What do I need to know before getting ASR-10

Is there anything I need to look for to make sure I'm getting a good one. I have no choice but to get one off E-bay. Are there any questions I should be asking the seller? Any Accessories or something specific about the machine I should make sure it has before copping it?

I heard a lot about the ASR's overheating, and it's "eccentricities." Can anyone elaborate on that as well?

Are they expensive and/or difficult to get repaired if there is something wrong?

Is there a program that will convert Wav to ASR proprietary files?

I heard something about there being a newer version of the ASR that is supposed to be somehow better and has a blue screen. Can anyone elaborate on that.

How do I get the most up to date OS for it?

Any knowledge you have on getting a good ASR would be helpful!

I found these quotes:

"Unfortunately, the price of the ASR seems to be a little high given the age and the non-existence of support or replacement parts. The recent high market value is mostly due to the Hiphop community, who are big fans of the ASR and keep up a strong demand for them.

...Make sure you buy one with the SCSI option already outfitted, since this is no longer available from any known source. Other things to check when buying are the disk drive (since a replacement is going to run about $100) and the LED display (which is impossible to fix or replace)."

"Word of cauiton, the ASR10 is not supported and if something goes wrong with it you can kiss it good buy. A friend and myself lost both of ours in a span of one month... very tragic."

Wow, I didn't know this:==> " The ASR-10 also has a "Tape Recorder" mode in which you can record two tracks of audio for use along with the sequencer for an advanced all-in-one music making machine! Recording can be to its RAM or to external SCSI hard drives via the SP-3 SCSI interface (optional on keyboard version) for extended sampling/recording time and memory. It can support up to seven simultaneous hard disks and/or CD-ROM drives. You can even process external audio through the ASR, live or along with sequences. "

http://www.synthzone.com/ensoniq.htm
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a few pointers are:
-make sure u get one with scsi like ddot says.
-no reason to go over 800 unless it comes with extras. but the prices are going up so hurry up with ur purchase.
-look for one iwth the newer blue LCD screen cuz that means it is a newer machine that were made in 96-97 and this will increase ur chances of gettin a good machine.
-and make sure it got 16mb memory upgrade.

this is about it. and also watch out for shady people on ebay. and request pics of the machine on. good luck and ur gonna love the asr10. especially if ur got a mpc to hook up to it. real ill setup. i wouldnt trade it for anything else. peace

there IS support for the ASR-10 if you live in California. Go to Forat.com, and check out their ASR10, sp1200 and MPC fixes & customizing... West Up.

there are dealers out there that still repair ASR's, but it will cost some dough. The blue lcd screen were the last batch made, I believe from 96 to 98'? Don't know exactly, but the lcd is easier on the eyes. The SCSI is a must. You can always upgrade memory to 16megs of Ram from buying memory sticks off of Ebay.

Questions to ask:

Is the unit fully funtional? (i.e.- lcd screen, buttons, slider, mod wheels, piano keys, disk drive, "1/4" plug ins/outs; etc.)

What latest O.S. disk do they carry? most current 3.53?

Does it come with the manual?

Does it have the SCSI board installed?

Has it been kept in a smoke free environment?

On a scale of 1 to 10 (1= crap/10=mint) what would they rate the cosmetic condition (explain blemishes).

Ask them to look at the back of the ASR and check the manufacturing date. Why is this important? Because it would be nice to pick up the latest model possible.