The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

--- In AN1x-list@y..., "Jason" <timeshard@u...> wrote:
> Ok, I am pretty happy with my An1x, but the Fizmo is really nice
and 
> is easier to make organic sounds, which is where my music has been 
> heading...

Jason,

A friend of mine moderates the FUG (FIZMO User Group) and hosts the
FUG web page at http://www.cortidesign.com/fizmo/fizmo.html You should 
make time to visit this excellent resource. There are plenty of MP3s 
demos of the FIZMO posted for you to check out. There is list of known 
issues and solutions posted and there's also an excellent interview 
with Scott Peer (formerly of Ensoniq, Peavey, and many others) who 
designed the FIZMO. You can read more with Scott (and many other synth 
developers) at http://www.sonikmatter.com/

> 
> So I'm wondering, could someone point out some pro's-con's for me,
as 
> I bought my an1x for 500 but could get a fizmo for 425 which 
> supposedly has more features, like a vocoder. thanks. j.

You're comparing Apples to Oranges. The FIZMO has a compelling and 
complicated sound but, it's NOT a V/A like the AN1x and the FIZ is
not intended to emulate analog type sounds. That said, a former Ensoniq 
employee and FIZMO developer released a commercial bank of Analog
type sounds so a more contemorary voice selection would be available. 
It's available from http://www.soundengine.com/ For that matter, the 
FUG is currently trying to put together a big User Bank like the 
Waldorf list often does. Anyway, back to the main topic...

A more realistic comparison of the FIZMO would be to a Korg Wavestation 
or Waldorf Microwave II which both use digital wavetables as does the 
FIZMO with Enosniq's brand name 'Transwaves'.

The *major* problem with the FIZMO is the unusually high number of 
units which suffer from a poor power regulator resulting in many 
disabled units. Again, check the FUG because this has been extremely 
well documented by UGO - who has been through a few fried FIZMOs and 
now has an E-mu provided solution (as do others.) The replacement
power supply solution (AC adapter) was a white elephant, i.e., wasn't 
the actual fix for the problem. The power regulator is at fault.

The front panel editing is fairly easy to come to terms with but the 
voice hierarchey, i.e., Presets and Sounds, is a little more difficult 
to envision and manage then the 2x Scenes per Voice AN1x scheme. On
the FIZMO you've two banks of 128 Presets with up to four sounds per 
preset. I wish they'd implemented the FIZMO solution for navigating 
layers in a Preset on the ASR-X sampler. This would have made a huge 
difference in usability for the ASR-X. The built in FX are terrific - 
they put the Yamaha effects to shame :-/ I've not used many vocoders
to make a legitimate comparison with anything else. You can access some 
hidden parameters on the FIZMO using the free stand alone, OEM Emagic 
SoundDiver for FIZMO. There's a bug in the SysEx ID routine on the
FIZ that can be a 'gotcha' when working with the OEM SD but, it's 
documented by the FUG so shouldn't be a problem past the initial set-
up. Using the SD editor also provides access to FX parameters not 
available form the main unit. Funny how they DID inlcude that feature 
on the ASR-X but not the FIZ? You can tell things were rushed with
the last product generation from Ensoniq before the buy out :-( 

FWIW - I've recently been "harrasing", i.e., teasing, Scott Peer with 
the prospect of making a VSTi FIZMO which would be able to load user 
wavetables but I don't think he's realistically considering it.
Doesn't hurt to try though, does it ;-) Just think how many more copies 
of his ASR-10 Transwave CD-ROM he could sell too! ha haha

FWIW.2 - as much as I'd like to pick up a FIZMO I purchased a copy
of Absynth (VSTi from NI - Mac only at present) last summer and 
indulged myself with a MW II rackmount early this autumn. This covers 
the sonic territory as a FIZMO would so I can't really justify a FIZ at 
this point. Maybe next year.

FWIW.3 - keep the AN1x and save up for the FIZMO! Best of both worlds 
and all that...

HTH,

Jon