UVI USQ-1 €79

Hitting the streets in 1986, Ensoniq’s ESQ-1 was one for the first affordable synth workstations. It’s the synth section that has lasted the course. The combination of digital waveshapes and classic Curtis filters is engaging to this day (and more affordable than the somewhat similar Prophet VS).

While USQ-1 doesn’t follow the architecture of the original, UVI have distilled its essence into a samplebased collection that includes 400 presets, an arpeggiator and decent effects section.

I fired up my ESQ for comparison, and while it certainly isn’t a straight clone, the USQ-1 immediately delivers the familiar sound of the original. www.uvi.net VERDICT 8.2