Vintage Synth Explorer

Ensoniq • Mirage (DSK8, DSK1)

The Mirage preceded the revolutionary EPS and EPS-16+ sampler workstations in the Ensoniq line-up. Historically, the Mirage was one of the earliest affordable sampler synths, originally listing under $1,700. There have been multiple versions of the Mirage too, the DSK8 and the most common and popular known as the Mirage DSK1. Its sampling specs are pretty old-school, a maximum sampling-rate of 32kHz and 8-bit resolution means your sounds will be somewhat lo-fi. The limited 8 notes of polyphony and incredibly tiny amount of storage (128 kb) almost make you want to hide the Mirage in your closet. Even the sample editing is done via hex-code which is not a simple to concept to master. Most users will just load-in sounds from the Mirage's extensive sample library. Get samples for your Mirage here!

However the Mirage has one leftover from older synthesizers that has kept it popular through the years. It has analog filters! Five-stage envelopes for the VCA and VCF, a nice LFO and a low-pass VCF filter with keyboard tracking. There's also a sequencer (333 notes max) that is limited to say the least but is better than nothing.

Most people searching for a classic sampler/synth would look towards the EPS and EPS-16+ from Ensoniq. After all, their specs, design and quality are superior. However, there is a certain amount of nostalgia concerned with the Mirage. It has been used by Skinny Puppy, Vangelis, Jimmy Edgar, and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Those of you who collect will love having a Mirage around, but for practical music production you would be better off getting an old Akai sampler.

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Posting Rules: Please keep your comments relevant! Do not post requests for help, do not use for sales, do not post unless you have something interesting to say about this instrument, or we may delete your post.

 

Francis

Posted 190 days ago

A nice board, but ended up selling because it is VERY heavy and I found I could get most of the sounds I wanted using other hardware/software.

madsci

Posted 215 days ago

This sampler is terse, complex but ultimately wonderful. It is capable of producing lush and lofi atmospherics, crunchy drum sounds and fanstastic strings. Also used by www.thescienti.st

DarkSound

Posted 328 days ago

"...there is a certain amount of nostalgia concerned with the Mirage."

For me it is the factory sound disks. The drum samples from the 1985 (c) and 1986(c) disks are still pretty intense compared to what you would get these days (thankfully Ensoniq weren't thinking hip-hop).

c g gross

Posted 351 days ago

I should add that I agree with the article about the difficulties of using the hexadecimal controls, but luckily it's now possible to edit your samples on a computer and download them into the Mirage via MIDI-- you can also upload them and store them on your computer. There was also a Commodore Amiga program that seemed to be a bit ahead of the other platforms in that you could use it to convert Mirage samples to the Amiga .IFF format and back again.

c g gross

Posted 351 days ago

The Mirage has spawned a whole cottage industry dedicated to related software and samples; you can buy spare parts and sample disks online, and there is a Yahoo group for keeping Mirage owners in touch with each other. My second-hand Mirage has definitely seen better days, and I'm grateful for all the online support that has helped me to fix it up, keep it running well, and interface it with my computers.

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com /group/Mirage-Net/

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