Ensoniq EXP3

Ensoniq EXP-3 Urban Dance Expansion Card

Intro: There are several expansion cards available for the Ensoniq ASR-X, MR, and ZR units. The ASR-X can only hold 1 card, the MR can hold 3, and I am not sure about the ZR. Note that my MR has a sequencer demo card in one of the slots, so my assumption is that if you put all 3 ROM expansion cards into an MR-Rack, then it would no longer be able to play the demo sequences.

Disclaimer: I always put a disclaimer into my blogs. I am not a professional reviewer or musician, just a guy with a home studio. There is no editor or fact-checker, so it is quite possible that there are inaccuracies. This is all just opinion, for entertainment purposes only, so don’t make any decisions based solely off this info.

Urban Dance: This card has all the drums, beat loops, hip-hop, R&B, and techno sounds. I like this card in the ASR-X, since it is a groovebox, the sounds are perfect for an ASR-X.

World: I never got this card, because in my experience, World expansions are generally over-loaded with African rhythm and tribal vocal loops, with very few of the world instruments I am interested in like Celtic and Appalachian and such. I don't know if this is true of the Ensoniq World card, but I have never given it a try.

Perfect Piano: The Steinway Grands and EPs on the Perfect Piano card sound spectacular. I could never get this card for under $400, so instead I purchased a used E-MU Command Station and installed the Sounds of the ZR card for about the same price. The added benefit is I now have 3 available slots on the Command Station, so I can install other ROM cards.

Others Cards: There are other cards, like one for adding drums to the MR-Rack module, and one with flash memory for adding your own waveforms. I have never used these cards so I cannot comment on them.

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