Michael Jones Posted July 7, 2001 Share Posted July 7, 2001 Hey all! Got a chance to buy a used QS8.1 in pristine condition with all the original manuals and software for a $1000...is this a good deal? Michael "I may be a craven little coward, but I'm a greedy craven little coward." Daffy Duck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joegerardi Posted July 7, 2001 Share Posted July 7, 2001 That's right in line. I see them on Harmony Central from 900-1100, so you're right in the middle, but take into account that you said this one is pristine. Setup: Korg Kronos 61, Roland XV-88, Korg Triton-Rack, Motif-Rack, Korg N1r, Alesis QSR, Roland M-GS64 Yamaha KX-88, KX76, Roland Super-JX, E-Mu Longboard 61, Kawai K1II, Kawai K4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magpel Posted July 7, 2001 Share Posted July 7, 2001 Just to spice up the question a bit, note that you can get pristine QS8s for a good deal cheaper than that, if a couple hundred makes a big difference to you. As I understand it, the QS 8.1 simply has a bigger display (not a big issue if you use an editor), perhaps some other interface enhancements in the form of button layout, *and* what is supposed to be an improved GM set (which is, as much as I dig the instrument, a definite weakness on the QS8, but it's GM!! You expect those to be the dull programs that you generally ignore.) Beyond that, though, I believe the programs are identical. Oh yeah, did someone say that the 8.1 has hotter and maybe cleaner output? QS8 output is plenty hot and clean by my standards. Well, anyway, we've got some of the world's foremost experts on the QS line here so maybe they can clear it all up. Sigh, long winded conclusion: I've seen the QS8 going as low as 700. Until I saw that, I had been toying with selling mine and getting a controller and some modules/softsynths, but 700 would hardly take care of the controller. Magpel Check out the Sweet Clementines CD at bandcamp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Jones Posted July 7, 2001 Author Share Posted July 7, 2001 Thanks for the input. Any other opinions? (dB?) Michael This message has been edited by midirat on 07-06-2001 at 09:24 PM "I may be a craven little coward, but I'm a greedy craven little coward." Daffy Duck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Jones Posted July 7, 2001 Author Share Posted July 7, 2001 As an addendum: The reason I am wanting the QS8.1 or even the QS8 is that I am in dire need of a good 88 key controller. Rather than go the Fatar route I would like to get bang for the buck but also have a controller that also doubles as a synth/workstation. The QS board has the sliders, and other 'goodies' along with reasonably priced soundcards as well as the ability to make my own which is very important to me. Space is a consideration as well as my studio is also my dining room. So to have a dedicated controller is pretty much out of the question. I already have a K2000, an old Yamaha PSR and intend to add an A6 (which by the way Mars Music has listed on their site for $2198) so as you can see space is going to come at a premium. One other factor in choosing the QS board was the recommendation by dB (But please don't tell him I said that!!! The Secretary will disavow any knowledge of my actions). Thanks all... Michael http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif "I may be a craven little coward, but I'm a greedy craven little coward." Daffy Duck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted July 7, 2001 Share Posted July 7, 2001 Originally posted by midirat: One other factor in choosing the QS board was the recommendation by dB Oh, fine, blame me... http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/wink.gif What can I say? I like mine a lot. It's my main controller in my studio. I enter just about all of my note data from it. It's a great swiss army knife board, with excellent utility sounds. Great piano sample. Nice Hammond sounds. Magpel is exactly right. Different display, hotter outputs, and two extra buttons, but besides the GM set, the ROM and the programs are basically identical. I actually still use the 8.0 dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Jones Posted July 7, 2001 Author Share Posted July 7, 2001 Originally posted by Dave Bryce: Oh, fine, blame me... http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/wink.gif dB Gotta blame ya' Dave...I mean who else do we who peruse this forum know that has been a major influence in the development of a very innovative and industry setting board such as the A6? OK...now that I got that outta my system.... http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif If I remember correcly you had raves about the vintage keys Qcard for the Alesis boards. Have any experience with any others? Like perhaps the classical?...vintage synth?...any of the others? Michael "I may be a craven little coward, but I'm a greedy craven little coward." Daffy Duck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted July 7, 2001 Share Posted July 7, 2001 Originally posted by midirat: If I remember correcly you had raves about the vintage keys Qcard for the Alesis boards. Have any experience with any others? Like perhaps the classical?...vintage synth?...any of the others? I have all of them. I wrote programs for Vintage Synths (my fave), Vintage Keys, Classical and Sanctuary. Like all ROM sets, whether they work for you and your music or not is a matter of taste. dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Jones Posted July 7, 2001 Author Share Posted July 7, 2001 Originally posted by Dave Bryce: I have all of them. I wrote programs for Vintage Synths (my fave), Vintage Keys, Classical and Sanctuary. Like all ROM sets, whether they work for you and your music or not is a matter of taste. dB While we're on the subject...are you satified with the quality of the ROM samples? Evidently you are with the Vintage Synth card. I realize this may seem like a silly question, but please humor me! Michael "I may be a craven little coward, but I'm a greedy craven little coward." Daffy Duck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted July 7, 2001 Share Posted July 7, 2001 Originally posted by midirat: While we're on the subject...are you satified with the quality of the ROM samples? I don't understand the question. Which samples? No matter what set you're talking about, I'm sure I like some of them, and I don't like some of them. I've never met a sample ROM set made by anyone with which I had no problem. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/wink.gif More importantly, I'm curious to know why you would like to know if I'm satisfied with them. Isn't it more important to your purchase decision to determine what you think of them? It's your music that they have to fit... dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Jones Posted July 7, 2001 Author Share Posted July 7, 2001 Originally posted by Dave Bryce: I don't understand the question. Which samples? No matter what set you're talking about, I'm sure I like some of them, and I don't like some of them. I've never met a sample ROM set made by anyone with which I had no problem. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/wink.gif More importantly, I'm curious to know why you would like to know if I'm satisfied with them. Isn't it more important to your purchase decision to determine what you think of them? It's your music that they have to fit... dB Exactly the answer I was looking for..thanks Dave! Michael This message has been edited by midirat on 07-07-2001 at 01:13 PM "I may be a craven little coward, but I'm a greedy craven little coward." Daffy Duck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b3fiend Posted July 8, 2001 Share Posted July 8, 2001 I bought an 8.1 brand new for $1650 over a year ago, and don't regret it. While there may be boards that do certain things better, the 8.1 is the best all-around board for the buck for my uses. acceptable weighted keyboard, deep enough editing, expandibility, and built like a tank for gigging. I haul it all over the place, and it is rock-solid. i wanted some sampling capability, so I bought an 8MB ram card, and dump samples from my PC onto it to use as new base samples. ***while the subject of cards is coming up*** DB, is there any talk about developing some kind of multi-card reader for Alesis products? I own a 256k, an 8MB, and a vintage synth, and since the QS can only hold 2 cards, buying more is pretty useless. I use the 256k to hold banks and backups for live performance, the 8MB to hold samples for live performance, and cannot use my vintage synth card live as bad as I want to. If they made a multi-card reader expansion device, they would definitely sell more cards! -Gregg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted July 8, 2001 Share Posted July 8, 2001 Originally posted by b3fiend: DB, is there any talk about developing some kind of multi-card reader for Alesis products? I own a 256k, an 8MB, and a vintage synth, and since the QS can only hold 2 cards, buying more is pretty useless. snip If they made a multi-card reader expansion device, they would definitely sell more cards! -Gregg Well, since I don't work for Alesis at all any more, so I'm not an authoritative source. However, from what I do know, I will say that I would be extremely surprised if any such device was in the works. First of all, if I remember correctly, the QS system won't see more than 32 MB of sample ROM no matter what. Since there's 16 MB on board, that means that 2 cards @ 8MB each is it. While I was there we tried to come up with ways that people could keep more cards readily at hand, and one option that we discussed was a kind of caddy/switcher box (we were looking for a better way to demo the cards in the stores), but the engineers couldn't come up with a practical way to make that work. As far as keeping a card with programs in the synth goes, do you really need that many programs and that many of the programs that are in the user bank that you can't create a custom bank of 128? If not, you could always reload from the 256k card between sets... dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Jones Posted July 8, 2001 Author Share Posted July 8, 2001 Hey! Thanks and kudos to everyone's response. No more reliable information than first hand experience. I have decided to purchase the board. The seller is also going to throw in the Jazz Piano Qcard and a blank Qcard at no extra cost. Going to pick up the board on Tuesday. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Soooo.... Thanks dB, Magpel, Gregg, and Joegerardi for your time and input. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/cool.gif Michael http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif This message has been edited by midirat on 07-08-2001 at 12:03 AM "I may be a craven little coward, but I'm a greedy craven little coward." Daffy Duck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b3fiend Posted July 8, 2001 Share Posted July 8, 2001 Originally posted by Dave Bryce: As far as keeping a card with programs in the synth goes, do you really need that many programs and that many of the programs that are in the user bank that you can't create a custom bank of 128? If not, you could always reload from the 256k card between sets... dB Yup. I actually started doing that, but with the amount of fiddling I do with my user bank by adding new sounds, dumping from the computer, etc. I just started saving my main gig bank to the card after I accidentally wiped my user bank a few times. Now that I am much more comfortable with the behaviour of this board, I will start doing that again. ...but I STILL can't get the Jazz Piano card I want so bad! Since I need the 8MB, I would need to choose between the Vintage Synth and Jazz Piano. Ya know, even some kind of doohickey on an extension cable that could extend the cards to the FRONT of the board would be useful. At least then you could change cards between songs if needed. Thanks for the info Dave. I'll stop holding my breath for a multi-card reader. BTW, is anyone who uses an 8.1 with a 256 card noticing an almost 1/2 second delay when flipping through patches? without the card, the patches show up the moment I dial them up - with the card in place, it takes a while for it to respond, even if I am looking through the internal banks. -Gregg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b3fiend Posted July 8, 2001 Share Posted July 8, 2001 Originally posted by midirat: [...]The seller is also going to throw in the Jazz Piano Qcard and a blank Qcard at no extra cost. Going to pick up the board on Tuesday. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif That is a HECK of a deal for $1000. Those two cards together would run you $200-$300, and new QS 8.1's are still going for $1200 - $1500 If you don't want the Jazz Piano card, lemme know - I'll snatch it up from ya. :-) -Gregg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted July 8, 2001 Share Posted July 8, 2001 Ya know, even some kind of doohickey on an extension cable that could extend the cards to the FRONT of the board would be useful. At least then you could change cards between songs if needed. The lack of existence of a compatible cable to extend the card slot header was actually one of the big stumbling blocks in the card caddy/switcher that I talked about in the other post. BTW, is anyone who uses an 8.1 with a 256 card noticing an almost 1/2 second delay when flipping through patches? without the card, the patches show up the moment I dial them up - with the card in place, it takes a while for it to respond, even if I am looking through the internal banks That shouldn't happen. Does it do it with QCards, too? Same results in either slot? dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b3fiend Posted July 8, 2001 Share Posted July 8, 2001 Originally posted by Dave Bryce: That shouldn't happen. Does it do it with QCards, too? Same results in either slot? dB That doesn't sound good. I'll have to check this the next time I have the board in front of me later this week. I am in location 'A' and the board is in location 'B' (packed in the truck) Thanks, -Gregg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b3fiend Posted July 20, 2001 Share Posted July 20, 2001 Originally posted by Dave Bryce: [...regarding slight delay when flipping through patches with 256k card insterted...] That shouldn't happen. Does it do it with QCards, too? Same results in either slot? dB I played a bit with this, and it seems that the delay is only really bad when flipping through patches on the card itself. The biggerst delay is changing the bank from a preset bank to a card bank. I assume this is because internal RAM is faster than reading off the card? -Gregg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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