The Zip drive is a removable floppy disk storage system that was announced by Iomega in 1994 and began shipping in March 1995. Considered medium-to-high-capacity at the time of its release, Zip disks were originally launched with capacities of 100 MB, then 250 MB, and finally 750 MB.
A sampler is an electronic musical instrument that records and plays back samples. Samples may comprise elements such as rhythm, melody, speech, sound effects or longer portions of music.
The Atari Falcon030, released in 1992, is the final personal computer from Atari Corporation. A high-end model of the Atari ST line, the machine is based on a Motorola 68030 CPU and a Motorola 56001 digital signal processor, which distinguishes it from most other microcomputers of the era. It includes a new VIDEL programmable graphics system which greatly improves graphics capabilities.
The Ensoniq Mirage is one of the earliest affordable sampler-synths, introduced in 1984 as Ensoniq's first product. Introduced at a list price of $1,695 with features previously only found on more expensive samplers like the Fairlight CMI, the Mirage sold nearly 8,000 units in its first year - more than the combined unit sales of all other samplers at that time. The Mirage sold over 30,000 units during its availability.
Ensoniq Corp. was an American electronics manufacturer, best known throughout the mid-1980s and 1990s for its musical instruments, principally samplers and synthesizers.
The Korg Triton is a music workstation synthesizer, featuring digital sampling and sequencing, released in 1999. It uses Korg's "HI Synthesis" system and was eventually available in several model variants with numerous upgrade options. The Triton became renowned as a benchmark of keyboard technology, and has been widely featured in music videos and live concerts. At the NAMM Show in 2007, Korg announced the Korg M3 as its successor.
The Gravis UltraSound or GUS is a sound card for the IBM PC compatible system platform, made by Canada-based Advanced Gravis Computer Technology Ltd. It was very popular in the demoscene during the 1990s.
The Ensoniq MR61 is a 61-key music workstation synthesizer that Ensoniq released in 1996. It features a 16-track sequencer, digital effects, and several hundred onboard sounds or patches.
The Ensoniq Performance Sampler (EPS) was one of the first few affordable samplers on the market. It was manufactured from 1988 to 1991 by Ensoniq in Malvern, Pennsylvania, US. The EPS is a 13-bit sampler and replaced the Mirage - widely regarded as the first truly affordable sampling keyboard.
The Korg 01/W series are workstation synthesizers, the first of which debuted in 1991, and were intended to replace the M1 and T series. The workstation/ROMpler was based on AI², an improved version of the AI Synthesis technology found in the M1. The success of the AI² architecture ensured it was used in the majority of subsequent Korg synths of the 1990s.
The Korg Trinity is a synthesizer and music workstation released by Korg in 1995. It was Korg's first modern workstation and marked a significant evolution from its predecessors by offering features such as built-in digital audio recording, 32-note polyphony, an extensive internal sound library, assignable effects, and a large touchscreen for advanced control and editing functions, a feature not previously seen on any musical instrument. It also offered modular expansion for not only sounds, but also studio-grade features such as ADAT, various sound engine processors, audio recording capability, and more.
The Commodore 64 home computer used various external peripherals. Due to the backwards compatibility of the Commodore 128, most peripherals would also work on that system. There is also some compatibility with the VIC-20 and Commodore PET.
The Soundscape Elite was Ensoniq's high-end ISA PC sound card offering. It offers the highest MIDI quality of any PC sound card Ensoniq produced. The board is an evolution of the company's previous Soundscape S-2000. The Soundscape ELITE was launched in March 1995.
The Akai S3000XL is a sampler with 32 polyphonic voices, and 2 MB of built-in RAM.
The Ensoniq TS-10 was a synthesizer and music workstation introduced by Ensoniq in 1993. It provided synthesis, user sample playback, sequencer, effect units and performance facilities in a 61-key package.
The Ensoniq VFX Synth was initially released as a performance type synthesizer in 1989. It was soon followed by the release of the VFX-SD, which included some updated waveforms, a 24-track sequencer and a floppy drive. Both models were equipped with the Ensoniq Signal Processing (ESP) chip for 24-bit effects. The VFX-SD also included two AUX outs, which allowed for a total of 4 outputs from the synth for more routing flexibility. The initial models were 21-voice polyphony, and in latter models of the VFX-SD (I/II) and the SD-1, the polyphony was 32.
The Korg DSS-1 is a polyphonic sampling synthesizer released by Korg in 1986. As Korg's initial entry into the sampling market, the DSS-1 combines sampling, additive synthesis, and waveform drawing with an analog signal path. The DSS-1 was released a time when major synthesizer manufacturers like Yamaha and Casio were beginning to explore sampling, an area of sound design dominated by companies like Fairlight, E-mu, and Ensoniq. Korg did not stay long in the sampling arena; the DSS-1 was the company's only sampler until 1998 when Korg introduced sampling options on their Triton and Trinity series of workstations.
The Macintosh Hard Disk 20 is the first hard drive developed by Apple Computer specifically for use with the Macintosh 512K. Introduced on September 17, 1985, it was part of Apple's solution toward completing the Macintosh Office announced in January 1985. It would be over a year more before Apple would release the file server software AppleShare that would link all of the hardware together. By that time the SCSI interface introduced on the Macintosh Plus in January 1986, would accommodate far faster and more efficient hard drives, rendering the Hard Disk 20 virtually obsolete.
The Roland W-30 is a sampling workstation keyboard, released in 1989. It features an on-board 12-bit sampler, sample-based synthesizer, 16-track sequencer and 61-note keyboard.
The Ensoniq EPS-16 Plus is a sampling keyboard produced by Ensoniq starting in 1990. It was the successor to the EPS, one of the first truly affordable samplers on the market. The EPS-16 Plus uses 16-bit samples at seven sample rates ranging from 11.2 kHz to 44.6 kHz and features 13 onboard effects. The unit was available in both keyboard and rackmount versions (EPS-16R). Some versions of the EPS-16 Plus were sold as "Turbo" units, which included an extra 1 MB of flash memory and SCSI upgrades. These units are designated with a "T" after the model number.
