I have an alesis QS7....is there any third party sounds out there?....There are lots for Roland, Yamaha, Korg, etc....but none that I can find for the Alesis' synths....Thanks...

I'm not really aware of any third party programs for sale for the QS. Did you go through the eight expando banks on the CD-ROM that came with the synth?

The QCards are a good way to expand the synth as well...last I heard, you could get 'em pretty cheap, too.

dB

found some on the web a while back after searching via synth zone..(i think)

If you are at all inclined to tweak a bit, and if you have a computer, get yourself some Sample Cell format CDs and a blank 8MB PCMCIA card or two. Transfer the samples to the cards using the Alesis SoundBridge software -- they're non-volatile Flash RAM you'll only have to do it once. Then use any of the synth's preset or user programs as a template for the synth settings (filter, envelopes, LFOs, effects, etc.) and simply use the new samples on your card(s) instead of the internal samples.

I may be biased, but I believe that the preset programs in the QS are about as it good as it gets with that architecture. You can certainly improve the samples by using bigger or more stylized versions from Sample Cell CDs. I've done it quite a bit, and the results are stellar. The internal sound ROM as well as all of the QCards necessarily had to use tiny samples in order to delivery quantity and diversity. For example, if you load an 8MB Sample Cell string ensemble (as opposed to using one of the internal or QCard 500Kb string ensembles...) you will be very happy. IMO, that's ultimately the *best* way to expand a QS synth.

Check out the QS programming clinic in Keyboard magazine from a couple of years ago. That article walked you through this process complete with window shots.

For programs only (no new samples), as Dave said, be sure to go through the 8 "Expando" banks that are included on the QS CD ROM or the RAM 512 card. There's a lot of good stuff there.

Also, check out the 3 "Virtual Composer" banks as well as the preset and user banks for the older QuadraSynth Plus. The QS can read all those programs. They're probably available on the Alesis website, and if memory serves, maybe included on the QS CD ROM, too.

Cheers,

Erik

The SoundBridge trick is actually one of the coolest things about the QS synths. When this was first made available on the Quadrasynth Plus, it was groundbreaking - no other manufacturer had ever provided people with the facility to burn their own expansion ROMs (okay, there were things like the Oberheim Prommer in the '80's, but that was a whole different thing). The idea of being able to customize your own hot-swappable 8 meg ROMs that loaded instantly was one of the major reasons behind the success of the QS synths. When the engineers added the ability to store and instantly recall sequences as well, it really made it cool.

In addition to the article that Erik mentioned, there was another one by Dan Fisher earler this year in EM as well. There is also an instructional videotape on SoundBridge that is available directly from Alesis, or at any Alesis dealer.

One small observation - there is a very specific configuration of 3rd party flash cards that is required for this purpose in the QS synths and the DM Pro - Alesis does not manufacture them. The fact that they are based on older technology and are not really being used in too many current products means that it would make sense that they will become harder to get as time goes by...

dB

Never heard of any company doing patches, but there's some user patches at
http://midiworld.com/quadrasynth/

Hope this helps,

Rod