jimstopa
This is really nice to see so many responses when it comes to how lovely this old Ensonic stuff is.
Myself I'm owning 2 SD1's, an SD1-32, an EPS16+ keyboard version and 2 EPS 16+ racks.
A vanilla VFX and an EPS keyboard I've given away to my sons for band use and another one or two
Ensoniqs I've sold.
The best acquisition I made and the easiest repair at the same time was an SD1 which the owner had
recently bought and wanted to part of because no sound was coming out.
I got it very cheap and when I received it I found it in the best condition of all I ever had in hands. The
owner simply wasn't aware that a synth like this doesn't have speakers like other keyboards.
When I get a VFX or SD, I do the keyboard fix if necessary, clean the thing out of dust and corrosion at the
connectors, in two cases I had to replace the battery. The only more serious problem was a blown transistor
in the analog section of an SD1.
All of the babies work like a charm and I love the sounds.
Hans
Claus schrieb:
I have had my VFX-SD1 (21 Voice) since 1990. The only issue I EVER came across, was the infamous keybord problem. Back in the beginning of the 90's I played with two other guys.
Among the songs were "Hungry Heart". I will always remember how that song got 'blasted' at a gig, when the problem started to show: It sounded like totally randomly hitting keys, and the
song sound, well, not soooo good :D Repair was needed and it has been working ever since, which is ~16 years.
The battery is still(!) the original, so 20(!) years now, which I find extremely incredible. No signs of leaking or going bad anytime soon :)
At another gig with a female singer, a coin was laid on the top of the VFX-SD1. When, at the end of the gig, a sound like canons (yes, real canons!), came out of the loudspeakers. I touched the heatsink
and the best way to describe the tempeature would be something like the suns surface. I switched it off, and played tambourine for the rest of the gig. When I came home, I opened up the beast, and to my
(still today) BIG surprise, a coin was stuck on the mainboard. The VFX-SD1 had litterally been shortcircuited by that coin, hence the canon-sounds. I took the coin out, powered the thing up,
and behold, NO PROBLEMS AT ALL!
Besides all that, it has been dropped while playing, it has been falling out of a truck at ~40 miles/h from 3 meters hight etc. etc..
Needless to say: I want to be burried with my VFX-SD1. That thing can take EVERYTHING!!
Claus, DK
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Hans ArtmannFlüggenstr. 1080639 MünchenTel +49 89 17095720Fax +49 89 17095722Mob +49 151 17413090