Ensoniq Mirage
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The Ensoniq Corporation's Mirage was an 8-bit sampler introduced in 1985. Priced below $2000 with features previously only found on more expensive samplers like the Fairlight CMI, it became a best seller.
The Mirage featured a 5 octave velocity sensitive keyboard, a two led display, extensive MIDI implementation and a 333 note sequencer. It included a built-in 3.5 inch floppy drive, which was used to boot the operating system as well as store samples and sequences. Each disk had a copy of the operating system and could be used as a boot disk, obviating the need for a separate boot disk. Each disk stored upto eight sequences.
Using a feature called multi-sampling, the Mirage was capable of assigning multiple samples to different keys across its keyboard. Using this technique, the Mirage essentially turned into a polyphonic mult-timbral midi sound module complete with a velocity sensitive keyboard that could be used to drive other midi sound modules as well its own sound engine.
The Mirage was the brain child of Bob Yannes, the man responsible for the SID (sound interface device) of the Commodore 64.
In 1988, Ensoniq followed the Mirage up with the more advanced EPS (Ensoniq Performance Sampler), and later the EPS-16+.
External links
- Photo, history and info on VintageSynth.com (http://www.vintagesynth.org/ensoniq/ens_mirage.shtml)
- Encyclopedic Site Devoted to the Mirage (http://sustenance.va.com.au/d/mirage.html)de:Ensoniq Mirage
The Mirage sampler has become a minor sought after item due to its low bitrate convertors, being somewhat second place in the quest for Akai MPC60's and S900's due to its complex programming system which is based on HEX coding. Despite this, many industrial producers have championed the Mirage for its abrasive sound qualities.