Generalmusic Equinox 61

I'll start by stating the obvious: I am only typing this review to help other musicians/hobbyists make an informed decision. I won't pretend to know everything about this keyboard, but I'll be as honest as I can. I've been playing for about ten years and have had a variety of boards (Korg, Ensoniq, Roland, and Yamaha). I have had the Equinox for four months.

ON to the 'review'--

I am using the May 99 O/S.

Most of the more-than-a-thousand presets sound great--some of them even outstanding--but there seems to be a general lack of variety. I often find myself scrolling through dozens of sounds to get to a patch that sounds different from the rest.

I can't say too much about editing patches as I haven't messed around with it much. From what I can tell it's a pretty straightforward process. The manual lays it out pretty well. The display screen is large enough to see what you're doing with the waveform, and the controls are laid out somewhat intelligently.

The Equinox's manual is pretty beefy but I wish GEM would've taken more time to spell things out in detail. They seem to assume that I have a PhD in this stuff and leave me hanging quite a bit. For instance, the MIDI section is short and vague. I know it's not brain surgery, but it's not exactly easy either. I have had a difficult time with a few different setups and all of my problems seem to center around the Equinox. (I'm sure it's because I've got something setup incorrectly, but that's why I need the manual.) The manual itself is about 150 pages thick.

I won't get into a lot of this stuff because most of it's spelled out at www.generalmusic.com. I imagine you've already looked there.

The keyboard action is okay. Not much weight to the keys. The after touch is nice.

The on-board effects are not extremely easy to use so I don't mess with them much. You can do a lot with them though.

The internal sequencer is nice, but a bit of a pain to use. This is my chief complaint with this keyboard. I don't like the fact that I have to save every little thing I do, as soon as I do it, or lose it. It's been annoying at times. I'm getting the hang of it, but a sequencer should be more intuitive than this one is. I have other problems with the sequencer, too. For instance, I've had it hang up about five times; I've lost complete songs; and I've been frustrated to the point of insanity because it won't do what I'm trying to do the same way ot did it last time. Like I said, I think a seq should be more intuitive.

All sounds are quality.

Some of the horns and strings sound very realistic. The pianos leave a bit to be desired, but aren't bad. Many of the synth sounds are cool.

I can't really say if the 'classic' sounds (i.e. Moog, 303, Hammond, etc.) are good replicas because I'm not really familiar enough with the originals.

Some of the drums kick ass. They're very useable in my sequences.

I'd be afraid to go to a gig without a backup because it's hung up on me. That would be embarring. (I've actually been embarrassed in front of guests at my house because it's gone into freeze mode.)

I called the 1-800 # once to ask a few questions and got a receptionist whose answers consisted of, "Huh?" There was no one else available.

I think the Generalmusic web page should offer more support. It is mainly set up to advertise.

If it was lost or stolen: I think I'd consider replacing it, but I'd definitely shop a lttle more than I did.

Sometimes the Equinox61 gets in the way of my creating music. I think I was more productive when I was using my Roland with Cakewalk. I want to use the Equinox with Cakewalk, but... (see above).

Things I like: A lot of the sounds; the display; the SOLID construction; the button layout; the inputs/outputs; two headphone jacks (this is nice if you're chillin' with a friend who plays guitar...plug his guitar into the Equinox, you both throw on the headphones and jam without needing a full setup, or bugging the wifeys in the living room watching Titanic);...anyway...the sample player, which seems to plays anything I ask it to; the performances; and the groove function, although this feature is more of a toy than really practical, in my opinion.

Things I don't like: the sequencer (as a whole, it does have some nice attributes); the extremely slow 'load to/from disk' times; the manual (for lack of info); similarity of sounds.

After receiving my Equinox I downloaded and installed the new May 1999 Operating System. It is soon obvious after working with this machine they they left plenty of room to grow and expand. This is not to say that they left anything out! It is the most complete keyboard I have to date. The presets are impressive. That sort of thing is soley asthetic anyway. Someone might love the strings on one machine and someone else may think they are the best they had ever heard. There are over 1000 preset sounds and over 2000 more can be stored. I buy a synthesizer to create sounds. Why elese purchase a synth. Right? Too many people just use the presets and say, "Hey that is it for this machine?" Sorry guys (and ladies) I come from the old 70's analouge days were you built sounds from the ground up. The Equinox has a lot of fun sounds that inspires both sound and music format and creation. I like the idea of placing the waveform shapes as sliders on the front panal. Reminds me of the good old days. You can then get in and make more adjustments in extreme detail with it's system editors. As a matter of fact you can get so much detail out of it I think that it leads to over kill. No more you guys!!! Please!!!! The manual is available through the internet. Download it and take a look. It is free. Don't let it fool you though. It looks and is laid out in a simple and what looks like 'sparse' manner but it does get to the meat of the subject urging you with 'try this' tutorials. It can still be a little vauge in the 'grooves', midi, and sequencer departments though. But the groove and sequencer are so extensive that I could easily understand why. There manual updates keep relieving the problem. Certainly musch better than Korgs, that is for sure!!! It is as easy or hard to use as you want to make it. The machine has something for everybody. From the amature to the seasoned pro. There is certainly more meat to it than you would ever initially suspect.

The Equinox has a 64 note polyphony, 128 digital filters with resonance, 6 oscillators per voice with 3 LFOs and up to 21 independent envelopes with 10 levels of res! As I said, I come from the analouge days and there is more than I could ever hope for. Building soundscapes with all of the latter on board is a synthesists' dream. The key are weighted with what I would call a normal responce in 'bounce' and you can adjust the sensitivity of each sound vs key volocity via it's pressure sensitive keys. Once you really get to know the machine you can essentially 'design' your own keyboard to your liking. Far too much depth to get into here. Let me just say that the designer REALLY seemed to know what they were doing when they designed this machine. Also, if you wish, simply moving one of the front panal sliders automatically initiates the 'organ' mode which is a whole other machine in it self! The effects menus consist to two seperate configurations: 3 effect catagories or 2 effect configuration. This is because the Equinox is like having 2 sythesizer keyboards in one! As the sequencer plays up to 16 tracks and 250,000 events you can then play another 16 live on top of that! Too cool! Therefore the effect configurations allow you to deside if the sequencer or live keyboard performance gets to control the effects or split them. Pretty sophisticated. In the 3 effect mode there is 10 reverb 32 multifx and 32 profx. In the second there is 24 reverb and 32 multifx. If all of this were not enough the built in groove machine is worth the price of the instrument alone. 32 MIDI channel, 16 programmable Midi zones, 8 programable sliders, 2 programable wheels and 3 (optional) assignable pedals. One important point: The Pitch and Mod wheels are hard rubber so your fingers don't sweat and slip while performing. I couldn't have appreciated that enough! It comes with optional 8meg battery backed sample RAM (it comes with 2) and further sample memory can be upgraded to 32meg with standard SIMMS. The sampler imports WAV, AIFF, Akai, Kurzwail, Smp, Snd formats and is supposed to expand in later OS updates to accept Roland, Ensoniq, and Emu. It has room for option SCSI and will later have vocal processor. A hard drive is also available (built in). OS is upgraded through internet download. The 250,000 event seqencer is 16 tracks and editable. You can punch in if you have a pedal. While editing it allows you to select/deselect which types of events are displayed. It has a catch locator or punch in the bar number option. In record mode you can either overdub or replace. The onlything is seems to be missing from my PC based sequencer is a note staff mode. 2 MIDI IN, OUT, Through ports. 2 Stereo jacks out, 2 Mic/Line in jacks with individual gain controls. Front panal transpose, efx off (to test your sounds as you are modifing a sound), and a clocked synced arpeggiator which is programable. An onboard notepad so you can list your sets, etc. help add to the mix of the myrid of features. Another thing I love is that the back lite display is NOT recessed which means that it doesn't collect 'gunk' and is easy to clean as is the rest of the front panal. As far as easy of use go, it is the best that I have had the opportunity to try. This is one puppy that you won't get tired of no matter what your needs. It has a built in floppy which also can format to it's own standard to allow more info per disk.

Many of the sounds are sampled. Most are very good in my opinion. It feature a nice array of them in the presets to allow you to compose with much color soon after getting it out of the box. I especially love the strings, piano and the 'performances' which are multi layered sounds which can be programs to respond in different ways within itself to keyboard velocity, aftertouch, etc. It is a machine for multiple uses. It has to be the most versital that I have ever tried. It plays smoothy and deftly. The quality of the sounds are somewhat dependant upon the mix (clipping) but is easily worked out in the on board mixing. But the Equinox does not seem to do it as bad as my Roland. It's ability to texture, layer and color sounds is a+ on my list. The effects can be a little tricky sometimes. Even after having the instrument for about 6 months I still fight with them a little but there processing is superior.

It is a bit heavy. I had to purchase a new keyboard stand to make sure it held up but the Equinox seems to be built solidly. I would use it without a back up but my reluctance wouldn't be the machine as much as just general mishap.

General Music has a very limited part of the US consumer market. I did not find the Italian (their head quarters) very realiable at all. I had to write three times to get a response. But the US office was very, very helpful and friendly. They definaly knew that their job was to help their customers and seem to take pride in it. The trouble with a GM instrument is tring to find one to play! I discovered them quite by accident when shopping. I did have reservations but with the help of the friendly folks in the US office I feel so much more at ease.

I would most definatly purchase one of these again. You simply can not beat it and the features for the money. No way! It is the most versitile machine I own. As a matter of fact I pushed the Korg and Roland off to the side (almost) and work nearly exclusivily with the Equinox. When performing, I place my other keyboards up on stage because people have a hard time understanding how I get it all out of that one machine. This is a keyboard only appreciated by those who like to create music, not just play it. If you are a creative individual, it will keep you busy for years. I guarantee it. The front panal buttons are a little unsensitive. But you can also access many features using a rotory dial that is near the display as well. It is smartly designed and well produced. It has everything I could ever want in a workstation other than a staff view in the sequencer and I don't think such a thing exists on a non modular workstation as of yet. It is so loaded with grooves and sounds that it is a very inspirational machine. I can't stay away from it! It urges me to make song after song. And every song I make, I stumble upon something else to inspire a new one. I can't keep up with myself ever since this angel found it's way into my studio. I am in love! Hunt around on the internet for a good price on this baby. You legally have 30 days to return it if you don't like it. You will not send it back unless you are looking for a synthesizer to punch up #'s on. Even then, the groove machine and its' cool random generator will have you hopping.