoothly from one sequence to another. It's kind of squirrely that way, but by one of the reviews I've read here it looks like there's a trick to it. I'll have to look more into that. And if you like to screw around just playing stuff then you can imagine how handy the idea pad can come in as I'm sure you've played something before and were like daang, wish I could do that again. I seldom end up using it but when I do I do NOT take it for granted! It's a great feature.

Here's my opinion about the perfect piano. Having a real upright myself, I can tell you that no, you won't swear you're playing a real piano because acoustically that is just impossible. Speaker technology has not developed well enough to emulate the nuances and sonics of an acoustic piano. (At least mine hasn't) However, when playing back a piano sequence I've just recorded, it could EASILY pass as a recording of an acoustic piano. (which essentially, that's what it is) For instance, I can play a little Jim Brickman, and it'll come out sounding nearly like an actual recording of his. The Perfect Piano patch is preset to sound kind of mellow but most of the time I actually prefer the 2 layer Stereo piano which sounds like the perfect piano but it's a little more bright and clean. The high end of the Perfect Piano is very realistic, low end is very good too, but the mid section sounds muddy for my taste. This can be adjusted. In spite of the minute imperfections I've pointed out (all IMHO), the piano sound on this keyboard is AMAZING. That's all you need to know. Try it out for a few minutes, tweak it, you'll know what I mean.

The sax's are awesome. A couple of the electric guitars are incredible. If you go to E-MU's website and listen to the ZR-76 demos, you'll find that the jazz guitar is very realistic.

You might get away with using one of the acoustic guitars in a song but you'll have to know what you're doing. The synth sounds are awesome, very adjustable, but apparently you need a software editor to really get at them. You can bang out any rock, classical, dance, techno, country, rap, R&B, experimental, new age tune on this machine. The sounds are all there. Musicians are so caught up with perfection, that we forget to take a step back and appreciate what some of this equipment can do.

I've not had any problems with my keyboard and I bought it used and have used it almost every day in the 5 months or so I've owned it.

Have not dealt with E-MU. Since Ensoniq is no more, it's obvious I'll be up a creek if this thing goes out on me. But my way of thinking is, as long as I continue to take good care of it, I don't have anything to worry about.

This keyboard is a classic. It's possibly one of the best kept secrets in the synth world. I'm very pleased with what I got with what I gave for it. If you want one of these, ebay is about your best bet. That's where I got mine. It's easy to use, dependable, intuitive. Great sounds. No one should be disappointed with it unless you're into those "instant gratification" machines someone mentioned in an earlier review. This keyboard is made for the musician who wants to compose music and doesn't want to have to worry about anything else. In spite of its ease of use, there is still a learning curve. The ease of use does not compromise the studio quality of this board. It really is a songwriter's dream!

This board is so easy I didnt need to read the manual. I tell you what I have the Triton and the ZR 76 is alot easier to use and record. I use the ZR for the main recordingin my studio. I hardly touch the Triton.

once I understand Midi its a wrap. I use the Roland SI-24 the Alesis, Triton and the ZR 76. the action is great. The sequencer is so easy I can record with my eyes closed. However, the stupid knobs are to sensative, and they scroll all alone. I bought it for 650 dollars without a scratch but I didnt know that the knob scrolls by its self

The Perfect Piano is nice for jazz. Out of the 2 yrs Ive had it I just finally went to the other pianos . Not bad at all! Ensoniq has always been bright sounding, but the ZR 76 is perfect. they could of done allittle more with the brass and Bass. Thats where the Triton comes in. I havent heard a piano synth touch the ZR 76 perfect piano

I take it out everytime I have a gig. The darn thing is to heavy.

cant find 1

Ensonig should come out with a ZR-76 Sampler. that would be the bomb. The Triton would be know more. I HATE when the sequencer has a space at the end of a song before the loop. I figured out how to advoid that. Ex. 1-8 measures of recording you have to stop the sequencer on 9.1 for it to loop perfect.

The Ensoniq ZR-76 is perhaps the most simple user friendly board I've ever encountered. My former church had a 49-key Roland keyboard and to get from one sound to the other was like pulling teeth. With the ZR I push the piano button, there are pianos, synth sound button there are the synths and so on. You don't have to have a computer science degree to work this board. I've played a KORG Triton, supposedly one of the best boards made, and I was not as impressed as I am with the ZR-76.

Authentic Drum Machine, great Piano and Electric Piano sounds. Strings are incredible. The only reason I don't give it a 10 is the Organ sounds. The Nord Electro has every keyboard beat on Vintage Organ sounds, most likely I'll buy a Nord Electro Rack Module and MIDI it into the ZR when I get the cash.

Again lacks organ, but every other sound on the board is top notch. Pianos, Electric Pianos, Sax, Synths, Strings, even Guitars sound pretty good.

The board, and Ensoniq boards altogether have really bad keybed problems, not horrible, but a key will stick or the keybed will clank when you play on it. They are easy to replace but cost $200 plus shipping to get. But looking back on it, what I paid for the board plus $200 for a keybed is still a couple of thousand less then it would be to buy a Korg Triton or a Yamaha Motif.

Well Ensoniq as you know sold out to E-MU, but a new company called The Soniq owns exclusive rights to all the parts for Ensoniqs, and that is where I ordered a keybed for my MR-76, and will order one for the ZR-76.

This Keyboard, for the price paid, and the price you can pick one up off Ebay (700-900 dollars), to what they are new off E-MU's website ($1795) makes it a no brainer to buy. Anyone stupid to ignore this board just because the bands that play on Jay Leno or David Letterman's music act at the end of their shows play a Korg Triton should sit down for an hour and play a ZR-76. This board is immortal, and hopefully the people at E-MU will commison some of the staff that help make this board into building a new series of 61-key, 76-key, and 88-key boards with more features and the same interface, of the future looks bleek for the continued life of Ensoniq boards as lemons like the Fizmo and Halo are the only things E-MU is dishing out that carries the name Ensoniq on it.

Software vercion 3.0.
muy facil de usarlo, tanto los sonidos como las secuencias yla caja de ritmos es realmente facil.
Nunca he editado patches en este, porque pienso qeu los factory presets son muy cool

64 voces de polifonia, pues suena bien al principio, pero si tu secuencias un midi orquestado, notaras que las notas algunas veces se cortan,
el secuenciador es facil de usar, realmente es facil manipularlo, en menos de lo que tu peinsas ya tienes tu cancion echa.
los efectos son los mas originales que he oido, a 24 bit, es de calidad profecional, e incluso puedes poner tu procesador de efectos para la mezcla final.
muy original el grabador de ideas.
las teclas y su peso son como un piano y eso es lo que admiro de este board

que puedo decir de los sonidos.
por sobre todas las cosas el piano es perfecto tal como lo dicen en el manual y en la pagina de ensoniq, aqui encuentras de todo desde un poderoso set de drums, hasta el tr 909 completo.
no me gustan las guitarras, es la peor parte del teclado

4 a?os lo tengo conmigo, nunca lo saco a un gig, porque solo es mi teclado de studio, y tambien mi controlador actual apara mi pc.
fella un como lass salidas de audio, y ya no funciona el aftertuch, pero eso lo arreglaremos otro dia

para que si no lo necesito aun

Yo comenze en la musica a la edad de 3 a?os, acualmente tengo 22, y hace 4 a?os tuve a este mostruo de teclado.
Pobrecito de el que quiera robarme el zr-76 lo mato!.
jejeje.
peor bueno, exelent stuf!!.

I am using the latest version. I think that for the most part the sounds are very good, especially the organs and pianos. The manual is very helpful if not a little longwinded. Recording is also simple, i was making tracks in about 5 minutes of opening it.

The polyphony is 64 which is pretty standard, the keyboard action feels great, especially for only 1000 dollars. The effects are great, howver one of the boards main drawbacks is that you cant apply more than one effect at the same time. MIDI is standard and works really well. I really want to get some of the expansion cards but most of them arent available anymore. THe sequencer is great, except it is a little simplified, ie you cannot set different loop points for differents tracks.

Most instruments are great, i really like the synth instrument and most of the acoustic ones sound pretty real. This would be good for most kinds of production. The effects on this thing are extremely well done and have multiple presets for each, and also editing the presets is extremely easy and simple.

Up until 2 days ago it has never crashed, so thats 1 year of solid stability. I might use this for a gig, but the wheel you use to select instrument banks and instruments are very touchy, and probably the most annoying thing about this keyboard.

CUstomer support now sucks b/c EMU owns Ensoniq and they have discontinued this board, also i didnt get the STANDARD unisyn software, and when i eamiled them they said it wasnt available anymore

If it were lost or stolen i would try and get another one, although now it seems to be rather impossible these days. I think the sequencing and sounds and effects are fantastic and most of the drawbacks are minor and able to workaround. This thing is great for making music, especially with the idea pad that records everything your play. I think that if you can find this for 1000 dollars or less that this crushes most other workstations for 500-1500 dollars more, a great bargain.

The software version is 3.03(for those that don't know how to check it, do the following: while holding the <save> button in the SoundFinder, press the <system/midi> button. This should do it!

The presets sound GREAT!!! The previous reviewer trashed the Perfect Piano and had good a reason for doing it. On the other hand, I cannot say enough about the Perfect Piano. I have not run into any problems with keys being the wrong pitch or anything else. I own a Kawai studio upright that sounds pretty cool and I feel that the Perfect Piano sounds just as good, if not better. Once you tweak it a tiny bit(ie. envelope attack and reverb time) the sound is exactly that: Perfect! Haven't heard anything close to it in a synth, whether it be Kurzweil, Korg, Roland or any other.

I've been using Software editors for the past ten years or so and I believe that software editors are the only way to go in order to get the most from your synths. I've used various share ware products, Unysin, Midi Quest and finally SoundDiver. The latter being the one that I am most content with. Editing the ZR is pretty straight-forward with SoundDiver, although the SysEx definition only allows for Patch, Bank and Drum editing only. NOT sequencer editing. Not surprising. It doesn't bother me since I use Cubase for sequencing.

Whoever thought of The Idea Pad is a genius! It allows the user to create music on the fly and quickly send it to the onboard sequencer. Once there, you can begin a song or save it to disk and bring it up in the Cubase sequencer.

Once you figure out all that the SoundFinder can do, it becomes apparent that another genius figured that one out as well. SoundFinder is very powerful.

The architecture of this synth is really amazing. The way it's laid out and the way that the modules integrate with one another is really, really clever. Way to go Ensoniq!

The manual is HUGE and very verbose(typical Ensoniq). But, it could have been written better. I work as an engineer and read technical documents all day long and I can tell you that they could have done better. It's not entirely bad, since all the information is in there(somewhere in the 480 pages!), but I find myself having to read entire sections of the book just to figure out one or two very simple things. For example, I wanted to save a drum loop to the on-board sequencer then save it to disk(with the goal of opening the loop in Cubase and then driving multiple sound sources). This simple process should be explained in a very straight forward fashion in the manual. But it's not! It requires bouncing around different sections of the manual. I'm being unnecessarily picky here, since I expect more from tech writers. In all fairness though, the manual is VERY helpful once you get the hang of the way it is written.

64 voice polyphony. Pretty standard these days. Just right.
The effects are classic Ensoniq. They are top notch, 24 bit effects that rival and/or surpass most of the other synth manufacturer. The effects are studio quality and I don't even need to use outboard effects for most of the patches(with the exception of bass. I always process the bass with external compression).

Expansion allows for a Drum and Bass board and a World Sounds board. It's a real shame, but these cannot be found anywhere on the web. Not even at Emu-Ensoniq(at least that's what they told me last time I called). I am not too interested in eithe of these, but it would be nice to have them available.

This is complete MIDI workstation, so it has all the bells and whistles that are expected from such product. Pressure sensitive, after touch, etc.

The on-board sequencer is excellent. It is very, very powerful. If someone doesn't own a computer then the on-board sequencer is a great choice.

Here is where the board gets its first TEN. I'd give it a TWENTY. A HUNDRED. You get the picture?! The sounds are FANTASTIC.
The Perfect Piano is just that.
The Saxophone sounds are just as good as the Perfect Piano. They sound so unbelievably real! The best I have ever heard. I also play a Yamaha WindJamm'r wind controller that I use to play wind patches on my JV-2080. I am in the process of re-programming the ZR saxophone patches to respond to the wind controller. It may take me a while, but once I do, look out!!!
Although is only has a few string/orchestral patches, they are superb. They are so fat, rich and creamy that I didn't bother upgrading my JV-2080 with the Orchestral board. The strings and ensembles are about as good as things get with a synth, without going with a sampler.
The brass is very, very good. If you need to use it in an orchestral mix, then working the reverb is about all you need to do(to separate the voices from each other). You may change the attack on the envelopes to your liking. Otherwise, they brass patches are ready to be used.
The electric guitars are not very good. I don't worry about it, since I play guitar. The acoustic steel strings are a lot better and with the sustain pedal pushed down they sound really rich and spacey(my style of music).
The electric pianos are very good. Not as good as Yamaha's. But then again, who's are?! The organs are very good. I have no problem classifying these in the same light as any other professional synth(Triton, KSxxx, etc).
The synth sounds are magnificent. Specially the Analog sounding stuff. It may not be up to par with the dance crowd, but for anyone doing classic rock or new age/space music, the analog pads, basses and synths are GREAT! I've tweaked some patches with SoundDiver that sound fat, fat and fatter. Unless you need the real-time control that the modern VAs offer, there's absolutely no reason to get an analog synth or a VA synth. If you work the editor, the ZR will blow your mind in the synth department!!!!!!
Vocal patches are of the highest quality but I find that they are not varied enough. I like to use them in my compositions but I must work them a lot in SoundDiver.
The Drums. Well, the acoustic drums are nothing short of amazing. I can't imagine anyone trashing the drum sounds on this machine. Trash the Perfect Piano, the Sax, the Strings, etc.. But don't mess with the Drums!!! They are KILLER. Not for the dance crowd. But for Pop Rock, R&B, World, New/Age, Prog Rock I've yet to have heard anything that sounds this good. I've played with seasoned drummers that didn't sound this good(except for you Randy.You da man!). The acoustic drums are so real that it's mind-blowing. I've heard samplers that didn't sound this good. I can go on and on, but I won't.
IMO, you should be able to make ANY kind of music with this monster. I would even say that because of the drum patterns and the fat sounds you can actually do some serious dance music with this thing. Now, you will have to work it. It's not a knob-turning-DJ-toy-instant-gratification thing we are talking about here. This is a serious instrument. You have to read the manual.
It should be perfect for composing soundtrack music. The board has all kinds of effects and soundscapes.
It should work fine for jazz, for rock for classical scores. I can't see a fault with the sound-set and the possibilities.
Another reviewer mentioned that the sounds are "dated". Sure they are dated, by today's standards of knob-twisting-instant-gratification boxes. This thing is a real synth. You need to work it. You need to program it.
Everyone is so into the Moogs and the analogs these days and how you can program the heck out of them. Let me tell you, I've programmed Moogs and they are another instant-gratification toy. Spend some time with the ZR and you will be amazed at what you come up with.

I've owned the predecessor to the ZR, the KT-76, and beat it up quite hard and it held up rather well. The ZR should be OK for studio and gig use.

Here is where I am a bit worried. Not because the ZR is cheaply made or that Ensoniq makes crap. That's not the case. I've owned other Ensoniq gear throughout the years and they've all behaved nicely(I've even owned the predecessor to the ZR, the KT-76. Real nice board). My concern is with E-MU/Ensoniq. Will they support this board????!!!! I don't think so.

This synth is a monster. The more I play it and program it the more I like it. You have to work it. It's not a toy. It's a tool for composition and creation. I use it with a Korg X5D, and Roland JV-2080 and a Oberheim Matrix 1000. The best synth in my rig is the ZR. If I had to keep one, the ZR would be the one. It's very fat and lush sounding. The effects are GREAT. The drums are a dream! I compared it to the Triton and the Kurzweil's and there was absolutely no way that I could justify spending more money for inferior sounding boards. I program my boards and have always loved the Ensoniq Transwave engine. It's worked for me and I keep using it. The only negative is that E-MU/Ensoniq does not support it(they say they do, but I don't believe it). That's a big problem. If it ever craps out, then I could be in for a nightmare situation.....Hopefully it won't! :-)

Seems easy to use

Reasonbale features

A couple of crackers...but mostly average. i have a BIG problem with the so called perfect piano (see below)

The parameter knob is overly sensitive resulting on onscreen data being hard to select.

Don't know...but I'm just about to use it!

Just bought this two days ago. The keyboard has a lovely feel, the drum box is handy, but the sounds are very average (a few nice ones, but by & large they are below par for this day & age). The perfect piano is lovely *except* that at E3 (ie the 37th key up from bottom - counting white & black notes) the tonal characteristics & level changes significantly right on up....it's far from perfect. I've sinced asked a couple of other ZR owners on message boards etc...they have now noticed the same thing i'm reporting here. I'm back onto the store today...watch this space!!!

I have no idea what software version I'm using. The preset sounds
are great. The drum machine is, for a person with zero rhythm, a
god send. The manual is like "war & peace", way too much for the
non-geek to wade through...plus, it is heavy.

Ralph Kramden had a string of "poloponies" ( polo ponies ). That is
about as much as I know about that...but it sounds fantastic, and the
keyboard action is stupendous...better than my EPS, better than my
ASR-88 ( which is a close second ), and way way better than that
piece of garbage disguised as a midi-controller, the Fatar Sl-990.

I don't know where the effects are, I think mixdown, and I haven't
gotten there yet. Expansion capabilities? huh? Midi capabilities?
From the manual, it seems to work seemlessly with all MIDI stuff.
I love the onboard sequencer, because I work on a computer all day,
and hate the thought of using one to make music. There are 16 true
tracks, with varied recording modes ( replace, add ), so for a
writer like me, it is sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

I love playing this thing, and haven't gone near my acoustic piano
or other keyboards ( with the exception of the ASR-88 ) in over a
month. It has so many sounds (1200), plus the drum machine, that a chimpanzee could write a song with it and it would sound good...hey,
isn't that how most of today's music sounds, anyway???

So far, no breakdowns, but if I were a one man band, I'd buy a
DR-5 for backup, just in case some drunk pukes on it.

USELESS-

I love it. It is a bit heavy for gigging, though. I had an EPS for
12 years, and a SL-990 controller...GONZO! I should have kept up with
the technology as the years went by - Doh!

I do wish there was a simple user instructional video, instead of a
500 page manual...in the words of Joe Walsh, " I'm FREAKIN' out, man!"

I am using the latest software for this board. It's presets are extremley nice. It is simple to edit and very flexible. The manual itself is huge, but due to the complexity of the board, it is needed. Even for keyboard veterans. I thought I would be able to just find my way around it with out the manual, but don't bet on it.

This board has more than enough polyphony to do any type of music.The effects are the best I have ever heard in a keyboard. This keyboard is able to accept 2 expansion cards which would make it more than just a meat and potato's type board. It has varied sound types but is some what limited. But what it does have are great. It has extensive midi capabilities and weighted keys (very nice). It has a 16 track sequencer on it, but I use a computer. Why do people still want them?

The sounds on this keyboard are among the best ever made. The piano, oh my, my, my. There is nothing out there that compares. Even the electric rhodes are fantastic. Some of the strings are top notch, and many of the analog type emulations are great. 75% of the sounds are untouchable. The effects are the best you can imagine and it is extremely responsive. Fantastic weighted keys. Get one!

I dont know about the reliabilty as I just got it, but the round parameter and sound knobs are awful, and flimsy. You have to turn them with a feather touch, because if you dont, you will skip 3 or 4 settings in the process. I would rather push button my way through the sounds. I am still not sure if I have heard them all yet!

In terms of customer support, my experience with EMU/Ensoniq is mixed. SOmetimes they call you back, sometimes they dont. Since this board has been discomtinued, I doubt that there will be any upgrades or additional card expansions made. So, make your own sounds.

If this board were lost or stolen, I would definately get another if I could for what I paid for it. This board is worth 3 times what I paid and is in my opinion the best sounding keyboard out now. I have been playing for 15 years and own a Trinity, Kurzweil, XL-1, Juno 106, CS1X, ESQ-1 & M, Fizmo, Oberheim OB-8, and 10 various more modules. The ZR-76 is the icing on the cake. Do yourself a favor, get one before they're all gone and blown out! I didn't like the learning curve of the ZR, but it's worth it. It is exceptional for any type of music. I dont think ther is any other board I would have gotten instead of it, but I would like to get an XV-5080 to go with it. It is a super value.

I have the latest and last software version for the ZR-76 and it is pretty solid. It took a little while for me to learn how to use it's features, but it is all very well laid out. Whoever designed this keyboard really put some time into the design. It is so easy and intuitive to use! I will say that you NEED a patch editor because the keyboard does not give you access to some parameters...like assigning an LFO to the pitch, changing into monophonic mode, and access to the raw waveforms to start a sound from scratch. Since Ensoniq is no longer around, they do NOT ship the patch editor with their keyboard, which is contrary to what is stated in the manual. The good news is that they give you a super manual that is so in depth...it goes over every feature you could imagine. The manual is very user friendly with an exhaustive index for looking up info on the fly!

The keyboard has 64 note polyphony and is 16 part multi-timbral. It has a dedicated Reverb bus (with 3 buses...light reverb, medium reverb, and Wet Reverb, a dedicated Chorus bus, and 1 insert effect bus. The effects are enough to make some great music and the routing options are great! The Insert Effects are really super, crisp, and clear (40 Insert FX Total). They are all highly editable to suit your needs. Each Effect also has presets you can scroll through which is really cool! The expansion capabilities are good but rather expensive. It comes with the Perfect Piano Expansion Board which is superb! I would love to find the MR-Flash to import samples but they do not make it anymore! Bummer! The Onboard Sequencer is out of this world...I do have a major complaint though...there is NO EVENT EDITOR!!!!!! Once you have recorded your music, you can not do the microscopic editing that is so essential in sequencing! I really miss this feature as compared to last board! I love the fact that you can "scoop" out unwanted notes as it plays...and you can copy the track and sequence parameters to speed up the tweaking process. I really love the real time MIXING features! It has a real time pan and volume knob to record real time console data. The sequncer offers many types of quantitization, multiple record methods (step, replace, add, track mix, and final mix)...and it can store a ton of squnces per song...24!!! The drum machine is also intgrated with the sequncer and it has some great loops and rhythyms! One more thing, I love the stereo footswitch...you can have up to four pedals assigned to anything, and a volume CV pedal ontop of that!

The sounds are pretty good. Great strings, acoustic guitar, drums (superb!), Ahhhs and Ooooohs are good too. Not the top of the line...but with some editing...you can get what you want! There are so many sounds on this thing...it takes forever to go through all of them! It is suited for all types of music. The Onboard effects are great and can be controlled in many ways. The action is great, I do however have one complaint. I wish that the low velocity notes were a little softer...it seems that if you bareley press it, the sound isn't soft enough! This isn't too much of a problem...and with some editing, it can be fixed somewhat. It has many tuning options (a whole lot...even a reverse tuning which is fun to play with!), selection of pressure sensitivity, and velocity/aftertouch curves... this is helpful! I wish that you couls access more of the editing features...you really need a software editor to really have fun! Finally, I love the piano weighted action on a 76 key board. I wish more synths offered this option!

One complaint! The knobs sometimes jump around on their own a bit. This happens a good bit immediateley after you turn them...I am referring to the parameter and value knobs. It's not a major problem, but I have been playing a patch and all of a sudden it jumps to anther patch...this would be horrible in a live performance! Boooos for days! You can route a the pedal to the value knob, but not the parameter knob. This would have been a plus! It has locked up on me one time, but it was my fault. It loads data from the disk very quickly...and has many system utilities to help. I love the fact that you can save so many things (sounds, favorites, presets, songs, MIDI Files, and even backup your entire session to one file!). All is well but be carefull with that knob sensitivity! The knobs are nice though...the faster you turn them, the higher the value or parameter increment! I like this!

They have responded to my e-mails pretty promptly...ENSONIQ is no more...make sure you know what you're getting into because they (EMU/ENSONIQ) no longer make this model.

This keyboard is very helpful to the songwriter. The whole board is so intuitive and fits like a glove...they thought of every comfort. I only wish you could event edit (microscopic edit). I would buy it a gain because the price is so good! I have a lot of fun with this board and that's what making music is about anyway. For $899.00 at Musicians Friend, it's a great deal and super manual for all your questions. The more you use it, the more you'll love it! It makes sequencing a lot of fun and cuts out the all the complications!

So EASY...presets are the truth
Editing is a bit tricky because of the simple display.
The manual is pretty good...could be more technical though.

Keyboard feels STUPENDOUS!!! One of the best feeling weighted boards I've ever played on.
Effects are decent...once again the simple display makes editing a pain. Expansion capabilities are thru the roof! All MIDI functionality is there. Sequencer is very nice (Triton who?).

The sounds, oh my, the sounds....drummers can't believe the realness of the sound...the piano expansion card is the truth, very nice.

This is where the ZR76 is suspect...
This thing has frozen on me more than my PC...not good
You have to baby it if you want it to last.

Never did, never will.

This is the best board out there, hands down (although if the triton pro had weighted keys, i might think differently!)
Sounds are surreal.
The only thing keeping this from being perfect is it's small, weak display and it's non-reliability.

Like any synth one can be a bit confused by the front panel. Lots of Buttons, Knobs and LED's! In about 30 minutes you can start doing sequences. I jut got mine , so I have the lastest OS (V 3.03). After you get the general feel for the machine (and if you have used ensoniq stuff in the past) operating this unit wont be a problem.

It?s hard to get an idea about something just by reading the reviews. I can?t overstate how wonderful the sounder finder feature is! Find anything in a snap. Idea pad is also alot more useful than you would initially think (I thought it was lame the first time I heard about it). Sequencer is one of the most easiest to use (Compared to Triton, Motif, etc...) It is very user friendly. The Large LCD is nice. I Wish Ensoniq still used VFD's (Vacuum Florescent Displays). I loved them in their earlier models (ASR10, VFX, Etc). Being an EE myself, I am going to search for a drop in VFD replacement for the Display. I hate graphic LCD?s. Everyone Talks up the Triton?s touch screen but being a design engineer myself, I know that complexity can lead to reliability problems. I like simple buttons and bright display?s. Either way, the screen does the job. The stand-alone machine doesn?t have the deep editing features built in but you can get at everything via PC. There is enough though to tweak sounds to your liking. You have full control of effects. All are clean and sound very nice. This is a great machine for music writing. Getting the initial ideas into a demo. I love it!

Sounds=Awesome!

Like any synth there will be presets you wont like. But this machine has enough for everyone?s taste. Piano is one of the best. (I played around with the filters to get it to my liking). This sound could sell the unit itself. Drums are awesome. Once again, there is stuff there for everyone. Strings are excellent. Brass and woodwinds are as good as other synths out there (Yamaha Motif has the best natural/acoustic instrument sounds out there). There are enough great sounds in this machine to please anyone taste. In my opinion, they blow the triton sounds away. Triton was good for analog and weird sounds but was horrible with its piano and natural instrument sounds. I would sy the Yamaha Motif Has a slight edge in its sounds over the ZR-76. Its acoustic instruments are un-paralled by any other synth. Even so, you wont be displeased with the sounds of this instrument.

built like a rock. I think EMU/ensoniq will be discontinuing this board soon (Price is now only $995). Parts should still be around for a bit.

No issues as of yet

Great board. If it were stolen I would get another. I love all ensoniq stuff. There are some things I hate about ensoniq boards and there are some things I love. Overall they have a sound that is truly there own. With this board now only $995 its worth every penny.

3.00

piano is the best.drums the best'tuti classical'jazz'el mejor sonido que hay para los buenos musicos'que escriben buena musica

in this world nobody is safe,only in jesus people is safe

get it repaired? no

i;been playing on tv,radio,concertos,for 43 years.been playing real grand pianos,jv's yams,alesis,korg,etc,but'the zr pianos,drums,is the best.especialicimo for musica clasica y jazz

This workstation is so easy to use. Everything is laid out in front of you in button form. No 29 page deep nested menus, no searching for days for a sound or pattern. It's too easy. I love this damn keyboard! I actually sold a Korg Triton just so I could buy the ZR76. The Triton was a nice workstation but in my opinion the ZR blows it away. I needed a workstation that I could write songs on easily as the ideas come to me. I can do this with the ZR. The sequencer is sooooo much easier than the Tritons. And saving and loading songs is also much quicker and easier. The Triton just took so long to write a song. Too many parameters and options. Which could be a good thing if you're sitting in a studio all day with nothing to do but tweak every little aspect of your effects, routing, sounds, patterns, etc. The ZR allows me to conceptualize an idea and record it, fast. It's that simple. Find the sounds you like and use them. Create a drum pattern, send it to the sequencers dedicated ryhthm track and record. So damn easy. The manual is fantastic. Very clear, concise, step by step instructions on everything you need to know. The Triton's manual was a joke.

The weighted keys are great. They take some getting used to but once you are used to them, there's no turning back. Effects are also great. Lush 26bit reverbs, crisp delays, warm OD's, fat chorus, etc.. The 16 track sequencer is very very powerful and so easy to use it's ridiculous. Have I mentioned I love this keyboard!?

OK, here's another area where I think the ZR kicks the Triton's ass. The piano sounds are so real that you'll swear you are playing a baby grand, or upright, or any real piano for that matter. Also, the strings are far superior to those in the Triton. Beautiful, lush string sections. Very realistic. The bass sounds are good and fat but need a bit of tweaking to make them sound excellent (ie: kill some of the LFO on those babies!). There is a distorted guitar sound that actually sounds just like a distorted guitar, it unbelievable. Pads and lead synth sounds are excellent. The drum and percussion souns are simply incredible. So warm, fat and analogish. Excellent world, latin, african, indian, percussion sounds. Many kits to choose from also.
We play mostly trip hop and downtempo electronica type stuff and this keyboard is perfect for that but I also write some House and Trance solely on the ZR and am thrilled with the results every time.

Built like a tank. I got a huge SKB hardshell flight case with mine so I expect it to last forever. BTW, this keyboard weighs about 8 tons so get someone to help you lift it into the van.

Haven't used them yet. Don't expect to have to.

Incredible workstation. I highly reccomend the ZR as an alternative to the Korg Triton (cost less too). Get a decent sampler to go with it and you've got a studio from hell (or heaven rather). I can't really think of anything I don't like about this workstation. The sounds are great, the sequencer kicks ass, the built in drum machine is excellent, etc. I guess my only gripe is that it's heavier than hell but I can live with that.

bought it used , version 3.00 with piano exp4 and world exp1. Straitgh forward operation as far as selecting sound/drums/editing/idea pad/basic sequencing goes. Once you get into more sophisticated sequencing, you'll have to open the manual and brother what a manual. How much longer will it take the bozos from roland/korg/yamaha to wake up when it comes to a manual. This one is incredible, 486 pages, granted they are some repeats but that's fine. This is what I call A MANUAL.If you are not familiar with synthesizers, it will scare you because evrything is described in details and i mean in details. Editing is easy, marvelous synth even for a biginner.

Polyphony is plentiful, check the tek. sheet. The keyboard action is wonderful very much like a real piano. I have to add that I also own a Korg n1, both are very similar in action with the Ensoniq being a tad heavier which is fine for me anyway because I am a piano player. Beside I cannot play on those cheap unweighted keys so it is really a matter of how you've been trained. For some people who never played piano before they would be unable to use the ZR or the N1, you have to have strong fingers and good articulation, in other words you have to be a seasoned player.Lots of built in effects, very good one too and very easy to use and edit.It has expansion capabilities. OK it's it's not a jv2080 but you can expand it a lot.On top of that it has a floppy disc and a sequencer and i understand you can download more sounds from the internet.Don't ask me how because i am not using a computer with those keyboards yet and my knowledge in this department is rather limited.It has all the midi capabilities, pressure sensitive keys etc etc, it has it all, well almost. Great sequencer, but when you start to get seriously into sequencing, you'll have to open the manual. This is a very powerful sequencer. It does it all. Just read the manual.As far as being "easy to use", it's a matter of opinion and time.This is my first sequencer and I only had this board for 2 months.I had no problem with the basic sequence technique but when you get into delta quantize, trimming notes, etc etc it is scary for a beginner. Time and practice is the answer.Just like when you learn a new intrument or a new dialect. Be patient, slowly one step at a time. I don't know what to do with floppies but that's my own fault this is a new synth. technique for me and i just have to learn it. This board also features split and layers at a touch of a couple of buttons.I would like to point out that those buttons feel a wee bit funny.They are very touch sensitive. So take it easy.Ha the idea pad, what a great feature. It records everything you play. Sometimes it's overkill. If you just play one note and change patches 30 times, it will record that same note 30 times with all the different patches. So all of a sudden you end up with 30 ideas in the idea pad.But there is a way around it Read the manual.The drum machine is phenomenal, in edit mode you can do so much.Just amazing.

After listening and playing practically all the patches on this board for a few minutes at a time, i have to admit that i have a few resevations about the sounds. I also have a jv1010 hooked up to it and i navigate between the zr, the kork and the roland. It would be unfair to compare those 3 synth on their features but as far as sound goes i will try to be as objective as possible.I also have a yamaha baby grand. Let's make things clear , i did not buy those synth to replace the sound of my piano.But since i play in a band, it is a lot easier for me to pack my synth in the trunk of my car than the grand piano.That's when keyboard like this are handy.The pianos/e. pianos on the ZR are great. However my choise goes to the Korg in the lower section.The mids are equal and the highs are more natural on the ZR.So sometimes I will play a piano bass line on the korg and improvise on the ZR.Crazy isn't it ? For organs nobody comes even close to korg.Maybe a couple of organ patches on the 1010 come close to the real thing, but the korg is the real winner.Forget the piano on the roland, the e.pianos aren't bad. Drums/percussion and exotic drums goes to the ZR especially with the world exp1.Really great drum sounds.Very impressive.Strings are between the korg and the roland,same for brass .Guitars definitely roland.Bass, all 3 have great ones.Remember too that the korg and the roland have over 1000 sound each.The zr is far behind without expansion card .Synth definitely roland followed by korg.The zr lacks behind in this department.Voices is a matter of taste.I love all 3 synth.The ZR has some really great ones. Actually i would rate the zr highly in that section.The guys at ensoniq did a great job with the voices and some of the special effects.
If you have a good articulation and good fingering you'll love the action of this keyboard.As a piano player, I found it extremely well balanced.And it reacts very well to velocity and after touch.Great job.This board works great for any style of music because of the drum machine.It's all at your fingertips, very easy to use and edit and very convincing sound through a good pair of speakers.Classical, no problem.

No problem so far.I bought it used.It did not have a scratch on it.It was like new. Hope it stays that way.I have reservations about those buttons but time will tell.

Sent a few e.mail got an answer the following day.That's something else.Granted some of the answers I got weren't to my satisfaction but knowing that there is somebody outhere actually willing to help you, makes me feel very comfortable about the product. Way to go Emu/Ensonic.

I know this keyboard was not cheap when it came out. But now, 2 years later you can find it for a more reasonable price, and if you do, try it and, i insist, make sure you get the manual. It's worth the price of this keyboard....... well almost. There are a few things I am still trying to figure out with the sequencer and the flopy. Like what do I do with a floppy that has sounds or patches on it.Where does it go in memory when you download it? I guess I'm scared of loosing some presets in ram so that's why I'm a little nervous when it comes to downloading. This board is a blessing for a composer. Hooked up with the jv1010 it becomes a formidable tool and i only scratched the surface.Imagine when all that stuff is hooked up to a computer.Now that is very scary.For those who have been doing this for years, it's probably a piece of cake.Beside I resent hooking up my computer to those boards.Don't ask me why.So all in all, yes i would definitely look for another one if one day it grew legs and walked out of my house. The idea pad/drum machine/sequencer combination is amazing. The sounds are ok, but with the 1010 and the korg hooked up to it, the sounds become sort of secondary if you see what i mean. Watch those level discrepancies between patches from the 1010, scary at time.I simply do not hate anything about this board, I love evrything it has and I use everuthing it has. Just one thing, you can only layer two sounds. On the korg u can build 8 layers. But this is just a minor detail for me.I tried so many keyboards, renting, buying, selling from yamaha to kurzweill. I had a roland a80 midi controller for a while and i have to admit that it was the best keyboard action of all keyboard outhere.And it is 13 years old. Anyway I simply never found, and i don't think it exists, a keyboard having all those features, and not cheap second class features,I am talking serious synthesis here. Try it if you see it.Just play with the drum machine, some bass line, a bit of e.piano and you'll be sold if you like the action.And the manual, mama mia, incredible.

This is probably one of the easiest to use workstation synths around. The layout of all the controls and features is pretty straightforward and easy to use. I didn't even have to look at the manual to figure out most of the functions. When you get into using the song editor and functions like that it gets a little tricky but overall its very easy.

It has 64 note polyphony which is more than enough for my purposes. The action is pretty good. The kurzweil models are better, but this synth isn't really in the same category as those. It has a lot of expansion capabilities, you can load new sounds off the internet, which is a great feature, buy new boards, and memory, etc...
As far as midi goes, I don't use it, I prefer older instruments anyway,so I don't know how well it performs in that category. It does have an onboard sequencer but I really don't use that much either so I don't know how well it stacks up.

The onboard sounds are great, and so are the sounds you can get off the internet. The sounds are fairly realistic. It's always better to have the real thing but I use it a lot for cheesy strings, it has a nice imitation of a moog rogue, a couple nice organs, the piano sounds are really nice, probably one of the best features. It has tons of stuff to choose from and whether they sound realistic or not I have found ways to use almost all of the sounds even if it wasn't for their intended purpose. The onboard effects are really nice. And it really reacts to your playing, which is nice. The velocity and aftertouch are also great.

Reliability is one of its biggest weaknesses. It isn't very reliable. It has consistently had electronic problems which I have had to deal with. It is also very very hard to take apart and put back together and finding a reliable place to fix it is really hard. I use it in gigs but very minimally. I use to use it quite a bit though and it never let me down, but it has had quite a few problems.

I've only used it twice and it was good.

If it were stolen I would probably think twice about buying it again only because of its unreliablity, but if I didn't get it again, I would buy a synth with similar features. As far as live performance, I don't really need it, but as far as doing recordings I couldn't live without it. I don't know a ton about modern synths because I prefer analog keyboards and keyboards from the 60's and 70's but I like mine a lot. If ensoniq could fix some of the electronic glitches on this keyboard they would have an excellent product all around.

To all readers!!! Watch the reviews carefully!!!
Right under mine there's a Robert English review of the MR-76!!!!!!!

But ZR-76 is different and advanced!!!

ZR's software version is 3.00 (not 2.11)!!

If Robert English bought his MR-76 in the near past, then he bought used keyboard, maybe with it's personal bugs, maybe out of order in some cases or something.

So, Mr. English!!! Don't get people away from ZR-76 features and goodies talking about another keyboard here!!!!

My mark for ZR-76's ease of use is 8 cause this keyboard makes it's owner think! And I think it's n