KVR Audio

farlukar · Post by **farlukar** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 7:16 pm

multree wrote:with more knobs and stuff

Isn't that against the betabugs "keep it simple, stupid" philosophy?

mute · Post by **mute** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 7:37 pm

whats with the sudden interest in the fizmo? it's not that good of a synth (tho it does have its quirks, so on second thought i wouldnt mind seeing an emu),.. wasnt sad to see mine off. On the emulation note, i dont see why ensoniq/emu/creative wouldn't give permission. They disregard the Fizmo almost to the point of denying they ever made the thing.

Also.. an emu would be pretty difficult to do from a gui standpoint, as the editing and functionality really came from the software for the thing. Besides, thats probably a good thing because that plastic purple casing is ugly as sin

ugo · Post by **ugo** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 7:41 pm

farlukar wrote:Isn't that against the betabugs "keep it simple, stupid" philosophy?

it cant be a proper fizmo emulation if you cant program it.

and personally, i really feel that any emulation should allow the user easy access to all the programming features that the fizmo had...didnt offer access to without sounddiver.

-ugo

farlukar · Post by **farlukar** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 7:53 pm

ugo wrote:it cant be a proper fizmo emulation if you cant program it. :wink: and personally, i really feel that any emulation should allow the user easy access to all the programming features that the fizmo had...didnt offer access to without sounddiver.

True... I don't use a lot of it because sounddiver sucks ass.
But the average betabugs plug is of the "two controls should be enough for everyone" type...

(Nonetheless, I'd sell mine posthaste should a decent emu come along ;)

ugo · Post by **ugo** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 8:01 pm

mute wrote: whats with the sudden interest in the fizmo?

although it was not well recieved in the beginning, its a unique sounding synth that has kept a cult following. eventually, that can build a mystique. also, it was too weird for the average hardware market but it would be at home in the more forward thinking software market.

On the emulation note, i dont see why ensoniq/emu/creative wouldn't give permission. They disregard the Fizmo almost to the point of denying they ever made the thing.

to my knowlege, ensoniq liked the fiz...especially since they are the ones who made it, and they clearly always liked their transwave engine. when creative bought them, the synth developement team folded (or was disolved) and the technology, name, and the remaining products got shuffled over to emu...who didnt design them and wanted nothing to do with them. that, combined with how weird and digital it was (in a VA heavy sales environment), weak marketing, and horrendous technical/quality problems (mostly from the regulator failures), pretty much doomed the poor fiz.

so yeah, it was nothing but a gigantic tech support headache for emu. however, it is a product with a growing cult following, and therefore something they can potentially profit from. so i highly doubt emu will simply give away the fizmo to anyone that wants to make an emulation of it. at the absolutely least, i expect they'll want licencing fees, if not more. they may even want a say in the product development. emu may never have wanted the fiz, but it is their's now and the fizmo name is directly associated with their company.

Also.. an emu would be pretty difficult to do from a gui standpoint, as the editing and functionality really came from the software for the thing.

i dont see why that would be an issue. there are plenty of complex vsti's out there with good gui's. im not saying its easy, but it certainly can be done...and done well.

-ugo

ugo · Post by **ugo** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 8:03 pm

farlukar wrote:True... I don't use a lot of it because sounddiver sucks ass.

even if you dont use sounddiver, there's still a lot of function's you'd need control over for a fizmo emulation.

two control does not a fizmo make.

-ugo

rsmus7 · Post by **rsmus7** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 8:49 pm

ok I collected some links to fizmo pages:

german:

http://www.elmulab.de/wiki/Ensoniq+Fizmo

http://www.synrise.de/docs/types/e/enso ... rotune.htm

english:

http://www.sonicstate.com/synth/ensoniq_fizmo.cfm

http://www.planet-groove.com/ensoniq/fizmo.html

http://www.synthony.com/vintage/fizmo.html

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/FIZMO/

so get it going

ugo · Post by **ugo** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 9:01 pm

if it helps, i can upload my fizmo site again too, perhaps in at least a temporary form until i give it a propper redesign. let me know.

-ugo

multree · Post by **multree** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 9:02 pm

hehe..... there seems to be quite some intrest

well yeah if we really should pull this off.... it will have all the knobs the original one had..... (maybe this won't be absolutely freeware then though) or maybe not.... maybe we just take the parts that are really special.... we'll see

I already sent a mail to E-MU/Ensoniq to get permission for the Name... but Gizmo or BFM would be very nice, too....

the most important part for myself would be the FX section.... and it's still gonna be purple

ugo · Post by **ugo** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 9:08 pm

multree wrote:well yeah if we really should pull this off.... it will have all the knobs the original one had.....

cool...would you also include some of the functions that were only accessable through sounddiver? (all 8 stages of the envelopes, pan as a mod destination, etc.)

the most important part for myself would be the FX section....

also cool. ensoniq's effects were great. and dont forget those resonant filters (i never used the non resonant types myself, but there were several resonant and non resonant types available through SD.) the low pass was cold, clear, but strangely kind of liquidy too.

and it's still gonna be purple

as well it should be.

-ugo

multree · Post by **multree** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 9:57 pm

okay I just made some more knobs and stuff.....STILL LOADS TO DO but I'm gonna stop for today since I'm a bit tired but here's a preview:

so ugo would you like helping to create this VSTi???

analog orange · Post by **analog orange** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 10:28 pm

The mid-eightie's style purple splatter paint strip didn't help it's banal styling.

Also, it should be known that the main reason it was killed was EMU management. When the EMU - Ensoniq merger happened, EMU was put in charge of who stayed and who was fired- gee, I wonder who the EMU guys picked to stay. I hate EMU...

Ensoniq alwasys had really good and innovative products...The last really new thing to come out of EMU was the Morpheus rack synth...

FWIW I really liked the Fizmo, but I bought a Waldorf XT in the end. Guess I just have a thing for extinct synth companies.

multree · Post by **multree** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 10:42 pm

okay... I admit.... I kept working...

blaster78 · Post by **blaster78** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 10:49 pm

betabugs, ugo and a fizmo

i'm off to find some kleenex

steve.

ftech · Post by **ftech** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 10:51 pm

Please, oh please let there be an OSX VST version!
Never owned a Fizmo, but I owned and used a heap of Ensoniq synths (ESQ 1, VFX-sd, SD-1, TS-10
and an EPS 16) almost exclusively (only exception being a K2000) from '88 to '97.
T'would be good for a bit of Transwave (TM) flashback!

Betabugs Fizmo !?