Ensoniq EPS-M

The EPS-M is the rackmount version of Ensoniq's EPS performance sampler. The EPS was a self-contained keyboard workstation. The EPS-M dropped the keys and put the same sampling engine in a rack unit, to be played from any MIDI controller - keyboard, guitar, or drum pads. Studio Sound (July 1989, p.26) described it that way: a rackmount version of the EPS keyboard, intended for use with external MIDI gear.

The core specs are solid for the era: 16-bit sampling at 44.1 kHz (some sources cite 48kHz), 32-voice polyphony, and a 2-pole resonant filter. There are no built-in effects. The EPS-M was a sampler first, and you were expected to add your own processing. Storage is a built-in 3.5" floppy drive, and the front panel has the standard MIDI in/out/thru connections. Some sources cite a 61-key semi-weighted keyboard, but that appears to be a carryover from the EPS spec - the EPS-M itself is a rack unit. Sample memory is generally listed at 2 MB (some sources cite 1MB).

*Ensoniq's own advertising* in Mix Magazine (June 1989, p.42) positioned the EPS and EPS-M together as "sampler-based workstations" that combined sophisticated technology with a fast, intuitive method for sampling, sequencing, recording, mixing, and performing. The pitch was that you could audition changes quickly without thinking like a technician.

Documentation on the EPS-M is thinner than on its keyboard sibling. Production years and original price aren't recorded in the sources we have. It filled the same role the EPS did - a performance-oriented sampler with a strong sequencer - in a form factor that suited studio racks and keyboardists who already had a controller they liked.

Known specs:

- 16-bit sampler, 44.1 kHz sampling rate (some sources cite 48kHz)

- 32-voice polyphony

- 2-pole resonant filter

- No built-in effects

- Built-in 3.5" floppy disk drive

- MIDI in/out/thru

- Rackmount version of the Ensoniq EPS