#Ensoniq #ESQ80 simulated by this very old plugin, #SQ8L… combined with a little arpeggiator… and the original ESQ-80 preset “MTLBEL”, welcome to digital chimes madness!

Like #Dexed for the #Yahama #DX7, #SQ8L claims to be #SysEx compatible with the corresponding hardware #synthesizer, the #Ensoniq #ESQ80 or #ESQ1. So this means you can load patches from your 80ties hardware synthesizer into the plugin and vice versa.

Sad story is that #UbuntuStudio 24.04 has lost Dexed for some reason, it comes with #Hexter instead which – on my system – completely fails to show the GUI, so it's even worse than SQ-8L. (I'd love to get Dexed back, even though it looked very confusing, I loved the sound.)

These two are related, because the famous DX7 and the ESQ1/80 were new around the same time, both being very digital (the ESQ1 having analog filters, though). The ESQ1 never made it to the same fame as the DX7 did but both sound like the 80ties.

Jump for joy!

#SQ8L, an #VST #plugin emulator of the #Ensoniq #ESQ80 #Synthesizer running on #UbuntuStudio #Linux 24.04 via #LinVST in #Carla plugin host. Needs #Wine.

All I had to do is wait. The plugin locks up Carla (and probably even Jack) for about half a minute.

So most likely it is trying to do something that ends in a time-out. When opening the GUI a second time, it pops up instantly.

Any idea on how to find out what this old #VSTi from 2008 is waiting for?

Btw., nerds:

$> file SQ8L.dll
SQ8L.dll: PE32 executable (DLL) (GUI) Intel 80386, for MS Windows, 7 sections

Feels a bit like Christmas.

The ESQ-80 basically was an extended/upgraded version of the #ESQ1, with the most obvious feature being a diskette drive in addition to the memory cartridge slot. But also, Ensoniq had changed the dumb old home-organ-style keyboard by one with responsive action and polyphonic aftertouch.

Today I found the Wavetables of the #Ensoniq #ESQ1 #Synthesizer online. Since these are not the same as samples, but rather 8bit mini-snippets, probably with the length of exactly one wave, the entire thing runs on two ROM banks containing 32kb data each.

After a bit of an exhausting week, I could do well with some meditative soldering in my unit, but the spart parts are on the way…

… it sounds cheesy and fun in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sT7rKyjwvQ

I wish I could get this to run… (Screenshot stolen).

#SQ8L is a #plugin emulation of the #Ensoniq #SQ80 #Synthesizer.

Actually it does run a bit, I can play it via MIDI in #Carla, but this very old Windows #VST just crashes as soon as I want to open the GUI. I'm using #LinVST on #UbuntuStudio #Linux 24.04 and whenever a Windows plugin has trouble, it is due to the GUI needing #Wine.

Other elderly 32bit #VSTi plugins do work in my system.

This piece of software has not been updated since June 2008 and you can download it from here: http://www.buchty.net/ensoniq/

So now I'll keep on waiting for the spare parts for my #ESQ1 to arrive from China.

It's astonishing that this Ensoniq synth series isn't that popular today, because the sounds are quite unique. Perhaps it is due to the rather ugly user interface.

Or, more likely, it is because people don't want unique synths, they want that Behringer Moog copy and pretend it's somewhen in the 70ties.

Does any #electronics nerd have an idea what could be wrong with this funny old display? #fedihelp

The upper line has some segments that are always on everywhere, like a letter K without the first vertical line.

The second line is missing the lower right half vertical element everywhere.

It should read “ENSONIQ ESQ 1…” and “AND SEQUENCER…”

This is the display board of an #Ensoniq #ESQ1 #synthesizer, the first edition (metal case).

Voltages are all in spec. I tried cold spray on the ICs without an effect and I resoldered some stuff that looked dubious. But still.

Second image shows the chips apparently controlling the display.

@Traiken @limebar

Ooh, I was just looking for a video showcasing the #Ensoniq Mirage #sampler's glorious two digit 7-segment display one had to use for editing the samples, and the only decent (and super detailed and informative) one is by no other than @gwEm !

Great video - the demo track really makes me want to get it set up again, once I manage to get a similar disk drive replacement and find an OS for the sampler (the OS was loaded from a DD 3.5" Floppy disk).

https://yewtu.be/watch?v=X4vBrubUiaY

@Traiken @limebar

I found another dusty tape with my #Ensoniq Mirage in action.

The year would be 1992, just after De La Soul Is Dead was released (which we sampled).

Features me saying "Check this out" and my secondary school bench neighbour Soner on Rap

Everything went through an Alesis Microverb, so it's super boomy, and I panned the sampler by hand on my crappy little mixer.

Needless to say we never got that record deal, although we had exactly one gig at the local nightclub

@Traiken @limebar

I still haven't found the vinyl, but I found it on Discogs, including a YouTube rip:

https://www.discogs.com/release/516894-Buckelwale-Die-Ges%C3%A4nge-Der-Buckelwale

And, what's even more exciting (to me) I found a cassette tape with a recording of a short sample from that LP using my #Ensoniq Mirage #sampler which I got second hand in 1991 or 92.

This would have been one of my first samples ever, and to accommodate two so long samples at once I must have turned the sample rate as low as possible.