Vintage Synth Explorer

Ensoniq • Fizmo

The Fizmo is a 48-voice synthesizer which uses 2nd-generation Transwave technology to create very organic sounds unlike any other synth available. Every programming function has its own dedicated knob or button, and there is a limited but useful 4-character LCD display. The Fizmo features an Arpeggiator and 24-bit VLSI effects with 41 algorithms, including a Vocoder and the ability to process incoming audio through the Vocoder and effects.

Transwave synthesis uses wavetables of sound data with layered variations in harmonic structures such that their timbres progress naturally from one end to the other. This allows for sounds to modulate over time, or by velocity, wheel, pressure, or any number of other options.

There are 2 oscillators available for each of the 4 presets allowing for 8 unique oscillators at the same time, not to mention individual LFO and Noise generators for each Osc. Another wonderful feature is the ability to stack up to four individual presets together into one sound and map them across the keyboard. This synth is very capable of some very complex sounds.

The built-in Arpeggiator has 118 presets which can be easily edited to your liking, and 26 real-time control/editing knobs make mutating your sound a pleasure. All controls may be recorded in real-time to an external sequencer. There are current operating systems and patches available over the internet from Emu/Ensoniq's Web site.

The Fizmo Rack is 5U rack-mount version of the Fizmo with more patches. The Fizmo will appeal to anyone who creates electronic music, particularly those into techno, trance, ambient or industrial. Sound designers and film composers would also enjoy this synth. The evolving motion and rhythmic patterns of its sounds created by the Transwave technology set this synth apart from the others. The Fizmo has been used by Eat Static.

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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.

 

whitepapagold

Posted 61 days ago

Sad to see the description above- its wrong. Well wait, its right about one thing... It doesn't sound like anything youve heard...

The fizmo was one of the BIGGEST failures in synthesis history. They couldn't sell those boards to ANYBODY. Literally.

And in the end, the Fizmo was..$400 new. YES FOUR HUNDRED BUCKS FOR A FULL SIZED FIZMO KEYBOARD- no module. They still couldn't sell them... at 400 bucks though people eventually depleted the stock.

This is 100% true. And I, a synth NUT, turned down a fizmo for 400 bucks brand new. If you want to buy a piece of history like the Gizmotron (bankrupted ARP), then the fizmo is for you!

Ted James

Posted 82 days ago

I've posted some demos of custom patches I've created for the Ensoniq Fizmo:

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=5E509E73031E414A

What an amazing machine.

John Difool

Posted 105 days ago

The Soniq willl fix your broken Fizmo...just go here: http://www.thesoniq.com/

Felix

Posted 178 days ago

I am a huge fan of Ensoniqs, and have owned at least one since I bought my first keyboard - an EPS, when they were new. I now own an ASR-10, an ASR-X Pro, and a FIZMO. The FIZMO is my "go-to" synth when I need a sound with "motion" - well, the FIZMO and my Access Virus KC. I must say though that the FIZMO is much easier to program than my Virus. I feel privileged to own it. My ASR-10 is a wonderful workstation. The ASR-X was - and is - a disappointment (though once I got rid of one and simply had to get another; the 6-minute stereo sampling was almost indispensable at that point, plus the fact that I recorded so many sequences on it). The FIZMO constantly rewards experimentation with stunning soundscapes. It is almost in a category of its' own. -And with only some 550 of them extant, a prize in almost anyone's book.

DJM23

Posted 288 days ago

Its funny seeing Joie Hinton comment below - the reason I fell in love with this beast was watching the Ozrics a few times and Eat Static once, and it seemed that every time he touched the Fizmo it kinda went supernova. Impossible to get hold of one of these though, which is a shame...am still hoping it will become uncool and people will dump theirs on ebay for not many notes...

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