ASR-X

[HxC]

It is no wonder Ensoniq went the way of Woolworth after releasing the ASR-X and ASR-X PRO in the late 90s. With the MPC2000 becoming "the peoples" drum machine/sampler, Ensoniq was ripe to hit the streets with a piece of gear that rivaled the MPC series, and capitalized off the popularity of the ASR-10 (at the time).
The Ensoniq design team must have had their heads in the dot com bubble, cuz the ASR-X is a beatmaker's pretty mess.
If ya get one, best to use it as a 'module', although it is a powerful device on it's own, you need the patience of Yoda to flip it like an SP or an MP.
The sound is incredible, and there are enough envelope/filter options to make Moog jealous. Only thing is there are so many envelope/filter options, and they are so illogically laid out, that you spend mucho time just setting some parameters to get your sample popping, when MPCers and SPers are already done with a beat.

It was sad to see the company go though. The Mirage, EPS, and ASR are all instrumental in moving gear forward. Too bad they flopped at century's end. Pour out a little soda for Ensoniq

[balazs]

I always wanted to try one of those ensoniq keyboards. Thats on my things to do before I die list

[HxC]

Their keyboards are heavy beasts. I'd prefer the rack versions.
I think the last keyboard they made before dying, was the FIZMO.
Played with it at Git Ctr once, can't remember much about it, but the online reviews say it was lame-O

[Headphones]

I almost forgot about the ASR X, and I know you can get about 66 mb of Ram into these, but they’re a bit buggy, so you will sometimes deal with it freezing or crashing. Yet it’s supposed to make your samples come alive as you re-sample & get digital artifacts from doing that. Sounds like this would make a good partner to any SP. Can anyone give their 2 cents??

[ellaguru]

i have the black one
the X
buttons are plastic, and the floppy thing is a bit annoying (even if my second sampler comes frome the same period, the akai remix 16, it goes on floppys), i didn't upgrade with the scsi...but fx and sound are bomb, it works as a synth (adsr, lfo, filters etc) and its little screen doesn't do justice to it (many hidden parameters), but pads are ok.
sometimes the seq is a bit buggy, they told me that thing was solved with the PRO version.
nowadays there is an upgrad for useing CF cards...

[Headphones]

I have to admit, it’s going to take me a minute to save up for either one. But the Pro seems the way to go. That’s dope it’s got synth sounds. Do the samples seem organic when you re-sample the pads?

[ellaguru]

sorry Headphones but i don't quite understand exactly what you mean for organic in this case...maybe you mean that the pads have that sort of human feel as for old mpcs?
i'll try to answer anyway: from what i remember (yes i didn't use it since years...damn...it seats still on a shelf...) the pads were doing the job in a natural way

[Headphones]

I meant the sounds that get samples into it start to feel like what comes into it sorta sounds the same, but might have it’s own character due to the sample rate, filters, or just how Ensoniq makes samples become enhanced somehow. I’ve heard ASR users brag about how their rackmount/keyboard samplers would feel alive. Hope it does that too. Did that make more sense? And would you wish to sell it later in the year?

[FeelinDank]

How is the build quality of these ASR’s? I ask bcuz I’ve seen two on the local Craigslist that were both beat to s###.

[ellaguru]

I meant the sounds that get samples into it start to feel like what comes into it sorta sounds the same, but might have it’s own character due to the sample rate, filters, or just how Ensoniq makes samples become enhanced somehow. I’ve heard ASR users brag about how their rackmount/keyboard samplers would feel alive. Hope it does that too. Did that make more sense? And would you wish to sell it later in the year?

ok i understand, yes, what they say it's true.
for the selling: well i don't know yet, plus considering that the button of the sequencer is inside the machine accidentally; in case of you'll be interested?

How is the build quality of these ASR’s? I ask bcuz I’ve seen two on the local Craigslist that were both beat to s###.

as i said above, the buttons are not that great, knobs too...not very solid indeed

[TurnDaKnob]

Honestly the ASR-X suffered from the beginning because unlike the EPS or ASR family it was designed as a corner cutting product from the beginning.
The ASR-X is actually a MR with sampling added which is why it doesn't have a sound similar to the ASR-10.
Building that way was supposed to allow them to add more features with less cost then by use a more powerful effects chip to make it still sound good.

They would have pulled it off but it was buggy when released and while they did improve the OS the Pro ending up being the version with the better OS and stability.

Just remember if you go with either version of the ASR-X you will need to replace the encoders and don't look at it like it's the ASR-10, accept it for it's own strengths/weaknesses.

It really is sad that Ensoniq got bought out by a company that never intended to maintain them.