A3
Ensoniq ESQ-1
Year of manufacture
1986
Production period
3(1986 – 88)
Polyphony
8
Oscillators
3(3 DCO)
Waveforms
32
Modulation
3(3 LFO)
Filters
1(1 Low-pass -24dB/octave)
Keys
61
Features
7(Sequencer, Velocity, Ringmodulation, Osc.-sync, Pitch-, Mod-Wheel, MIDI)
Sound-Memory
40
The Ensoniq ESQ-1 The forgotten hybrid synth
When people talk about the digital revolution in synthesizers in the 80s, they obviously mention the Yamaha DX-7, the Korg M1 and the Roland D-50. The Ensoniq ESQ-1 is often times forgotten.
Ensoniq was a company founded by Robert “Bob” Yannes, who developed the SID chips for the Commodore 64 computer. The ESQ-1 was Ensoniq’s answer to its Japanese competition’s powerful digital hybrid synths.
The 8-voice synth had 32 digital waveforms installed and its polyphonic 8-track sequencer plus the four envelopes and three LFO’s were definitely remarkable! Even tho the synth was popular at it’s time, it never became quite the legend as its competitors.