KVR Audio

rexman77 · Post by **rexman77** » Fri Jul 08, 2011 6:15 am

Tl;dr: HELP, MY ESQ1 IS MESSED UP!

The Long Version:

Hello KVR, I was hoping to get some assistance.

I recently purchased an Ensoniq ESQ1 synthesizer, if you opened this topic you probably know what that is. Unfortunately, in my haste to get new sounds for it, I attempted to load a set bank of programs using the tape backup system from an audio file I downloaded off the internet. Unfortunately, something went wrong...

All of the factory presets are gone and are replaced with what I can only describe as "corruption." Program names are gibberish, or not even there, some of them blink on and off, and most of them make no sound, mainly because the waves selected are "Wave163," "Wave 174" etc. However, even selecting the right waves produces no sound. This condition persists even after reset.

I had believed that I could remedy this by using SYSEX from my computer to load the factory banks using the ESQ1 sysex librarian program that I'm sure most of you are familiar with. And it worked...sort of. The programs are transferred, but only the first 5 work. The rest remain silent gibberish or unusable, unfixable noise.

So while the synth has the ability to function as it should, programs 5-40 do not. I'm only basically familiar with SYSEX so I'm not sure if I did something wrong, and I'm worried that I may have corrupted it to the point of never regaining those presets or full functionality again. At the very least I was hoping for a hard reset of sorts to clear the ram and start from scratch, to at least restore the keyboard to being fully programmable, but any solution would be greatly appreciated.

So I turn to you, KVRAudio forumites, for your assistance. Or, if none of you know of a solution to my problem, perhaps you can point me in the direction of someone who does. Like I said, any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, and plugging in the the keyboard suspends bootup, but that's a problem for another day.

loungedumore · Post by **loungedumore** » Fri Jul 08, 2011 6:32 am

May just need to be reset .
or May need a new memory battery .

http://www.pic101.com/ensoniq/

Good place to start .

Assuming your issue is a simple fix don't worry about the presets you can obtain all the factories + more here in the sound banks section . Under sq8l there is one upload larger than all the rest it has ESQ1 syx banks in it too .

datapark · Post by **datapark** » Thu Jul 14, 2011 10:38 pm

you should also be careful not to load SQ80 programs
I had an ESQ-1 a long time ago, and an expansion cart with SQ80 sounds, and most patches wouldn't work, and could cause the system to lock up or not produce sound, requiring a restart.
It has something to do with the system looking for wave files that point outside of the more limited ESQ-1s.
Good luck in getting it fixed. I regret giving my own up, and hope I can find another some day.

rexman77 · Post by **rexman77** » Thu Jul 14, 2011 10:43 pm

Thank you all for your help. After I made my first post I was able to do a soft reset and restore the factory presets and most of the functionality. However, it's still pretty glitchy gives soft errors constantly and crashes quite a bit more than it used to. It also plays a very dissonant chord on startup in whatever voice had been selected before being shut off.

Still not sure exactly what is wrong with it, but at least it's playable now. I'm considering a hard reset but I'm a bit wary about taking alligator clips to the components.

Mr Arkadin · Post by **Mr Arkadin** » Fri Jul 15, 2011 12:07 am

I remember when my ESQ-1 used to crash - it came out with some amazing noises that I would record to DAT before resetting it and sample them for some amazing sub drones.

Anyway when we got it fixed, the repair was... replacing the whole motherboard! That synth is pretty much on one board so they just popped another one in. Not really a solution you can go for today though.

loungedumore · Post by **loungedumore** » Fri Jul 15, 2011 3:12 am

As you have probably read from the post I made ( link ) the order for craziness generally goes
1 Mem battery
2 PSU going out
3 Motherboard dying .

Though there are other possibilities for example if the data slider is dirty or going bad it could be sending out messages to the cpu randomly .... note dying sound ( play a note or few then quite and or distortion ) is typically the volume slider going bad or maybe just real dirty .

Mine had the dead battery issue and some other wonkyness . When I had the battery replaces I also had it cleaned ... all the ide cable connectors ...the works . That did the trick . The connectors get dirt and rust in them send bad voltages /data . I got a few crashes on boot w/ weird VFT display stuff and some sound issues (I can't recall specifics ) .
The Cleaning fixed the glitches and an analog board test and filter tune helped the me with sound issues .
If you need to troubleshoot some more here are the service manuals / user manual , other service sheets , patches and bank dumps ..... Note if you have the metal or plastic version . http://www.box.net/shared/vfzkex70u3kudv2ahq1c

bk · Post by bk » Sun Aug 21, 2011 7:48 pm

Cleaning the internal molex connectors is the number one thing you can do to keep your ESQ working properly.

@loungedumore, are you in Indy? I think I'm the one who helped you with yours...

olepro · Post by **olepro** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 9:28 pm

http://www.buchty.net/ensoniq/
On this site you can find all you need for your ESQ1
And a forum where you can get some help allso:
http://lists.memi.de/listinfo/sq80

But as others allready said.
Pull out the multiconnectors inside the synth and reset them.
This will often cure these hiccups

maxmace · Post by **maxmace** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 9:48 pm

+1 olepro

Re-seat the internal cable connectors. Just be gentle (and make sure you get them back in exactly the same pins!). Do NOT spray any kind of "contact cleaner" on the boards.

When your ESQ is back to normal working condition, if you ever do a tape load or sysex dump that sends over wonky data, just try it again and it may eventually work successfully. Otherwise, the data is corrupt and you will have to find a better data file. In general a data dump cannot permanently corrupt your OS (as it is burned to ROM).

olepro · Post by **olepro** » Mon Aug 22, 2011 5:34 am

Yes, re-seat, not reset... but anyway, kind of the same

maximilians1 · Post by **maximilians1** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 5:06 am

rexman77 wrote:Thank you all for your help. After I made my first post I was able to do a soft reset and restore the factory presets and most of the functionality. However, it's still pretty glitchy gives soft errors constantly and crashes quite a bit more than it used to. It also plays a very dissonant chord on startup in whatever voice had been selected before being shut off.

Still not sure exactly what is wrong with it, but at least it's playable now. I'm considering a hard reset but I'm a bit wary about taking alligator clips to the components.

As others have stated it might be a good idea to replace the battery, if I remember correctly my esq1 was acting up quite a bit before I replaced the battery. Replacing the battery was not that hard but kind of stressful, but if you have any experience with a soldering iron it should be doable and fairly cheap (around $15 on ebay for a new battery with instructions)

loungedumore · Post by **loungedumore** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 5:47 am

bk wrote:Cleaning the internal molex connectors is the number one thing you can do to keep your ESQ working properly.

@loungedumore, are you in Indy? I think I'm the one who helped you with yours...

Small world !

YashN · Post by **YashN** » Fri Nov 25, 2011 9:21 am

Perform a Hard Reset:

Check the service manual. It involves powering off, then also disconnecting the power supply, and then shorting the right side of a resistor to a capacitor C1 on the main board.

Reboot. Perform Filter re-calibration. Re-transfer sounds if needed using factory sounds for the same model of synth.

Let me know how this goes for you.

Some help with an Ensoniq ESQ-1