Back in the late '90s, the Equinox stood out as Generalmusic's bold final swing at a pure synth workstation, packing a massive 16MB waveform library into a machine that blurred the line between sampling powerhouse and hands-on sound design beast.
At its core, it delivers 64-voice polyphony with up to 6 digital oscillators per patch, drawn from PCM samples, editable via 128 resonant filters—lowpass, highpass, bandpass, or parametric—and twin ADSR envelopes plus 3 versatile LFOs for everything from subtle movement to wild modulation. The 76-key velocity-sensitive action with channel aftertouch feels responsive, paired with pitch/mod wheels and 8 sliders that double as drawbars for instant Hammond-style organ tones complete with key click and overdrive. Hands-on control shines through its 16-track, 250,000-note sequencer, arpeggiator with 16 presets, and groove library where you can map full rhythms to single keys; load samples in WAV, AIFF, Akai, or Kurzweil formats via 8MB battery-backed RAM, expandable to 32MB SIMMs, floppy drive, optional 2GB hard disk, SCSI, and USB. Stereo I/O, four FX blocks, and full MIDI master keyboard duties (32 channels, 16 zones) make it a studio hub, all updatable via flash-ROM floppy.
Owners still geek out over its analog-like leads, deep editing, and sample-loading flexibility, though some note factory pianos are middling and support has faded with age—perfect for tinkerers chasing vintage workstation vibes on a budget.
