Ensoniq ESQ-1 Digital Wave Synthesizer

Ensoniq ESQ-1 Digital Wave Synthesizer Comes complete with power cord About This Keyboard This ESQ-1 is in fair condition cosmetically but is in very good working order. All of the keys play just as they should with no cracked or broken ones. The screen is bright and clear and all of the function buttons make the appropriate changes. The Ensoniq ESQ-1 General Information The ESQ-1 was Ensoniq's highly affordable and impressive digital synthesizer, released in 1986. Although the waveforms are digital in nature, the filters are all analog as on the Mirage. In fact, for a digital synth the ESQ-1 has many good old analog-synth features such as a ring modulator, sequencer, and oscillator-sync. The envelopes and LFOs are can be freely routed to each DCO, VCA and or VCF. There are 40 preset sounds which are the usual not-so-great sounds. Luckily the VFD display screen is large enough to make editing the sounds somewhat pleasant. What really sets the ESQ-1 apart from other similar synths is the voice architecture. Choose from analog, digital, or samples or any combo since there are three independent oscillators per voice! Once you start editing on the ESQ-1 you will come up with interesting and unique results. Using dynamic voice allocation it can seamlessly switch from 8-voices of analog to 8-voices of digital or sampled voices! This gives you a wide array of different sonic elements at your fingertips! Then there's its built-in sequencer. It can store up to 24,000 notes in 30 sequences and 10 songs via battery back-up. Specifications Polyphony

- 8 voices (dynamic voice allocation)

Oscillators

- 3 digital oscillators per voice, 32 waveforms

LFO

- 3 LFOs per voice; triangle, saw, square, random

Filter

- 4-pole analog resonant filter with 6-stage envelope

VCA

- 4 VCA + 4 Envelopes with 7 parameters per voice

Sequencer

- 8-Track (30 patterns, 10 songs w/ up to 99 patterns each)

Effects

- None

Keyboard

- 61 note (velocity)

Memory

- 40 patches

Control

- MIDI (8-parts)

Date Produced

- 1986 - 1988

It is important to remember that when buying a used keyboard it may not operate or look exactly like a new one. Used keyboards develop wear over time that can cause such items as function buttons, knobs, sliders etc. to fail to operate as smoothly or easily as when they were new. Our technician does check these items and if they are deemed unusable they are replaced but some function buttons may require more pressure or manipulation to make the appropriate changes. Cosmetically your used keyboard may have scuffs, scratches, cracks to plastic pieces, discolored keys or other visual impairments that might not show up in the photos. We try to mention any obvious visual imperfections but may not consider them serious enough to post in the listing.