Hi, I recently acquired an Ensoniq Mirage but it’s giving me some grief:
Bootup takes a little long, some research online hints that this may be calibration routines timing out.
MIDI in driven it works like it should, or at least that’s what it sounds like.
It’s own keyboard sounds like it’s modulated all the time (or something closely resembling that effect); interestingly this also occurs when using the Mirage’s MIDI out to drive another synth. So that may narrow it down a bit.
2 screws are completely dull and I won’t get the tools to properly take them out until Saturday so I can’t reach the modulation/pitch wheel potmeters and see if they’re the ones causing this circus (could well be), but any tips are welcome.
It sounds like the mod wheel is causing this, especially as it seems to be transmitting it over MIDI. You can simply unplug the wiring harness from the pitch bend and mod wheel - it is a small brown connector that plugs onto the main board, with wires running, of course, to the pitch bend panel. If that cures the mod problem, then you know that it is a problem with the pot. (Unplugging it COULD act like you are rolling the mod wheel fully on - I don’t recall which way it works.)
If the pot is bad, spraying it with DeOxit might cure it, or we sell the entire pitch and mod assembly here:
Thanks for your answer. I did already try to unplug the wheels and this has no effect; so I hope to find that both pots are faulty and this is default behaviour (i.e. modulation is indeed reversed). I’ll also get a good opportunity to replug/reseat/clean things tomorrow. I’ll report back with my findings and perhaps indeed buy that replacement assembly (internal sequencer also doesn’t have this problem so yeah my money’s on the wheels)
(internal sequencer also doesn’t have this problem so yeah my money’s on the wheels)