Ensoniq ESQ-1 is a 61-key, velocity sensitive, eight-note polyphonic and multitimbral synthesizer released by Ensoniq in 1986. Although its voice generation is typically subtractive in much the same fashion as most analog synthesizers that preceeded it, its oscillators are neither voltage nor "digitally controlled", but provided by a custom Ensoniq wavetable chip. The rest of the signal path is analog, including resonant low-pass filters. The synth also features a fully functional 8-track MIDI sequencer that can run either its internal sounds, external MIDI equipment, or both, with a capacity of 2,400 notes. It provides quantization, step-editing, primitive forms of copy/paste editing, and can be synchronized with external MIDI or tape-in clock. ESQ-1 can store 40 presets internally, and features a cartridge slot for additional storage capability. ESQ-M, a rackmount version of the synthesizer, was released circa 1987, with the same specifications but without the sequencer. Notably, wavetable chip at the core of the synth is a brainchild of Robert Yannes, father of the popular SID chip, and bears some limited architectural similarity, though it is far advanced. Wikipedia [ - ]

Ensoniq ESQ-1 is a 61-key, velocity sensitive, eight-note polyphonic and multitimbral... [ + ]