Synth Site |  Ensoniq |  TS10/12

This is a wonderful workstation synth, although it's use in this modern techno trance era is a little bit limited, due to the lack of resonant filters!

However, it has quite a few remedies for that misfeature:

• Transwaves! Morph thru a set of similar waveforms in realtime, modulated by whatever you want! (i.e. sample a resonant filtersweep, and you're off in TB-303 land!)
• The EXTREMELY cool effects processor. It's the same chips as in the Ensoniq DP/4, which shows quite clearly on effect patches like "guitar amp" or "rumble filter"... what rumble to filter out? The rumble in the TS itself? :-)
• There's an effect algorithm for envelope VCF! Sure, you dedicate away the effects processor for a single howling resonant filter, but it's cool!
• I especially like the effect algorithm "VCF-DIST-VCF". Yep, you heard me: An enveloped resonant filter, in series with a distortion, and then another resonant filter after that!!
• ...and the effects parameters can be modulated too! Rotary speaker speed, reverb length, or resonant filter cutoff, or anything else, can be mapped to a modulation source....!

This is a nice machine, and even if you don't have a sampler, there is PC software to write disks that the TS can read. Generally, I wouldn't part with my TS-12....

Upsides

• Nice set of drumsounds. How about 909- and 808-like kicks and snares, "loop" kick, hip hop kicks and snares....
• Cool voice architecture, with transwaves and wavelists (where you actually can program a whole drumgroove in one sound!)
• Flexible modulation functionality
• EXTREMELY cool effects processor
• Reads EPS and ASR sample disks
• Easy to program, nice and logically laid out display with "soft buttons", and almost every major area in the synth has it's own button.
• Completely brilliant in the acoustic side! Strings, pianos, flutes....argh!! Too good to be true!
• Multiple outs (2 stereo outs, but normally you use it as one stereo out and 2 independent mono outs)
• The 24 (yes, 24!!) channel sequencer is really nice!! 12 channels are used in a pattern/song configuration, like a drum machine or similar, 12 tracks are independent "full length" tracks on top of that.

Downsides

• Lack of resonant filters (except thru tricks)
• Confusing "dual voice architecture": The TS sounds use their own architecture, sounds loaded off ASR and EPS disks use the ASR/EPS voice architecture
• Not too hot emulating analog machinery, except maybe using transwaves, and/or samples of the real thing.
• Heavy!! Very! But can handle some abuse! (metal edges)

This is pro stuff, we are talking 108dB signal/noise and 18 bits (yes 18, not 16) balanced out's here....