Alesis Quadraverb II

Once you understand the basic concepts of how the unit works, building new patches is almost as easy as stringing pedals together. If you're going to build a patch from scratch, plan ahead, because the architecture doesn't lend itself to random experimentation unless you've got a MIDI controller with a carload of value wheels on it. A copy-and-paste feature helps for getting things together quickly with bits of your favorite patches, although you have to maintain some discipline to keep from losing your work when you're jumping fast and furious between the patches.
If you intend to gig, I recommend a MIDI controller, as it's difficult to quickly navigate the 200 patch slots with either the dial or the keypad.

With the exception of a truly awful pitch shifter and a distortion that doesn't do well beyond _al dente_, everything on the box gets a thumbs-up. The stereo reverbs are truly outstanding, although a couple of them eat up a lot of DSP and don't leave room for much else. I bought my Q2 to be used with a tube preamp, so the distortion isn't much of an issue for me.
The Q2 is first and foremost a studio unit, and as such the input stages are best driven at line level. You can plug a guitar directly in, but cranking up the input level tends to make the sound muddy and lifeless.

So far it's spent most of the year I've had it in my den without burping. The previous owner had it in his reinforcement rack and never had a bad word to say about it.

I called Alesis to find out where I could get the factory patch set to download to the unit when I got it. They promptly and courteously pointed me to their web site, which had exactly what I needed.

If you're looking for an all-in-one guitar processor, the Q2 will fall far short. If you've already got a preamp and are looking to add some depth to your sound, it does a great job at a very reasonable price. I'd buy another if they still made it, but its successor (the Q20) looks even better.
If you're buying the Q2 as a guitar processor, you'll have to invest some time writing patches. Most of the built-ins are geared for studio work (i.e., vocals) or are more demos of what the unit can do. I've done a few dozen patches that serve most of my needs, and the time spent on fine-tuning them has been well spent.
The only things I wish it had are a global toggle to make the outputs mono and a built-in power supply instead of a cord with a lump in the middle.
Other than that, it's all-'round a good unit.

This unit is so complicated to use thats it's discusting. The engineers that disigned this thing are rocket scientists. They are so a head of there time on sound processing. You can do just about anything with this unit sonicly. But it has too many parameters that I am confused to what they are all for. And I'm no dummy--I've playing and recording for 15 years.

Sound quality is great. The presets are great too. But the distortions suck, only one or two types available. There is also no compressor or gate. Not usefull as a guitar processor.

Too hard to tweek it in a live situation.

This is great if you are really into sound processing. If you are not, like someone using it for a guitar processor, then you are getting something that may be more than you bargained for. Make sure that you really read the manual.

This unit is fairly simple in design and use. Editing patches is very easy considering it's flexibility (routing, mix, etc.) The manual for the Q2 is okay, but I use my unit for Mic reverb and effects so it would be nice if they included more specific applications for the unit. My unit was upgraded to version 3(?) when I bought it, and I haven't heard of any future upgrades. I'd appreciate an e-mail if you can note the bigger differences between the Q2 and the newer Q20 (besides bit resolution and XLR inputs, which really help).

I use my Q2 for vocal reverb and effects. This unit is crystal clear and only at maximum settings noise is audible (barely). The reverbs are truly lush but pitch shifting bites. The limitations of reverb are infinite in my opinion.

So far, I've had my unit for approx. 2 years and it's always been dependable. I kind of wish it had a better system of calling up patches. The value wheel is okay, but what about a keypad that can be used to recall numbers without holding shift?

I have not sought any customer support. Couldn't shed that much light here.

I play alternative-acoustic rock and the Q2 really excels in reverbs (what Alesis claimed it was supposed to do). I wish it had a better panel of controls and had XLR inputs and outputs but I guess they've taken care of that with the new Q20. I wish Alesis could provide a software and chip upgrade to make the bit resolution of the Q2 compare to that of the Q20 and I'd even be willing to fork over dough for it. If you're looking for outstanding reverb for a decent price then this is your unit. However, it can't be considered a multi-effects processor. The pitch shifting and EQ are disappointing, but hey, a Lexicon PCM-80 costs 3 times a much as the Q2 does. Is the Lexicon's reverb better than the Q2? Definitely, but how much more for the extra 1,000+ ?

presets are ok. editing is a little annoying because of that little enter/value wheel, but you get used to it. the compare feature is nice, although i wish it was possible to go completely dry with a the bypass switch when you have the direct inputs from L/R turned off

sounds great on almost everything. EQ distortion sucks, of course, but this was never meant to do distortion. the leslie and tremelo are pretty good, although i wish you could control the leslie speed more (high and low are just not good enough!!). chorus sounds a bit funny sometimes (too mid-rangey) but is good otherwise. coupled with a compressor, you can get very AWESOME clean sounds out of this thing with a little eq, chorus, and reverb. good sounds
the pitch shifting sucks, though. zoom and digitech make much better pitch shifters

i bought a used one, it had scratches, nicks, everything, but it still works, and works very well. only problem is i wish the little covers for the optical interface weren't so small and didn't fall off. i lost both of them in 2 days. oh well

very good tech support. they know what they are talking about, although the hold times were a bit long. upgraded to the revision 2 chip right after i got the unit, and it was easy and painless. kit came with an addendum, two chips (have no idea why!!), and a chip puller. quite thoughtful.
came very quickly too

would definitely buy it again. the only thing i wish it had was the ability to do real-time effects, such as volume controls. also wish that sounds would "hold over" from patch changes, such as when you switch from something with high delay to something without delay, it would carryover the sound.
get this!! if you are looking for good, clean, sound without shelling out big bucks for something like a tc electronics 2290, this is it!

Very simple user interface. It is easier to learn and use than any other processer (TSR24, DSP256, Quadraverb, LXP15, DP/4, etc.)

Fairly good sound. The delays and reverbs are very good, but the pitch shifting is HORRIBLE. All the other effects are good.

I've owned 3 different units. The first two had different problems. The first one had a memory error that corrupted several of the user presets, and the second one kept switching from analog to digital input.

When you can get through, it is very good.

The overall good sound quality and incredibly easy to use interface, with the programming flexability makes the unit a very good value for the price.

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