Editing Ensoniq (section)

== History ==
In spring 1983, former [[MOS Technology]] engineers [[Robert Yannes|Robert "Bob" Yannes]], [[Bruce Crockett]], Charles Winterble, David Ziembicki, and [[Albert Charpentier]] formed '''Peripheral Visions'''. The team had designed the [[Commodore 64]], and hoped to build another computer. To raise funds, Peripheral Visions agreed to build a computer keyboard for the [[Atari 2600]], but the [[video game crash of 1983]] canceled the project and Commodore sued the new company, claiming that it owned the keyboard project. Renaming itself as Ensoniq, the new company instead designed a music synthesizer.<ref name="ieee85">{{cite journal|last2=Wallich|first2=Paul|date=March 1985|title=Design case history: the Commodore 64|url=https://archive.org/details/commodore64_mar1985|journal=IEEE Spectrum|pages=48–58|issn=0018-9235|last1=Perry|first1=Tekla S.|volume=22 |issue=3 |doi=10.1109/MSPEC.1985.6370590 |access-date=2011-11-12}}</ref>

Ensoniq grew rapidly over the next few years with the success of the Mirage and the ESQ-1. The plant in Great Valley, Pennsylvania employed nearly 200 people and housed the manufacturing facility. A number of successful products followed which all included the full-custom [[Integrated_circuit|ICs]] for music and effects which were developed in house. While the core keyboard products were generally successful, there were some quality problems and increasing competition from Asian companies. An attempt to diversify into hearing aids was unsuccessful and put the company in financial peril. In the mid-nineties, they developed a line of very cost-effective [[sound card]]s which sold millions of units.
 
In January 1998, ENSONIQ Corp. was acquired by [[Creative Technology]] Ltd. for $77 million. The acquisition was focused on the sound-card technology of the Ensoniq Audio-PCI. The musical products division, which was in financial trouble, was merged with [[E-mu Systems]] to form the E-Mu/Ensoniq division of Creative. Over the next three years the Ensoniq operation in Pennsylvania was gradually dismantled and shut down. After releasing an entry-level E-mu MK6/PK6 and Ensoniq Halo keyboards in 2002 – essentially keyboard versions of the Proteus 2500 module – the E-Mu/Ensoniq division was dissolved and support for legacy products was discontinued soon afterward.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Amazing Ensoniq|url=https://www.keyboardkountry.com/blog/the-amazing-ensoniq/|access-date=2021-10-03|website=Keyboard Kountry|language=en}}</ref>