Generalmusic Equinox 61 Pro

There is an OS upgrade which I haven't used yet, as none of my PCs have floppy drives! lol
Lots of the presets sound great, and you can quickly edit them using the sliders. Lots more editing of sounds can be done if you enter the menu system.
Drum Kits are fully editable too, you can build your own kits from any of the sounds stored on it, and import your own samples.

It has regular keyboard action, with velocity sensitive keys and aftertouch. It can be expanded, though I haven't. There is even a Vocoder upgrade for it.

It has 2 MIDI ports (2in and 2out), MIDI thru and a computer connection. This connects to a serial port for PCs without a MIDI interface.

It has a range of built in effects, with customisable parameters via the menu system. It also features a customisable arpeggiator, which is cool.

It does have a built in sequencer, which I haven't really played with as I did intend to use it with cubase. I might have to learn how to use it.

If you get really involved with the menu system you can do just about anything. It has performances, and grooves - both of which I haven't explored much. You can store over 2000 user sounds.

There is an excellent drawbar organ emulator, for those vintage electric organ sounds. The sliders emulate the drawbars, and you can almost perfectly capture that hammond sound with the rotary effect, both fast and slow settings.

You can use the sliders as a MIDI controller, which I haven't.

Integrating it into cubase is proving an absolute nightmare. Having defined a new device in the MIDI device manager, and using the codes from the manual - I still can not access all of the sound banks. Selecting different voices for different tracks results in a mess of sound, as it plays them all in the same sound.

The preset sounds vary from poor to excellent. There are a lot of really good sounds. None of the acoustic emulations are particualarly realistic, but some of them are nice sounding. I'm not a fan of GM sounds generally speaking. It has lots of lovely pads, basses and leads. Once you start editing the patches you can unleash some real high quality sounds.

The drawbars sounds are excellent.

The onboad effects sound good most of the time, the parameters are customisable.
Velocity sensitivity is adjustable and feels good. I can't honestly hear the effect of aftertouch.

It crashes quite often, especially when trying to select patches using cubase. As a standalone instrument, it doesn't crash quite so often (but it still does from time to time).

I don't do gigs (yet). I am just working in the studio. If I was doing gigs, I am unsure if I could rely on it, I'll see if it is more stable with the OS update.

Have asked them for assistance with integrating this unit with cubase. Only asked today, so I am hoping they will reply soon with some helpful advice.

This is my first hardware synth, bought because it was a bargain at #300. It is worth that for the sounds it produces.

My intention was to use this integrated into cubase, which so far I am really struggling with - that could be just down to my lack of experience with such things - but I suspect that other synths are easier to do this with. If anyone can help with this let me know (murphyj_01642@hotmail.com).

I would be peaved if I had paid #1000 for it.
I have owned a few home keyboards - YAMAHA P760, YAMAHA PSR290

EASY BUT THE SOUNDS JUST PLAIN SUCK..IF YOU USE THESE SOUNDS IN YOUR COMPOSITIONS I HOPE YOU ENJOY BEING LAUGHED AT...I CANT EVEN GET A BUYER TO PAY MONEY FOR MY USED EQUINOX 61

32 NOTE is a JOKE these days for a SAMPLER/SYNTH COMBO..GET A TRITON IF YOU WANT RELIABLITY

BLAHH ..this is one of the WORSE sampler/keyboards that has been produced within the last 5 years...

OS HAS GLITCHES..SUPPORT SUCKS BIGTIME...LOCKS UP FREEZES ALOT..CRASH ETC ETC...GOOD WORK DISAPPEARED DURING COMPOSITIONS..THATS WHY IM PISSED

SUCKS .....TRY LOOKING FOR A SERVICE CENTER OR EVEN A MUSIC STORE THAT WILL HAVE INFO ON THIS COMPANY IN THE U.S.

4 out of 10..GOTS TO GO

Using the 11-2000 update I noticed MAJOR glitch fixes. The presets are good, but for a recording engineer and producer I decided that if I were to use this keyboard for real, the PRO kit upgrade would be needed big time. PRO kit upgrade is well worth it though. After putting on several preformances of my own with a 14' concert grand piano, the PRO grand piano aint too shabby. The manual is crap after this newer version. otherwise it gives a nice overview, but no real meat and potatoes. patch editor is okay, I have not had a huge ammount of time to play with it really.

110 measures later I have maxed out the polophony. Very intensive sequence, 14 track, all processors running etc etc. keyboard action is okay for a non-weighted board. effects are good and very malable. now keep in mind this is NOT a dedicated effects processor, nor a stand alone samper, or computer sequencer, so for those of you asking for what these pieces of equipement do.... it is JUST a keyboard remember. great expansion routes. as stated i have the PRO kit and the Voice expansion is coming in next month. :-) I do use this in a high quality home studio setup. therefore the reasoning for the voice card and hard-drive expenses. midi is okay. and i say okay... after spending a night trying to get it to talk to an older customers POS yamaha i finally said, we'll do this a different way. maybe with a more powerful/newer board communication would be better but not with that board anywho. computer connectivity is great. no problems using either the direct seriel cable or midi to converter box to seriel. good as a midi lab controller board. Ive never tried nor dared use this on the road or for gigging.

proloaded sounds are good. some really are great! but alas this is a piano, and if you dont want to shell out the bones for the upgrade, please never use the piano sound. it is among the worst. however, the PRO piano sound is among one of the BEST i;ve heard. so strange that they would not have included something in the middle... as i read on another persons reply, the touch velocity in its DEFAULT setting is worthy of elephant pounding. but after changed its just like any other keyboard: sensative if you like that, of more static if you like that! just PLEASE change the default setting.

I have used its drum sounds (after being well edited of course) in several recordings and demos for some clients. never a question asked as to, change a drum sound etc etc. just plain ol' solid drum samples. organ is surpurb! and again PRO piano is excellent as well, but never the preset load. in a studio setting its great. on the road, i would fear that some of the sequencer glitches might reck havoc. in the controlled studio setting, though, the beast is more tamable. I have experienced a problem with the release/sustain when entering into a new recording session. easliy fixed though by just remembering to set it with the realtime edit faders. Also had a few problems with a song not remembering master patches (it would play whatever patch i had loaded from the previously played song). I still havent fixed this, but I was able to find a way around it. but it resets the board then. Ive only had this pop up twice, though. mystery problem that hasnt shown up again.

never used it. never plan to. remember these are people who are paid to route your question somewhere else...

I have enjoyed it. Ive been playing since 1984 and played on all sorts of crap, and all sorts of great boards. this is quite forseeably NOT the top of the line. in the world of electronics things change so rapidly that we have to remember that these keyboards are already outdated the day they leave the factory. so in that realization, its a good workhorse, that it the setting ive used, works very well. the sounds are well built and expandability were what brought me to it, that and the fact that I will soon be able to use it for vocal mixing. as the music industry has so quickly turned to midi, and computer aided mixing, automation, and recording, this is a useful tool. You have to just realize what youre buying yours for! to bang on in the middle of smoke and sweat, or for simple enjoyment/creativity, or (like me) for studio uses where there are almost no variables of question. If you have questions on how to patiently bang through this board, please email me. I have more experience in computers than I choose to admit to, and electronics and I get along suprisingly well. Good luck!