Product Description
Ensoniq TS-12 Performance Composition Synthesizer
Includes power cord
About This Keyboard
I really hate to part with this keyboard. This TS-12 is in very good condition and comes with everything pictured which includes the power cord. Cosmetically it looks as should be expected for a used keyboard with some scratches and scuffs here and there. Every button and slider works just as they should and all of the keys play properly. It's very heavy so shipping is somewhat high.
The Ensoniq TS-12
The TS series workstations introduced in 1993 were the culmination of the line that started with the ESQ-1and progressed through the SQ-80, VFX, VFX-SD,SD-1, and SD-1/32. The resulting TS contained the most advanced feature set, most powerful sequencer and sound engine, and provided high quality sound and powerful effects processing.
The TS series consists of two models: The TS-10 with a 61-note synth action keyboard with velocity and polyphonic aftertouch, and the TS-12 which is virtually the same instrument, but it has 76-note hammer action keyboard with a channel aftertouch feature from Fatar. No rack-module version was produced.
The synthesizer section has 32 voices of polyphony (12 MIDI tracks of multitimbrality). It uses a ROM bank with 6 MB of samples from various acoustic instruments, synth waves, percussion and sound effects. A single patch is called a "Sound" and can be made from combining up to six waves. Each "Sound" can have up to four variations which are selected via two "Patch Selector Buttons" above the Pitch-bend and Modulation wheels. A performance patch, called a "Preset" can be made from up to three "Sounds" with independent settings for each "Sound". Arranged by banks are 120 user "Sounds" and 120 user "Preset" performance patches plus 180 preset "Sounds" and 180 preset "Preset" performance patches. There is also one bank for 10 sampled sounds which can be doubled if the RAM is expanded. The General MIDI sound set is also available in the TS.
The TS-10/12 makes use of the following four types of synthesis technologies:
Wavetable synthesis with the following parameters for each tone: Three envelopes, two multistage filters (unfortunately without resonance), an LFO with settings for tone pitch, output, panning, delay, multisample shift + modulation matrix, and more.
Transwave: Similar to Wavetable synthesis, this technology allows real time changes to the tonal timbrality. The Transwave consists of 128 single cycle waves, each of which is part of the original (highly processed) sample. The loop start and end points can be modulated in real time by various sources like the LFO, envelope generators, modulation wheel, etc. The TS series synthesizers ROM includes eight types of Transwaves (far fewer than the SD-1 had, unfortunately) and new ones can be created as a sample and imported into RAM.
Hyperwave technology is a kind of wave sequencing similar to that used by the Korg Wavestation. The wave list can contain up to 16 steps and allows you to create impressive textures or rhythmic patterns.
Sampling: The TS series instruments can load samples from compatible Ensoniq samplers (EPS, EPS 16+ and ASR-10/88) into its RAM via 3.5" floppy disks or the optional SP-4 SCSI interface. Sample editing is very similar to the EPS/ASR systems.
