Alesis Quadraverb Plus

This unit can be very easy or very complicated to use, depending on your needs. It is pretty easy to get a decent sound out of it but it can also be pretty deep if you really want to, there is a lot to tweak there.
Editing patches is simple enough, but I do have a lot of experience with rack gear so maybe someone used to analog stompboxes would have some trouble. It did not come with the manual and the one "available" on the Alesis website is corrupted but I am doing fine without it.

I am using it through the fx loop of a Marshall JCM900. I use it mostly for delay and reverb for my lead tone. I don't really use all the MIDI functions or presets, I have one preset I created for my lead tone and I have a single button footswitch to turn it on/off. So I'm using it pretty much like a glorified stompbox but with the advantage that I can keep my audio cables short (in the back of my rig). Eventually, I may explore it more and create a few more presets, get a MIDI controller etc, but there is no need for all that right now.
The sound quality is really good, , the unit is really transparent, I did some A/B tests with the unit connected to the loop and bypassed againt the amp without anything connected to it and the tone is exactly the same, no coloration. But in order to achieve that it is important you match the in/out levels correctly (for unity gain).
The delay and reverb sound great, really lush and warm, and the modulation section is fine too although it sounds a little too 80's-ish. My main preset has reverb, delay and a touch of chorus and it really makes the solos stand out.

Reliability is the strongest point here, the unit is a tank and has been use for many years without a glitch. Mine was made in the USA in 1989 and never needed any service.

Alesis customer support is horrible, the .pdf manual on their website is corrupted and won't open. I emailed the company and requested a copy and they never responded. I tried to call them and was on holdfor 25 minutes so I just gave up. I know they don't make this anymore but give me a break.

It is a great unit for guitar, specially for delays and reverbs. For modulation effects or anything more complex, I guess a more modern unit would be better.
But it can be bought for a very low price these days and it sounds great. My main tone is basically a Les Paul through a Marshall and I use this just to add something extra for solos, it's perfect for that type of application. I bought it because I was tired of running long cables from my fx loop to my time and pitch based stompboxes. Now I only have a wha and a boost between my guitar and amp and all the other cables stay in the back of my rack. It made my life much easier. I use a generic single button footswitch to turn it on/off onstage but that's out of the audio patch.
For the prices these units are going for these days, you can't beat it, heck you can pay more for a single fx pedal that won't necessarily sound any better. With this unit you have a lot more flexibility, specially if you go the whole nine yards with the MIDI functions etc, but even as a simple on/off etc it is hard to beat.

Well, not the easiest unit I had , not the most difficoult either. I bought this unit "well used" cheap - because I like the sound of the delay and reverb. Has a nice Chorus too. Sounds "analog".

I downloaded the manual, but it is "kind of self explaining" too - if you know this kind of units well. Patches are easy to set, and call - fully MIDI controlled, don't know if it have been upgraded..

I use the Qadraverb in the effect loop on a Marshall JMP-1 preamp, and from the JMP, through an Marshall Dual Monoblock 9200 to two Marshall 1922 (2x12" Celestion G12T-75) cabinets. I use Gibson Les Paul, Epiphone ES335, and Fender Stratocaster Guitars.

It is not so noisy,

The effects i use (delay, rev, chorus) are sounding very nice. I get the sound i want from this setup

Looks like some lines in the display have died, but it looks solid built - and its placed in a solid RAck box, If it died during a gig, i would not have too much trouble i think. The PA guy fix the fx i use on the PA

But it will not let me down....

Never dealt with them

It is a good unit, I play general rock, and Blues - comparet to other stuff, I cannot complain about this unit at all. it is midicontrolled, and that counts a lot for me - and it is not so noisy.

I played for 30 years in different settings. I own Marshall amps, and fender, gibson, epiphone guitars, an Roland Cube amp for practice

If it was stolen or lost, I would get another one, but they are getting harder to find used - they dont make them anymore.

Just read the manual once, practice for half an hour and you'll be able to do everything you want, really fast. One bad thing: it is a noisy effects unit, and maybe you'll spend a lot of time trying to make it less noisy by setting the input and output knobs. I managed to reduce the noise by setting the input level at maximum, and the output at 1/4.
I keep it in my guitar effects chain, in front of the amp.

I bought this unit for reverbs only. I don't care about the other effects, but I tryed to use them sometimes: it's pure 80's sound. Too cool. But useless for me. Unless I decide to join a Stone Roses cover band. Since then, I'll be happy with the reverbs. Want a clue of how they sound? Take a listen to "A Storm In Heaven" by The Verve, or any of their early recordings. I think Nick McCabe always used and loved this unit, even on the latest Verve albums. I'd bet that even John Squire used it on the first Stone Roses work. Enough said.
It's true that at low density settings the reverbs sound unreal, but at high setting they sound great. I LOVE this thing. It's cheap and has the sound that I want. NO true-bypass, YES a lot of noise. Again, I don't care. My favourite guitarists could achieve their amazing sound with it. It's the best for me.

I got a used one in perfect conditions. But it was one month ago. Nothing bad happened, I know it's just one month, but it's a 20 years old unit. I think it's reliable. 9 for the plastic inputs.

There's still the manual on the site. You couldn't ask for more, it's 20 years old and discontinued.

This thing has a unique sound. It does kill your tone, 'cause it makes you sound its way, but I love the way it sounds. Unreplaceable. Be advised, you may hate it. But I play brit rock, I love The Verve, what else could I desire?

The unit takes quite a bit of tweaking. The people at Alesis were kind enough to provide me with a users manual (which is still lurking somewhere in my appartment)which made programming very straight forward.

Some people can't stand the factory presets, but some presets were very pleasant to me: Gamelan Forest, Rythm Guitar, Greaser Guitar, King's Chamber etc. ... ear candy!

My setup has drastically changed since I owned (and sold in a bone-headed decision)this Quad, but to my ears, and given all of the crappy gear I've used through the years, that unit is very sonically addictive, I can't phrase it any better than this.

I used it on vocals and guitars, it plain enhanced everything, to a point where I actualy preferred the processed signal to the dry signal (told you I've owned some crappy gear!).

The sound quality was good enough for me to try and find another one via Ebay!

My previous Quad never let me down!

Alesis have had the type of customer support MANY other manufacturers should have and don't (and you know who you are) ... I performed the Quadraverb to Quadraverb Plus upgrade myself, the kit was $30.00 US and that was the best investment ever! My memory might fail me here, but I do believe a Quadraverb Plus users manual was inclded in the upgrade kit, Alesis Customer support reps were always courteous and helpful.

Overall, this piece of gear can be the cornerstone of any home recording studio or live gear. The Quad is versatile and sounds great, why oh why did Alesis go and discontinue it? Why oh why did I go and sell mine!?!?!

I guess I'm not the only one who makes bone-headed moves! I am still hopeful to find a used Quad that doesn't go for an arm and a leg (since discontinued gear always asks for a premium ...) which would be a welcome addition to my home-studio setup!

In almost daily use since 1987, in a varirty of guitar/rack live and recording/PA applications this thing has never failed to deliver. It is very easy to change program settings and edit. Very easy to get a good sound with little programming knowledge.

My main set up is guitar signal in to an ADA MP1, to the Quadraverb and to the power amp. Use the Quadraverb's output control as your master volume. The reverbs are very warm and have lots of "tail". The delay is digital but not harsh, almost reminds me of analog or my old echoplex. As stated here the tremolo and panning are noisy, the 'leslie' patch also is weak and not very versatile.

It has been extremely dependable, almost in constant use for fifteen years with no mechanical failure.

Shortly after I purchased it in 1987, Alesis sent me an upgrade chip and all the tools and instructions necessary to upgrade the unit. Very cool.

I've played every style of music through this box and it has helped me to reproduce the sounds of a recorded work quite accurately. If it were stolen or lost, I wouldn't hesitate to track down another one just like it.

The touch sensitive buttons are great. There are good presets (Amazing Bass, Rad Kick, Ballad Snare, stereo spread, and so on). Plug it in, turn it on, choose a preset and GO.

This unit is noisy, but I like the reverb and delay presets. The "pitch shifter" is worthless. The sampler is a joke.
I just use the plate presets for the vocals, they might sound a little metallic, but it is quite transparant.

After a few years we had a problem with the display print, but we had no other problems.

After three years the display unit broke down. We had it replaced ($70), but it still didn't work. We returned it, and received a bill ($60) for one single diode on the NEW print !!! (Our dealer paid this, thank you Emiel).

I use a quadraverb for folk and Bleugrass-music, sometimes a capella. For the price that was paid for the for the repair of the display, we could have bought a Behringer Virtualizer.

I actually read the manual and learn't how to program this unit! It was my 1st effects unit which I bought with my (still very excellent) Soundcraft Spirit Folio mixer. It has alot of editing pages but once you get the hang of it's hierachy, it's easy to get around. Alesis manuals are in general excellent and this one is no exception! My software was version 2.0 before I sold it.

This unit sounded very good for the price back in 1988! There wasn't much around that offered up to 4 simultaneous effects at once. I used it with my Spirit Folio Mixer and Tascam 424 4 track recorder. It was a noisy unit compared to my Alesis Midiverb IV but to be honest, I loved the sound of this baby!!!! Whilst it's reverbs, choruses, etc were not clean or pristine, they really OOZED CHARACTER that's for sure! I liked the reverbs and whilst I didn't use them for vocals, they sounded really nice on acoustic and electric guitars. As a matter of fact, I particularly loved the 'guitar' presets in the thing and often ran the aux outputs from my Korg T3EX through the unit to get some WILD guitar and synth lead sounds! The delays were fantastic. I also liked the chorus and flange effects but the phaser didn't do much for me. And to be honest the leslie simulation sounded SHITHOUSE! The sampling function was gimmicky but I certainly had fun annoying the neighbours with it. I also liked to play around with the resonators. As others have already mentioned, the EQ's were crap.

My LCD screen died once but I got it repaired under warranty and it never failed me after that.

I never dealt with Alesis except for when I got it fixed.

Unfortunately I traded mine in (along with an Alesis Midiverb IV) when I bought my (beautiful) Yamaha O3D mixer. I would one day like to buy another one back as I do miss it believe it or not! It is DEFINETLY NOT a clean sounding unit! But that is what I LOVED about it! I hate the fact that it had an external power supply- THESE SHIT ME!!!!!! I compared it to the Digitech TSR12 which was it's main competition at the time and whilst I liked both, I bought the Quadraverb because I got a much better deal on it!!!! It inspired me to make music, especially in my 4 track recorder days. I want another Alesis Quadraverb Plus!

I always disliked the concept of using "banks" for effect settings. This unit has too many settings for each effect, which is ok if they actually change the sound. But I've found that nobody needs should need to dinker with a shitload of settings that only slightly effect the sound, if at all.

Props to Alesis for making a VERY clean, very solid sounding unit. Many of the effects are really nice sounding, although I think alot of overkill went into them. For example, a "phaser" really only needs 2-3 settings to create any sound you want. Alesis has like 8-9, and few settings really change the sound. The "sampling" is a joke, and must have been placed in the unit only as a selling point- because it is really useless. The reverbs were always ok, but I had problems either having the washed out in the mix, or being to loaded in the mix. The ring modulation is decent, and the delays are great. Phasing, chorus, flanging was standard- sounded good, but nothing to write home about. My main complaint is at the pathetic EQ in this unit. Too many settings that do too little. And the EQ sounds terrible in this unit. Alesis would have been better off simply removing the whole EQ settings from this unit, as it is more of a earsore than anything. Another problem was the need to constantly fidget with level settings. One preset was direct and in your face, while the next setting chopped the signal volume in half. So, I'd have to say that much work needs to be done on that end. The presets were poor-fair, offering a good base for someone to screw with, but nothing that I'd personally ever use.

I had mine for 5 years, toured 3 times, and it never burped once. Being in a poor-mans-GWAR, I'd have expected it to take at least one turd, but it was extremely reliable.

My power supply got wet one time and fried. Alesis sent me one UPS overnight- so props to them.

I play trippy, Jesus Lizard-GWAR-Janes Addiction type music and the unit (after hours upon hours of screwing with it) did come quite close to achieving the sounds I wanted, but at a price of countless hours of tweaking. I've played for 20yrs, and have always been a "tone freak", and will say that save the lame EQ settings, I always had the killer tone. If it were lost or stolen (when I had it) I'd probably try something else, but it was $ for $ the best unit I've had. However, in the long run, I switched to stomp-boxes for the ease and control of sound- giving up alot of the bells and whistles for durability and user-friendlyness. But then again, I'm an enemy of rackgear (now) and until they come up with something similar the the old MXR multi-effect racks, I'll stick with stomp boxes.

However, in the studio, this unit was a Godsend!

I always disliked the concept of using "banks" for effect settings. This unit has too many settings for each effect, which is ok if they actually change the sound. But I've found that nobody needs should need to dinker with a shitload of settings that only slightly effect the sound, if at all.

Props to Alesis for making a VERY clean, very solid sounding unit. Many of the effects are really nice sounding, although I think a lot of overkill went into them. For example, a "phaser" really only needs 2-3 settings to create any sound you want. Alesis has like 8-9, and few settings really change the sound. The "sampling" is a joke, and must have been placed in the unit only as a selling point- because it is really useless. The reverbs were always ok, but I had problems either having the washed out in the mix, or being to loaded in the mix. The ring modulation is decent, and the delays are great. Phasing, chorus, flanging was standard- sounded good, but nothing to write home about. My main complaint is at the pathetic EQ in this unit. Too many settings that do too little. And the EQ sounds terrible in this unit. Alesis would have been better off simply removing the whole EQ settings from this unit, as it is more of a earsore than anything. Another problem was the need to constantly fidget with level settings. One preset was direct and in your face, while the next setting chopped the signal volume in half. So, I'd have to say that much work needs to be done on that end. The presets were poor-fair, offering a good base for someone to screw with, but nothing that I'd personally ever use.

I had mine for 5 years, toured 3 times, and it never burped once. Being in a poor-mans-GWAR, I'd have expected it to take at least one turd, but it was extremely reliable.

My power supply got wet one time and fried. Alesis sent me one UPS overnight- so props to them.

I play trippy, Jesus Lizard-GWAR-Janes Addiction type music and the unit (after hours upon hours of screwing with it) did come quite close to achieving the sounds I wanted, but at a price of countless hours of tweaking. I've played for 20yrs, and have always been a "tone freak", and will say that save the lame EQ settings, I always had the killer tone. If it were lost or stolen (when I had it) I'd probably try something else, but it was $ for $ the best unit I've had. However, in the long run, I switched to stomp-boxes for the ease and control of sound- giving up a lot of the bells and whistles for durability and user-friendlyness. But then again, I'm an enemy of rackgear (now) and until they come up with something similar the the old MXR multi-effect racks, I'll stick with stomp boxes.

However, in the studio, this unit was a Godsend!

Not a unit for those who just want to select an effect and play - the Q'vb+ really rewards programming effort, while at the same time being difficult to use unless one really gets involved with it.

This is a fairly noisy, rough-sounding effects unit. The reverbs in particular can be quite grainy and metallic-sounding. However, it definitely has character.

I've never had any problems.

I've never had to deal with customer support.

The main point I would like to make about the Quadraverb+ is that while I have found it to be a reliable workhorse, and do not regret buying it (I caught the last of the production models), DO NOT pay the second-hand prices that are being asked for these units! This is an OLD design, and while it may be a classic, it is simply not worth more than #100 when compared with modern effects units.