Alesis QS8.1

Posted by: Smitty

Alesis QS8.1 - 10/20/00 06:43 PM

Well as you've probably read in the general discussions there are several people who think the Alesis QS8.1 is junk, and I was considering buying one. I wanted to hear from some more users themselves on what they think. Are the piano sounds decent? Are you happy with the board overall?
QS6.1,QS7.1,QS8.1 users I need your input. Thanks

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Smitty
Posted by: Anonymous

Re: Alesis QS8.1 - 10/29/00 07:24 PM

I think my QS8.1 is fantstic. What's the complaint?

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Steven Grigsby
Posted by: Smitty

Re: Alesis QS8.1 - 11/01/00 07:00 PM

As you know there are as many opinions as there are people, and you sometimes have to weigh the advice with a grain of salt, but nonetheless I think the price of the average pro keyboard is pretty high for me at least and so I dont just buy them on a whim anytime I want. This is a serious purchase for me, so if theres problems I'd like to know about it BEFORE I buy it. I really liked what I heard about the QS series of synths and also the fact that I own other quality Alesis gear doesnt hurt them either in my eyes. The general consensus seems to be that the sounds in the Alesis are not as good as those in the Korgs,Kurzweils,Rolands.
What is your opinion on that?Your opinion is important to me because you own one and play it regularly(maybe)What would you say about the sounds and mainly the piano and organ sounds? Did you compare the sounds to other keyboards when you bought yours?


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Smitty
Posted by: Anonymous

Re: Alesis QS8.1 - 11/13/00 04:03 PM

I've got a QS8, and I'm very happy with it. You're never going to get agreement from everybody, and you're never going to find the one synth that has everything exactly as you'd like to have it. I personally thought the QS8 had the best combination of sounds, feel, user interface, and construction for my tastes. It's my main keyboard, and it's working out quite well.

Best piano sounds? Maybe not, but not bad, either. I dig the organ sounds. And being able to play the four controller sliders like drawbars is great compared to other "main" synths. Best string sounds? Again, there may be better, but I got the Orchestral card and those sounds are pretty darn good, too. The QCards really multiply the sound rating of the synth in my book. I also got the Sanctuary Card and found a bunch of very cool sounds. Sure it's more money, but it's almost like getting another synth every time you get a card, and you can find them used for even less.

I haven't found any totally bad parts on this machine. Again, there's always little things you'd like to see done better, but some of those go directly to higher prices or other trade-offs. For the money, I like the QS8 the best.
Posted by: Jay Storey

Re: Alesis QS8.1 - 12/04/00 01:58 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Smitty:

Well as you've probably read in the general discussions there are several people who think the Alesis QS8.1 is junk, and I was considering buying one. I wanted to hear from some more users themselves on what they think. Are the piano sounds decent? Are you happy with the board overall?
QS6.1,QS7.1,QS8.1 users I need your input. Thanks


I don't know about the 8.1, but my keyboard player has a QS-7, and they are not that different.

The thing with QS's is that they have a lot of polyphony, pretty good effects, a lot of pretty good sounds, and some nice features, so far so good.

All in all, I would say the sound is a little thin though. Not that it sucks, but compared to his Trinity rack module, his Oberheim OB-12, and even his old M-1, the QS-7 just sounds quite thin.

The piano sound is ok in an ensemble, but not as a solo instrument, it is very thin.

I find I have to add a fair amount of low EQ on the console channel the QS-7 comes in just to bring in some beef.

You might not notice this at first, or if it's your only keyboard, but QS series definetly does not have the balls that a Korg or Roland product does.

Then again the price is really, really good so there you go.

some things that TOTALLY suck with the QS series are the following:

1. You can't just "change" midi channel assignments in Mix mode. There are 16 slots, each dedicated to 16 midi channels, so if you like the sound on channel four, but want to use it on channel one, you've got to change channel one patch to that sound.

You can't layer multiple patches on the same channel with a QS-7.

You can work around it, but it's a major pain in the ass.

2. Local off is implemented very strangely, basically there is no local off, unless you are in Mix mode. And to get local off in mix mode, you have to disable internal midi transmission on EACH channel. If the mix is setup with a bunch of channels, this is a major pain in the ass

3. Although the QS series has a ton of sounds, you can't access them via midi program changes very well.

Bascially bank changes move you from patch mode to mix mode, and then you can only access the patches that ARE IN USER RAM.

What this means is that if you really like a patch that's in a preset bank, or on a card, you HAVE TO COPY IT TO A USER LOCATION to call it up via midi from the user location.

This sucks big ass in a huge fashion.

We do a lot of sequencer recording (synched to an analog recorder) with a big rig of synths, and the QS-7 is a MAJOR pain in the ass to use.

It's real obvious that the designers figured this would be your only synth, that you wouldn't be trying to integrate it into a larger system.

It sounds like this is not an issue for you, but I bring all this stuff up, because it's obvious that the QS series is really aimed at the casual user, home studio or part timer, that only owns a keyboard or two.

The thing is they could have implemented the feature set in a much more elegant way, it's just that the designers had a particuliar mindset, and chose to believe they were the only synth that someone would use.

Hope this diatribe helps.

Jay Storey

p.s. It's a pretty good synth, but I'd save the extra money and get an XV-88, the QS-8.1 is in it's sunset years (hence the steep price discounts) and will be replaced soon.

My keyboard player paid $1250 for his QS-7, now from the same place you can buy QS-7.1's for about $899.

Needless to say, resale on QS series synths totally sucks...

p.s.s. Best QS series feature in my humble opinion?

They put most of the classic Keith Emerson sounds in the thing. Very cool, even if they are way thinner than the original modular moog ones, they copped the sounds very well.

The pre-rolled Emo sounds were the main reason my keyboard player bought the thing...