EPS-16 PLUS). After the system boots from the floppy drive, it flashes a "Tuning Keyboard - Hands Off" message while it calibrates its polyphonic after-touch keyboard. The EPS-16 PLUS is capable of storing the OS in the optional FlashBank, which removes the need for a boot disk. An optional Output Expander module allows access to eight discrete mono outputs on the machine, allowing to separately mix levels and effects for each loaded sample. The key limitations of the EPS were its proprietary disk format, and later a lack of support from Creative Technology, the current owner of Ensoniq. A 19" rack-mount version of both machines were also available in limited numbers. This model was superseded by the Ensoniq EPS-16 PLUS, released in 1991. The EPS-16 PLUS is very similar to the EPS. Its main addition is integrated DSP effects and stereo audio routing. Due to the upgrade to 16-bit audio, the Output Expander on the EPS-16 PLUS is different, instead providing three pairs of stereo outputs, two from before the new effects chip. Use The EPS is a performance sampler. Besides the main processor it contains a dedicated sound engine so that playing can be done whilst loading another sample. The main processor handles the I/O while the sound engine is responsible for keeping the audio running without interruption — this made the EPS especially useful for live performance situations. The interface, although operating through a single-line fluorescent display, offers rapid access to all functions by the intelligent way that functionality is broken into Modes and Pages. Modes are: Load, Command, and Edit. Pages are: Instrument, Sequence, MIDI, and System. In addition to eight soft instrument buttons, it has a number pad (0-9), four cursor buttons, a value slider, and 'Yes' - 'No' buttons. The vast majority of functionality can be accessed with less than three clicks: Mode - Page - Number Pad. There is also a dedicated button for Sampling, and three for the built-in sequencer. The EPS-16 PLUS also has a dedicated button for configuring the effects DSP. Easter Egg: There is a hidden menu in the Command-ENV1 page which contains Software Information, the names of the designers, a DC Offset Adjustment, and a keyboard calibration command. Instrument Instrument pages are prefixed by clicking a Mode (Load, Command, or Edit) -- yielding functions relating to loading, editing, and tweaking EPS sampled instruments. Instruments can contain a number of