Ensoniq ASR-X Pro

Back in 1998, this tabletop powerhouse arrived as Ensoniq's bold evolution of the ASR-X, packing SCSI storage and a built-in drum synth called Stomper to rival the Akai MPC3000's groove game.

It's a 16-bit/44.1kHz stereo sampler/resampler with 32-voice polyphony, MR architecture blending 128 ROM voices, and independent dual 18dB resonant filters—lowpass, highpass, bandpass—for sculpting sounds on the fly. The expansive front panel features a 2-line LCD, 13 velocity-sensitive trigger pads, patch select buttons for four sound variations, octave transpose, real-time knobs for parameters and values, plus a 16-track sequencer with 384 PPQ resolution and up to 140,000 events. Effects shine with 24-bit processing including EQ, reverb, chorus, flanger, DDL, distortion, and wild ones like Chatter Box or Vocal Morph; stereo ins/outs, MIDI I/O/Thru, headphone jack, and a 1.4MB micro-floppy drive handle storage, expandable to 66MB RAM for 12 minutes mono sampling and internal resampling without analog reconversion. Optional X-8 expander adds eight outs for a total of 10.

Owners love its punchy workflow for beatmaking and sample mangling, praising the pads' responsiveness and SCSI flexibility for loading ASR-10 or Akai libraries—though some note the small screen and dated Stomper interface feel clunky today.