Problems with ENSONIQ SQ-1 - No Sound

[eugen_syd]

Hi People,

I've got an ENSONIQ SQ-1 which powers on and seems to work OK. I get no sound on headphones or output jack. Anybody got a service manual or some diagrams which help me diagnose what is wrong? Your help much appreciated.

Regards,
EUGEN

[Jazz P Bass]

About all that I could find.
Link: http://manuals.fdiskc.com/flat/Enson...e%20Manual.pdf
It does have the reset procedure.
And the power supply header with labels.

[Enzo]

I used to be an Ensoniq service center. They wouldn't even give US schematics. Eventually, they released schematics for the earlier product models, and they charged us $100 for the set. But that only happened once. I scanned those schematics before I left that store. I forget whether it got as far as SQ-1. ESQ-1 it covered.

They intended everything to be a board swap, and they'd fix boards there at the factory. They would not sell us so much as a jack. You had a bad jack? The test procedure found which board the jack was on, and they expected you to order a new board. They charged your account $500 or something, and gave you a $400 credit for the old board. SO no matter how simple, the problem cost us $100. WHen I complained, they would say, "Yes, but we recommend the repair charge be $150." SO they think it OK for me to make $50, while charging the customer $150 for a jack.

They made it so you could diagnose the thing in a short time, and order a board and move on. Except when they were backordered on boards. Only so many in the float, and if those were all out, well you waited while they repaired incoming boards. And of course later, returned boards that were "fixed" would be recycled out to us with intermittants and other things lurking. I remember one board I had to replace, they sent me a bad one. I managed to repair their new one - bad Curtiss chip or somethin - and got the repair. I charged THEM for fixing their board.


No sound? Check power supply. The computer uses +5v for the logic, but the analog circuits - your signal path - run on +/-15v (or was it 12v) If those 15 or 12v rails are not present, neither will be your sound. You ought to be able to look on the main board near the output jacks and see some op amps driving the output. See if they have power at pins 4 and 8, and no DC on pins 1 and 7. Does touching an input pin make hum out the output? But the number one cause of loss of sound? Bad volume slider. Check him out.

[eugen_syd]

Thank you Jazz, thank you Enzo. Something to do over the weekend...I'll report back my findings maybe more people can use the information. Worthwhile posting some pics of the output board and power supply board?
Regards,
EUGEN

[Jazz P Bass]

Thank you Jazz, thank you Enzo. Something to do over the weekend...I'll report back my findings maybe more people can use the information. Worthwhile posting some pics of the output board and power supply board?
Regards,
EUGEN

Post the pics, yeah.

[oc disorder]

The ESQ 1 is here :-

Index of ./ensoniq/esq-1/

Nearly 16 megs of info

[bkahuna]

The ESQ 1 is here :-

Index of ./ensoniq/esq-1/

Nearly 16 megs of info

Thanks for that info, however, that's an SQ-80. That and the ESQ-1 were completely different beasts from the SQ-1.

edit: Sorry, replied to the wrong poster, however, neither link is what the OP is looking for.

[bkahuna]

I have the schematics Enzo mentioned, but I just checked, and the SQ-1 and SQ-2 schematics were never released like the earlier models.

If I recall, there may be a setting for a volume pedal, that when turned on, would not make any sound without a volume pedal plugged in. You might try reinitializing the unit: Reinit

That will reset everything, including the setting for volume pedal. If that doesn't work there are two other hard reset procedures that might work. I'll have to dig those up though.

I used to work on these ALL the time. I actually liked working on Ensoniqs. Too bad that by the time they fully got their act together on how to prepare a synth for release (around the TS-10 and ASR-16 days), they got bought out by Creative Labs, and quietly killed.

Hey Enzo, if I had one in with a bad jack, I just pulled one from my Yamaha stock and replaced it. No biggie, but yes, waiting to complete a WARRANTY repair on a bad output opamp because the pcbs were out of stock sucked big time!

Me: The output ic on your keyboard is bad.
Customer: So, just replace it. You have them in stock?
Me: Yes, but I can't. They won't pay me to do that.
Customer: What will they pay you to do.
Me: Replace the mainboard.
Customer: So, replace the mainboard.
Me: Can't. They don't have any.
Both: Argh!!

[Enzo]

I was much sharper on these when I did them a lot, but that was what 20 years ago?

Most MIDI synths have a parameter "local on/off" meaning the keyboard either sends itself to the internals or not. If you use the keyboard as a controller only, you can turn local to OFF and it won't make sounds. Look for the local setting and make sure it is ON. I had forgotten about that. And I had forgotten turning the volume pedal on/off as well.

And yes, a reinit is always a good thing to try. I hated Ensoniqs, but that is for another thread.

[laststarlight]

Hello, I have an Ensoniq SQ1 plus with the same issue. It was working just fine 5 months ago... then I leaved to my parents house for like 2 months and when I came back the keyboard didn't have any sound. I believe my lil cousin's screwed around with it. One mistake I did, I didn't unplug it from the power supply. What do you think it could be? I really wanna fix it! When I turn it on I get like this static sound from it.
I've already done the System-Bank9-Reset-thing but that doesn't help. Anyone can give me a hand? Would really appreciate it!
Happy new year and good vibes.

[Jazz P Bass]

For a start, follow the advise from post #2:

"No sound? Check power supply. The computer uses +5v for the logic, but the analog circuits - your signal path - run on +/-15v (or was it 12v) If those 15 or 12v rails are not present, neither will be your sound.

You ought to be able to look on the main board near the output jacks and see some op amps driving the output. See if they have power at pins 4 and 8, and no DC on pins 1 and 7. Does touching an input pin make hum out the output?

But the number one cause of loss of sound? Bad volume slider. Check him out. "

[Enzo]

And possibly the battery has gone flat and the instrument needs reinitialization, and a new battery.

[TomEnsoniq]

And possibly the battery has gone flat and the instrument needs reinitialization, and a new battery.

Hi!

I have two SQ1's that have problems, both needs a new battery thow. Can the need of a new battery cause functional problems?
My SQ1 has issues with volumeadjustment, and pitch bend/mod wheels not working.
My SQ1PLUS plays itself...
Have tried the reinitialization on both but nothing changes.

Anybody knows?

[Enzo]

Of course it can, you internal memory goes blank or to random numbers.

I assume you know what the envelope is, the attack and sustain and whatever. Imagine a piano sound with a rather sharp attack. Now imagine the number for attack was lost so instead of 2, it is not 200. You hit the key, and though you don;t know it, it is working, it is just now making a sound that takes 10 minutes to build to a note. Also, many parameters have a range, say 1-16, and if the memory scrambles, we might get a setting of 88. You hit a note, it looks in memory to see what transposition number it is, and sees 88 instead of 12, so it makes no sound.


If you have reinit'd the thing, that sounds beyond mere battery though.


If those are nicad batteries and have leaked, they may have corroded your boards.

[bkahuna]

If those are nicad batteries and have leaked, they may have corroded your boards.

Fortunately, they were lithium.