"Excellent Fizmo ready for a new home. Plays great with excellent feel synth action keys. Serviced a couple years ago, this board has many years of life ahead of it. All knobs respond to fine control, and input/output is clear.
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"In excellent condition and fully functional. Most importantly it has had the essential regulator modification. The instrument has been well looked after, having been kept in a non-smoking and pet-free home studio.
The synth comes with the original user's guide and a suitable UK mains power adapter. If you intend to use it outside the UK you will require a 9VAC 1.3A adapter for your local mains voltage.
Ensoniq's swansong, the FIZMO is an incredibly rare and highly sought-after 48-voice synthesizer which uses 2nd-generation Transwave technology to create very organic sounds unlike any other synth available. The top panel is festooned with realtime controls for many of its features, including the unique and quirky 'F I Z M O' knobs which alter various parameters per patch. It is most revered for its ability to create immense textures and soundscapes, often from just a single note.
For deep diving using a computer, there is a reasonably priced Mac / Windows application available called Fauxmo which is a standalone editor / librarian GUI. It edits the instrument via MIDI in real time."
Introducing Tranzwave, a powerful wavetable Synthesizer, inspired by an unsung hero from the late 90’s: The Ensoniq Fizmo.
The flexible modulation engine, coupled with creative editing and randomization features, simplifies the creation of new, innovative sounds. Tranzwave brings all the wavetables from the Fizmo into the modern age for new creative explorations. With its user-friendly interface, Tranzwave provides complete control over wavetable and effect controls, making the creation of new sounds both fun and easy.
Tranzwave – A Tribute to Fizmo’s DNA
In the late 1990s Ensoniq pioneered “Transwaves”, a unique form of wavetable synthesis notably featured in their Fizmo synthesizer. Unlike earlier forms of wavetable synthesis, which could sometimes produce more static or stepped sounds, Ensoniq’s technology facilitated fluid transitions between different waveforms within a wavetable. This innovation led to the creation of evolving, dynamic soundscapes. Ensoniq’s approach allowed for a more seamless and organic morphing of sounds, enabling musicians to craft rich, textured audio experiences that changed over time. This method offered a fresh and novel way to explore sonic possibilities, distinguishing it from the more digital and discrete transitions of previous wavetable synthesizers like the PPG Wave. Although the Ensoniq Fizmo, which utilized Transwaves, did not achieve widespread fame, its distinctive approach to wavetable synthesis marked a significant development in the evolution of electronic sound and influenced modern synthesis techniques.
Tranzwave brings this older, unique wavetable concept, known as Transwaves, into the modern era of music production. By sampling each frame of these Transwaves, Tranzwave offers a rich and dynamic sonic palette that captures the essence of these early digital synthesizers. It’s akin to having a vast library of colors and shades at your disposal, offering endless possibilities for creating new and innovative sounds.
"I was the Product Manager for FIZMO at Ensoniq in 1998, right before they were swallowed up by Creative Labs. This is actually one of the very first FIZMO’s to come off of the production line. When I saw it I immediately panicked! There was no silk screening for the I/o on the back of the keyboard! A few of these were manufactured this way and they were given to me and some of the customer support team at the time. It also includes the OG Radio Shack Adapter which we used in-house until the production adapters arrived.
I haven’t used it in years but I just fired it up. I do have the red plastic cover for the display. It needs to be glued back on. The unit is fully functional and works with the fantastic FAUXMO Editor which I have a copy of. Here’s one of the most unique synths ever produces and a piece of Ensoniq history."
"Unique synth, evolving sounds, wavetables like a PPG Wave or Waldorf Microwave. We performed the essential power regulator modification to this unit (this needs to be done or you risk doing serious damage to your Fizmo!), replaced the missing red plastic display window with a new one. Fully tested by professionals, working perfectly and sounding like nothing else. Comes with original owners manual."
"For sale is a rare vintage Ensoniq Fizmo Transwave digital keyboard synthesizer. This is a cool unique sounding synth. Includes external wall-wart power supply. Previous owner mentioned that the common rectifier issue has already been repaired. It's tested and working but has some minor issues. The screen appears to have some minor damage to it (still functional) and the envelope section does not appear to function properly (could be user error, but some settings it does not seem to apply the ADSR as expected). Due to these issues it is sold as-is, no refunds, returns, warranties or guarantees. Priced lower accordingly. Otherwise everything appears to be working as it should and it's still very usable and sounds nice."
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"Ensoniq - FIZMO (s/n FIZMO-10499) Reasonably good condition apart from discolouration of the keys and the top C key has lost it’s tip. All working. The FIZMO was released in 1998 and is a digital 48 voice transwave synth with three effect processors. Note: There is a Euro socket size cutout on the back panel, that looks like at some point someone fitted a power supply inside, but none of this exists now, so the cutout is covered over, and so it is back to the original external AC adaptor power (supplied -UK plug). No owners manual, but it is easily found and downloadable from the internet. VEMIA can collect. Packing 18GBP."
"This synthesizer is still so amazing whenever I use it! I bought it on sale and, along with my Ensoniq Fizmo, it was the first real synthesizer I ever owned. My only regret is that I don't use it much more often because this synth deserves it. Maybe I'm just worry that it might break at some point. It has been upgraded with a Nalbantov USB port so I can load and save sounds without needing floppy disks.
I used for the recording the following FX chain:
Kawai K5000R - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated
The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC via USB for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. On some tracks Compressor and EQ where added in Cubase. The final song was then mastered using iZotope Ozone.
Well, I decided to go back to the basics, but at the same time make something useful for the synth community and do a kind of competition (I like competitions;-). What's my best synth for ambient music :-)"
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"I was the Product Manager for FIZMO at Ensoniq in 1998, right before they were swallowed up by Creative Labs. This is actually one of the very first FIZMO’s to come off of the production line. When I saw it I immediately panicked! There was no silk screening for the I/o on the back of the keyboard! A few of these were manufactured this way and they were given to me and some of the customer support team at the time. It also includes the OG Radio Shack Adapter which we used in-house until the production adapters arrived.
