Lampdog wrote:You will QUICKLY grow tired of the etch a sketch knobs. I'm talking about the 2 knobs that you control data with.
Lampdog wrote:The pads are hard as hell (hard plastic).
Lampdog wrote:Advatanges I saw over the 2k were, it has internal stock sounds, internal stock effects, optional max ram is 96mb. STOMPER software is already in the box, meaning you can create your own sounds outta thin air (setting a bunch of pages of parameters and then "create").
Lampdog wrote:The sequencer is garbage,
Lampdog wrote:sampling into it is garbage.
Lampdog wrote:The black one is lacking but the red if found cheap is the better choice
Peter Project wrote:Thanks for that thread, but I'm thinking ASR-X, not ASR-10.
Peter Project wrote:Thanks for that thread, but I'm thinking ASR-X, not ASR-10.
Mirage ESQ-1, SQ-80 1985 The ESQ actually was designed first, but the Mirage was rushed to market before it. The ESQ had a great sound architecture, and was the forerunner of the great Ensoniq sequencer designs.
Original EPS VFX, VFX-SD 1988 The EPS's design lasted until the ASR-10, really - the ASR-10 was really an expansion on the design. Although marketed after the 12-bit sampler wave, the EPS incorporated incredible design features such as Play-While-Load that set it apart from the other samplers in the market. The VFX was released shortly afterward and started the Ensoniq onboard-FX/DSP designs. The VFX-SD added floppy storage and a sequencer (thus "SD").
EPS 16-Plus SD-1, SQ-1,2,R 1990 Ensoniq quickly redesigned the base EPS/VFX structure to upgrade to 16-bit specs in late 1990 with the SD-1 and 16-Plus. They also incorporated the DSP technology into the 16-Plus, and toyed with FlashROM storage with Flashbank. The SQ series was a scaled down VFX-SD model.
ASR-10 TS-10 1992 Released in late 1992, the ASR was the last push toward a "complete" sampler, by upgrading the memory to a maximum 16megs, including stereo sampling, and adding to the DSP technology, among other things. It also showed the age of the original EPS design; sluggishness of operations while playing showed the need for faster designs. The TS was an impressive design, blurring the sampler/synth lines by being able to play sampled sounds.
ASR-88 TS-12 1994 Ensoniq did not release as many new designs in the following years, being occupied by other items, including standalone effects (DP line) and PC sound cards (which perhaps carried their company later). To keep things exciting, Ensoniq released weighted-key versions of the ASR and TS. Functionally, they were no different than the original designs. Ensoniq also released new OS versions of the ASR, enabling foreign sample import and audio-track DiskTrack capability.
ASR-X, ASR-X Pro MR-Rack, Workstation, ZR series 1995, 1997 The MR was the first new design of the "modern" era - the MR-Rack came first, with the Workstations coming about 6-8 months later. These represented changes in Ensoniq's sound architecture - no play-while-load, no polyphonic aftertouch, no front panel editing. However, the sound was improved, the editing was streamlined, and the FX were better than ever. The ASR-X was grafted from this design, and was released in June 1997, about two years after the MR-Rack was released. The ZR seems to be a re-release of the MR with a different name and a couple newer features. The ASR-X Pro, released a year later, is identical to the original ASR-X, with the exception of more memory capacity, added interface buttons, Stomper utility, and FlashROM OS update capability, among other things. The original ASR-X was discontinued when the ASR-X Pro was released.
