|
The EPS (Ensoniq Performance Sampler) was one of the first few affordable samplers on the market. It was manufactured from 1988 to 1991 by Ensoniq in Malvern, Pennsylvania, USA. The EPS was a 13 bit sampler. The EPS had a straightforward interface that was easy to use, with configurable controls geared for live performance. Because it had two processors, it could load and play up to eight instruments simultaneously (with another eight on reserve). The display was a 22 character single line vacuum fluorescent display. It booted from an integrated floppy disk drive (sourced from Sony or Matsushita), or from a SCSI drive connected to the expansion bay. The EPS came with 256 Kwords of RAM on board. Ensoniq offered both a 2x (512Kword) Memory Expander and a 4x (1Mword) Memory Expander with SCSI interface. A company called Maartists offered both 4x and 8x memory expanders, allowing a total of 2Mwords RAM. Extra RAM allowed for longer and higher quality samples. The "2x" expander contained three 4x256Kbit and one 1x256Kbit chips, for a total of 13x256Kbits in addition to the onboard memory. The EPS was unusual in having a 13-bit sample memory wordlength, left-justified into the most significant bits of a 16-bit word. The EPS used double-sided double-density 3.5" disks, formatted to 800k with ten 512-byte sectors per track. It could also read (but not write) Ensoniq Mirage sample disks. The EPS uses MIDI and can be used as a controller of other instruments, or linked to a PC or Macintosh. The EPS was eventually superseded by the EPS 16+ which upgraded the sample-size to 16-bits and added a 24-bit effects system. Other improvements included CD-ROM support in the optional SCSI interface and FlashBank storage for the OS and favourite sounds. The EPS and EPS 16+ were both succeeded by the Ensoniq ASR-10 which was able to read EPS samples and disks. ==Construction== The keyboard is of thick plastic construction of a dark gray color with 61 weighted keys. There are assignable pitch, modulation wheels, and two patch select buttons. The interior of the unit is accessed by removing four hex screws under the front of the keyboard and swinging open the rear-hinged control panel. The whole unit was configurable through a custom operating system (latest version was 2.49 for the EPS and 1.30 for the EPS 16plus). After the system boots from the floppy drive, it flashes a "Tuning Keyboard - Hands Off" message while it calibrates its polyphonic after-touch keyboard. The 16plus was capable of storing the OS in the optional FlashBank, which removed the need for a bootdisk. An optional Output Expander module allowed you to access eight discrete mono outputs on the machine, allowing you to separately mix levels and effects for each loaded sample. The key limitations of the EPS were its proprietary disk format, and later a lack of support from Creative Technology, the current owner of Ensoniq. A 19" rack-mount version of both machines were also available in limited numbers. This model was superseded by the Ensoniq EPS-16+, released in 1991. The EPS-16+ was very similar to the EPS. Its main addition was integrated DSP effects and stereo audio routing. Due to the upgrade to 16-bit audio, the Output Expander on the 16plus was different, instead providing three pairs of stereo outputs, two from before the new effects chip. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ensoniq EPS」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|