Ensoniq TS12 demo: 76 weighted-key synth. 80's overdrive!

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  • čas přidán 27. 08. 2024
  • It say's "80's overdrive" in the title but the TS-12 was actually released in 1993 and it's my first Ensoniq review, even after 10 years of Gearfacts. Can you believe it?
    As sounds go, the TS-12 really has had its day. But the idea of having a compact set of 76 keys in a weighted keybed - now that IS useful!

Komentáře • 68

  • @Najvrtson
    @Najvrtson Před 2 lety +7

    Thank you, Gearfacts. Lot of memories... I have played many of gigs with my TS-12. Very heavy in the wooden case, but the sound was amazing at the time (and still is). I keep one TS-10 and one ASR-10 in my "studio" and love both of them.

  • @DarrenJohnMusic
    @DarrenJohnMusic Před 2 měsíci

    I have an Ensoniq TS-12, an EPS 16 Plus, an SQ-80 and a Mirage. Love them all.

  • @GaryR55
    @GaryR55 Před 2 lety +4

    I had an ASR-10, myself, from 1993 until it died on me in about 2012. Loved the keyboard on that thing!

  • @EBTheOriginalMaster
    @EBTheOriginalMaster Před 2 lety +1

    I would like to say that your editing skills are absolute stellar. Keep up the great work Glynn.

    • @gearfacts
      @gearfacts  Před 2 lety

      Oh really - what is it about the editing that pleases you? I use terrible software!

    • @EBTheOriginalMaster
      @EBTheOriginalMaster Před 2 lety

      @@gearfacts I'm mainly talking about the footage of clouds that you often show in your videos.

    • @gearfacts
      @gearfacts  Před 2 lety +1

      @@EBTheOriginalMaster Ah yes, I like doing time lapses of various things and seeing what 'works' with the music. Whenever I go to places I say to the people I'm with "Hey I've just got to take a quick timplapse of this!" and everyone groans... haha

  • @Noah_-lp8kt
    @Noah_-lp8kt Před rokem +1

    I still have an original with handbook and all, and I love to play it.

  • @davidmartin123
    @davidmartin123 Před 2 lety +2

    @1:22 I recall that my old Ensoniq VFX-SD had low-level digital noise on many sounds. This TS12 probably shares a lot of the same electronics and signal path - and noise.

  • @madness8556
    @madness8556 Před rokem +2

    Keyboard Magazine criticised the TS10 and TS12 for the overall sound of the instruments. They did however cop some flack in their readers letters section though. I always loved the more gritty Ensoniq sound and it was a perfect compliment to the cleaner Japanese, Roland, Korg and Yamaha offerings at the time. I had a TS12 and whilst I loved it as a studio keyboard, especially that awesome distorted 'rude guitar' program, it was way too heavy to gig with and I actually sold it on Ebay for more than I paid for it! It's very sad that Ensoniq didn't last as they made some truly awesome instruments such as the SQ80, SD1, TS10/12, EPS16 Plus and ASR10, not to mention their fabulous rack mount effects units like the DP4 and DP2.

  • @glenesis
    @glenesis Před 2 lety +1

    Wow! Welcome back, G. What a beast you've got there! There's a monstrous 24-track sequencer in that thing, and six WAV samples per patch - this think even beats the Fantom in a lot of specs. Nice score bro! Have a great day :)

    • @gearfacts
      @gearfacts  Před 2 lety +1

      Ahh yes I was going to comment about the 24 track sequencer... A glaring omission by Gearfacts there! Oh well I guess everyone's using DAWs now so there won't be too much public outrage :D

    • @glenesis
      @glenesis Před 2 lety

      @@gearfacts I thought that DAWless is the rage now 😂 It's a great demo, and I do use my DAW in lieu of the wonderful inbuilt sequencers on these things.

  • @mathiasmustillo
    @mathiasmustillo Před rokem

    Yesss!!!! I just got one too! Awesome video!! Your the best man

    • @gearfacts
      @gearfacts  Před rokem

      Cheers Mathias :) Hope business is going well!

  • @musicaldracula2017
    @musicaldracula2017 Před rokem

    Awesome synthesizer. Very unique sounding.

  • @joseph395
    @joseph395 Před rokem +1

    Your not the only one! My TS12 has that same sound after pressing and letting go of the key.. I always assumed it was something having to do with the “channel aftertouch” 🤷🏻‍♂️

  • @user-ok6nf5hx5o
    @user-ok6nf5hx5o Před rokem +1

    To second what some others have said, my TS12 has no noise like that. Either your TS12 has a problem or you have the trim / gain set too high on your board or amp or whatever you're playing it through. The TS series, and I think the EPS 16 and ASR, used Philips 1541 DAC chips. Google those. You'll be pleasantly surprised what you find. The display is a VFD. Vacuum Fluorescent Display. Not LCD.
    I also had an MR76. I sold it and kept the TS12. The MR was a little easier to use and I liked the built in drum machine and idea pad, but the TS allows for much deeper editing of the sounds and when I gigged with it, the sounds were much easier to access. My gig rig now consist of a Roland FA-08 and VR-730.

  • @dawnr8511
    @dawnr8511 Před 2 lety

    Looks like ya spent some big bucks on this unit. Nice demo for the Gearfacts archives!

    • @gearfacts
      @gearfacts  Před 2 lety +1

      Yeah a local guy was selling it for 400 of our feeble Australian dollars. It was so different, I had to have it :)

  • @pianokeyjoe
    @pianokeyjoe Před 2 lety +3

    As you have already reviewed the much better TS10 with Poly aftertouch, there is not much to say on this one. I actually played this model in a Church and was dissapointed not to find poly after touch on the 76 note fully weighted keys. Found out that feature was limited to the 61 note keybeds made for Ensoniq by Fatar.

    • @musicaldracula2017
      @musicaldracula2017 Před rokem +2

      I would like to point out one feature.
      It can send poly aftertouch messages via midi so you can use it with a decent midi controller with poly aftertouch, if there is any :)

  • @BenKirb
    @BenKirb Před rokem +2

    I might be getting the 61-key TS-10 for Christmas. You know why I want it? Because it's Ensoniq's best workstation, according to many Ensoniq users. And it's my #1 dream synthesizer.

    • @gearfacts
      @gearfacts  Před rokem +2

      Brilliant, hope it comes your way!

    • @BenKirb
      @BenKirb Před rokem

      @@gearfacts Yeah!

    • @madness8556
      @madness8556 Před rokem

      The TS10 is a ripper workstation and you'll also love its polyphonic aftertouch keyboard. It's a pity that its filters lacked resonance and that hyperwaves couldn't be synced to MIDI clock but nonetheless, it is a keeper and I certainly lusted over it when I first played it in 1993 at my local music e emporium.

    • @BenKirb
      @BenKirb Před rokem +1

      @@madness8556 I already have a TS-12, and I LOVE IT!

    • @madness8556
      @madness8556 Před rokem

      @@BenKirb I had a TS12 that I got fully expended with 8mb sample memory and loved it as well. I only sold it because it was very heavy for gigging and it wasn't getting enough use to justify keeping it. It's built like a tank and has a very nice action as well as being easy to use and get around thanks to the great user friendly interface and that bright easy to use screen. It would be great if someone released a software version of this instrument like Arturia has done with the SQ80.

  • @N8oRMusic
    @N8oRMusic Před 2 lety +1

    Nice!

  • @New_Zealand_Music
    @New_Zealand_Music Před 2 lety +1

    Thank's mate, wondered where you got too. Lol I hope all is well where you are. Peace. Well my grandmother, my brother's partner and their son all have covid now. Mostly worried about my grandmother as she's getting on. And has really bad dementia so I don't know how this is going to work out. Anyway very interesting keyboard. You go on some interesting Adventures. As always thoroughly appreciated.

  • @madness8556
    @madness8556 Před 10 měsíci

    I had a TS12 and I don't recall that kind of background noise coming from the unit.

    • @gearfacts
      @gearfacts  Před 10 měsíci

      Could've been my cheapo setup.

  • @aloharay
    @aloharay Před rokem +1

    Another guy had strong static issue as well, replaced main board to fix it.

  • @artofwebdesign
    @artofwebdesign Před rokem +1

    Nice vid. What kind of external sequencer do you use ? Looks nice

    • @gearfacts
      @gearfacts  Před rokem

      Glad you liked the video, the sequencer is a Korg Electribe 2.

  • @surge6996
    @surge6996 Před rokem +1

    Love this tutorial
    I'm curious
    Which specific little sequencer / / pad you used on this video
    Serge

    • @gearfacts
      @gearfacts  Před rokem +1

      Hi Serge, it was a Korg Electribe 2.

    • @surge6996
      @surge6996 Před rokem +1

      @@gearfacts awesome Thanks

  • @ilovekeyboards7830
    @ilovekeyboards7830 Před 2 lety +1

    Hi gearfacts can you please make a video about the Casio wk 240

  • @serhiymarchenko8361
    @serhiymarchenko8361 Před rokem +1

    Regarding noise: there must be something wrong with this particular TS12. Mine doesn’t have anything like that. Maybe DAC calibration is necessary (it does sound like a quantization noise)?

    • @gearfacts
      @gearfacts  Před rokem

      Yeah I suspected that it was a fault rather than it’s nature.

    • @madness8556
      @madness8556 Před 10 měsíci

      Mine certainly didn't have that noise.

  • @vacmauro58
    @vacmauro58 Před rokem

    Hi, when you hold down a key and then change Preset, is the sound interrupted (as for example it happens on Korg 01W Pro) or is it maintained until the key is released?

    • @gearfacts
      @gearfacts  Před rokem +1

      I'm not sure, I don't have this keyboard anymore so I can't test that function sorry.

    • @vacmauro58
      @vacmauro58 Před rokem +1

      @@gearfacts OK thanks.

  • @landbalance
    @landbalance Před rokem

    How did you get the ts12 to connect with your external sequencer?

    • @gearfacts
      @gearfacts  Před rokem

      I connected the midi sockets, worked first time.

  • @atomicafro
    @atomicafro Před 2 lety +1

    Good gravy that noise is extreme. If you put a compressor on it it would sound really bad even in a mix. I don't have this issue with any of my other Ensoniq gear, but I don't have a TS-12 so I don't know if it's your unit or a fundamental hardware flaw (like the SP-404SX's noise issue).

    • @gearfacts
      @gearfacts  Před 2 lety

      I didn't know the 404SX had noise problems, thanks for that little tip!

    • @NgaTaeOfficial
      @NgaTaeOfficial Před rokem +1

      My TS12 doesn’t have that noise problem. I notice in the vid you have the volume slider at under half. Possibly not helping with the s/n ratio.

    • @hschieck
      @hschieck Před rokem

      @@NgaTaeOfficial Must be a problem on his device. My TS12 doesn't have such noise as well. Perhaps it's time to recap some of the capacitors inside.

  • @erguy6072
    @erguy6072 Před rokem

    Can you layer sounds?

  • @GaryR55
    @GaryR55 Před 2 lety +1

    I hated having to load everything on my ASR-10 from floppies! Even the OS!

    • @gearfacts
      @gearfacts  Před rokem +1

      Ohh the joy of floppies... :/

    • @Journeemars
      @Journeemars Před 11 měsíci

      The the scsi & put the scsi to sd problem solved

    • @GaryR55
      @GaryR55 Před 11 měsíci

      @@Journeemars I remember those. Unfortunately, after using the ASR-10 for years as a MIDI controller, it died on me. Wouldn't even power up.

    • @Journeemars
      @Journeemars Před 11 měsíci

      @@GaryR55 normally is the power supply easy fixed

    • @GaryR55
      @GaryR55 Před 11 měsíci +1

      @@Journeemars I'm sure it could have been, but it's all a moot point now. I haven't had the ASR-10 since then - about 11 years ago.

  • @Simon-ui6db
    @Simon-ui6db Před 2 lety +1

    Im sure Pink Floyd used many of these (probably in 61 key form though).

    • @gearfacts
      @gearfacts  Před 2 lety

      Quite possibly. Rich Wright was s synth prodigy imho :)

  •  Před 2 lety

    these Are sooo expensive right now online , cool sounds but not for the price , could get a korg triton for less 😮

    • @gearfacts
      @gearfacts  Před 2 lety

      Yep. Becoming rare. I agree though, even though this is a classic there are workstation synths out there that are simply more practical choices.