Mirage DSK-1 Manual page 3

The hardware of the Mirage is everything that comes in the box with the exception of the
information on the mini-diskettes. The hardware itself cannot make any sound. It's an engine
without fuel. What the hardware can do is reproduce process and modify the sound information
included on the diskettes.
The information contained on the mini-diskettes is called software; this information consists of
all the data necessary for the Mirage hardware to reproduce a sound. When this information is
transferred, or loaded, into the memory of the Mirage, the hardware is ready to reproduce that
sound or modify it in a nearly unlimited number of ways.
You, the user, can create your own software by taking sounds you record with the Mirage
hardware and transferring that information onto a specially formatted Mirage diskette for future
use. This process is called saving.
Because all of the crucial sound information is included as software, your Mirage will never be
obsolete. An ever-growing library of sounds is available from Ensoniq that will keep your
Mirage fresh and new for years to come.
As it applies to music, digital sampling is a computer term that basically means "recording," In
concept, it's very similar to tape recording--an electronic representation of a sound, or audio
signal, is stored in some location where it can be read and changed back into a sound at some
future time.
Tape recording uses audio tape to store the audio signal. Digital sampling uses sophisticated
digital circuitry (and eventually, computer diskettes) to store the signal. In digital sampling, the
signal is stored as bits of computer information. While in this digital form, the signal can be
modified in many ways, without deteriorating the audio quality and without the mechanical
limitations of tape recording.