I’ve been wanting to make a post about the Ensoniq ESQ-1 for a while. The only reason I didn’t do it sooner is I wanted to buy one on eBay before I drive the prices up! I can happily report I did just click the Buy Now button and got a mint one for $250. Now I’m going to tell you this synth is the biggest secret in the synth world. Ensoniq was an American company and most of their synths are made of metal. The ESQ-1 also has a LED screen which is still beautiful and much nicer than the green/black LCD screens such as on a Yamaha DX7. The ESQ-1 is a digital synth but has all analog curtis filters (like DSI products). They are 4-pole analog resonant filters with 6-stage envelopes. You get 8 voice polyphony. What’s the price difference between a DSI Prophet 8 and a vintage ESQ? See where I am going here? It has 3 oscillators per voice, 32 waveforms, 3 LFOs per voice (triangle, saw, square, random) and 4 VCA + 4 Envelopes with 7 parameters per voice. There’s MIDI, memory and an on-board sequencer.
When I was in college I was friends with a synth band called Exurbia. The lead keyboardist Juan had an Ensoniq. I was constantly blown away by the sound. Skinny Puppy also used one. Recently I was viewing the awesome synth demos Jexus puts online and came across two he posted for the ESQ-1 (see above). I instantly jumped on eBay. I was shocked to see these consistently sell for under $300. I bought one. Another piece in my musical time machine. Go get one.
So your not convinced yet? Check out the video below. All sounds are from the ESQ-1 with no added effects. As an 80s freak I love this…
“The ESQ-1 is an absolutely fantastic synth with a great sound. In modern language – “It has a DSI filter” – you can hear it when it’s running through those ‘lo-fi digital samples’ with high resonance. It’s a very aggressive, powerful sound with lots of low end and depth. The filter makes all the difference and I would never miss analogue saw waves now that I own it. Roland synths of the era were beautiful and smooth, ESQ-1 was heavier and darker.” – Rib (comment on vintagesynth.com)
For more info: vintagesynth.com/ensoniq/ens_esq1
photo credit: Matrixsynth
This entry was written by , posted on August 17, 2011 at 4:37 am, filed under hardware, synthesizer and tagged Ensoniq, Ensoniq ESQ-1, Skinny Puppy, synthesizer. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.
Love the sounds of the Ensoniq but I really don’t want any more hardware so I use the SQ8L a lot. Not exactly the real thing but it does do a great job. http://www.buchty.net/ensoniq/#sq8l
I heard that emulation is pretty good although I’m on a Mac. Do you have any demo tracks you did with it featured?
I’ve used it on a few tracks listed at http://soundcloud.com/rekkerd
Not sure which ones from the top of my head but I love using the SQ8L for dreamy lead sounds. Chris mentions ESQ-1′s sounds blend in a mix easily, I find the SQ8L has that same quality.
I had one of these during college. I bought one after high school. Looking back, it might have been due to your influence when I came over to your house in Palisades and saw your studio w/ Bryan come to think of it. If not you, then from my college suite-mate from Rapid City, SD in ’92
What happened to it? Funny I don’t remember you guys coming over… getting old! I’m going to call Bryan today!
Oh yeah I definitely came by a few times, but the one time I came over w/ Bryan we were there for hours as you were demoing some of your stuff prior to Disintegrator. I remember it so clearly because you had the rare 12″ of DM’s Enjoy the Silence with The Quad Final Mix on one side and the etched rose on the other side. It wasn’t long after that when Bryan found his own copy down in the village. Sadly, I never found my own copy :( As far as the ESQ-1, the same friend from college actually broke his near the end of the Spring ’94 Semester. He was bummed, so the next day I handed him mine. He offered me money for it, but I said it was OK. We wound up going to Rick’s Pancake House on Carrollton Street. It was the best place to eat after a night of drinking at Cooter Brown’s which was on the corner of St. Charles and Carrollton. Hmm…TMI? Got a bit nostalgic there bro!
I bought one when they first came out and added the sequencer upgrade. At the time it was really versatile because you could sequence external synths as well as the internal sounds. Wrote a ton of songs using it MIDI -ed to my S-900 and Yamaha RX15 drum machine.
Was never impressed with the bottom end of it but almost all of the patches would blend easily in a mix without taking too much space. It also has on of the best keyboard actions. Slightly better than the DX7 in that respect IMHO.
Now you’re making me dig it out of the closet to play with it again. Mine needs a new battery…
I see replacement batteries for it on eBay. I’m not sure how difficult or easy it is to replace it yourself. Post some of your old songs recorded with it!
I had an esq-1 from around 1990 to 2004 and wrote a ton of music on it. I knew it inside out and only sold it with a bunch of other gear so i could buy a laptop. I don’t really regret it as i rinsed that machine. There’s a cool hack to get extra waveforms i used to do using a software editor for the SQ80, can’t really remember how tho!
Also, i don’t miss carrying that thing around, it was heavy!
This post makes me happier to own one of these gems. I never use it anymore though, I need to get into the habit of using it more than just a midi controller. I got mine on eBay for $140, that’s including the shipping. Best thing I’ve gotten on eBay so far! Thanks for making this awesome post Oliver, keep it up! :)
It’s great to rediscover stuff in your own studio. My number one rule is never sell any hardware!
I don’t have an ESQ-1 but bought it’s younger relative, the Ensoniq VFX-SD. Got it a few years ago for around $200. I use it as my main keyboard controller (the keyboard action is incredible on it). It sounds a little (and looks a little) like the ESQ-1 here, but more sample based and digital sounding. It’s one of the few synths to have real wavetable synthesis in it too. A big crunchy 16-bit digital sound. I think of it as the “Made in the USA” D-50.
Great to see some love for the ESQ-1! I have a SQ-80 that I picked up on Ebay about a decade ago for $150. Love the sound of the filter. Looking forward to hear what you do with your ESQ-1 Oliver!
Here’s some websites about the ESQ-1/SQ-80 you might find useful, including info on spare parts, OS, cartridges, etc…:
http://www.buchty.net/ensoniq/
http://www.pic101.com/ensoniq/
I have an ESQm and love it still. I’ve had it since it was new in the 80s, and despite selling off tons of other gear over the years, I haven’t been able to part with it. What it fetches on the used market vs what it does for my productions is not a trade off that’s worthwhile. I’d rather have the functionality than the $250 by far and away. I have often wondered why it never got the same cred as the Prophet T8 when its nearly the same beast (3-OSC, wavetable + Curtis). I also still own a Mirage 8-bit sampler with Curtis chips as a poor man’s Emu Sp-12, for 8-bit sampling meets that Curtis lowpass filter, (also a Skinny Puppy fave) which can easily be mapped to the mod wheel for a fun filtered drum kit vibe especially with MASOS 3rd party OS for it. I think the digital menus that separate you from the synth paramters are the #1 reason its not a total classic. Had Ensoniq put knobs & sliders on their early analog digital hybrids like Roland did with the Juno-106, people would be fighting over these. That of course can be remedied with a good SysEx Ed/Lib or control surface with an ESQ template loaded in, but most people won’t go to the trouble. That said, I have found that my biggest creative barrier is not the ESQ’s sonic architecture which is fantastic, but rather the inaccessibility of parameters, so I end up using my older patch creations too often, rather than creating new patches each time I sit down with it, like I do with my alpha Juno-1/PG-300, Syntechno TeeBee, Nord Lead or Eurorack Modular. Still though, the ESQm plays a vital role of beastly polyphonic that is distinctly different from my other poly synths, and compliments my mono synths nicely.
I think the quote you pulled from vintagesynth.com is spot on the money. Couldn’t agree more. :)
Hey Everyone!
I bought the ESQ-1 new along time ago… but I never really got past using the presets! I tried programming it, but never really understood filters, oscillators, DCA… etc! LOL. What I was wondering, is there anything out there that would help me regarding programming the ESQ-1?
Hi,
Very cool page for ESQ-1 enthusiasts.
I just want to make a shameless pitch for the ESQ-1 and VFX. I recorded a cd about 1 year ago Soniq Variants(as in Ensoniq) in which I extensively used Ensoniq gear mainly the ESQ-1 and a modified VFX-SD. The music is all ambient electronica and just goes to show you how these machines are still very useful in todays world. If you spend some time programming(its easier than you think!) the ESQ1 you will be quite surprised how warm and grandiose the machine can sound. The filters are superb and its multi-timbral like having 8 mono synths in one!
Agreed!