Arturia SQ80 V Cross Wave synth €199

Arturia have emulated the SQ80 from Ensoniq, an interesting sample-based synth from the 1980s. But does it have a place in 2021?

Large selection of categorised presets

Three digital oscillators per voice

Complex LFO Waveforms, available for MSEG mode

Choose complex waveforms for each oscillator

Mono, Poly and Unison oscillator assignment

Switchable envelope modes

Volume control (DCA) per oscillator

Three menu states, for playing and editing

Resonant filter, modelled on a Curtis chip design

Three LFOs available per patch

Our assignable envelopes per patch

During the 80s, sampling technology was becoming an indispensable part of music production. The only problem was, all the really elaborate samplers came with a caveat; did you buy a Fairlight CMI, or did you buy a house? For us mere mortals, this was an easy sell – after all, a Fairlight wasn’t great at keeping the rain off your head while you slept. But as sampling tech matured, so did the prices, thanks in part to the likes of E-mu, Akai and the fledgling Ensoniq.

More than a Mirage!

In 1985, this new company entered the sampling age with a debut release. The Ensoniq Mirage was a vaguely affordable sampling keyboard, produced by some of the team that had brought the infamous Commodore 64 home computer to the market. By the time the SQ80 synthesiser arrived, music was chiming to the tones of digital synths. The Yamaha DX7 and Roland D-50 were established favourites, but the SQ80 offered something slightly different, armed with its own floppy disk drive and an elegant editing and menu hierarchy.