Ensoniq - Sound Cards and Semiconductors

Sound Cards and Semiconductors

Ensoniq was known not only for their innovative musical instruments division, but also for their computer audio chips. In 1986, after making an agreement with Apple Computer, the same Ensoniq 5503 chip utilized in the Mirage and ESQ-1 keyboard was incorporated into the Apple II personal computer. The Ensoniq ES5505 (OTIS or OTISR2), ES5506 (OTTO) and ES5510 (ESPR6, ESP stands for Ensoniq Signal Processor) were used in various arcade games. They were all manufactured on the CMOS process. The OTTO was licensed to Advanced Gravis for use in the Gravis Ultrasound card. In 1994 production began on PC sound cards for home computers. The design of the video game console Atari Panther also included the OTIS chip, though the product never reached series production.

Ensoniq's sound cards became immensely popular, no doubt due to their many wins with the big OEM system manufacturers. Towards the end of the DOS gaming era, every game supported the Ensoniq Soundscape. In fact Ensoniq was the first to come up with an ISA software audio emulation solution for their new PCI sound cards that was compatible with most DOS games. It is likely that this was a big motivator in the Creative/E-MU purchase of Ensoniq because Creative Labs had not developed a high-compatibility method to support audio in legacy DOS software. According to one source, because of the wide range of patents Ensoniq had involving the PCI bus support for the sound cards, and the fact that Ensoniq wanted E-MU's technologies, the buyout of Ensoniq became the best of both worlds.