russreign Posted January 11, 2001 Share Posted January 11, 2001 Can anyone give me the lowdown, I'm thinking of buying one.... How are the included sounds/ available expansion sounds? Are they conducive with dance music? Music Is The Answer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted January 11, 2001 Share Posted January 11, 2001 Originally posted by russreign: Can anyone give me the lowdown, I'm thinking of buying one.... How are the included sounds/ available expansion sounds? Are they conducive with dance music? Hi, Russ... I am a big fan of the QS series - no doubt because I spent a few years as the marketing manager for the division. As such, I feel that I may be a bit too biased to post my personal opinions; however, I can try and help you with a few factoids... The QS synths make a very nice addition to any rig. The 16MB of onboard waveforms/640 onboard programs provide a pretty wide variety of sounds, but I feel pretty safe saying that you will want to get a few of the QCards if you're gonna use it as a dance instrument. I recommend that you listen to the Vintage Synth, Hip Hop and Eurodance cards. Also, the fact that the keyboard (semi-weighted - nice sturdy feel) can be split/layered 16 times (each zone with its own MIDI channel) makes it an excellent controller for live applications. I feel it necessary to lay down a few caveats, though - especially given your qualification that you want to use it for dance applications: 1) While there are some very nice loops in the synth and some excellent ones on the QCards, there is no way to get them to sync to any kind of external device. SO, if you want to use them in a track, you will need to match the tempo of the track to the loop in the QS synth. 2) The QS series has no resonance filters. 3) One of the big selling features of the QS synths has always been that you can customize your own flash cards with up to 8MB of your own samples and SMFs, which will then load into the synth almost instantly - you can even have the sequences on the cards trigger samples on the same card! This is an excellent trick, and has always been a major selling point of the QS series. However, the last that I heard, the very specific cards that are required to do this are getting to be much more difficult to locate. If there are any specific questions that you have about the QS stuff, please feel free to post 'em - I'll do what I can to hook you up. Hope to see you at NAMM next week! dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russreign Posted January 11, 2001 Author Share Posted January 11, 2001 Dave, Thanks for the help... I'm def gonna be picking up the keyboard, maybe we can chat about it in person at NAMM http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif Music Is The Answer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted January 11, 2001 Share Posted January 11, 2001 Originally posted by russreign: Dave, Thanks for the help... I'm def gonna be picking up the keyboard, maybe we can chat about it in person at NAMM http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif I'd be delighted - see you at the tent party, yes? dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russreign Posted January 11, 2001 Author Share Posted January 11, 2001 Yep, sounds like a plan.... Music Is The Answer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 12, 2001 Share Posted January 12, 2001 As a qs6 user I'll throw my 2 cents. I bought mine in Dec95, I think about the time they came out, and was totally dazzled by it in the beginning. But since the qs series came out a lot of other synths have popped up and the synth is starting to show its age. The pianos are quite nice (the qs6's are attrocious but I'm familiar with the 7.1). I like the organs and the synths sound. I haven't found most of the loops (the stock ones anyways) that useful for composing. I don't like any of the orchestral instruments. (I've auditioned the classical qcard and was pretty pleased). As far as dance music, the single filter type (also non-resonant) limits the scope of sounds you'd expect in that type of music. I find my yamaha cx6x much more suitable for that, with its multimode filters. The lack of arpeggiator will also be limiting, as Dave mentioned you can't sync any of the loops with a clock source. I found nowadays that I use much more the sounds of the qcards than the stock sounds (based on the stock samples), so budget the price of 2 cards into the equation. I have a vintage synths and I like it a lot. I actually found the qs a little limiting as a controller. I would like to have seen one more footswitch and one more continuous control pedal jack. On the other hand, the keybed is one of my favorites for a non-weighed keyboard (I can't stand the yamaha), and the synth is built like a tank, if you plan to gig with it. As far as creating your own samples with the cards, there's plenty of tutorials around but it still a bit of pain to figure out how to do it (for a novice like myself anyways). Plus thru midi it takes forever to upload your samples. As a dance synth, in general, I would recommend the cs6x over the qs7.1 (more expensive though). The 7.1 is still an outstanding value, and if you like the sound by all means go for it. BTW, Dave, any rumor of Alesis coming out with a 'replacement'for the qs series, or updates? Any extra qcards? I would love to see a B3 card or a guitar/bass q-card. I figured once Andromeda is out they're bound to have something else up their sleeve. I guess I'll wait till the NAMM reports come out. Rod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted January 12, 2001 Share Posted January 12, 2001 Originally posted by rsaboiasilva@hotmail.com: BTW, Dave, any rumor of Alesis coming out with a 'replacement'for the qs series, or updates? Any extra qcards? I would love to see a B3 card or a guitar/bass q-card Unfortunately, it is inappropriate for me to talk about products that Alesis may or may not have in development...sorry. As far as QCards, there are two more coming that I know of, both of which are finished and are currently being mass -produced. Since they have been shown publicly, I guess it's okay to talk about them. There is, in fact, a guitar and bass card coming - it's quite excellent, and features a tasty selection of acoustic and electric guitars and a bunch of electric basses that are quite different from the onboard samples. The other one that I know about is called Film Score, and it has some of the most original and inspiring sound sets that I have ever heard - it is just waaaaaay too cool. If you have a QS synth, and like original intriguing sounds, the Film Score card is a must. That is all that I know about future QCards. BTW, Vintage Synths is definitely my favorite QCard (I wrote a bunch of the programs http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif) - but the Film Score card has been getting a whole lot of use in my studio these days... dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 12, 2001 Share Posted January 12, 2001 Dave- Thanks for the tip on the q-cards. Didn't mean to put you on the spot though, I didn't know you were still connected to Alesis. I was looking more for 'gossip' than anything else. I had heard a rumor about the guitar/bass q-card, that's why I mentioned it. Is it OK if I post your comments on the quadrasynth forum? I'm sure people there would be interested. thx Rod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted January 12, 2001 Share Posted January 12, 2001 Dave- Thanks for the tip on the q-cards. Didn't mean to put you on the spot though, I didn't know you were still connected to Alesis. No problem, Rod - I didn't feel as if you had put me on the spot at all. Even if I were still working for Alesis, my response would have had to have remained the same. Anyone who gets near confidential information like that is usually required to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Is it OK if I post your comments on the quadrasynth forum? I'm sure people there would be interested. Sure! Last I had heard, the QS list was inactive, due to Les Winters (who runs it) being under the weather. I am glad to hear that it is back online. Please send my regards - I'd love to see some of those folks post on this forum as well... dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 14, 2001 Share Posted January 14, 2001 I have one of the first QS8's and I must say I have had trouble with it lunching outputs for some as yet unknown reason. I wish I had gotten the 7 instead. I just never really liked the action on the 8 and I'm not so sure that mine isn't just defective in some way. I've played others that I liked, but my keys have uneven velocity response and it really slows me up. I bought the Jazz piano card, though, and it is awesome. I can find a right piano for any room or recording situation with that card. I use the Alesis pianos exclusively even when playing my Triton. IMHO, they are very inspiring and quite convincing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.