Ensoniq Mirage
Overview
The Ensoniq
Corporation's Mirage was an 8-bit sampler
introduced in 1984. Priced below $2000 with features previously only found on more expensive samplers like the Fairlight CMI
, it became a best seller.
The Mirage featured a 5-octave velocity sensitive keyboard, a two digit LED display, extensive MIDI implementation and a 333 note sequencer
, all in 144Kb of RAM. It included a built-in 3.5 inch SSDD floppy drive, which was used to boot the operating system as well as store samples and sequences.
Ensoniq
Ensoniq Corp. was an American electronics manufacturer, best known throughout the mid 1980s and 1990s for its musical instruments, principally samplers and synthesizers.- Company history :...
Corporation's Mirage was an 8-bit sampler
Sampler (musical instrument)
A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
introduced in 1984. Priced below $2000 with features previously only found on more expensive samplers like the Fairlight CMI
Fairlight CMI
The Fairlight CMI is a digital sampling synthesizer. It was designed in 1979 by the founders of Fairlight, Peter Vogel and Kim Ryrie, and based on a dual-6800 microprocessor computer designed by Tony Furse in Sydney, Australia...
, it became a best seller.
The Mirage featured a 5-octave velocity sensitive keyboard, a two digit LED display, extensive MIDI implementation and a 333 note sequencer
Music sequencer
The music sequencer is a device or computer software to record, edit, play back the music, by handling note and performance information in several forms, typically :...
, all in 144Kb of RAM. It included a built-in 3.5 inch SSDD floppy drive, which was used to boot the operating system as well as store samples and sequences.
