20th Anniversary coming up of the VFX
2008-11-14 by johnrwhitesel
Was looking through some of my old Transonic Hacker magazines with them talking about the secret preview of the VFX at the 1989 Winter NAMM Show.. Wow...has it been 20 years already? Time flys....and the Keyboard still holds it's own up against almost anything out there. Been using VFX, VFXSD's and SD-1s since they all came out, would never go on stage without one. I've got a few great banks of Hammond Organ programs I'll share when I get the time that I made when I sat down with my B-3 and M-100 and tried to match the sound to some favorite Drawbar settings. I actually like the sound of the VFX settings better than my Hammond organs sometimes...(I'm sure Hammond purists are cringing at that one...but hey...I own 5 Hammonds.....and I can get some amazing organ sounds out of my VFXsd and SD-1).... I know it's sure a lot lighter than a PortaB!!! Here's the mention of the VFX I transcribed from Transhacker #45 for your reading enjoyment.............. Enjoy and Happy 20th VFX!! A Hackerpeak at Ensoniq's New Synth - The VFX By four who should know Ensoniq's got a new synth that's about to be released - and it's a monster. Several of our favorite contributors were lucky enough to be invited to a recent "pre-release" viewing. What follows is their first impressions. VFX Sneak Preview by Craig Anderton, Electronic Musician Magazine One of the trends at the 1989 Winter NAMM show was the re-emergence of the upscale synthesizer. The market for synths has become more and more crowded in the $2000-and-under price point, so several manufacturers decided it was time to put back in some of the bells and whistles, and price their units accordingly. Ensoniq's contribution to this trend is the VFX. Apparently, the VLSI manufacturing process was not quite perfected in time for NAMM and there were a few crackles and pops that made Ensoniq skittish about showing the VFX. (not to worry; in the semiconductor biz, process problems are relatively easy to track down and fix.) Frankly, I'm not sure they needed to worry all that much; at a recent sneak preview the VFX sounded huge, with a degree of "motion" to the sound that we're just not used to expecting from a wavetable synthesizer. The secret ingredient is the ability to modify the sampled waveform itself in real time, in a manner reminiscent of how changing the pulse width on analog synthesizers adds animations to the sound, An alternate point of reference is the EPS, which by letting you modulate the loops start point, can also provide some pretty innovative effects (try "swelling" brass patches by moving the loop start closer to the beginning of the waveform; the effect is far more impressive than using a filter). In many ways, the VFX sounds like the ultimate analog synth -- fat, animated, and rich, but with the statability of digital technology. Of course, Ensoniq isn't the only company trying to overcome the static nature of wavetable synthesis or sampling, but it looks like they'll be the first to get a product that addresses this problem to the market. And, as you might expect, there's the usual easy-to-understand user interface and polyphonic aftertouch. A First Impression By Jim Johnson, JAMOS Music At a recent sneak preview, I had the good fortune to be one of the few people to get a glimpse of a prototype of Ensoniq's new synthesizer, the VFX. The best way to describe this instrument is that it is to the ESQ-1 as the EPS is to the Mirage - sort of, Most important it's a true synthesizer, not just a sample player or workstation, like so many other instruments these days. The most impressive feature, in my view, is the inclusion of the "transwaves," which are waves whose shapes can be modulated by any modulator in the instrument. Ensoniq compares this to the old PPG synthesizers, because the method used to generate them is similar to that used in those German wonders, but when I heard it, it was more reminiscent of some of the exotic waveshaping available in certain modular synthesizers. Dynamic waveshaping is probably the most serious casualty of the current trend towards sample-playing instruments; I'm glad Ensoniq decided to include it here. Another big plus is the inclusion of two multi-mode digital filters on each oscillator, which should allow for the creation of plenty of spectacular and/or subtle filtering effects. Alas, the filters don't have the variable resonance, but that is my sole complaint about the instrument - and that's saying a lot! Ensoniq has also added some unusual modulation features in this instrument which are way ahead of anything found on any other digital synths these days. While there is only one LFO per voice, the envelopes can be made to act as complex LFO's by setting them to loops: and the modulation processor (which I believe Ensoniq is calling a "source mixer") is going to be a gas to play with, I've said it before, and I'll say it again - modulation is the most important element in any synthesizer, and Ensoniq seems to have recognized this. And yes, they really have improved the poly-pressure keyboard; it doesn't click at all. and still feels nice and stiff. My overall impression: I'm dying to get my hands on the VFX got some serious programming and playing. Is there life in Silicon? by Bill Lewis, MCS Magazine You Bet! and like the food chain, it's generational AND evolutionary. DOC gave birth to the Mirage, who begot the ESQ (and its cousin, the Apple IIgs), giving life to DOC II and now its evolutionary sibling, DOC II 2. Well, that's not exactly what Ensoniq is calling the grey matter in their new synthesizer, the VFX, but that's what it is. (actually, it's called "OTIS") This derivative VLSI wonder from Malveerb is really twins - hence the FX in the name. FX is silicon signal processing on a single chip called the "ESP" chip) that interacts with the new DOC II (OTIS), opening up a world of on-board, interactive, dynamic signal processing as part of the patch structure for this next generation of Ensoniq synthesizer. In a preliminary and somewhat clandestine showing of the VFX, I was quite impressed with two things - what they left out (there's no disk drive and no sequencer on this child) and its sound. In the past, Ensoniq has occasionally taken it on the chin for the "fidelity", but they've always more than made up for it in integration. The VFX addresses sonics and synthesis as its prime directive, The prototype unit we were privy to did not have its DSP processor implemented, but it sounded wonderful anyway. This was likely due to the wave sources and their origin, not to mention the synthesis structure. The VFX will hold special appeal to those deeply into programming, Naturally, my impressions are garnered from a controlled situation. I therefore reserve final judgement with DSP is a integral dynamic part of a unit I can "beat on" in the uncontrolled environment of my studio and a Saturday night at the local bistro. However, first impressions due tend to be lasting. By the way, have you any idea how tough it is to name a new synthesizer? For the First Time By Sam Mims III, Gig Magazine For the first time, a synth will be available with dynamic waveform modulation and that's the big news about the VFX. The Prophet VS took a stab at it a few years ago by providing four oscillators per voice and giving the user a joystick or a modulator to control the mix of these. (This is easily accomplished on the ES-1 and the SQ-80 with three oscillators.) But these oscillators are static, providing the same waveform, only the mix has changed, The VFX, however, is the first synth ever to offer oscillators with which the actual waveform can be modulated and the sound is fabulously alive, ever changing with complexities of natural sound or of new dynamic synthesized soundscapes. The keyboard itself is an improvement over the EPS/SQ-80; it has all the good features but no clicking - and it feels very good. There is no disk drive but sounds can be stored on EEPROMs, on tape or on SysEx dumps. I can live with that, and I don't even miss the "standard" sequencer. This synth was built for soundand it does the job extremely well. In fact, I heard the VFX before the multiple digital effects software was implemented. Even completely dry, D-50 type sounds were beautifully ambient. With fully programmable mutiple effects there will be no stopping it, Here is a new breed of synthesizer and it's sure to be a champion.