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label_quick_facts:
Ensoniq EPS-16+
Ensoniq EPS-16+
Sampler
Time in use:
1994 (earliest known)

The Ensoniq EPS-16+ was one of the first keyboards used by Flake for Rammstein in 1994. It is shown briefly in parts of ACHTUNG! WIR KOMMEN. Und wir kriegen euch alle., where Flake is seen playing Du riechst so gut in the Knaack Club studio with the other band members. Flake's EPS-16+ uses an OEX-6sr output expander.

Flake using the EPS-16+ at Knaack

Information

Flake's Ensoniq EPS-16+ is a Turbo unit, which means it has all expansions installed in it (Memory Expansion, SCSI and 1MB Flash Memory). At first he only used floppy disks, but due to their slow read and write speeds and low storage, he decided to get an internal hard drive installed.

To get the hard drive installed, he went to the German company Syntec, a company that made sample libraries (for example Wall of Sounds Volume 1, a library used by Flake) and repaired studio equipment. This is known because the hard drive adapter is made by Syntec and the keyboard has a "Syntec IHD" sticker on the right side of the keyboard's logo.

When Flake got his Ensoniq ASR-10R, also in 1994, he started using the Ensoniq EPS-16+ much less, so he decided to give it to someone. Before giving it away, he deleted most of the instruments, sequences and banks he had made for Rammstein songs. His library of instruments and effects, many banks and the songs he had made on the keyboard stayed in the folders. A few entries of deleted Rammstein files are still in the folders too, but their data was later overwritten by other files (see What could not be recovered). The next owner saved files of their own on the drive, some of them over Flake's deleted files. The stickers that are on the OEX-6sr Output Expander were most likely put there by the person that ended up with the keyboard because Flake only used the bus AUX 1.

In 2019, this keyboard was sold on eBay Kleinanzeigen. The buyer found out that the hard drive wasn't formatted, so he found instruments, banks and songs (which are not recordings, but sequences that play the sampler's instruments). Since the hard drive was not formatted, many of the previously deleted Rammstein live and studio instruments and banks could be recovered (see Deleted files and loose parts).

Hard drive

The hard drive that Flake used with his EPS-16+ holds a copy of the sampler's operating system and, in folders, instruments, banks, songs, sequences and effects, together with the remains of files that were deleted. This page describes what is stored on the drive, how the storage is organised, and what each kind of file is used for. Files that were saved on the drive later by another user are not covered.

More about the drive:

  • Files by folder: every file in the folders, with its size, contents, state and a recording
  • Deleted files and loose parts: deleted files that are still complete, and data that no longer belongs to a file
  • Recovery: what can be loaded on the sampler again, in five groups by where its data comes from
  • Songs: the songs, played with the banks that name them
  • Sounds: single samples, exactly as they are stored

Play it: eps.ramm.wiki runs the EPS-16 PLUS in the browser with this hard drive, including the files that could be restored. The sampler starts from the drive; its folders, instruments, banks, songs and effects can be loaded and played from the on-screen keyboard, the computer keyboard or a MIDI keyboard.

Glossary

The words used on these pages, grouped by what they belong to; within each group from the smallest part to the largest. Words marked file are the kinds of file that the drive stores.

Sound: from a sample to an instrument

Word Meaning
Sample A recorded sound, stored as a series of numbers. The sample rate says how many numbers make up one second, for example 29 762.
Loop A part of a sample that repeats while a key is held, so that a short recording can sound for as long as needed.
Root key The key on which a wavesample sounds at the pitch at which it was recorded. Keys above or below it play the sample faster or slower, so it sounds higher or lower.
Key range The keys on which a wavesample plays.
Envelope How a sound's volume, pitch or brightness changes from the moment a key is pressed until it is released and fades away.
Wavesample A sample together with its settings: key range, root key, volume, position between left and right, filters, envelopes and loop.
Layer A part of an instrument that assigns wavesamples to keys. Several layers can sound at the same time.
Patch One of four combinations of layers that the two patch select buttons choose while playing.
Effect
file
Settings for the sampler's effects unit: reverb, delay, chorus, distortion and others. Every instrument holds one. Saved as a file of its own, an effect can be loaded without an instrument.
Instrument
file
A playable sound: up to eight layers with their wavesamples, the four patches and an effect. It is loaded into one of the sampler's eight instrument places and played from the keyboard, from the sequencer, or from another device through MIDI.

Music: from a sequence to a bank

Word Meaning
Sequence
file
A recorded performance on up to eight tracks: the notes, how hard each key was struck and the movements of wheels and pedals, with the tempo and the length in bars, but no sound. It plays back a part, much like a MIDI file.
Song
file
A set of sequences and a list of steps that says in which order they play and how often each one repeats. A song can also hold song tracks, recorded over the whole song alongside the sequences. It plays back a whole arrangement.
Bank
file
A list of up to eight instruments and one song, so that a whole setup loads in one go. Each of them is given by the name of the disk, the folders on the way to it and its slot. For each instrument the bank also holds a volume and a position between left and right, and it can hold the settings of an effect.

Storage: from a block to the drive

Word Meaning
Block The unit in which the drive stores data: 512 bytes.
Slot One of the 39 places for entries in a folder.
Folder Two blocks with 39 slots, each holding the entry of a file or of another folder. The top-level folder holds all the others.
Block table The table at the start of the drive that says, for every block, whether it is free and which block of the same file comes next. Its technical name is FAT (file allocation table).
Operating system
file
The software that runs the sampler; the sampler loads it to start working. Its last block holds the global settings, written there when the user saves them.
SCSI The connection through which the sampler talks to the hard drive.

Playing and connecting

Word Meaning
Output bus The path a sound takes out of the sampler. BUS1, BUS2 and BUS3 feed the effects unit, which sends them on to the main outputs; AUX1 leads to the output expander and bypasses the effects.
MIDI The standard way for electronic instruments and computers to send notes and control data to each other.
Emulation A program that reproduces a device's chips, so that the device's own software runs on a computer.

At a glance

Drive Quantum GoDrive GLS 127S (it gives its name as QUANTUM GLS127S), a 2.5-inch hard drive with a SCSI connection
Size 249 821 blocks of 512 bytes (127.9 MB)
Name stored on the drive DISK001
Operating system EPS-16 PLUS operating system 1.30, with saved global settings
Folders the top level and 44 folders below it
Files in the folders 388: 373 complete, 3 partly preserved, 12 lost
Complete files in the folders 281 instruments, 39 banks, 24 songs, 5 sequences, 23 effects and the operating system
Deleted files that are still complete 67: 61 instruments, 2 banks and 4 effects
Other data parts of further instruments, songs and sequences, and audio that belongs to no file (see Deleted files and loose parts)

The EPS-16 PLUS and its hard drive

The Ensoniq EPS-16 PLUS is a sampler: a keyboard instrument that records sounds, keeps them in its memory and plays them from its keys. A recorded sound is called a sample. When a key is pressed, the sampler plays the sample faster or slower, which makes it sound higher or lower, so one recording can be played across many keys. The EPS-16 PLUS also has a sequencer, which records and plays back what is played on eight tracks, and an effects unit for reverb, delay and similar effects.

The sampler's memory is emptied when it is switched off, so everything has to be saved and loaded again: from 3.5-inch floppy disks, which hold 1 600 blocks of 512 bytes (819 KB) each, or from a hard drive connected to the sampler's SCSI port. Flake's drive holds 249 821 blocks, as much as about 156 floppy disks. The operating system, the software that runs the sampler, is also stored on disk; the drive holds a copy of it.

How the drive is organised

The drive is divided into 249 821 blocks of 512 bytes, numbered from 0. The sampler always reads and writes whole blocks.

Blocks What they hold
0 not used by the sampler's file system
1 the name of the drive (DISK001), its size and the drive's model name
2 the number of free blocks
3–4 the top-level folder
5–1 474 the block table: for every block of the drive, whether it is free, which block of the same file comes next, or that the file ends there
1 475–1 641 the operating system
1 642–249 820 folders and files

Folders. Every folder takes two blocks and has 39 places for entries, here called slots. In a subfolder, the first slot points back to the folder above. An entry holds the name of a file or folder, its type, its size, its first block and how many of its blocks follow each other without a gap. Banks find their instruments and songs by slot numbers, not by name: a bank stores the slot of each folder on the way and the slot of the file.

Files in pieces. A file does not have to lie in one piece: the block table links its pieces. On this drive, many files lie in several pieces, and the files of one folder are spread across the whole drive:

Where each folder's files lie on the drive
LAGER
STUDIO
LIVE
DEMON
top level
Deleted files
block 0block 125 000block 249 820
Each mark is a stretch of blocks that belongs to a file of that folder. "Deleted files" are the deleted files that are still complete.

Deleted files and the later owner. After Flake, the drive was used by a later owner, who saved files of their own on it; these pages leave those files out. Files were deleted on the drive both before the later owner saved files on it and afterwards: one of the later owner's files lies over the beginning of a deleted file in LAGER/SYNTS, and one of the later owner's own files is deleted. When the sampler deletes a file, it only marks the file's entry as empty and its blocks as free. The data stays in those blocks until a later save uses them, which is why the drive still holds deleted files, some complete and some in parts. The drive does not record when a file was saved or deleted, or by whom.

How the space is used

Every block of the drive belongs to one of these kinds of data:

  • Files in folders, complete: files that have an entry in a folder and whose data is all there.
  • Deleted files, still complete: files without a folder entry whose data is all there.
  • Incomplete files and loose parts: the blocks that remain of files whose other blocks are missing, instrument parts without their file, and audio without a file.
  • Free space: old copies and unidentified data: free blocks. Nearly all of them hold copies of data that is also in the files above.
  • System area and folders: the drive's first 1 642 blocks (drive name, free-block count, the top-level folder, the block table and the operating system) and the two blocks of each folder.
  • Files saved later by another user: not covered on these pages.
Kind of data Blocks Size Share
Files in folders, complete 114 986 58.9 MB 46.0 %
Deleted files, still complete 38 646 19.8 MB 15.5 %
Incomplete files and loose parts 24 526 12.6 MB 9.8 %
Free space: old copies and unidentified data 21 021 10.8 MB 8.4 %
System area and folders 1 730 0.9 MB 0.7 %
Files saved later by another user (not covered here) 48 912 25.0 MB 19.6 %
Whole drive 249 821 127.9 MB 100 %
The drive from its first block to its last
block 0
0 MB
50 000
26 MB
100 000
51 MB
150 000
77 MB
200 000
102 MB
249 820
128 MB
Files in folders, complete: 58.9 MBDeleted files, still complete: 19.8 MBIncomplete files and loose parts: 12.6 MBFree space: old copies and unidentified data: 10.8 MBSystem area and folders: 0.9 MBFiles saved later by another user (not covered here): 25.0 MB
Each stripe shows the kind of data that takes up most of that stretch of the drive (about 500 blocks per stripe). Below the stripes: block numbers and the position on the drive in MB.
How the space is used
The whole drive
46 %
15 %
10 %
8 %
20 %
Files in folders, complete: 58.9 MBDeleted files, still complete: 19.8 MBIncomplete files and loose parts: 12.6 MBFree space: old copies and unidentified data: 10.8 MBSystem area and folders: 0.9 MBFiles saved later by another user (not covered here): 25.0 MB
Complete files, in the folders and deleted, by number (440 files)
342
41
27
24
Instruments: 342 files, 78.2 MBBanks: 41 files, 0.2 MBEffects: 27 files, 0.1 MBSongs: 24 files, 0.2 MBSequences: 5 files, 31 KBOperating system: 1 file, 86 KB

Errors in the drive's records

  • Block 1 530 lies inside the operating system, but the block table gives block 1 642 as the block that follows it. The operating system's entry gives its size as 167 blocks in one piece, from block 1 475 to block 1 641.
  • One block of the block table, drive block 90, holds audio instead of the entries for blocks 14 450 to 14 619.
  • Block 2 gives the number of free blocks as 84 599; the block table marks 46 198 blocks as free.
  • The folder LAGER has two entries for the same folder: TRANSWAVE 01 (slot 16), which gives the folder's 24 files as its size, and TRANSWAVE (slot 11), which gives 0. The folder itself refers back to slot 16. One bank, TOO LATE BK1, reaches one of its instruments through the entry TRANSWAVE.

Old entries in block 1

After the drive's name and size, block 1 also holds five entries in the form of folder entries: the songs OCCA, STRAT*SONG and ** SAXG ** and the sequences SAXBRAS-BA55 and PIANO-FAIRL. They are not part of any folder, and the first blocks they give (186 to 232) lie inside the block table, so they do not lead to files on this drive.

Folders

The top level holds five folders and one file. The sizes count the data that is on the drive; every file is listed on Files by folder.

Folder Folders in it Files Partly preserved Lost Size
LIVE 6 5 1 3 1.2 MB
DEMON 7 25 0 2 1.3 MB
STUDIO 9 8 0 5 0.2 MB
LAGER 17 349 2 2 57.1 MB
MAKROFILES 0 0 0 0 –
(files at the top level) – 1 0 0 86 KB
Files by folder
LAGER 57.1 MB
FAXEN
9.5 MB
DRUMS
9.3 MB
ETC
4.8 MB
MISCHINSTR
4.7 MB
GIT LAGER
4.4 MB
SYNTS
4.1 MB
BAESSE
3.5 MB
STRINGS
3.5 MB
TRANSWAVE
01
3.1 MB
BLAESER
2.7 MB
CHOERE
2.6 MB
PIANOS
2.5 MB
ORGELN
2.1 MB
Deleted files
19.8 MB
DEMON
1.3 MB
LIVE
1.2 MB
LAGER: 57.1 MBDeleted files: 19.8 MBDEMON: 1.3 MBLIVE: 1.2 MBSTUDIO: 0.2 MBtop level: 86 KB
The area of each box is the space its files take on the drive. The three smallest parts of LAGER share one box. Boxes too small for a label show their name when the pointer rests on them.

All folders, with the number of files directly in each one:

Deleted files and loose parts

Besides the files in its folders, the drive holds:

  • 67 deleted files that are still complete: 61 instruments, 2 banks and 4 effects;
  • 7 deleted instruments of which a few blocks are overwritten;
  • parts of instruments without their file: 28 groups of layers and wavesamples, the header of an instrument named STU TIER T 7, three single wavesamples and seven effects;
  • 20 stretches of audio that belong to no file;
  • seven complete sequences and parts of further sequences, and most of the blocks of the song SCHNULZG **, whose entry in LAGER/LAGERSEQ points to another file.

All of it is listed on Deleted files and loose parts.

What could not be recovered

These files of Flake's are lost or damaged. Files that were saved later by another user are not listed. Where a file is known or believed to have been made for a song, the song is given.

Lost files

Their entries are still in the folders, but the blocks they point to now hold other files, so their data is gone.

Name Folder Slot Type Size What happened Song
GERUCH NEU*8 LIVE/LIVE INSTR 34 instrument 375.3 KB its first block now belongs to a file that was saved later by another user most likely Du riechst so gut, live
FLEISCHSONG LIVE/BANK SEQ 6 song 1 KB its first block now belongs to LAGER/DRUMS/TECHNO PERK –
KASSEL 1 LIVE/BANK SEQ 31 song 4.1 KB its first block now belongs to LAGER/DRUMS/PG DRUMS –
ESSE SCHOKOL DEMON/IC-DIRECTORY 2 instrument 116.7 KB its first block now belongs to a file that was saved later by another user –
NACHRICHTEN DEMON/IC-DIRECTORY 3 instrument 2.05 MB its first block now belongs to a file that was saved later by another user –
HERZ BANK 1 STUDIO/STUDIO BANKE 16 bank 1.5 KB its first block now belongs to LAGER/PIANOS/BJOERG PIANO most likely Herzeleid, studio bank
DAS GLAS STUDIO/STUDIO BANKE 20 bank 1.5 KB its first block now belongs to LAGER/PIANOS/BJOERG PIANO most likely Schwarzes Glas, studio bank
2*ANALOGFLIR STUDIO/STU INST 2 3 instrument 179.7 KB its first block now belongs to LAGER/PIANOS/BJOERG PIANO; a complete file with the same name and size is in LAGER/SYNTS and takes its place under Recovery –
GLAS NEU6 STUDIO/INST 5 2 instrument 465.9 KB its first block now belongs to LAGER/PIANOS/BJOERG PIANO most likely Schwarzes Glas, studio
TR 8 GLAS STUDIO/NUR GLAS 1 instrument 659.5 KB its first block now belongs to LAGER/PIANOS/BJOERG PIANO most likely Schwarzes Glas, studio
EMU STRINGS LAGER/STRINGS 17 instrument 405 KB its first block now belongs to a file that was saved later by another user –
SCHNULZG ** LAGER/LAGERSEQ 4 song 6.7 KB its first block now belongs to LAGER/DRUMS/TD-7 BD+SN 1; the rest of the song is on the drive, and it is completed under Recovery –

Four more entries are marked as deleted in their folders. Their names and sizes are still stored, but their first blocks now belong to other files:

Name Folder Slot Size Its first block now belongs to
101 BA 7 LAGER/SYNTS 12 114.2 KB a file that was saved later by another user
DML DRUMS R1 top level 17 153.6 KB LAGER/TRANSWAVE 01/FAT SQR REZ
*+UNDBANK 1 top level 19 1.5 KB DEMON/DEMON BANKEN/7+8TRANCE BK
ENALOG 14 top level 20 8.7 KB DEMON/DEMON BANKEN/7+8TRANCE BK

Damaged files

Parts of these files are missing or overwritten. Where the missing parts could be filled in, the completed version and its recording are under Recovery.

Name Where What is missing Completed Song
BLIND 5 LIVE/LIVE INSTR the first two of its 1 826 blocks (the instrument header) yes –
E MAX INST LAGER/SYNTS 448 of its 467 blocks; only the settings and the first 0.1 s of the sample are left yes –
ACIDSONG ** LAGER/LAGERSEQ 7 of its 18 blocks: the end of sequence 9 and sequences 10 to 12, the only ones its step list plays no –
STU FLE GIT3 deleted file 5 of 1 302 blocks (the end of its effect) yes Weißes Fleisch, studio, track 3 (raw guitar samples)
FLAKEBL TR 6 deleted file 1 of 416 blocks (inside the first sample) holds only zeros yes –
TIEF STU T 7 deleted file 13 of 939 blocks (inside one sample) yes Jeder lacht, studio, track 7
RAMMSTU TR 8 deleted file 2 of 176 blocks (a layer and two wavesample settings, no audio) yes Rammstein, studio, track 8
KINSKI TR 8 deleted file 27 of 394 blocks (inside one sample) yes Heirate mich, studio, track 8
KI 7 CHOIR deleted file 4 of 396 blocks (two layers and four wavesample settings, no audio) yes Heirate mich, studio, track 7
SELECT--RACE deleted file 2 of 422 blocks (the end of its effect) yes –
STU TIER T 7 deleted file everything after its header, its first layer and its first four wavesamples (of 683 blocks) yes Tier (demo), studio, track 7

Further damaged data:

  • Sequences whose end is missing, found in free space: FLEISCH 6 (missing: its end); SEQUENCE 08 (missing: part of track 5); FEUER BASS (missing: the last 4 of its 8 bars); GLAS SONG 4 (missing: everything but its header); FEUERFINI 5 (missing: everything after its beginning).
  • A wavesample named UNNAMED WS at block 185 727: 103 072 of its 155 984 samples are left.
  • The deleted bank FLEISBANK 1 plays an instrument from slot 10 of STUDIO/STUDIO INSTR, which now holds a file that was saved later by another user, so that track has no instrument.
  • Six complete files have a damaged folder entry or damaged block-table entries; their data is intact: the operating system, LIVE/LIVE INSTR/EL SEVEN 7, STUDIO/STUDIO INSTR/FLAKELU TR 8, LAGER/SYNTS/POLYSIX 1, LAGER/SYNTS/E MAX LR and LAGER/SYNTS/REZ RICHMOOG (marked on Files by folder).

Recovery

Everything that can be loaded on an EPS-16 PLUS again falls into five groups, by where its data comes from. Only the first group consists entirely of data exactly as it is on the drive. The groups and every file in them are listed on Recovery.

Group Files What it means
1. Original 440 Every byte is the file's own data: the complete files in the folders and the complete deleted files.
2. Extracted 25 Complete sequences cut out of the remains of two songs and out of free space, unchanged.
3. Injected 62 Parts without their file, held together by a newly written file header: groups of instrument parts, single wavesamples, audio without a file, sequence track data and effects.
4. Inferred 21 Known files with missing parts, filled in: rebuilt headers, copied blocks, rebuilt settings, two songs and six sequences.
5. Substitute 1 A lost file, replaced by a complete file of the same name and size from another folder.

Global settings

The sampler stores its global settings in the last block of the operating system file when the user saves them. The other 166 blocks of the operating system on this drive are identical to the factory disk of version 1.30. Its last block holds these settings:

Setting On this drive On the factory disk
Touch (how the keyboard responds to how hard a key is struck) SOFT 4 MEDIUM 2
Transmit (MIDI channel used to send what is played) BASE CHAN (the base channel) INST CHAN (the instrument's channel)
Multi controllers ON OFF
MIDI channels of tracks 1–8 in multi mode 1–8 9–16
Click (metronome) ON, in quarter notes, also during playback REC (only while recording)
Click output AUX1 BUS3

All other settings are the same as on the factory disk, among them master tune +0, bend range 2, MIDI base channel 1 and MIDI in mode MULTI. AUX1 is the output bus that leads to the socket for the OEX-6 output expander, an add-on with six extra outputs, and bypasses the effects. BUS3 feeds the effects unit, which sends it on to the main outputs.

Sounds

The instruments and the songs that banks name were recorded on an emulated EPS-16 PLUS: 402 instruments, with one note for each wavesample, 32 recordings of songs played with the instruments of their banks, and 44 of sequences that the songs do not play. The recordings are on Files by folder, Songs and Recovery; how they were made is described under About the recordings. A few examples:

Recording What it is Sound
B-30 ORGEN (LAGER/ORGELN) instrument, 1 note ▶️0:06
WAVE STACK 1 (LAGER/STRINGS) instrument, 5 notes ▶️0:32
DEMON SONG 1 with the bank DEMON BANK 1 song ▶️1:33
7-8TEL with the bank 7-8CHTEL song ▶️2:49

Single samples, played exactly as they are stored (without envelopes, filters, loops or effects); more on Sounds:

Instrument Folder Wavesample Sound
B-30 ORGEN LAGER/ORGELN 1: UNNAMED WS ▶️0:02
WAVE STACK 1 LAGER/STRINGS 1: UNNAMED WS ▶️0:05
DOOM NR 2 LAGER/FAXEN 1: CHAOS   WS ▶️0:08