.png)
Ensoniq ESP-16 Plus Sampler Restoration
Bag of Spanners
Did I mention that the first Ensoniq EPS-16 Plus sampler that I acquired was a bag of spanners. By that statement I mean that it was mis represented before the sale and when it arrived it wouldn't power up correctly.
I have watched and read several videos / blog posts where people have started the restoration of Ensoniq equipment and run into issues. I am hoping that this will not be the case with the two Ensoniq EPS-16 Plus samplers that I now own. But until you start the restoration you do not know what you will find.
EPS-16 Plus issues
There were several issues with the Ensoniq EPS-16 Plus:
The disk drive will not spin up. Irrespective of a boot sequence.
On the second machine the disk drive spins up but will not load the operating system
A fuse has blown
The display and user interface appears stuck in a test loop
As usual for a machine of this age previous owners have been inside and not put it back together with all the correct screws!
Until I get some life out of the instrument at this point it is difficult to understand what else needs to be tackled to return the instrument back to full health.
This sequence of videos will show how I have tackled the restoration of the instrument and whether it can be restored to full health.
I have owned this Ensoniq EPS 16 Plus since 2018 and there are lots of things wrong with it.
In part 1 of these restoration videos I recap a potted history of where this Ensoniq sampler sat in the sampling ecosphere of the 80's and 90's.
Click anywhere on the image or title to see the work undertaken on this synthesiser.
The keyboard does not have any power.
After research and a visual inspection it looks like a couple of the fuses have blown.
The user groups report that it is possible to connect one of the connectors backwards because the connector does not have an polarity indicators in the form of a 'tab' that stops it being inserted the wrong way around!
Click anywhere on the image or title to see the work undertaken on this synthesiser.
Opening up the Ensoniq EPS 16 Plus I found the inside full of dust bunnies. So before I go any further I need to hoover these out of the keyboard casing. While I am at it I also gave the keys in the key bed a wipe down using window cleaner.
Next up I removed the existing floppy disk drive. I replaced this with a spare that I had acquired for the original Ensoniq EPS 16 Plus repairs.
Finally it was time to put the operating system in the floppy disk drive and see if I could get the EPS to boot?
Click anywhere on the image or title to see the work undertaken on this synthesiser.