Jun 19, 2026 | The Sampleist
Tune in with musician Peter Gagliardi of The Sampleist as he explores Ensoniq ESQ-1, along with his original demo composition, "Smooth Vintage Sparkle."
Cherry Audio has partnered with Creative Technology, the current owner of the ENSONIQ assets to bring back on the 40th anniversary the ESQ-1 synthesizer. The original version of the ESQ-1 was revolutionary sounding synthesizer but had many of the drawbacks of the day including a small interface that was used to program the unit and the typical limitations of synthesizer of the day compared with current technology.
Cherry Audio has applied it’s usual litany of upgrades to the ESQ-1 including the addition of dual layer polyphonic synthesis with 32 voices per layer, a built-in arpeggiator and a 16 x 4 programmable polyphonic step sequencer along with the whole host of effects as part of the four slot matrix and so much more. As another official partnership this one goes above and beyond and I would employ you to check this one out for yourself. Please join Peter Gagliardi as he explores the new version of this 40-year-old classic.
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