Ensoniq VFX

Dynamic Component Synthesizer (1989)

Following the SQ-80, The VFX introduced the famous Transwave wavetable synthesis like the PPG wave

Overview

OVERVIEW Keyboard: 61 keys with velocity and aftertouch . Pretty large display with no graphics, only text for whole edit.
Several buttons and two sliders for volume and data entry. On the left two wheels (assignable) mainly to pitch bending and modulation

RELATED MODELS:
- Ensoniq VFX SD same with sequencer and disk drive
- Ensoniq SD1 next version with sequencer, more effects and more wavetable

Terminal connectors:

- Midi Interface (6-7-8)

- main signal out (2-3)

- headphones out (1)

- pedal CV control (4)

- pedalswitch input (5)

Sound

OSCILLATORS 21 voices polyphonic machine .
A standard patch is composed by up to six Voices, each of which uses a digital oscillator playing one of 16-bit resolution 109 waves - up to three Programs can be combined into a performance Preset. The wavetable is organized in various instruments family: String, Brass, Bass, Breath, Tuned Percussion, Percussion, Transwave, Waveform, Inharmonic and Multiwave.

TRANSWAVE VFX are very famous for this special waves that can be played from any starting point , moving through the wavetable as the note is held — the waveform is changing progressively between many small waveforms (100) and the result is that you can create complex texture and variations. The VFX contains 17 transwave "waves" to play with.

ENVELOPE 3 EG first is hardwired to pitch modulation, the second to the filter and the third to amplitude.

LFO a single modulator LFO (7 shapes) and spacial matrix modulation with up to
-15 sources: pressure, velocity, mod wheel, pitch wheel, pedal, envelope 1, envelope 2, wheel and pressure, velocity and pressure, random (noise), LFO, keyboard, timbre (data slider), mixer/shaper (2 modulators blended together with user-definable blend ratio and contour) and external MIDI Controller
- Destinations: wave start point, pitch, filter 1 cutoff, filter 2 cutoff, LFO rate, LFO level, output volume, panning, Transwave read index, effects mix.

Effect, filter and memory

FILTER two digital filters in series:

- Filter 1 can be used as a 2- or 3-pole lowpass filter

- Filter 2 as a 1- and 2-pole hipass or lowpass filter - in combination also as a bandpass.

EFFECTS 15 full-editable algorithms including: Large Hall Reverb, Small Hall Reverb, Room Reverb 1 and 2, Dynamic Reverb, 8-voice Chorus, Chorus and Reverb 1 - 2, Flanger and Reverb 1 and 2, Delay and Reverb 1 and 2, Flanger and Delay and Reverb 1 and 2, LESLIE Speaker and Delay

MEMORY Patches RAM: 60 + Patches ROM: 60

Multipatches RAM: 20 + Multipatches ROM: 20