Synths ⇝ Ensoniq ⇝ Ensoniq ZR-76

The ZR-76 was one of the last products Ensoniq designed before being acquired and destroyed by Creative Technology. Its sound set is very similar to the MR-76, but with the Perfect Piano expansion board preinstalled. With three slots total, it can be expanded with two more of the Ensoniq EXP-series expansion boards. It can also load WAV and AIFF samples from floppy disk if the 4MB MR-FLASH expansion board is installed.

One of the more popular features of the ZR-76 was the "Idea Pad", which is a feature that has the keyboard always recording MIDI of what's being played so that when you play something you want to keep, you can send it to the sequencer for later editing and refinement.

It also includes an onboard drum machine with 119 rhythms and 8 variations and 8 fills per rhythm.

Its sounds were later included in the Ensoniq Halo by virtue of being contained in the "Sounds of the ZR featuring the Perfect Piano" E-Mu Expansion ROM that shipped preinstalled.

Specifications

Year Released: 1998

Keyboard: 76 keys with velocity and aftertouch

Polyphony: 64 notes

Multitimbral: 16 parts

Preset Patches: 1219

User Patches: 256

Preset Drum Kits: 70

ROM: 30MB (14MB internal plus 16MB from the Perfect Piano expansion) at 16-bit, 44.1 kHz

Sequencer Resolution: 384

Effects: six 24-bit multi-effects busses with 40 different effects

Screen: 20 x 2 character LCD

Outputs: 1/4" stereo pair plus another 1/4" stereo pair for aux outputs

Dimensions: 1282.7 mm x 396.9 mm x 127 mm

Weight: 23.13 kg

User Demo Videos

Rating

Sound Samples

WAV samples are available on freewavesamples.com.

File Downloads

Ensoniq ZR-76 Manual

Ensoniq ZR-76 Data Sheet

Ensoniq ZRD-100 Patch Disk for ZR76

Items for Sale on Reverb

Ensoniq ZR-76 64-Voice Expandable Keyboard 1998 - Black ($350)

Ensoniq ZR-76 64-Voice 76-Key Weighted Expandable Workstation Keyboard 1998 ($425)

Ensoniq ZR-76 Operating System v3.03 Eprom Rom upgrade ZR76 OS ($16.35)

Key Hammer Weight for ZR-76 (Black Keys) ($2.95)

Ensoniq MR-76, ZR-76, EPS, SD-1, ASR-10, VFX-SD, VFX, EPS-M Slide Potentiometer Slider ($10.88)

Ensoniq MR-76 64 Voice Performance/Composition Keyboard Black ($600)

Vintage Ensoniq MR 76 Keyboard ($456.14)

Ensoniq - MR61 , MR76 ( all Encoder) - ZR - 76 FX/MIXDOWN Encoder ($11.98)

ENSONIQ EXP-1 THE REAL WORLD EXPANDER MR-Rack, MR-61, MR-76, ASR-X Pro, ZR-76 ($330)

ENSONIQ EXP-3 URBAN DANCE PROJECT MR-Rack/61/76 ASR-X Pro ZR-76 ($330)

Ensoniq MR & ZR Series MRD-100 Floppy Disk for MR61 MR76 ZR76 MRD100 2020s ($9.99)