Newsgroups: rec.music.synth

In rec.music.synth, hcpark@owlnet.rice.edu (Howard C Park) writes:

    What do people think about the "worskstation" format?  Is having everything in
    one package a blessing or a curse?  Do the "components" not measure up to
    modular units?

If it's any good, or has any unusual features, I like having a sequencer in
my keyboards.  I use an Atari for my main sequencing, but still find uses
for the built-in sequencer, for scratchpads, portability, and oddball
applications like running multiple sequences with no sync (Phase music,
anyone?).   And if the sequencer is, um, facile enough, I'll often do my
initial blue-sky sequencing with the onboard sequencer and then transfer
it to the computer, because I like the immediacy of having the sequencer
in the same spot as the keyboard (and I don't like using up keys on the 
keyboard for sequencer control).

I also like having effects built into my keyboards.  I use effects tightly
coupled to the sounds, as well as more "global" effects.  However, if
something is going to be sacrificed in order to cram more features into the
box, I'd just as soon they didn't.  I don't remember the details of the W30,
I sort of dismissed it years back, but as I recall through this dark veil of
dying neurons, some major compromises were made in its design.

    Why is the Ensoniq EPS more popular?  More bang/buck?  

Probably, especially in the U.S.

    Support? 
    
This is disputable both ways.  Some folks have had great/terrible experiences
with both manufacturer's support.  I've had good luck with Roland, worse
with Ensoniq, but many have had just the opposite experience.

    Distribution
    and/or marketing?  In the last year or so, whenever I've asked about a Korg or
    Roland keyboard in the music stores, the salesman directed my attention to an
    Ensoniq before he showed me anything else.  Is there some salesman bias
    involved?

I haven't experienced this.  In fact, it's easier to find Roland dealers than
Ensoniq dealers around here.

One big one for me is the user interfaces.  I think that Ensoniq has really
mastered effective user-interface design.  Roland interfaces, on the other
hand, tend to be arbitrary, overly complex, and difficult to navigate.
(There are exceptions to this, especially the non-menued Roland machines, like
the Junos et al.)

    When was the last W30 transaction on the net?  Why so few?  Is it something
    that people don't know about?  Don't want to know about?   Just one of those
    pieces of equipment that sits in someone's studio and never gets sold/bought
    again?

Lower your price enough and it'll sell.  I don't know how low you'd need to
go, but certainly lower than the basic EPS16+.  Maybe you should post more
information about the W30.  How much memory?  Is the W30's memory easily
expandable?  How are the effects?  How many bits sampling?  How many outputs?
Are the outputs expandable?   Is there a SCSI interface?  What are the
sequencer's capabilities?  How many voices of polyphony?  How many channels
multitimbral?  Any master controller capabilities?  What sample rates are
available?  How noisy is it? etc.

    Any comments will be appreciated.

I hope this helps a bit.

    hcpark@rice.edu


    PS - I'd still like to entertain the idea of selling this thing.  Better than
    selling off my kidneys to pay for school.  Any takers?

I'll give you $20 for the kidneys.  
With some fava beans and a nice chablis, hmm...

Hey now everybody now,                     Jim Smith
Hey now everybody,                         smithj@hpsad.sad.hp.com
Hey now everybody, now.  -- They Might Be Giants

Newsgroups: rec.music.synth