Ensoniq SQ-80

[Eddy Deegan]

I went to a car boot sale this morning with a friend, as I was after a cheap 'n cheerful electric guitar to have a little fun with and he's a regular there.

Within 2 minutes of getting there my mate swooped into a pile of stuff someone was unloading from a van, pointed at a nondescript-looking keyboard leaning up against the wall and asked how much.

The chap shrugged..."tenner?"

The deal was done there and then. It was an Ensoniq SQ-80 ... rather a nice sounding thing. Digital but with analogue resonant filters and polyphonic aftertouch for a tenner. Not a bad find I thought!

[muzines]

Score!

I remember the days of shoddy music shops with little cheap synth gems that no one wanted tucked away in the back somewhere.

Sadly, with the internet and vintage frenzy (and the death of retail) those days are loooong gone...

The ESQ1 was well regarded as a quite flexible and good sounding mid-range synth back in the day, and the SQ80 is basically just a slightly upgraded ESQ1. Should be able to make some useful noise...

[BillB]

I won't swear on a forum so... Oh, goodness! What a nice find!

Yes, it's a fab synth and one of my favourites. And before any idiot turns up carping about clacky keys, two things: Poly Pressure; and how do you record your synths anyway - with a microphone pointing at the keyboard?

[BillB]

Incidentally, if you / your friend want any info on the SQ80, I have gathered most of what there is on the internet and happy to share. See, I'm not bitter.

[Eddy Deegan]

I shall pass the message on and I now know who to ping if there are any questions. Thank you

[nathanscribe]

TEN QUID

*lies down*

Nice grab, good to know there are still bargains to be found. Even if it does mean getting up early!

[forumuser737199]

Great score that. I have an ESQ-1 and think it sounds excellent. The SQ-80 is even better!

[BJG145]

I remember the days of shoddy music shops with little cheap synth gems that no one wanted tucked away in the back somewhere. The ESQ1 was well regarded as a quite flexible and good sounding mid-range synth back in the day.

My synth addiction started with a £50 ESQ1 in Cash Converters. Ensoniqs are lovely machines.

[Tomás Mulcahy]

Great synth, fabulous bargain. Lovely user interface and nothing else sounds quite like it. I am jealous. I have a broken ESQ-1 here. It was free, but so far my time has not been successful. There is no service manual, although some clever people put together a schematic and the common problems are well documented on the SQ80 email list run by Rainer Buchty.

[Folderol]

Great synth, fabulous bargain. Lovely user interface and nothing else sounds quite like it. I am jealous. I have a broken ESQ-1 here. It was free, but so far my time has not been successful. There is no service manual, although some clever people put together a schematic and the common problems are well documented on the SQ80 email list run by Rainer Buchty.

Just how broken?

[zenguitar]

Nice grab, good to know there are still bargains to be found. Even if it does mean getting up early!

There's always the option of having a very long lie in the day before and then staying up ll night to get there very early

Andy

[BillB]

Nice grab, good to know there are still bargains to be found. Even if it does mean getting up early!

There's always the option of having a very long lie in the day before and then staying up ll night to get there very early

Andy

Spoken like a true music professional.

[nathanscribe]

Nice grab, good to know there are still bargains to be found. Even if it does mean getting up early!

There's always the option of having a very long lie in the day before and then staying up ll night to get there very early

Andy

Spoken like a true music professional.

[Arpangel]

If I’d had found this I would be going crazy, especially for £10!
The string sounds, which are some of the best on any synth, are worth having on their own, that was a great find, and I’m extremely jealous.

[Frankee]

Does the SQ80 require a battery to operate as a midi keyboard when recording and using PC Recording software on midi tracks?

[BJG145]

That's an odd first post on a four-year old thread. But in a nutshell, if an SQ-80s batt is knacked, it needs fixing.

[BillB]

Hi Frankie, welcome to the SOS forum.

The SQ80 is a bit of a solid metal beast from the 80s, strictly mains powered via an IEC lead. The only battery involved is a 3.3v lithium (from memory - I could check if it’s important to you). This is needed to retain sounds and sequences in RAM when the SQ80 is turned off. Connection to a PC is strictly MIDI 5-pin DIN- in, out, thru. So you will need some kind of MIDI to USB, or similar interface, to get note data between the SQ80 and the PC.

Hope that helps - feel free to ask more questions. I have one and like it very much. Possibly Eddy still has his, and he knows a thing or two about synths and stuff (or so it is rumoured).

[BJG145]

The battery's soldered in, of course, so not an easy swap...



...but I expect the answer is that it would work OK for MIDI. Can't guarantee it though, as old synths can start to act up in unpredictable ways when the battery fails. (Especially if it leaks.)

Welcome to the forum. I always grumble when people bump old threads, even though I do it myself...

[ajay_m]

You replace soldered in batteries with a CR2032 coin cell holder when it's time to replace them. After that obviously subsequent battery replacement is trivial and the batteries are ubiquitous. Just put a drop of epoxy to bond the holder to the PCB.

[ken long]

Does the SQ80 require a battery to operate as a midi keyboard when recording and using PC Recording software on midi tracks?

No it doesn't.

[ken long]

You replace soldered in batteries with a CR2032 coin cell holder when it's time to replace them. After that obviously subsequent battery replacement is trivial and the batteries are ubiquitous. Just put a drop of epoxy to bond the holder to the PCB.

nice tip!

[BigRedX]

Does the SQ80 require a battery to operate as a midi keyboard when recording and using PC Recording software on midi tracks?

No it doesn't.

That's an improvement over it's predecessor the ESQ1, which once the backup battery had died would produce an error message on power-up and no MIDI output until the battery was replaced.

[ken long]

Does the SQ80 require a battery to operate as a midi keyboard when recording and using PC Recording software on midi tracks?

No it doesn't.

That's an improvement over it's predecessor the ESQ1, which once the backup battery had died would produce an error message on power-up and no MIDI output until the battery was replaced.

Not quite. I've got a dead battery on my ESQ-1 that I just haven't gotten round to replacing. MIDI I/O works fine.

[BigRedX]

Does the SQ80 require a battery to operate as a midi keyboard when recording and using PC Recording software on midi tracks?

No it doesn't.

That's an improvement over it's predecessor the ESQ1, which once the backup battery had died would produce an error message on power-up and no MIDI output until the battery was replaced.

Not quite. I've got a dead battery on my ESQ-1 that I just haven't gotten round to replacing. MIDI I/O works fine.

Weird. Mine wouldn't do anything until I replaced the battery.

[ken long]

Does the SQ80 require a battery to operate as a midi keyboard when recording and using PC Recording software on midi tracks?

No it doesn't.

That's an improvement over it's predecessor the ESQ1, which once the backup battery had died would produce an error message on power-up and no MIDI output until the battery was replaced.

Not quite. I've got a dead battery on my ESQ-1 that I just haven't gotten round to replacing. MIDI I/O works fine.

Weird. Mine wouldn't do anything until I replaced the battery.

Without hijacking the thread, did you lose some soft key functionality while the battery was down?