▽ Coming Soon from Cherry Audio: Still the ① ▽

[trusampler]

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... n_products

[MillerSam]

It's an Ensoniq ESQ-1

[Korg Supporter]

I don't like the green and red colors on it. And keep in mind that there are people out there with red/green colorblind people. I'm a bit shocked that the simple waveforms had to be licensed from Creative. It's a shame there are no additional or user waveforms, but I like that they added extra filter modes.

[Nug Wrangler]

ESQ-1 it is then

[wagtunes]

Are you guys watching this? This thing is amazing. Already purchased.

[beely]

I'm a bit shocked that the simple waveforms had to be licensed from Creative.

Well it's not just that, it's an official license that lets them use the ensoniq name and logo, and the ESQ1 logo. So the licensing deal basically let them do what they needed to to recreate it.

[wagtunes]

I do have to admit one thing. The interface is a train wreck as far as the letters. I can barely read what they say. Was the actual hardware this bad?

[Uncle E]

I do have to admit one thing. The interface is a train wreck as far as the letters. I can barely read what they say. Was the actual hardware this bad?

Yes

[IvyBirds]

I'm a bit shocked that the simple waveforms had to be licensed from Creative.

It's a gray area. Basic waveforms like Saw Triangle, Sine, etc are considered to be in the public domain as such they can't be copyrighted

The ESQ-1 has those but they also have sampled waveforms like BASS, PIANO, E PIANO, VOICE 1 etc which are multi samples and are copyrighted

Arturia gets around that, even though the same exact waveforms are in the SQ80V by not using samples from the original hardware or it's from, but because they just recreated them and made their own. They are small and simple enough that it doesn't really matter sonically

Seems like Cherry Audio didn't make their own and just licensed them from creative as well as licensing the brand name and logos

In the end not sure that matters much, especially if you already own SQ80V which is excellent

[Korg Supporter]

I do have to admit one thing. The interface is a train wreck as far as the letters. I can barely read what they say. Was the actual hardware this bad?

By hardware, do you mean the readability or interface? I bought a plastic ESQ-1 for $210 plus $16 tax this year. It does have a VFD display. However, the programming with a single data slider is almost lightning fast once you know how the buttons and architecture work.

[IvyBirds]

One of the most exciting things about this is that towards the bottom of the product page

https://cherryaudio.com/products/esq-1-synthesizer

They have a quote from Koh Zi Kai, Head of Licensing at Creative Technology Ltd

That indicates that Creative actually has a guy in charge of licensing their IP and collaborating with other companies to make things happen

Would love to see this explored with not just Ensoniq and E-mu, but also with the Sound Blaster cards that turns them into playable instruments. Over the years various models of this had a mixture of FM, Samples, and Wavetables that would be a great project for Cherry or someone else to pursue

[Teksonik]

One of the most exciting things about this is that towards the bottom of the product page

That is good news indeed. If this means a VFX emulation of equal quality is on the way then that gives me a woody.

Anyway on to the synth itself....I like it a lot. The Arp/Seq is almost enough to make me purchase it right away.

I no longer own my ESQ-1 to make a 1:1 comparison but they nailed the sound well enough for me.

The main reason I sold the hardware was because of its brutish output. It got to be unpleasant to the ear after so many years of in the box high fidelity. Thankfully this emulation doesn't try to emulate that.

If I didn't already own the SQ80V this would be an instant purchase but I'll wait until I have some spare change to pick it up.

I agree the GUI could be better. There is always something "lo-fi" about CA interfaces. Not so much that it makes them unusable but they can be unpleasant to view and operate.

[Teksonik]

Has anyone noticed pops and clicks while playing some patches? For example the "Cor Anglais Mono" preset from the Andrew Longhurst bank.

Forgive the sloppy playing but I just threw something down to show the issue:

Cor Anglais Mono

Also am I just missing it or is there no .sysex import as there is with the SQ80V? If not that seems like a baffling omission.

[Etienne1973]

Also am I just missing it or is there no .sysex import as there is with the SQ80V? If not that seems like a baffling omission.

Its accuracy is such that the ESQ-1 software supports drag-and-drop import of individual patches and patch banks from ESQ-1 SysEx files, ...

[Teksonik]

Also am I just missing it or is there no .sysex import as there is with the SQ80V? If not that seems like a baffling omission.

Its accuracy is such that the ESQ-1 software supports drag-and-drop import of individual patches and patch banks from ESQ-1 SysEx files, ...

Thanks, I was looking for a click and import option. So that's good news and bad since I hate drag and drop with a passion that can not be expressed by any words in the English language.