Apple, on the other hand, did somewhat hobble the Ensoniq 5503.
The chip could directly address 128K of DOC RAM, yet to cut down
on costs, only provided it with 64K (they should have at least provided
two empty DIP sockets and a jumper to expand it, but didn't).
Next they wired all 8 stereo channels into 1 channel, and then mirrored
that monaural signal to the left/right channels of the Audio-out connector.
You had to purchase a third party "stereo card" to demultiplex the signal
into 2 channels, otherwise you were stuck with monaural sound. And
despite having a built-in DAC for audio recording, they left out a "line-in"
jack. The original motherboard also inadvertently added some unwanted
noise/buzzing, which wasn't corrected until the ROM 3 board in 1989.
Finally they failed to provide any software tools to really tap into the
features of the chip. It wasn't until MIDIsynth, not introduced officially
until 1992, at the end of the GS's commercial life, that a serious music
toolset was introduced.