ENSONIQ ASR-X Pro with version 4.

0 Software
Following the January 1999 press release of version 4.0 software for the ENSONIQ ASR-X Pro, it was never made available for
distribution following the merger of ENSONIQ into E-mu by Creative Technology, The working beta release was OS v3.20. The
announced features - Direct Audio Sampling, Xplode!, and SoundFont bank importing were functional in OS v3.20 for the
ENSONIQ ASR-X Pro.

Direct Audio Sampling

Direct Audio Sampling allows you extract audio directly from any standard audio CD using a CD-ROM drive that is capable of CD
audio extraction.

Extracting audio directly from a standard audio CD is a two step process: First, audition the Track(s) on your audio CD to note the
start and end times of the audio to be extracted; Second, set the From and To points, i.e., duration, of audio to be extracted.

Once you have successfully extracted the audio sample it will appear on the ASR-X Pro Scratch pad where it may be assigned to
a RAM-KIT for further processing, looping and playback.

1 - Audition Tracks from a standard audio CD

You can play the CD tracks from the CD player outputs. Connect the audio output of your SCSI CD-ROM drive to a channel on
your mixer, or directly to powered speakers or headphones.

Under Disk / Global, press LOAD - use the Value knob to scroll to the the ID of your SCSI CD-ROM - press ENTER. The display
will read...

Select Load Device?

SCSI x: CD xx Trks
press ENTER, the display will read...

Load digital audio

direct from the CD?
Use the Parameter knob to scroll to the next option. The display will read...

Play CD tracks from

CD player outputs?
press ENTER - the display will read...

Play Audio Tracks:

Start Track - xx
Use the Value knob to select the Start Track - press ENTER. The display will read...

Play Audio Tracks:

Last Track - xx
Use the Value knob to select the Last Track - press ENTER. The display will read...

Play Audio Tracks:

Press ENTER to Play
Playback begins - the display will read...

Track Index DiscTime

xx xx mm:ss
This function allows you to audition consecutive audio tracks in advance of the audio extract to note the start and end points using
the DiscTime value for input to the From and To parameters - proceed to Step 2.

2 - Extract audio from a standard audio CD

Now that you have start and end times for the audio to be extract, proceed as follows...

Under Disk / Global, press LOAD - use the Value knob to scroll to the ID of your SCSI CD-ROM - press ENTER. The display will
read...

Select Load Device?

SCSI x: CD xx Trks
press ENTER, the display will read...

Load digital audio

direct from the CD?
press ENTER - use the Parameter knob to scroll to the next option. The display will read...

Load Digital Audio:

From = mm:ss
Use the Parameter and Value knobs to select the From minute and second, then either press ENTER or use the Parameter knob
to scroll onwards to the next display...

Load Digital Audio:

To = mm:ss
Use the Parameter and Value knobs to select the To minute and second, then either press ENTER or use the Parameter knob to
scroll onwards to the next display...

Load Digital Audio:

Duration = mm:ss
If necessary, use the Parameter and Value knobs to alter the Duration of the From and To minute and second set in the preceding
steps, then either press ENTER or use the Parameter knob to scroll onwards to the next display...

Load Digital Audio:

Audition first?
Press ENTER. Use the Parameter knob to scroll backwards and alter the From and To points as often as necessary to audition the
results before advancing to the next step...

Load Digital Audio:

Press ENTER to Load
The sample will appear on the Scratch Pad - when auditioning the sound from the Scratch Pad, make certain to hold the Pad
down long enough for the sample to playback in the event there is more 'dead air' on the front end of the sample then expected
from the extract. The sample on the Scratch Pad may be assigned to a Pad in a RAM-KIT using the SEND To Pad(s) button just as
any imported sample would be. Use the Edit and Process commands to set Loop points and Truncate the sample as necessary.

Planned feature or bug?

As part of the Direct Audio Sample function, OS v3.20 for the ENSONIQ ASR-X Pro includes a message prompt implying a track
from an audio sample CD will be imported directly into the ASR-X Pro as though it were a WAV-format file, but this feature is not
functional. The ENSONIQ ASR-X Pro can import AIFF-format and WAV-format data files directly from a data CD, so perhaps this
addition feature was considered as a future update, but it was not announced nor fully implemented.

Under Disk / Global, press LOAD - use the Value knob to scroll to the the ID of your SCSI CD-ROM - press ENTER. The display
will read...

Select Load Device?

SCSI x: CD xx Trks
If you use the Parameter knob to scroll to the next option, the display will read...

Load x: CD xx Trks
Folder: *NO FOLDERS*
Use the Parameter knob to scroll to the next option, the display will read...

Load x: CD xx Trks
1-WAV WAVE: Track 01
You can use the Value knob to scroll thru the available Tracks on the audio sample CD - press ENTER, the display will read...

Can't open file!

Press EXIT to clear the display.

Xplode!
Xplode splits up parts of an audio loop, into separate samples, similar to beat slicing tools such as Propellerhead Software
ReCycle, iZotope pHATmatic PRO, and Native Instruments Intakt.

Whether you import a sampled sound or create a sampled loop on the ASR-X Pro, your sample will appear on the Scratch Pad.
Use the SEND To Pad(s) button to invoke the the Xplode option:

Under the Resampling section, press SEND To Pad(s), the display will read...

C2...0oct..C3 SendTo
xxxxxxxxxxxxx Pads?
Press SEND a second time, the display will read...

Xplode to pads?

Press YES to proceed - the status of the Xplode process will appear in the display.
Finding events.
Please wait.

Stereo explode:
found event x.

Assigning to pads.
Please wait.

Once complete, the individual hits from your sampled loop will appear on the Pads in a new RAM-KIT, under the SoundFinder
Category DRUM-KIT, with a name similar to XploddKt_01. Save the results to a 1-SOUND

Tip: If a sample assigned to the Scratch Pad is looped, then the individual Hits generated by the Xplode process will also be
looped. Make certain your sampled loop is a one shot loop, or PlayMode=OnceForward if created on the ASR-X Pro, to create
individual hits that will playback correctly without having to go back and change the PlayMode for each individual sample
generated from the Xplode process.

SoundFont® bank importing

The ASR-X Pro with OS v3.20 can load sounds stored on disk in Creative Labs' SoundFont format - just as it can load an AIF-
format, WAV-format, or sounds stored on disk in Giebler Enterprises' .efe and .efa format.

Under Disk / Global, press LOAD - use the Value knob to scroll to the ID of the desired floppy or SCSI disk and folder - press
ENTER. The ASR-X Pro will recognize the SOUND FONT format (.SF2) and import the SoundFont into the RAM location into
which you want to load the sound.

Results of SoundFont bank importing vary from excellent to poor - it seems to depend on the quality and complexity of the
source .SF2 file. As stated in the ENSONIQ ASR-X Pro reference manual, a direct translation of every parameter in an imported
sound to the ASR-X Pro's architecture is not always possible (p. 91). The ASR-X Pro with OS v3.20 has difficulty recognizing a
SoundFont file on disk when the SoundFont name exceeds eight characters - it doesn't appear the ASR- X Pro can truncate the
sound file name in excess of eight characters as efficiently as it does with an ASR-SND.

Where Direct Audio Sampling and Xplode! appear to be fully functional, SoundFont importing might have stood up to further
scrutiny to make the results more predictable.