Ensoniq EPS 16/16+ - Any Good?

[bluepride]

Hello Everyone:

I am considering getting an old sampler because of the sorry state of the "softsampler" world. I already use an Ensoniq Mirage, and have become pretty interested in the EPS and EPS-16+. I am worried about how it would sound though. The EPS seemss like a good thing because it would have more sampling time than a Mirage, and the ability to play back several instruments (up to 8?) simultaneously. But is it any good?

Do any of you have an EPS? Can it do "the Mirage sound"? I know it loads Mirage disks, but does it play them back with the same wallop and crunch that the Mirage does? What is the sound like? What about ease of use? Is it a usable machine, or do you tend to get stuck in old-school process gunk (periscope user-interface, object naming, SCSI issues, so on) when doing sampling and building banks?

[TechnoWeeniePas]

I dont know much about the EPS but I do have an Emu ESI-4000 (fully expanded and maxed out) that I was thinking of selling. Let me know if you are interested. I am starting to get out of the keyboard world and back to where I belong...playing bass guitar...never did quite get the keyboard down very well.

[jones-y]

You a fan of Wu Tang? 36 chambers was done primarily on an EPS. I would guess (having never owned an EPS, but owning an ASR-10 once upon a time, and now an ASR-X) that it sits between the Mirage and the ASR-10. I also own an ESQ-1 (just got it recently) which is a contemporary of the EPS's and I like its sound quality for being a nice changeup from plugins and my Alesis ION.

I consider the ASR-10 one of the best sounding samplers of all time. At the second hand price EPS's go for (equivalent to about a plugin or two...), you really can't go wrong. My personal opinion is that sampler manufacturers over time built a certain 'sound' that carried through their sampler line, going from lo-fi to hi-fi being the only change time brought. So I think you're making a good pick by sticking with Ensoniq.

[jones-y]

And Ensoniq samplers hold the ease of use title over EMU and Akai IMO. I've also owned an Akai S900, MPC-60, and an EMU EMAX I Rack. And I've had quite a bit of experience on an SP-12 turbo.

[stdietmar]

Hello Everyone:

I am considering getting an old sampler because of the sorry state of the "softsampler" world. I already use an Ensoniq Mirage, and have become pretty interested in the EPS and EPS-16+.

You should have posted this about two weeks ago, now I have sold my EPS-16plus already

I have used this machine mainly as my master keyboard (for which it is well suited, as the keyboard, and features such as poly pressure are good), but did not dig very deep into the sampling.

The architecture, and therefore the sound, are very similar to the ensoniq synths such as sq or vfx, so if you like these in general you will be happy with it. a big plus is the built-in effects section, which can also be resampled.

handling is quite o.k., as it has a two line display that gives access to various parameters of a menue, but is in no way comparable with today's softsamplers

[shamann]

I've been in the same boat recently, considering getting an older sampler just for something with a little sonic colour of its own (there's a used EPS at a local shop here in town for a reasonable price). My biggest concern (apart from not really wanting another keyboard taking up space) is the cost and availability of parts and maintenance.

[liars&ashes]

----I had an EPS 16+ back in the late 90's. To be honest/fair, I couldn't begin to tell ya how the "sound" of it holds up or compares. However, it was fun to use at the time, and made a great solid feeling controller for a while. I wouldn't pay much over $250-$300 for a good used one though, not unless it had the extra memory installed.

Jeff

[Scot Solida]

You may have a hard time getting the EPS serviced these days...I finally sold off my VFX SD when servicing became impossible (shouldn't have let it go, now that I think about it). On the EPS...if you buy one, make sure that the buyer will let you return it within a certain length of time if it turns out to be problematic. It may not show up while messing about with it at a pawn shop or something. The EPS was prone to spontaneous reboots, throwing up the dreaded "sytem error 018" or "system error 124". So prevalent were these reboots that I would take TWO EPS keyboards to gigs, loaded with the same sequences, etc and run them simultaneously with the volume pulled down on one of the pair. I wish I never had to make good on this precaution, but I did. Far too often. My EPS went into the shop at least three times(had to be shipped to Malvern, PA) and only that final time proved to do the trick. After that, it was fine until i sold it.

I once played a gig with another EPS owner under the name "System Error 018" in honor of our unstable machines...Our shirts sarcastically mimicked the then Ensoniq catch phrase "the technology that performs"

Having said that, I did like the machine when it worked. I liked pretty much all of those old Ensoniqs. I still have a Mirage Rack and use it every so often (mainly for the SoundProcess alternate OS). If you do buy, be sure to check out http://www.syntaur.com/ for manulas, discs, patches and samples. I kinda miss my VFX. Wish they had made a rack version of that!

[jens]

the Mirage has got an analog filter, the EPS just a digital one - but as a sampler the EPS is light-years beyond the Mirage (even though the memory is still tiny even if expanded to its maximum)

[BERFAB]

You may also want to consider the next generation of the EPS which was the ASR-10. Beautiful stereo samples, sampling and FX at a choice of 36 or 41 khz and a host of other very usable features. I've had an ASR-10 Rack since about '91 and it's still a centerpiece of my studio.

The FX section of the ASR is AMAZING BTW. Over 50 tweakable algorithms with multi-fx and re-sampling options available. Ensoniq's DP4 effects line was based on the DSP chip in the ASR. If you can find one, and you really want a hardware sampler, this is the one I would get.

-B

[desdinova]

I've got an EPS and it's one of my favourite samplers.
Much of the problems with them can be fixed with better cooling. There used to be a company that sold custom cooling solutions but you can do well yourself with some small fans.

That being said, unless you specifically are looking for a clean-yet-still-lo-fi sound, you're better off with an ASR-10 rack. They're much more expensive than EPSes though. :/

[horn]

I own an EPS 16+, SCSI Interface, builtin Hard Disk, 8 additional Outputs. It is a cool Machine. A top master keyboard and the sequencer is easy to use. The sounds are really outstanding because of the internal effects. I own a library with additional effects wich allow me to use its input e.g. for timestretching purposes.But I dont't want to sell it. Even if I wanted to get rid of it I couldn't becaue I've done a comlete show on it. I triede to reproduce it on PC but this didn't come close. So I keep it although I don't use it very much in these days.

[emdot_ambient]

I own two EPSs. Neither of them is the 16+ but if you're going after one of these machines, I'd recommend the 16+. Its specs are better than the standard EPS, the 16+ having 16-bit sampling versus 12-bit for the standard, two non-resonant filters instead of one, and these two filters (I think) were improved over the older version. AND the 16+ has FX, which neither the Mirage nor the original EPS had. Reverb, delay, chorus, flane, phaser, Leslie sim, distorition and wah-wah, all of which could be resampled to be come part of a new sample.

Now . . . both the EPS and EPS16+ allow you to load samples while playing another sample, a great live performance feature. And these were designed for live use.

My favorite feature on the old EPS were the layer buttons. Instruments could have samples spread over I think up to 8 layers (it's been a while since I've fooled with it). But, of course, each layer being played would count as a voice, cutting your polyphony. So you could program these layers so that by default only a selected number of them would be active. There are 2 buttons (A & B) that you can program to trigger layer changes. So, let's say layers 1&2 are active on instrument load. Pressing button A might switch that to layers 3&4. Pressing button B might switch that to layers 5&6. Pressing BOTH A&B might switch it to layers 7&8.

So at the touch of a button, you could swtich to different layer configurations. This opens a HUGE number of possible sound combinations from just two buttons. And if you've got sustaining sounds, like evolving LFO driven drones, you could play some layers, hold the sustain pedal down, change layers and play some other notes, and stack up these huge drifting changing sounds.

Musique Concrete played live and spontaneously was very possible. Amazing synths!

[emdot_ambient]

Oops. Forgot to mention the sound quality of the old EPS synths . . .

Unprocessed, they sound thin. The 12-bit sampling rate is probably most of this so the 16+ will probably sound better. When I load the synth up now, I'm amazed at how flat and thin the sound is. It really, really, really needs to be run through EQ and FX.

But having said that, I've never been unable to process the sound so as to compensate for that shortcoming. Just don't go on your first impressions.

[1-2-Many]

As a past owner of a 16+ and now an ASR-88, I'd say drop the EPS idea and go for its bigger brother the ASR-10, it's everything the EPS is with more memory. I remember running out of space frequently on the EPS.