RCS ASR-X News
March 2000
Finally there's rumour that ASR-X Pro OS 4.0 will be
released. Keep watching Emu's site. The Black ASR-X will
not be supported, unfortunately - but we knew that.
Ensoniq ASR-X Tools version 1.4 revision 4 is released March 8th.
November 1999
STILL STILL no word on the ASR-X Pro OS 4.0 release.
Perhaps we'll see it at NAMM this year, but there's no word on
that either.
Emu very nicely put the ASR-X Pro manual in PDF format on their web site - see www.emu.com/support/files/storage/ASR-X_Pro_Users_Guide.pdf
July 1999
STILL no word on the ASR-X Pro OS 4.0 release.
Ensoniq Musical Instrument Division has been assimilated into the
Emu corporate structure, and has moved to the West Coast. ASR-X
Pro production has started again.
There have been reports that EDO SIMM's have a problem working in pairs on ASR-X Pro's. There have been some inconclusive tests and they seem to point to the EDO chips. We would recommend getting non-EDO SIMM's if you plan on upgrading to the full 66megs.
ASR-X Tools module 4 will be released in early July.
April 1999
Still no word on the ASR-X Pro OS 4.0 release.
Additionally, there have been reports of major changes and
significant layoffs at Ensoniq (Malvern). Delays are also
reported with shipping of the 2.67 OS chips for the Black ASR-X.
2.67 is likely the last operating system release for the Black ASR-X. There are only about 10 bytes left in the EPROM's that hold the operating system code. These EPROM's are 4meg apeice, which tells you how extensive the ASR-X OS is. Apparantly, there is more room in the FlashROM's of the ASR-X Pro to enable the extra features that are reported to be released.
2.67 is likely the last operating system release for the Black ASR-X. There are only about 10 bytes left in the EPROM's that hold the operating system code. These EPROM's
February 1999
No word on when ASR-X Pro OS 4.0 will be released.
Also, there have been several reports on back orders on the SP-5
SCSI Interface. February was a very quiet month.
January 1999
Ensoniq has announced ASR-X Pro OS 4.0 for the ASR-X Pro.
Three major features have been announced:
Direct Audio Sampling: Extracts audio directly from any standard audio CD using a CD-ROM drive that is capable of CD audio extraction. Users can specify start and end times, and a new sample is created without any loss of sound quality.
SoundFont® Bank importing: Import sounds stored in Creative Labs' SoundFont® format. Examples of these are libraries like E-MU SYSTEMS Module Mania Series, which contains sounds from the popular Proteus®, Vintage Keys®, and Planet Phatt® modules, and many sounds on the Internet have been saved in this format.
Xplode-a process: Automatically splits parts of a sampled beat into separate samples.Xplode accurately splits up parts of an audio loop, into separate samples, a function that previously required an expensive computer and software system.
A press release can be found at:
http://www.harmonycentral.com/Newp/WNAMM99/EMU-ENSONIQ/ASR-X-Pro-40.html
Ensoniq mentions in the press release that there exists "other system enhancements". We feel that these are simply the enhancements that were present on OS 3.04, since Ensoniq says that"many of the Version 4.0 system enhancements...are available in [Black ASR-X] Version 2.67." Ensoniq did not announce any corresponding Black ASR-X OS release, but we do not expect that to happen without consumer pressure making it happen, or Ensoniq admitting it is impossible with the present hardware or admitting that it has dropped the Black ASR-X from feature support. The press release implied, in our opinion, that the major features of ASR-X Pro 4.0 will not be made available for the Black ASR-X.
A freeware Mac ASR-X editor has been released at the ASR-Xchange:
http://www.lanset.com/shansen/asrx-editor.htm
It is was written by Shehryar Lasi. Check out the ASR-Xchange at http://www.lanset.com/shansen/ while you are there - it includes links and streamed audio of the ASR-X in action!
A free Cubase StudioModule is available. Click to download.
December 1998
Operating System 2.67/3.04 is available! Great update -
load time has been improved significantly! ASR-X Pro users can (
download for PC,
download for Mac) their update.
A PDF is available showing the specifics of the update, and for
installation instructions,
click here. For Black Box ASR-X users,
click here for particulars in ordering their OS update.
Module 3 for Ensoniq ASR-X Tools has been released. It includes the Bulk Translator that converts EPS/ASR sounds into native ASR-X format - better than the ASR-X conversion! Check out the demo at ASRXToolDemo.html, and you can see some screen shots. ASR-X Tools also includes the Insert FX editing and ROM-sound creation features. Full scale parameter editing, to disk and through MIDI, is achievable! For detailed information and ordering info, check out our ASR-X Tools Main Page. And for you who are interested in the particulars of the translation, see our Knowledge Base article.
We've set up an ASR-X Knowledge Base, for any important questions you might have concerning the ASR-X. Check it out!
One of the ways we've beta-tested our ASR-X Tools Bulk Translator (Module 3) is to convert all our CD-ROM's and sound libraries into ASR-X native format.
November 1998
Hopefully you've
been checking out
Ensoniq's resources for the ASR-X on their site. They've got some handy
tips,
accessories, and a
list of
Partners and
Solutions. But
where's RCS on the Partners page? Well due to some continuing
confusion, we got left out - but we're on the
Ensoniq Japan site
(be prepared to read Japanese!)
Some of you may have noticed that our ASR-X Internal ZipDrive Kit had disappeared from our site. We've since placed it back on; see the ASR-X Internal ZipDrive page for explaination.
September 1998
Currently the
ASR-X model being sold is the ASR-X Pro, and
it lists for $1695. The old design isn't being
made anymore. It adds 32mb more memory potential
(66mb total), a software synthesis program
called Stomper, and buttons called Essentials that help alleviate
the page-surfing. Flash ROM OS updates are possible now. Other
than that, it's the same as the old ASR-X. (Oh, it's RED!!!)
Did you say EFFECTS? By way of the ASR-X Tools program, you can create, delete, or edit an effects file inside any 1-SOUND! This takes your ASR-X one step further - add a custom effect to each sound. This is probably one of the great "quantum leaps" in ASR-X programming. Unfortunately it can't be done through the front panel of the X. See our ASR-X Tools page for more information.
A Mac version of ASR-X Tools is under development. No release date has been set, but release is expected in first quarter of 1999.
Emu-Ensoniq has released a profile for Unisyn for the ASR-X. It works quite well. The widgets are great! Get it at Ensoniq's web site.
There is an ASR-X Internet mailing list you may not be aware of, started by one illustrious Mr. "Nefarium". To subscribe to the ASR-X users' list, go to http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/asrx. To view the archives of the list, go to http://www.onelist.com/archives.cgi/asrx. There's a Web Page and FTP site for trading/sharing ASR-X sounds, and a Knowledge Base for ton's of information.
Our ASR-X pet peeve bug we have found is that when you request a MIDI Sys-Ex parameter dump from a EPS/ASR translated sound, the ASR-X does not give you the entire contents of the sound. This is important mainly for ASR-X Tools users. Fortunately, you can use it's Module 1 to read the parameters from the disk file, and you can alter any parameter from there. Emu-Ensoniq has stated that this bug will be addressed in a future OS in some way.
More info: The latest in informative articles concerning the ASR-X has been published in the September 1998 issue of the Transoniq Hacker by our owner, Garth Hjelte. Check with Transoniq Hacker for more info.
August 1998
For
the latest release of the Black ASR-X chip-based OS, you need to purchase this through Ensoniq.
Ensoniq does not send it automatically to people who have signed
up for OS's in the past. Best way to order is by calling
610-647-3930 (on voice-system, press 1,1,5) and order via credit
card. Otherwise, send $9.95 for shipping and handling to:
Ensoniq Corp.
ASR-X OS Update
155 Great Valley Parkway
Malvern, PA 19335
ASR-X Pro users can download the latest OS from:
| 2.67 (Black) - 3.04 (Pro) | 2.62 (black) - 3.0 (Pro) | 2.53 (black only) |
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