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From: rwn@iham1.UUCP (Bob Neumann)
Newsgroups: net.music
Subject: Ensonique Digita Sampling Keyboard
Message-ID: <260@iham1.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 27-Nov-84 17:39:00 EST
Article-I.D.: iham1.260
Posted: Tue Nov 27 17:39:00 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 28-Nov-84 04:35:26 EST
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 40


Does anyone have any information on the "Mirage"
keyboard produced by the "Ensonique" corporation
in Pennsylvania?  I saw a two page add in the latest issue
of Keyboard magazine and would like to know if anyone out
there has heard the instrument, or has more info on how the
instrument works.  

For those of you who are totally mystified by what I am talking 
about, the Ensonique Mirage is a keyboard instrument that claims
to allow a user to digitallly sample his own sounds
(concert grand, B3, breaking glass, etc),
modify the sounds, and store them on a disk for later recall, similar
to an EMULATOR II, Fairlight, Synclavier, etc.
The difference is this instrument has a retail price of
$1695.00, quite a bit of a difference from a Fairlight
for $30,000.  

Among my questions:

Is the sampling rate slower (than Fairlight, etc),
and therefore dirty sounding with bad frequency response, etc. ?

Does the "built in sequencer" have an external clock input or output?

Does the keyboard have MIDI?

How well does the "velocity sensitive" keyboard work?



Sounds like a neat toy if it actually works.  I always feel strange
about "new electronic music instrument companies".
Remember what happened with the VAKO Polyphonic Orchestron?

				Bob Neumann
				BTL-IH (312)-979-6533