Alesis QS6

Original Software Version.
Pre-sets: Acoustic Pianos all weeeeeek!!!! Electric and Rhodes not the best but can be tweeked. Strings, Woodwins, Drums all good except for crash cymbals, they splash too quickly.

Editing presets a breeze.

There is a manual, never used it.

Poly is 62
Lots of effects
Use expansion cards, too expensive. I'll program within the ROM.
GM
No sequencer =(

Cool after touch can be programmed to taste.
Like I said woodwins, French Horns, and precussion sound good.
Works for what ever you need it for.
Semi weighted keys, I LUV it.

Built like a brick. I would never use any keyboard without backup. Too many sorry sound men out there.

Never dealt with company. =)

Dopn't need to upgrade it.

If it were lost or stolen, oh well...It is worth what I paid for though.
I own too much gear to list.

OS version 2.0. No later version available.
The presets are ok, especially organs with lezlie effects. There are a lot of sounds there - 650 in programs & a lot in a mix mode. The patch editing is awful :(
the manual is clear only on first 30-35 pages, but the further material is a bit heave so u need some time to dig around

The polyphony 64 is more than enough. Buit-in effects - reverb, delay, eq (no cut), overdrive/lezlie/resonator (~40). Accepts PCMCIA Ram flash-cards. On them u can burn your own samples & Sample Cell *.ins files via SoundBridge & other software (I own all images of original Alesis Q-cards, which i can burn via pcmcia card-reader or laptop or via midi cable direct to my QS6 (~45min. to burn 8 mb of data). u can burn samples on pcmcia flash cards of more capacity, but OS of synth see only 8mb of data :(
no sequencer, but u can play midi smf files on it - just burn'em on pcm card via soundbridge.
There are midi in and out/thru. The aftertouch is a bit hard but velocity & semi-weighted keys are ok! the keys are really very good!
"10" for keys & sampler! :)

the organs with lezlie effects are wonderful. on-board effects are so-so. not very bad, good for live-sessions when u don't need to take all your rack dsp with u.
good velocity and a bit hard aftertouch reaction.
there is no resonant filter! only lp filter cutoff... otherwise u can play with effects such as resonator or else..
i think this synth goes more for rock music. personally I play electronic music so built-in presets are not very important for me. i use preferably it for sample-expansion pcmcia cards (the original alesis Q-cards are so-so, even eurodance). but in general the sound is very tight. but hey!! with my QS6-mini-sampler i can get sounds of many sample,akai-cd's !!!

well, the synth is a bit haevy - at least 10-15kg. But it is in metal case (the front panel with buttons made from aluminium).
I can't depend on the wheels and controler, which i have to repair myself (the pitchbend did not stayed in center position, so it sent midi commands than vary in time & Controller A sent some useless comands in zero-position).

never had a deal. some software u can download from alesis website 4 free, but for some other soft (e.g, Unisyn or other patch editors) u should pay money (all editors are nearly $30-35 in price)

if it were stolen would buy another (i think about alesis ION - it is very convinient in price & looks like Nord a bit :)).
would buy keys roland xp-30-50 or jv-series with expansion boards.
I bought it with some broken lines in the LCD display, but all numbers & names are readable, so i fell in love with it! %)
So, in general, QS6 is the best synth for price that I paid for it!

Sofware version on synth: 1.10 (Oct 25 1999, yup it's old)
Preset sounds:
Before I start, there are Banks, Mixes and Programs. On the default QS6 - that is, one without an expansion QCard - here's what there are:
5 banks. Each Bank has 100 Mixes and 128 Programs. The banks are Preset1, 2, and 3, GenMidi (where the sounds represent GM sounds), and a User bank. You can edit the User bank.
If you add a QCard you'll get another Bank.
A Mix is made up of up to 16 Program presets.
A Program preset is made up of between 1 and 4 basic sounds.


OK lesson over. Some of the presets are cheesy, some are not. But using the User Bank you can edit them and tweak them into what you prefer, or something new.

Sounds set up to resemble actual instruments are lacking in one or more ways (e.g. grand piano seems too bright), but they are still acceptable. There are some magnificent synth and other sounds in the presets, though.
You can edit, of course, and with some built-in effects.

Editing:
If you really love to peer at a small LCD screen and go through pages of strange messages not knowing what the hell you are doing, you will love the QS6. In that it's no different than most other synths, though.

Alesis know this, and for those with PC or MAC, there's a version of Unisyn on the accompanying CD (or you can download it for free at Alesis).
So of course I Unisyn. It's a breeze, and even if you start off by experimenting you can easily find out what each function does. There are loads, absolutely shedloads.

The manual is good. It doesn't go too deep, but it does explain most of the editing issues. The rest is really up to you, roll your sleeves up and do it.

For this ease of use, given that there's Unisyn as a free piece of software, it gets a 9 in my book. If it wasn't for Unisyn, I'd give it a 6 or 7 - but I'd give more expensive and newer synths that too. This is a great piece of gear to use.

Polyphony: Good enough for me. 64 voices, and obviously the more in the mix, the less polyphony. I use Cool Edit Pro (multitrack digital audio) so it's not an issue for me. I don't make a habit of multi-sequencing, although I have Sonar for that.

Keyboard action: Adequate. It's a plastic unweighted keyboard, so it's not at all a piano. It does what it's supposed to and I've never had problems. Keyboard aftertouch includes Amp/Filter/Pitch. On to ...

Built-in FX: There are four effects sends.
Effects include Pitch, Delay, Reverb, and a group of EQ and Overdrive.
Each one has a few types, such as, for Pitch, Chorus, Flange, Resonator, and they can be routed to right/left stereo. They can all be programmed in the editing process, and managed/effected by the controls on the synth itself.
Controls include Pitch Wheel, Mod, Controller A slider, and pedals (note: not only a sustain pedal)
They are fairly good, if limited.

Expansion: Where this synth scores heavily. A range of QCards are available, such as Latin, Classical, HipHop, etc. They are all PC cards that fit into a slot on the back of the synth. Some of the sounds you get on these cards are phenomenal. They are all made of original waves (digital samples).
BUT the big thing, the really BIG thing, is that you can also use a Flash RAM PC card to store your own samples and use them to make programs and mixes.
The software is provided on the CD, or you can download it from Alesis for free. This puts the synth into a different category completely. It's a sampler, too. So if your buddy has a Moog Mini and you love the sounds, sample them, and put them on a RAM Qcard, and you'll have them available to play on your QS6. You could do the same with any sound you like..... a didgeridoo, a truck engine, a mouse farting, and you've got'em. OK, you have to use the software, get a RAM card, and store them. But that's not too bad. Oh, yeah, you can also store sequences... and the samples can be as long as you like as long as they fit on the card.

MIDI: bearing in mind this is an old synth, there are some hifaluting MIDI functions that don't come with it that are on today's synths. But that's not a problem, really. Pressure sensitive keys, etc. are there.

No on board sequencer. But why ever want one? Most folk now have a PC, and sequencers, even basic ones, are common. Let the synth concentrate on the sounds, I say.

Some are not so realistic, some are cheesy. Most are not, and all are very usable.

I think any kind of music could be produced on this. For Dance, though, it would be hard work as there are no big knobs and sliders to continually tweak and so on. No ring modulator. But push it through an effects box and you have it. Some of the sounds, though, need careful tweaking in a sequencer program or once recorded, just to make sure that such things as attack etc. are accurate - if that's what you want.
I have the Classical qcard and the sounds on it are amazing, bowed strings, flute vibrato depending on pitch, etc. Wow. The classical types of instruments on the basic synth are less so. But you can expand it.

It reacts very well to velocity and aftertouch, and both of these are editable. But, as I said before, it's not a weighted keyboard.

I bought it used, it's never given me any problems, and I am really impressed by the case which is steel. I reckon it would gig well provided that you weren't Keith Emerson and inclined to use a bowie knife on it.

Note that I give it a 7 because I don't gig it and can't be sure how it would hold up, but it does have a steel case.

There is upgraded software and other stuff available at Alesis. Never had to have it repaired, so I don't know.
Software support is there, although it's old. But this is an old synth, with many children (such as the QS8, etc)

If it was stolen, I'd get another. If I could, though, I'd go for a newer QS, like an 8 or such. But the cost to me for this was cheap considering what the synth is capable of. I hate the plastic keys, love how easy it is to play despite them, and I love the sounds.
It doesn't get in the way of my making music. It sometimes pushes me in other directions, but that's not a bad thing.

I also have a Yamaha TX7 and TG33 (modules) which work fine from the QS6 and give a different kind of sound. A Roland SH-32 for more analog sounds, also very playable from the keyboard of the QS6.

The only thing I wish I could have as well is a seriously good sampling keyboard. I guess I'm not alone in that. But the QS6 plays my sampling software as well as can be expected, and it cost a fraction of the price.

This was a classic synth of its day, and as old as it is today, it's shown itself to be a classic synth in the true sense. It will continue to be one to get if you can.

Very easy to use.
The keys aren't so soft like those children' keyboards. It's great. The keys have a good response. I tried a few times to edit patches, but OK. The manual isn't all that, but u can use it and enjoy.

I think this is a grat keyboard because of this. Great and manuseable sounds. Accept xpansions, many FXs, and the better: SENSITIVE KEYS REALLY SENSITIVE!! I played a Yamaha and, between touching and punching the keys are the same sound.

think about this:
you can play: JAZZ(ORGANS, PIANO), ROCK, CLASSICAL, TECHNO(BONK, WAVE PIANO), DANCE, ETC. I play heavy metal. IT HAVE SO MANY STRINGS THAT I USE 1/10 OF THEM!!!
The instruments are realistic, yes, they are.
REACT A LOT. great reaction of velocity, only needs a little strenght to push the keys in velocity

YES. I CAN DEPEND ON IT. It uset to fall a lot on the ground, because of my dog... but it look like never touched!! a litlle scratch on the left... Realy good.

Never dealt wth the company. Had to fix it once, because the upper revestiment was loose, and, in 15 minutes of screwdrivers, it was new.

I play since 2000. Thisis the best keyboard i ever saw. I saw a lot. I love his sounds variety and i hate only one thing: The Pitch isn't at the left of the keys, it's upper. It's hard wen u have to play fast and pitch moving your hand so far.
I wish it had a floppy driver, for midi and recording.

I love this keyboard. Please, if anyone has any kind of manual or tutorial of any kind for this keyboard, contact me by e-mail or MSN:

angelo_dubas@hotail.com

Very easy to use. Presets are all grouped.Pianos, organs, guitars, etc...Editing is a breeze. Manual...better than most.

Poly 64 I think. Lots of effects. Only expansion is with sound cards...expensive. Semi weighted keys, nice. No sequencer.

Drums are great except for cymbals. I use it mainly for background sounds and pads.

I've had this board for 10+ years and no problems...knock on wood. I play multiple keyboards so back up is always necessary.

Never had to deal with them.

If it were lost or stolen, the updated versions are out so I would probably get one of them.

There's lots of presets and not many knobs. The presets sound like pianos, organs, guitars, and other non-synthesizer type instruments.
It requires a custom wall-wart.
Editing requires 2-3 hours with a manual, by which time, you've forgotten what you want to acheive.
Software does not help much either - if you can't get the terminology from the manual, you won't get it from an editor.

If you want a master keyboard, it's OK, but you'd do better with a Yamaha SY22 or SY35. It does MIDI OK. It has built-in effects, and they match up to the sounds.
It features a distinct lack of knobs and sliders.

It has a pile of sounds that real synths shouldn't make. Getting a decent screaming lead or thumping bass is nigh on impossible. And programming a sound is about as intuitive as filling in your tax return.

Yes, it's reliable. Yes I would gig with it.
It could do with a proper power-chord instead of the wall-wart.

Nope.

If you like good presets, and expect a synth not to sound too much like a synth, then this could be the synth for you.

If you want a beast that you are master of, and that actually has some sort of sound and character of it's own, forget it.

rite out the box,.i bought it used, highly useable sounds,..the sounds are labelled in bank buttons ,.pianos brass,..etc....display is small,.but....color of it (green is nice to look at)makes it worth while,..nise nice synth

64 notes of poly. nice for 96. fx is ok i wanted one to say tremolo ,...didnt see it maybe i overlooked it ,..it is xpandable though very nice by alesis ,.i also have a korg n364,....cost much more but is not xpandable ,..only through floppies.....an the alesis sound to me sound more organic and warm...it has vello .sensitive....very xpressive,no sequencer......nice keyboard

sounds are nice very useable sounds out the bozx,..very organic sounds,.nice analog ,.sytle......sounds very inspiring....fx are ghood since alesis ,.strong point is fx ,they made sure the fx on this baby was sweet as well,......

oter case is steel ,.alesis made it gig and road ready,.front of synth is layed out nicely ,.easy on the mind nice on the fingers...pads are nice and soft...

never called them ,.since i bought the synth used ,.i downloade the manual from,.american musical,....very nice.....i bought it with the mod wheel not working and a slider knob missing ,but i was in it for the sounds,..

if it was lost ,.or stolen i would get another ,..believe me this is a sleeper keyboard ,.a secret weapon ,.by alesis ,...dont let the prices fool you ,..they have a lot to offer,...also ..think about this ,....in the used adds ,.do you seee more korgs ,.roland s ,.or yamaha,...?or these ...in my xperience ,.i rarely see these keys for sale .....i like them ,and many others as well...playing for about 5 yrs. it gives u good sounds and gets out of the way ,.keys are semi weighed,.nice feel,......also have an roland jv 1080 xpanded ,.nice piece as well,...did not compare it to other keys ,.i was looking for some alesis sounds ,.lso this keyboard is vintage now ,.since i believe this is their first key board ,....find one.....

I have this pretty old QS6 which must be original software but I'm not sure what software it is. The presets are pretty good, at least to my un-expert guitar player's ears. I mostly bought it for the organ and electric piano sounds. Editing is very multi-level and not too easy. Saving edits can only be done in the user bank. I downloaded the manual from the website and I think the download must've changed some of the symbols ore something because some of the diagrams of the display have weird characters in them. I don't think I'll spend a lot of time editing except for simple things like level and effects.

64 not polyphony. Action good enough. It has built in effects, most important a creditable leslie and overdrive, though a good analog pedal for overdrive will have a bit more character. It has an expansion card slot and I bought a card off e-bay for $55.00 that had an additional 8 editable banks. Has in/out midi, no on-board sequencer tho.

organs, elec. pianos good. acoustic pianos a little limited tho the expansion card contained some good stuff downloaded from the Alesis website. Some vintage synth stuff was interesting if dated. It's good for Rock, though I could see it being used for atmospheric or soundtrack work.

It's a metal case. I think it's probasbly fine, but I just got it. One of the bank buttons doesn't work too good and sometimes there's a crackling noise in changing patches.

nice that they still have the manual on the website.

I might get somthing else, but for the price this is pretty good. I've played piano on and off casually for 30+ years, but I'm really a guitar player forced into playing a keyboard when I broke my left elbow (ouch!) Hopefully it won't get lost or stolen until I can play guitar again, and then I'd just go back to playing guitar. I have a bunch of guitars, banjoes etc. I used to have a Roland SH-101 that I sold at a yard sale, and I have a baby grand piano. This is light enough and I don't really hate anything about it. I compared it to Korgs and in particular Yamaha S30, but this was cheaper looked more durable and stll sounded good. Right now it's the best way for me to make music.

I was able to plug it in and start playing with this keyboard. The preset sounds are okay, but the piano really sucks. I have had to brighten it up quite a lot to get it to punch through a mix, and it is still a little dull. The sustain on the higher ranges of the piano sound are pretty low. Fortunately, you can layer strings or something else on it and that does help. The manual is okay and fairly easy to read through. Editing patches is pretty straightforward. The only drawback is the display. Two Line display is just not enough when trying to edit patches. Get an editor. The

This thing has 64 Note polyphony. The keyboard action is standard plastic keyboard for me. There are four effects busses that you can route your sounds thru. You can also control them real time (most other synths can do that too nowadays). You can expand the keyboard by PCMCIA card in the back (personally, I might go get the Piano card and see if the piano sounds are any better), and you can create your own samples and burn them with the program they include on the CD-Rom. There are other product demos and sounds on the CD-Rom as well.
The MIDI on it is okay as well, but it only has MIDI IN and a MIDI Out/Thru connection.

Some of the instrument sounds on this thing are great and other are really bad. The piano sounds are really bad, unless you layer them with something. The distorted guitar sounds are utterly terrible and I cannot even use them for making bad noises. The acoustic guitars are really good, as are the bass sounds. The strings are too big and bright for my tastes, and I rarely use the strings on this unit for anything. The solo woodwind sounds are generally ok, but the Tenor Sax is really cool. Mated up with a sax patch on my Korg, you would be pretty hard pressed to notice it was digital. The trumper sounds are good and most brass like that are okay. The lead sounds are good too and the loops are even fun to play with.
I think where this unit shines though, is with the Mix sounds. There are three modes on this unit:

1. Program Mode - use of single programs to play on.
2. GM Mode - General Midi Compatibility
3. Mix Mode - where you combine up to 16 single program to make a layer or 'Mix'

I love most of the Mix sounds that this thing has. The MIDI Grand Mix is a combi of piano (which I customized to sound brighter, strings(had to lower the cutoff freq, and electric piano). I love this patch and when run in Stereo. sounds rally good. The guitar Mixes are good too and expressive. The Pad sounds are good too and the Synth Effects Mixes are quite good. There is one Mix, Shaman, that is just great. There is another mix called Intro, that has 4 sounds running in it and makes a great opening sound. I really think the mixes on this thing is where it does its best.

I have owned this thing for 3-4 years, and it has been to every gig I hve ever played. I have beat the piss out of this thing on some gigs (not hard to do when you have a great Rhodes sound to spank, like this keyboard does). It nas been dropped off the keyboard stand during a couple solos at one point, but it seemed to be fine after I turned it off and on during the solo. The keys are pretty loose (probably from my playing hard on them for years), but the aftertouch is cool. I do like the metal case and it is not scratched up too bad after all the years of road use. The display has one vertical line thru it now and it sometimes goes out of tune (not sure why, maybe it thinks that it is analog or something). OVerall, considering the roads this thing has travelled with me, it has been a great board, and I have totally gotten my money out of it. I hve gigged with just that board where the stage was small and I could depend on it 100%.

I have not dealt with Alesis for support.

If it were lost or stolen, I would try to get another one. In fact, I bought a QS6.1 sox months ago and ended up trading it for a VG8, becuase I like the original QS better than the upgrade. The piano sounds were better, but I think that was about it. I think the QS is a cool board that anyone could use in their setup. I have been playing for over 25 years and was classically trained. I own Roland, Yamaha, Ensoniq, Korg and (of course) Alesis gear and I have noticed they all have their area of expertise. I do not try to venture too far away from what they keyboard does best and maybe that is why I have so many. This keyboard has helped make music and is very musical when it is played in its element. I have noticed a lot of reviews where they buy some piece of gear and I guess have not researched their purchase fully. Keyboards are basically like computers; you have to ask yourself what you really want the keyboard to perform for you. If you really get educated with your unit, you should get many years of music and creativity out of it.

Presets are nice, expecially those on the CD. Editing is quite uncomfortable. Manual is bad.

Average features. No sync to midi, no resonance filters, awful fx (only but doubled one per perfomance), may accept sample card (sound bridge included). Nice keyboard action (just got used to it). Soft, a little bit bouncey, but nice, nice aftertouch (much better than on my Trinity). No sequencer. Shared midi out/through port. Quite poor synth engine. The only nice feature is dedictaed buttons for 12 sound categories - very easy to select.

Acoustic are pathetic and plastic, too compressed sounding (except rhodes, e.p. and organs). Synths are good as well, although sound all in the same mood. In multi mode you lose all effects. The most usefull multi effect is eq+reverb I think. Forget about others. Pads are bad. Drums are SoundBlaster like. Fx are good. the only sound I like is 1st contact, which has a bery cool aftertouch fx - aliens screams - wow! Others are so-so...

Pitch wheel are working bad. Somtime I bad a random pitch waving. I have to PRESS DOWN the wheel itself to stop it. Also with the time something wrong happened to lez-overdr effect. When I bought the QS it sounded cool, now it sounds like a cheap electro distortion, almost clipping, but not quite. I reported to the forum, and there was a guy who confirmed this problem (he has QS8.1). It looks like it's getting worse and worse with the time. So beware...

Sent emails them - never ever received a reply.

Bought in 1996 for 1000$. Sold a week ago for around 400. Was celebrating that! Actually I traded it (plus 1000$) for a new Trinity, which costed in the store about 1400. Very unproffesional synth. Avoid those if you're serious about your music. Again, I have E4XTUltra with 128 RAM (if that matters), XV3080, Trinity keyboard (unexpanded) and Wavestation SR.