Yo, I look forward to you episodes. Not only do you do your research but you point out things on equipment ( some of which I’ve owned) that I had no idea existed lol. Also a nice trip down memory lane with jokes. Keep up the good work.
Just got this video recommended in my feed, the first clip of B-Roll playing the Fizmo and the B-Roll that is heavily blue-ish-purple tinted are mine. Basically the only B-Roll of playing that is anywhere approaching HD, lol. Nice breakdown video as well. If anyone wants to hear it in action in-depth, the videos are still up on my channel, so far as I knew at the time they were the only videos showing the entire factory preset library of the instrument.
Thanks! Yeah your vid was one of the only ones displaying the Fizmo's versatility.. I noticed most of the other channels on TH-cam kinda focused on the hard rock feel the keyboard..Your videos showed alot of different styles.
This assessment almost makes the guys working with Bob Yannes when Ensoniq was absorbed into Creative Technologies seem like a throwback to the staff at ARP Instruments 20 years earlier. I don’t mind sharing that my first look at the Fizmo in a catalog absolutely put me in mind of a retro synthesizer. It’s worth mentioning the 1998 was the calm before the storm that was the analog revival. Guys like me didn’t know that there was still a huge market and demand for analog synthesizers, and something like this might’ve really tempted me then if I didn’t have a father who kept trying to remind me that I already had one synthesizer and didn’t need most of the ones I would get subsequently. It’s ironic imagining that the Super NES power adapter was compatible with this synthesizer. The Mirage from 1984 was loaded with the same microchip sound-generating technology as in the Commodore Amiga computer.
There is also the extremely rare rack version. I also could've sworn there was some small movement where people chopped up their keyboards into a box to convert it into a rackmount version. This was like 10 years ago when I first heard of the Fizmo, it made me facepalm hard, given how rare it is in general.
Man! I was a manager at Sam ash when this came out. Ensoniq’s last gasp for air. All the guys on the sales floor knew this was NOT going to sell. At least not the New Yorker crowd. Ensoniq was pushing this thing HARD. We were all like “NOPE”.
I was working at a Guitar Center when this hit. We couldn’t sell them until they discontinued it and blew it for around $599. Even then they was a hard sale unless someone came in specifically looking for one. And now, a highly revered synth that is almost unobtainable 😂
Just on this thing last night and was playing a dope arp pattern that made a compound time signature but the sound was too damn bright! Took lots of tweaking but I finally got it to sound warm enough. Really gotta use the software editor with this thing. It’s like a wild animal that you have to tame about every time you want a get a new sound. But when you do, it’s glorious. Thanks for the video. Love to see you covering pieces of gear I own.
I remember attending the NAMM-like musicians show in Chicago around 1998. There were a few new synths that had just been released: 1) Nord Lead 2) Korg Prophecy (with the log controller) 3) Roland JP-8000 4) Ensoniq Fizmo. With all of the competition from the new VST synths, nobody was paying any attention at all to the Fizmo. Everyone wanted a go at the Nord, Korg, and Roland synths, with the Nord sounding most like a vintage one to my ears. The Fizmo looked different than it sounded - like they were trying to market it to the same market as the pink EMU Planet Phatt module from the year before. It's sound was very crisp and digital, which people were actually moving away from as the vintage market was taking off. I almost didn't stop to play it, but once I did I was blown away by how great it sounded. Despite the blue/pink paint spatters, it was an ambient synth in disguise, and the synthesis was very deep. I left the NAMM show with that synth (more than any other) in my mind as the one I'd eventually get. I now own the rack version and never did buy a JP-8000, Prophecy, or Nord Lead.
To be fair, a lot of Ensoniq's success wasn't by accident but because they had *brilliant* designs and innovations. The use of inductance coils to allow polyphonic aftertouch, for example, put their keyboards ahead of everything else in terms of expressivity, and I believe their patent is still held today. The main chip designer was brilliant, having done such an incredible job with the audio chip for one of the early computers (Commodore 64 I think?) that his investors backed out of the company because they couldn't imagine anyone topping it. As a happy Fizmo owner, however, I appreciate your content and commentary. Cheers!
Wasn't the name for the sound blaster and adlib cards company called Creative Labs? Telling my age but after my Amiga 2000 I got a Packard bell and we got the Creative Labs adlib (played music only) then Electronics Boutique had the Sound Blaster. Crrrrasaazzee. Did not realize Ensoniq scooped it Anyrate man I love your videos!!!!
Best synth by Ensoniq is the TS10. It has all of the power of the ASR10 with out being a sampler. It has the effects and sequencer. It can even play samples from the earlier Ensoniq samplers.
If the Mirage in general as a sampler was horrible But as an 8 bit digital analog synthesizer for electronic precaution the thing is totally sick It has 2 sets of Curtis voltage controlled filter and a amplifier chips for each of its 8 voices One was used for the 1st stage of the envelope and the other for the decay It was cheaper back then to do it this way than to pay for memory and processing power The operating system is loaded on the disk So there are alternate operating systems available for it You can turn it into a 16 voice wave table synthesizer And just download your wave tables through the Midi interface It completely changes the architecture I wouldn't touch one of these in The eighties when I was a kid Then I found one later in a thrift store As I began to understand what it was and work with it I realized that it was one of the coolest things I've ever made for what it's good for It kicks out the most industrial sounding drum sounds
@@DyReckProductions Yes it's super Low fi It sounds horrible for everything but really hot crunchy industrial sounding electronic procussion And break beats
Thanks man, Ensoniq was a fantastic company. I had the ESQ-1 way ahead of its time DCO's and VCA's 3 oscillators per voice of any combo of Samples, Digital or Analog and a 24,000-note sequencer.
Family! Do you remember the Paris!!!! I wanted it so bad. That was a bad ass DAW!! But the hardware requirements were crazy and the software was buggy.....kids this is way before ProTools
Yeah I think they do own Labs..Its not a horrible company they just had some issues. They still own the Ensoniq and E-mu name..But for some reason there just not interested in putting out any products using the names right now.
The FIZMO was actually dope it was a different synth the sound alone was incredible this was the type of synth was the type that you made " happy accidents" 😊 it was inspiring to make dope sounds on it I believe they achieved what they were looking for but should have been packaged different it did have its quirks but truly an amazing product I had 2 of them I wished I would have kept them the sound engine and sounds were extremely unique it introduced me to a different sound pallette that I didn't know existed
The student loans people ate my studio, back then I had two mirages, an asrx pro, a fixmo, a roland tr505 and a novation bass station, then those payments kicked in to pay off my education and all my hardware was replaced with sony acid.
Man I'm sorry. I tried not to laugh but you are telling real life ish!!!!! I gave up a MPC 2k classic and EMU Planet Phatt to pay bills for school too. Sigh. But man I came back busting. Pawnshops were my friend got everything now lol. I tried acid version 1.0 when it used to come with software in the early 2000s. It helped me chop coming from Scream Tracker from my Amiga. Dope man
Well today that would all be non-functioning junk taking up a storage unit lol. Nowadays my phone with koala sampler is a lot more powerful than those old school samplers.
Yeah ensoniq could’ve killed protools with Paris. They could’ve killed the mpc with asr x and killed triton if they combined the esq and asr 10 but naaahhhh
Ensoniq should have continued to enhance the ESQ-1/SQ-80 line and added transwaves to them. At least customers would have had a frame of reference. The VFX/SDs were ok, but didn't have osc sync, pwm or resonant filters. Why don't companies check with me first? 🙄🙄🤣
Of course I added a little sauce lol..But I didn't just make up the issues or things about the manual or them being a young company at the time..I got the information from the guy that recruited Ensoniq for creative technology. Dave Rossum.
Yo, I look forward to you episodes. Not only do you do your research but you point out things on equipment ( some of which I’ve owned) that I had no idea existed lol. Also a nice trip down memory lane with jokes. Keep up the good work.
Thanks bro!
Algo gods brought me here and i love the energy
My ASR-10 came out in 1991.
Oh ok.
Just got this video recommended in my feed, the first clip of B-Roll playing the Fizmo and the B-Roll that is heavily blue-ish-purple tinted are mine. Basically the only B-Roll of playing that is anywhere approaching HD, lol. Nice breakdown video as well.
If anyone wants to hear it in action in-depth, the videos are still up on my channel, so far as I knew at the time they were the only videos showing the entire factory preset library of the instrument.
Thanks! Yeah your vid was one of the only ones displaying the Fizmo's versatility.. I noticed most of the other channels on TH-cam kinda focused on the hard rock feel the keyboard..Your videos showed alot of different styles.
I remember seeing this board at MARS Music in LAS VEGAS...All I can say was, "The Board is Pretty!"
Yeah it does look nice.
This assessment almost makes the guys working with Bob Yannes when Ensoniq was absorbed into Creative Technologies seem like a throwback to the staff at ARP Instruments 20 years earlier. I don’t mind sharing that my first look at the Fizmo in a catalog absolutely put me in mind of a retro synthesizer. It’s worth mentioning the 1998 was the calm before the storm that was the analog revival. Guys like me didn’t know that there was still a huge market and demand for analog synthesizers, and something like this might’ve really tempted me then if I didn’t have a father who kept trying to remind me that I already had one synthesizer and didn’t need most of the ones I would get subsequently.
It’s ironic imagining that the Super NES power adapter was compatible with this synthesizer. The Mirage from 1984 was loaded with the same microchip sound-generating technology as in the Commodore Amiga computer.
There is also the extremely rare rack version. I also could've sworn there was some small movement where people chopped up their keyboards into a box to convert it into a rackmount version. This was like 10 years ago when I first heard of the Fizmo, it made me facepalm hard, given how rare it is in general.
Oh wow.Ok.
ngl $3500 gizmo sound thin af lmao love your vids tho keep’em comin’
Thanks fam!..I appreciate it.
Man! I was a manager at Sam ash when this came out. Ensoniq’s last gasp for air. All the guys on the sales floor knew this was NOT going to sell. At least not the New Yorker crowd. Ensoniq was pushing this thing HARD. We were all like “NOPE”.
Lol!!
I was working at a Guitar Center when this hit. We couldn’t sell them until they discontinued it and blew it for around $599. Even then they was a hard sale unless someone came in specifically looking for one. And now, a highly revered synth that is almost unobtainable 😂
Just on this thing last night and was playing a dope arp pattern that made a compound time signature but the sound was too damn bright! Took lots of tweaking but I finally got it to sound warm enough. Really gotta use the software editor with this thing. It’s like a wild animal that you have to tame about every time you want a get a new sound. But when you do, it’s glorious. Thanks for the video. Love to see you covering pieces of gear I own.
Thanks fam!..I appreciate it..Classic keyboard.
I remember attending the NAMM-like musicians show in Chicago around 1998. There were a few new synths that had just been released: 1) Nord Lead 2) Korg Prophecy (with the log controller) 3) Roland JP-8000 4) Ensoniq Fizmo. With all of the competition from the new VST synths, nobody was paying any attention at all to the Fizmo. Everyone wanted a go at the Nord, Korg, and Roland synths, with the Nord sounding most like a vintage one to my ears. The Fizmo looked different than it sounded - like they were trying to market it to the same market as the pink EMU Planet Phatt module from the year before. It's sound was very crisp and digital, which people were actually moving away from as the vintage market was taking off. I almost didn't stop to play it, but once I did I was blown away by how great it sounded. Despite the blue/pink paint spatters, it was an ambient synth in disguise, and the synthesis was very deep. I left the NAMM show with that synth (more than any other) in my mind as the one I'd eventually get. I now own the rack version and never did buy a JP-8000, Prophecy, or Nord Lead.
It’s insane what these are going for on the used market!
Yup!
Thank you - love it !
Thanks!
Slap boxing in the hallway 🤣😂😂😂🤣🤣 I just keep rewinding. You are a nut
LMAO!!
Never heard of it.....
Ensoniq after awhile didn't push it as hard.
Fizmo owner. It’s incredible.
Nice!
To be fair, a lot of Ensoniq's success wasn't by accident but because they had *brilliant* designs and innovations. The use of inductance coils to allow polyphonic aftertouch, for example, put their keyboards ahead of everything else in terms of expressivity, and I believe their patent is still held today. The main chip designer was brilliant, having done such an incredible job with the audio chip for one of the early computers (Commodore 64 I think?) that his investors backed out of the company because they couldn't imagine anyone topping it. As a happy Fizmo owner, however, I appreciate your content and commentary. Cheers!
Thanks fam!
Bob Yannes' SID chip for the c64 is legend. Apple IIgs also used Ensoniq designed chip for audio.
@@poofygoof The c64 inspired so many products.
I can’t stop. “A VOCODER!!!”
Lmao!
Wasn't the name for the sound blaster and adlib cards company called Creative Labs? Telling my age but after my Amiga 2000 I got a Packard bell and we got the Creative Labs adlib (played music only) then Electronics Boutique had the Sound Blaster. Crrrrasaazzee. Did not realize Ensoniq scooped it
Anyrate man I love your videos!!!!
Yeah Creative Technology called its US division Creative Labs..They really wanted that Sound Blaster from Ensoniq so they just brought them.
Adlib was a separate company, which went out of business a few years after Creative Labs introduced the Adlib-compatible Sound Blaster.
Best synth by Ensoniq is the TS10. It has all of the power of the ASR10 with out being a sampler. It has the effects and sequencer. It can even play samples from the earlier Ensoniq samplers.
Your gonna make me go to Ebay again Lol.
got me laughing right out the gate as always hehehehe, another good video!
Lmao! Thanks fam.
your channel rules
Lol Thanks bro.
If the Mirage in general as a sampler was horrible But as an 8 bit digital analog synthesizer for electronic precaution the thing is totally sick It has 2 sets of Curtis voltage controlled filter and a amplifier chips for each of its 8 voices One was used for the 1st stage of the envelope and the other for the decay It was cheaper back then to do it this way than to pay for memory and processing power The operating system is loaded on the disk So there are alternate operating systems available for it You can turn it into a 16 voice wave table synthesizer And just download your wave tables through the Midi interface It completely changes the architecture I wouldn't touch one of these in The eighties when I was a kid Then I found one later in a thrift store As I began to understand what it was and work with it I realized that it was one of the coolest things I've ever made for what it's good for It kicks out the most industrial sounding drum sounds
Oh ok Dope!..I really like the manipulation abilities in it..Some folks complain about the sound.
@@DyReckProductions Yes it's super Low fi It sounds horrible for everything but really hot crunchy industrial sounding electronic procussion And break beats
@@jamesdelrogers542 Oh ok cool.
Fizmo on Ebay: $4,200🎹😢
Yeah there up there in price.
Thanks man, Ensoniq was a fantastic company. I had the ESQ-1 way ahead of its time DCO's and VCA's 3 oscillators per voice of any combo of Samples, Digital or Analog and a 24,000-note sequencer.
Nice!
Esq was something serious
Hahaha love it, Soundwave!
Lol Word!
Yeah 1300 for the fizmo or the korg ms2000 for 1/2 the price
True.
Creative Design ruined Ensoniq 🤦🏿♂️ bad business deal but I understand money plays an important role.
Yeah man.
And Emu too
@@prufrockrenegade def EMU!!
I think Ensoniq also bet a lot of the bank on the Paris system that didn’t work out.
True.
Family! Do you remember the Paris!!!! I wanted it so bad. That was a bad ass DAW!! But the hardware requirements were crazy and the software was buggy.....kids this is way before ProTools
Wow, I must have completely missed that one. I thought they were called Creative Labs? Or was this the main corporate overlord?
Yeah I think they do own Labs..Its not a horrible company they just had some issues. They still own the Ensoniq and E-mu name..But for some reason there just not interested in putting out any products using the names right now.
@@DyReckProductions I remember when they and Cambridge released really cool surround speaker systems, man what happened there? The sound bar?? 😂
@@danwentz Yup!..I got to check that out.
@@DyReckProductions - Creative Technologies is called Creative Labs in the U.S.A.
@@DyReckProductions - I still use my Emu 1820 audio interface and Emax II sampler
Pass the football man! 🤣🤣🤣
Lmao!!
Ensoniq guys were vesting in peace. They had to stick around to get paid. It happens a lot in the tech world.
No doubt.
The Fizmo was a bit of a fizzer! Sorry, could'nt help it!
Lol!
Yeah. I slept on this synth for sure, never really giving it much thought.
Its pretty cool.
Didn't you do the Fizmo already?
Lol nah..I mentioned it in the xl7/mp7 episode.
The FIZMO was actually dope it was a different synth the sound alone was incredible this was the type of synth was the type that you made " happy accidents" 😊 it was inspiring to make dope sounds on it I believe they achieved what they were looking for but should have been packaged different it did have its quirks but truly an amazing product I had 2 of them I wished I would have kept them the sound engine and sounds were extremely unique it introduced me to a different sound pallette that I didn't know existed
I feel you..I like the sound..It definitely stands out.
The Ensoniq Mirage taught me how to sample, but I always wanted a Fizmo. Creative destroyed Emu/Ensoniq ...It's a crying shame.
I feel you.
I will be buried with my ESQ-1!
Great stuff, as always!
Lol Thanks bro.
The student loans people ate my studio, back then I had two mirages, an asrx pro, a fixmo, a roland tr505 and a novation bass station, then those payments kicked in to pay off my education and all my hardware was replaced with sony acid.
Lol I feel you..People were making magic happen with Acid pro back then.
Man I'm sorry. I tried not to laugh but you are telling real life ish!!!!! I gave up a MPC 2k classic and EMU Planet Phatt to pay bills for school too. Sigh. But man I came back busting. Pawnshops were my friend got everything now lol.
I tried acid version 1.0 when it used to come with software in the early 2000s. It helped me chop coming from Scream Tracker from my Amiga. Dope man
Well today that would all be non-functioning junk taking up a storage unit lol. Nowadays my phone with koala sampler is a lot more powerful than those old school samplers.
🔥
Thanks!
What's unique about the fizmois it's the only machine That gives you the ability to tweak on the parameters in real time with transwaves
Yeah the transwave system is nice.
In stead of treats we get kicked
Lol
Yeah ensoniq could’ve killed protools with Paris. They could’ve killed the mpc with asr x and killed triton if they combined the esq and asr 10 but naaahhhh
blockbusta!!!
Lmao!!
Dude...I've never heard about this. Am I in a parallel universe?
Ensoniq was really pushing it when it came out..But it never really took off.
@@DyReckProductions Maybe more the US than the European market...like Cakewalk. Did not happen here till 2005 ;-)
lol fizmo more like gizmo
Lmao!
The Fizmo sound better than the ASR 10 but people want the gritty sound OF The ASR plus cats want 3k for the Fizmo
Yeah its like 3500 now.
Ensoniq should have continued to enhance the ESQ-1/SQ-80 line and added transwaves to them. At least customers would have had a frame of reference. The VFX/SDs were ok, but didn't have osc sync, pwm or resonant filters. Why don't companies check with me first? 🙄🙄🤣
Yup!
Funny but a very inaccurate representation of ENSONIQ and its employees as well as some of the design decisions regarding FIZMO.
Of course I added a little sauce lol..But I didn't just make up the issues or things about the manual or them being a young company at the time..I got the information from the guy that recruited Ensoniq for creative technology. Dave Rossum.
May Yahweh bless the King
Thanks bro!
In 84 the fairlight was 28,000$. In todays currency that is 78,000$ . I know so many people that cant even buy fruityloops lmao
Yup!