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Tips
& Tricks
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The
Difference between ASR-X Model Types From
an unsolicited email received in December
2000... <<
My question for you is what is the exact difference
between the ASR-X pro and ASR-X pro turbo models.
More outs, expansion boards, more ram? I have no
idea what the diff is but it sure seems you know
your stuff so i thought i would ask you. Can you
tell the diff between the two models without
cracking it open? Also can you tell how much ram
the ASR-X pro has without cracking it open. Sorry
for all the questions but i have to ask.
>> ..to
which I replied: You
can differentiate the two ASR-X models simply by
color - the original ASR-X is the black model; The
ASR-X Pro is the red model. The 'red' X has a set
of ten 'Essentials' buttons that the 'black' X does
not. The Essentials buttons are used to quickly
assign & select RAM, or ROM sounds, to a Track.
Ensoniq never got around to updating the operating
system so the buttons can be used for direct
numeric entry. This is a pet peeve of mine but not
a big deal. The
'red' X came with the SCSI expansion pre installed
where as it was optional for the 'black' X. This is
not an off the shelf SCSI adapter such as an
Adaptec model that you might install in a Mac or
PC. It is specific to the ASR-X samplers. If you're
planning on using SMDI transfers between Mac &
ASR-X or PC & ASR-X you need the SCSI
expansion. Also, if you're going to work with
_lots_ of samples then you'll need a Zip Disk or
Hard Drive to save to. 3.5" diskettes just aren't
practical for mass storage. If you don't buy an
ASR-X Pro and you wait for a deal on a 'black' X
make certain to get one with the SCSI expansion
card. The
'red' X has twice the memory capacity of the
'black' X. Both units come with 2 MB of RAM factory
installed. The 'black' X can be expanded to a
maximum of 34 MB RAM (32 MB SIMM + 2 MB factory =
34 MB); The 'red' X can be expanded to a maximum of
66 MB RAM ( 2 x 32 MB SIMMs + 2 MB factory = 66
MB.) The 'red' X can be picky when it comes to
installing matched SIMMs. If that gives you a
problem, the best advice I can give is to take the
machine to the computer store with you and try out
match pairs of SIMMs pair by pair. That said, there
are plenty of 'red' X users who never had a problem
- myself included. The
'red' X has an added DSP feature that the 'black' X
does not: Stomper! This is a freeware (maybe
shareware?) program written for PC by 'Zap'
Anderson and can be had on the 'net at
http://www.master-zap.com/
It's useful to synthesize artificial, techno drum
sounds, hits, bleeps, brapps, etc. Think "mutant
Korg ER-1 sounds" and you've got the
idea. Both
the 'black' X and 'red' X were equipped with 2 MB
factory ROMs of cool, dance/techno/hip hop preset
sounds. I'm told the 'red' X had more presets than
the 'black' X. How many more, I do not know and
this is of little consequence, IMO: 90% of the
presets are good & 10% are not good and we
might not agree on which % is which ;-) The
OS on the 'black' X could be upgraded by swapping
out an EPROM chip supplied by Ensoniq (now
E-mu<>Ensoniq); The OS on the 'red' X was
stored in FlashROM and could be upgraded by
downloading the latest version from the E<>E
web site. The last version for the 'black' X is
v2.67. The latest version for the 'red' X is v3.04.
Unfortunately, the OS v4.x update for the ASR-X Pro
(announced nearly two years ago at the Winter NAMM
exhibit) never materialized. *sigh* It appears to
have fallen victim to the cooperate merger of E-mu
and Ensoniq and they say they don't have the
resources, i.e., programmers, to finish
it. The
8x Output Expander (EX-8 I think it was called) is
optional for _all_ ASR-X models, i.e., it wasn't
available as a factory installed option. I don't
miss not having it but by the same token if I come
across a 2nd hand deal on the 8x Output Expander
I'll probably buy it. You may feel differently. BTW
- while the extra outputs are assignable you cannot
route sounds through the internal FX and then to
the 8 extra outputs - they are 'direct' outs
only. Now
then, the Turbo models - all of the above applies
equally to the ASR-X, ASR-X Pro and the respective
Turbo Models of each. The Turbo models of the
ASR-X/X-Pro came with the EXP-3 Urban Dance board
pre installed. Some of the Guitar Center retail
stores ran a promotion where they gave away a 16 MB
SIMM and an EX-8 output expander when you purchased
an ASR-X Pro but this is not to be confused with
the Turbo models. Kind of silly, huh? Anyway...I've
not played with the Urban Dance board much - a
friend of mine has one - but from what I've heard
the drums are excellent and it adds more variety on
top of the already terrific preset sounds in
ROM. Typically,
the factory supplied Turbo models came with a
sticker affixed to the front, top right-hand corner
that said something along the lines of 'Expanded'
or 'Turbo' - I don't recall which. I bought a 2nd
hand EXP-1 Real World board and installed it myself
so, obviously, there is no way to tell from a
glance of my ASR-X Pro that it is now a "pseudo
Turbo" model. BTW - the Real World board sounds
EXCELLENT! Well worth the money I spent. Here's
how you can identify an Expansion Board has been
installed. Follow these instructions from the ASR-X
front panel: If
the EXP-1 board is installed it will say:
'MemoryManager: Exp Name:World:EXP-1'; If no EXP
board is installed you won't have gotten this far
;-) I'm told the EXP-4 Perfect Piano board can be
installed in the ASR-X samplers but that the memory
mapping is different - so much so that a third(!)
of the sounds on the board are
unusable/inaccessible. Too bad, really. While
you're in Memory Manager you can check to tell how
much RAM is installed. The
number of bytes in the above examples equals the
maximum amount of installed RAM allowed in the
'red' X: 66 MB. The approximate 512k Sequencer RAM
is more than sufficient too. Hope
this covers all your questions. Let me know if
there's anything more I can do to help.
On a
related note, it bears repeating that the ASR-X is
not a table top version of the popular
Ensoniq ASR-10 keyboard or rackmount module. If
you'd like to know more about the difference
between the ASR-10 and the ASR-X models check out
this table
at the ASR-X Knowledge Base. |
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