Alesis QS8.1

Four assignable sliders allow for on-the-fly adjustments, like with the old synths. Other than that, editing patches with anything digital having just a two-line display is going to be a pain. On the flip side, patch selection is fairly linear, as opposed to all of those pain-in-A interfaces where you have to scroll endlessly.

Keyboard action is pretty authentic, for my taste. Haven't played extensively with FX, although they do integrate to above-mentioned sliders. Accepts two PCMCIA cards, for playing sequence files and storing additional sounds.

I bought this thing based on about three patches: acoustic piano is one of the best (IMHO), slow string patches are very rich/realistic, and piano with string/pad is very nice, too. Other than that... the EPs are ample and pretty good. It's pretty thin on pads and general synth tones. I'm sure if you got cozy with the editor interface, I could cook up some great sounds along those lines, because the base timbres/samples that you're working with are very nice. I'm not a big fan of using anything synthesized for guitar, bass, wind instruments, etc., so I have no opinion on that point.

This thing is a tank-- which is great for reliability (it's been dropped a couple of times, to no avail), and bad for portability.

I've bought the QSR to have a portable version of its piano sounds, after being disappointed with the Roland JV-1080 on this point. Plus the QSR plays sequences, so what's not to love? I think owning a QS8 *and* a QSR is a decent endorsement.

This thing has an amazing range of high-quality sounds. Most tweaking is easy -- setting up mixes (layered sounds, etc.) is a snap. I have not felt the need to try creating custom sounds from scratch. The manual covers a lot of ground, but is easy to understand.
It's heavy -- I'd guess 80 lbs. or so -- so lugging it around for gigs may leave you wishing for your own roadie. But much of that is probably due to its metal -- rather than plastic -- construction.
I play in a classic rock band, and this keyboard is easy to use live, and has nearly every sound I need. (I have a couple old Moog and Korg synths if I need real, classic analog leads.)

The weighted action feels great - very close to a real piano.
So far, I've never maxed out the 64-note polyphony.
For the most part, the built-in effects sound really good (I especially like the "Lezlie" and distortion).
The two PCMCIA slots give lots of expandability, especially considering that you can use multi-bank "expando" cards. (Between 2 cards, I have 9 extra banks available -- could have 16, if both were expando cards.)
No on-board sequencer, but that was one of the reasons I bought the QS8.1. I don't use a sequencer on stage, and in my studio, I use a PC.

Most of the "real" instruments sound very realistic. The pianos are as good as any I've heard. Most of the analog, FM and digital synth sounds are excellent, although IMO, there are also a too many pointless, corny, novelty-type sounds and rhythms that I could do without. Without those, I'd have given it a 10 in this category.
Very expressive, responds predictably to velocity and aftertouch. Most patches also respond to the four assignable fader-style buttons as well.

So far, it has been totally reliable. I can't really afford a backup at this point, but fortunately, I don't have any reason to think I'll need one.

Never had any reason to contact Alesis regarding this product, which is the way I like it.

I paid $1,200 U.S. for it new (the 8.2 is about $300 less). I still think it was worth every penny. I chose it over several other keyboards that I tried, including a couple from Roland and Korg. I own a number of other keyboards and modules, including a Roland JX-8P and a Farfisa Compace DeLuxe. I've been playing music all my life - professionally (off & on) since 1968.
If my QS8.1 were lost or stolen, I'd be crushed! I would definitely start cruising ebay for another one (don't like the metallic finish of the newer QS8.2 -- IMO the 8.1's black finish is much classier). I like almost everything about it. My only gripe is the number of useless sounds that take up space which could have been better used (see above).
I wish it had a way to set up a patch sequence for live performance, like my JX-8P has. Other than that, that, it's hard to find fault.
It definitely helps me make music, and many of its sounds have inspired my own writing.

Es tan facil como conectar una aspiradora y encerar la casa.
Accesible en todo sentido en menos de una hora se todos los botones, y yo creo que es una de las pocas cosas que me gustan del QS-8.1 aunque fuera prestado, me lo presto un n colecga mio

64 voces de polifonia, en eso si creo en Alesis, porque he probando poniendo algunos archivos midi usando Winamp y el QS-8.1 en modo general midi, no se corta ni una nota, parece que solo tuviera una capa en los sonidos.
No tiene secuenciador, tiene muchos efectos, se puede expandir los sonidos con las Q Cards, pero no es lo que espero de un teclado asi.
88 teclas pesadas?, pesadas?, uff eso si que es un lio!! parece que fuera de un telcaod de plasco, en fin, no es tampoco lo que yo espero de un teclado de 88 teclas como este

Esto es lo o que no me gusta del QS-8.1 sus sonidos en si.
creo que ningun sonido de este teclado vale la pena, anqeu la guitarra electrica esta bastante buena, y los loops y convis que tienen estan simpaticos.
Ahora hablemos del set general midi.
supuestamente este teclado tiene 16 mb, pero al ponerlo en modo General midi, suena como si fuera 2 mb!!, ni en clacico, ni en baladas, ni jazz, ningun genero.
Algun dia he tocado en el pasado un QS-8, y para ser sincero, el viejo QS-8 tenia mejores sonidos que este!!
tan solo un midi del game Final Fantacy 8 sono muy bien con el QS-8.1 del resto ni hablar.
Sorry.

Yo creia que era un modelo bonito, que tenia sonidos como el Quadra synth, o el qs-8, pero a las 2 horas me canse de tocarlo.
como 3 dias estuvo en mi casa y bueno, se lo devolvia su due?o.
en fin, Alesis la ha jodido con este modelo,

This synth is fairly easy to edit compared to some that I have owned in the past. Easy-to-understand interface for performing, programming and editing. But it is not a task to be undertaken by the uneducated novice. Read the manual thoroughly and in time it will be second nature if not there are still a wealth of preset sounds to fit any occasion.

Dedicated "Transpose" and "Sequence Select" buttons, large, easy-to-read display, enhanced GM sound set, Hundreds of sounds and multitimbral mixes, 64 voice polyphony, 88-note fully-weighted keyboard which is a little on the slow side but has a nice feel (think Fender Rhodes), Expansion card slots, ADAT Optical Digital Interface and Serial Data port.

I do not understand why anyone would not like the sounds on this keyboard. Sure there might be keyboards out there that sound better but none in its price range. Personally I love the sounds this board produces and they work so well for me that I could not justify spending a grand more for something that that would only sound marginally better if at all.
The sounds this keyboard produces sit very well in a mix and live cut through where many others get lost. The organs are the best that I have heard in a synth although I usually use a Hammond XK-2 because of the waterfall keys/drawbars and so I can use both keyboards at the same time. For recording the bass patches can?t be beat. The Piano patches may sound a little harsh when played as a solo instrument but run it through a tube compressor or preamp and it warms right up. This is a great keyboard for using live in a band situation. I use a lot of the Clavs, Rhodes, Wurly patches and they work great in a Blues/Rock context.
Someone was complaining about the Hard Roads patch not sounding like a Rhodes. Well realistic or not I love that patch. It just goes to show sound is so subjective and beauty is in the ears of the beholder.

Built like a tank and it's just as heavy as one. I own this QS8.1 and a QS6.1 and have never had any problems with either one.

As I said i have never had problems with either of my QS keyboards. I also own 2 XT20 ADATs and have never had any problems getting service done on them even in spite of the ups and downs Alesis as a company has had. So far so good!

Overall I love this keyboard and if it ever fails me I will look for another QS8.1. I looked at the QS8.2 but feel that it is actuallly a down grade. The effects may have a little better bandwidth but the plastic case and lack of ADAT Optical Digital Interface and Serial Data port to me is a big let down.

This is an addition to the post i've made about a year ago. Yes I am the snob frog who wanted to play jazz as well as classical music with this board. I'm writing this post as a reply to the people who did not agree with me.

Is it being snob to want decent sounds ? I bought this synth around 1400 euros. At the time I didn't know very much about synthesizers so I've been impressed by the alesis's sounds. Two months later I was bored by it and I realized that I did a mistake. I could have bought a Yamaha S80 with a little more money. Maybe my post was a bit violent, but I still think what I wrote.

I've just sold my QS8.1 for 800 euros. Why do you think QS8.1 are now at 800 euros and S80's still are at 1300-1400 euros ??. Now i've got a Yamaha S90 that I paid 1900 euros and it is really worth the money.

To the guy who said that if you want to play jazz or classical music you need a real grand piano I'd like more details. Portability is very important to me, and I'm not always at home with my real piano. It's obvious that an electronic instrument will never be as good as an acoustic one. But compare Yamaha 88-key graded hammer keyboards and the QS8.1's crappy keyboard. Yam's are more responsive, fast runs are much easier to play, like on my acoustic piano. When I read the posts, it looks like editing a patch is enough to get exactly what you want. Hmm. When the sample is bad you'll never get something good. But well maybe it is a question of taste. However I have never heard a piano sound like the "true stereo" sound, especially in the medium/treble limit.

It's true that some sounds are good. Pads, fx's, drums are not so bad but well ... What is this 88-note keyboard for if the piano sounds are poor. At a time I considered connecting the QS8.1 to a kurzweil micropiano or microensemble module but I prefered selling this thing to buy a REAL keyboard.

That's what I wanted to say :)
cheers
(sorry for my poo english)

Don't get me wrong, I love this keyboard :) The editing features are very powerful but it takes forever to figure them out. Take the time to read how to edit the sounds and you have the power to do a vast number of things to the sounds. I especially like the ability to combine separate sounds and put them anywhere on the keyboard. An example would be when I needed both a piano sound and a marimba sound at the same time, but not combined. I took the marimba sound and put it on the lower 3rd of the keyboard and put a piano sound on the upper 2/3 of the keyboard. I was also able to manipulate the ranges of the instruments so that I could be playing middle C on the marimba by hitting the C two octives below middle C. Confused? :) So was I. Powerful....but confusing.

With the polyphony that this keyboard offers it's hard to run into problems. It's rare that I'll have noticeable problems even when playing the piano/string patches. The reverbs are nice and I especially like the 'leslie' effects on the organs. The ability to add reverb to only the snare drum on the drum patches is also a useful addition. I've not worked with the MIDI but I would like to learn. I've had this thing for 4-5 years now and I've been able to use it in many many many different types of situations. Well worth the money!

I don't know what some of the critics are talking about on here! :) The sounds are great. The organ sounds are killer if you know how to use them. The B-3 imitation and Blues Organ are both very cool and add to any song you use them on. These sound great especially when you dynamically use the leslie effect along with a volume pedal.

The strings rock.....if you know how to use them. The 'Film Score' patch is especially nice. You have to keep in mind that most of these sounds are designed to play with a band and not to play on your own. If you don't listen to the sounds when in use with other instruments then you are missing everything.

I'll admit the piano sounds are a little lacking on the high end of the keyboard...but this is not a Grand Piano! How could this keyboard be good for classical? (Someone was complaining about it's use in classical music) If you wan't to play classical and jazz then you need an actual piano!

The bass sounds are very nice and when you mix them into a recording you can hardly tell the difference. Especially with the 'Roundwound' and 'Deep Bass' patches.

The drum sounds are very realistic **when used with other instruments in a recording**. The other key is that you have to be able to play the drums in a natural fashion by using the keys. Once you master the keys and are able to play the keys in the same way you play real drums...then they begin to sound like real drums. I have used the DM5 patch over and over in my home recordings. Keep in mind though that this is still just a keyboard!

I can definetly depend on it. Who can afford to gig with a backup of every instrument they own!? In total I would have to have 4 guitars, 2 amps, 2 keyboards, 2 hammer dulcimers, about 30 pedals and who knows what else. The key is to have a backup plan....not necessarily a back up instrument.

The staff person was very nice and informative. I had to take it to a service center in Nashville. They were also very kind. The service center needs to be a little more organized though.

If it were lost or stolen I would do anything I could to buy the Korg Triton Studio.....so no I wouldn't buy it again. Of course the Korg Triton Studio costs over 3 times as much as the QS 8.1 so it's an unfair comparison. If I couldn't afford the Triton I would definately buy this keyboard again. I wish it had a powerful arpeggiator...but you get what you pay for. This keyboard been the key to developing creative music. The recordings I've made at home usually have 8 tracks. Bass/Drums/Strings/Piano/Voice/Harmony/Guitar/Guitar. Everything except the vocals and guitars come from the QS8.1. It has been key to helping me grow as a musician and songwriter.

The keyboard is fairly easy to use, I still haven't figured out much of the programming after one year of use almost.. the screen is small and sometimes the buttons do get a little confusing.. but switching between patches is clear, when you know what is where..

No special features really.. nothing impressive..

I really like the sounds that the synth has, although they are a little limiting.. and the reverb is sometimes just unnecessary.. however I like it on some sounds.. The brass and winds sounds I dont use much, and I particularly dont like them either.. they aren't great sounding.. and alot of the string sounds are not great, however I can't get enough of the Mellotron sounds...

Its worked fine for me.. I dont really have a backup at gigs.. Its taken quite a beating from when I didn't have a case for it.. and I only have it in a thickly padded soft case now.. which works much better but is a major hassle to carry around... carrying it around w/out the case is not fun, and I think its causing some bending of the frame too.. it doesn't sound good anyway..

I went once to look for expansion cards at Guitar Center, where I bought it, and they didn't have any and wouldn't for a while.. and the instruction manual is very confusing, perhaps because I've not dealt much with MIDI controls and such..

If it were lost or stolen, I probably would consider getting something a step up.. this is nice for my first keyboard but I am starting to need two good keyboards with me now at gigs.. finding a good stand is the next problem!

I love the nicely labeled buttons. I don't have to remember what number does what. The manual is hard to follow, so I bought Hal Leonard's QS Made Easy.

The sounds to me are suberb and the effects and programs are fantastic. I enjoy being able to change the sounds with the controllers and/or the wheels. Adjusting the modulation gets the wild stuff.

Marvelous. I'm convinced this keyboard landed me a soundtrack gig. The strings and pianos are worth the money and the mixes are cool. The feel of the keys is very good. The drum sets are perfect for my use and even some of the "too cool" dance effects might come in handy.

I sent the first one back because of cosmetic damage. The second one had cosmetic damage as well, but I've had not problems internally. I will be using it a t gig without a backup; if it blows up, I'll be singing much louder.

Phone support has been excellent. I get right through and they know their stuff. Email support is mostly good if you don't mind waiting a day or two. Just pick up the phone.

If I had the room, I would consider buying another one. I would definately replace it (if I can find it) if it were lost. I compared this board with some Rolands and Yamahas and was not impressed with the others. When a salesman tried to talk me out of the 8.1, I knew it was the keyboard for me. It helps me get my creative juices flowing, but I wish it had a sequencer.

As you read my comments, please keep in mind that I don't play for a living. I mostly play in pickup bands, churches, etc. - nothing professional, but I am very sure what does and does not "sound" good, and this thing sounds great. The 8.1 could not be easier to use unless it played the songs for you...actually, the demo songs it can play are pretty cool. The presets are very adequate for anything I want to do, but you can really get some special sounds if you take the time to learn how to edit the patches. The manual is good, but you do have to read it.

The 8.1 has a 64 voice polyphony - more than adequate. The keyboard action is closer to my standard upright piano than most synths I tried. It has 16MB of on-board sounds (640 cool programs and 500 cooler multitimbral mixes). You've got two expansion slots for PCMCIA cards. I haven't tried to purchase or use additional cards - I've heard they're hard to come by, but no comment on their capabilities or usefulness. Haven't used the MIDI capabilities yet, either, but I've heard they're easy to use. No on-board sequencer, but what do you expect for under $1,000?

For me, there is at least one present in each sound group (brass, strings, winds, etc.) that is great. The strings are especially good, the brass is only adequate. You certainly wouldn't want to represent yourself as a trumpet/violin/sax soloist with this thing, but the 8.1's sounds add greatly to the overall mix of your band. Reverb, chorus, etc. effects are adequate and the four edit/control slide bars are very handy. The key action (velocity, aftertouch, etc.) is good.

It feels very strudy (heavy, nothing loose and floppin' around), but I don't have much experience "on the road" with the 8.1. Alesis is a well respected brand, from what I've heard. I gig without a backup not because of it's reliability, but because I can't afford a backup!

My only dealings with the company stem from not receiving the "Sound Bridge" software in the package when I bought the unit. It was sent to me right away, so...happy ending.

I'd replace it if it was stolen, unless I inherit alot of money in the mean time. The QS 8.1 is definitely worth 1,000 bucks, especially compared to lower-end models from Roland, Korg, etc. If your music is budget oriented, this is a very economical, but functional, choice.

Being a guitar player looking for a midi interface and sound base this thing is great. Now I must admit prior reviews are definately done by some keyboard snobs (especially the last). The action is good, it reminds me of the old piano's I had to play while growing up. The screens are easy to use , as long as you actually have an inkling as (a: how to read and (b: how to follow instructions.
The LCD and menu keys are easy to interpret as long as the instructions are provided.

The keyboard is very easy to use. the action is good ,while maybe not the fastest. It is certainly a lot better than most dead MIDI controllers out there. There is quite a bit of reverb on the pianos, but that can be backed off if one has the patience to actually read the instructions(yeah, you dimwit frog)! The cards while old technololgy are great! I have three. "Sanctuary", by far being the best. If you have other sound sources and are willing to think of this unit as a controller with sounds as a bonus, it can't be beat.

The voicings are very heavy in post production effects. This is easy to remedy in the recording/project studio environment by following the instructions. By the way for everyone that bought this for "live performance, maybe you you should check out the specs. This keyboard like the vast majority of Alesis boards was almost exclusively intended for project-small/mid pro recording studio applications. The sounds are great given their own track, and that one can sort them out. My major complaint is that you don't get those great "cheat sheets" that Alesis used to give you for the reverb units.

Absolutely. It's a steel chasis whith wood caps. The same thing Roland and Korg have been doing for years. It is recommended that you use a support rather than just throwing it up on a two bar keystand.

Alesis is great. Even though Numark is now buying them out(bailing them out). They have always stood by their product. Once again, if you actually specc'd this product rather than got all hot about it's price, it may not be so suprising that it offers what it does or does not. If you are looking for a great sounding board with a hammer weighted action for a small price (not to mention 88 keys) this is the board for you. Everyone else that thought they were getting a 2,000.00 Roland....Duh why are you being so critical? If you can't afford the big guns,don't complain that what you can afford doesn't measure up. Anybody knows that you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear.

If lost or stolem, I'd buy something close. Let's all be fair here. If I had money to burn I'd be buying a Porsche. Certainly not working a day-job and writing to musician sites about my latest 800.00 expenditure. It works. It's quiet. It's cheap. Unless you are being a snob, what more could you want?

The key layout is quite good, and the menus are pretty easy to manipulate, but the screen is really cheap and mine blinks a bit on the left side.

well, i'm not a synth expert (this is my first real synth) but I think there is almost everything you need for editing your patches. I don't use MIDI too much but I had no problem while sequencing with my computer. No onboard sequencer, but it's normal in this price range. The keyboard action is horrible, I'm a pianist and I can tell you that the action really sucks. The keys are too heavy and fake. For pop music or things like that it would be fine but for a jazz player like me the action is a crap. The Yamaha S80 has a much better keyboard.

SOUNDS
hhmmmm
This synth sounds like shit, sorry...
The piano sounds are really poor, even if they are recorded on a Bosendorfer grand. There's too much reverb and the samples are too "dry". The electic pianos and organs sound quite good but not very realistic. (Who has heard a rhodes EP sound like the "Hard roads" patch ??). The winds are acceptable, but the saxes are awful, IMO. The drums are good. I think there are too many SFX, that could have been replaced by *good* piano patches. By the way, i like the bass sounds, except the 'fat upright'.
This keyboard will not work well for classical, jazz.

You can depend on this keyboard, it's very reliable but don't gig without a backup :)

I've had a problem with my main outputs. The keyboard has been repaired very quickly.

If my synth was stolen, i would definitely not buy it again. Why ? The sounds really suck. I did not take enough time to choose it. If I had the extra money, I would buy a Yamaha S80, or a MIDI keyboard+ roland JV-3080. I've been really disappointed by this unit. I hope you wont do the same mistake as me ...

I found the synth to be similar in this category to others I have owned in the past (yam, rol) although I liked the labelled keys that descirbe the function of each keypad based on the "page" you were in

I wanted an 88 key weighted board that was transportable. It has better action than any synth in its category within 1000$ plus the software and the factory patches are a great start.

The winds are lame (flute OK, brass and reeds terrible for ensemble stuff), the pianos are really good, the guitars are nice, the basses ar OK and the organs are adequate. But, I have downloaded libraries from midiworld that have saved the day in the organ dept. That tells me that I could do some sampling/tweaking and eventually get anything I want.

I gig with this constantly and have no problem - its a tad heavy, but lighter than most of its genre - I use a soft case w/wheels and i can hack it.

na

I like the fact that I got sequencing/Audio to HD recording SW, patch/library editor sw, freeloader and soundbridge with this thang - the sky is the limit, man. Plus it sounds great for my needs (jazzrock/funk) - the action is too soft for Hammond organ stuff, but I deal and what can you do? Key point - to play live you need a stereo amp or go through the board - mono doesn't do justice to some of these patches. Overall, I've had the thing for over a year now and I still love it.

Very easy to get around.

Keyboard action seems OK at first, but you'll get sore wrists after a while. The keys bottom out pretty bad.
There are built-ineffects, but they're limited and difficult to get to. Not for the faint-hearted.

There are alot of good pad sounds. Pianos- too much reverb. My main complaint about this board is the excessive reverb. Every sound seens like it's coming from a metal can.
The main reason I purchased it (besides price) was the ability to take almost any type of sound and transfer it to a PCMCIA memory card.
But those cards are impossible to find- old technology.

no opinion- only owned for 30 days

No opinion

There are better options. I wouldn't buy it again. In fact I didn't keep it past the 30 day trial period at Music123.com. (They were great to work with, and have good support and prices.) I traded the Alesis for a Roland XV88- which was a lot more money ($1989), but worth every penny. Also, check out the Kurzweil PC2.
The Alesis wasn't a bad keyboard for the money- decent sounds- (I miss some of the pad sounds) but too much reverb (in case I didn't make that clear.) Very easy to get around the sounds, but difficult to change sounds. The kicker was the unavailability of the PCMCIA memory cards. I searched the web, but they are old technology and very hard to find. Alesis needs to update their operating system to accept non-linear cards.

I bought my 8.1 from Sweetwater for performance use a few months ago.
The acessibility of all programs and mixes is very user friendly and
the variability of each is more than expected with 4 slide controls
and modulation wheel being used to control some aspect of the sounds in
most of the programs. I have not done enough editing to offer an oppinion
to the ease of its editing features, but from my reading I felt I
understood the instructions as the controls were pretty straight forward.

The manual is not terribly new-user friendly, but it is clear and concise for
the operation of the unit.

It has 64 voice polyphony, which from my research prior to purchasing the unit,
is really quite remarkable for a keyboard in this price-range.

There are many built-in effects that are not as easy to get at as the
basic presets which come in 5 banks of presets (effects are available to
most programs and mixes - or all if you prefer to edit). I have had some
difficulty applying effects in performance without having to resort to
editing new programs.

The keyboard accepts expansion cards in its PCMCIA slots (therea are 2)
called Q Cards. I bought one with the keyboard and it greatly expands
the keybords variety of sounds to edit with. It comes with 16 MB
waveform memory expandable to 32.

My very favorite feature of the unit is its keyboard action. The keys
are preset to have the fully weighted feel of a piano. Since that is
my background I am THRILLED to tell you they really do feel like piano
keys. I have played so many "weighted" keyboards that were a poor imitation
at best I can't tell you. The keys have velocity, release velocity, and
are aftertouch sensitive (these parameters are actually programmable if
you aren't happy with the presets here).

The MIDI capabilities are rather extensive and beyond my area of expertise.
I would refer you to the alesis home page for more information about its
MIDI capabilities.

I get a little frustrated with trying to weed through the hundreds of
programs and mixes to find the sounds I'm looking for in my performance
needs. The program and mix charts that came with the machine don't help
until you get familiar with the sounds. Since they are arranged in groups
by type of basic sound it helps, but it is deceiving. It is also staggering
to try to get through the extra 8mb of programs and mixes provided by just
one q-card. But after a couple of months with the machine I'm getting to know
it better and working with it has become easier. Mixing my own sounds
and utilizing the effects offered by the unit has become the next concept to
conquer.

The quality of the sounds is usually (9 out of 10 sounds) excellent. They are
clear and specific. There are no sounds that are so alike you can't tell
them apart (a problem I've had with other units with the number of programs to
choose from as the 8.1)

I use the QS 8.1 for performance mostly and some personal playing and have
had to try to adjust the machine to different types of sounds. I have found
that it works extremely well for Latin sounds, anything needing an organ (there
are more organs on there than I know what to do with) and any classical sound.
Its presets for velocity and aftertouch (enabled for almost every single sound)
are usually satisfactory. If you don't like it for a particular sound you can
edit that program or mix to your user bank and reassign the value you would
prefer to whichever.

So far so good! I have replaced the keyboard I was using at Church with this
one. I had bought it originally to practice at home and I used the Korg that
was at the building on Sunday mornings and Thursday night. I love the
keyboard so much that I now actually load it up and carry it with me both
times (which, if you purchase one you'll find out is quite a big deal- the
thing weighs 60 lbs at least).

The company is easy to deal with so far. But for the most part if I've had
any questions I've called Sweetwater (bought it from them) and they've
been more than helpful.

I'm new to keyboard playing. I'm not a professional musician. I play for
my church. But it is important to us to have a high quality insturment that
is reliable and versatile. Because of its capabilities I would LIKE to get
into more editing and sequencing and mixing. But being the mother of 3 small
children that will come later. In the meantime I am grateful to have an
instrument as nice as the 8.1. It is a high quality machine. I researched quite
a bit before I made my choice and in no small part chose the QS b/c of its almost
universal accalim. So far everyone who said it was more than worth the money is right.

The only thing I wish were different about the machine is that it weighed less.

I've owned a QS8.1 for about 1 1/2 years, and gig with it about 8 times a month. (Along with a Hammond XK-2 and yamaha W5) I use it as a general purpose keyboard for mostly pianos.

My biggest gripe is that changing patches has an annoying lag time of about 1 second. This makes it more than a trivial matter when you are trying to flip through patches looking for something...

The on-board display is far too small for the amount of editing that can be done, and is nowhere near intuitive. (I may be spoiled by the beautiful display on my Yamaha W5, however.) The buttons are labeled nicely for editing, but the whole scheme of the editing layout just rubs me the wrong way, and feels anti-productive- you have to contantly page through several levels to get from place to place when building patches. It is not a very good 'play around until you hear something you like' board, but rather a 'I know what I want" board. A larger display with much more information per screen would have been beneficial. There are plenty of computer-based editors for this board to fill the void, however. I use the sounddiver that came with the QS8.1 for doing anything beyond simple tweaks. I can't imaging doing any serious patch-building on the on-board display.

The organization of the presets is nice, with well-defined banks joining different types of sounds. (strings, pianos, brass, etc). But since you'll need to put just about anything you want to use into the user bank, this is a moot point. I'll cover why you need to do this later in my comments.

The manual fills the need, once you have several months with the keyboard. The manual is NOT a good place to start learning - it seems to be written with a lot of assumption that you know what they are referring to. It almost has to be read in a linear fashion - you can't really just open it up to a certain subject without knowing everything covered earlier in the manual.

Keyboard action is hard, which I like most of the time for my playstyle, but it has some quirks that may annoy anyone who really takes keyboard action seriously. The quality of on-board effects are good, but editing on-board is a chore. Being able to control parameters of effects real-time requires some tedious editing on a horrid display to map the parameters to the sliders and wheels.

I purchased a couple of add-on Q-Cards for this board. I bought both a 8MB and a 512k card. The 8MB card is for storing my own samples that can be used as the basis for new patches. The 512 card is used to add 8 user-defined banks of sounds. This card is great for backing up my user bank in case the on-board battery should die and wipe my user bank out.

From what I have read, MIDI is pretty full-featured, and this board could be used as a master controller very well, including splittiung the keyboard into seperate channels, etc.

The midi interfacing I HAVE tried to do with it has been frustrating. Trying to get it into the correct mode, and getting sequencers to change banks on it are guess-work at best. The terms given to different functions need to be translated into what the industry-standard terms REALLY mean.

There is no sequencer. This is not meant to be a workstation. It is better suited as a general-purpose performance keyboard. You can load midi files to memory in a rudimentary fashion for minimalistic use, if needed.

Pretty much a run-of-the-mill soundset. As with just about every board, some sounds are acceptable, and others are abysmal.

I bought the keyboard for the weighted-action keyboard, even though I personally don't care for the piano sounds for the styles of music I play live in a five-piece rock band. The piano sounds are better suited for very mellow loungy-type of solo piano music, but are too muddy when being played with a full rock band - they either don't stand out, or are far too tinny when using brighter patches. Our soundman agrees with this - he hates trying to make the pianos from this board sound good in a full mix. For solo classical, they are again too muddy, and have no crispness or pleasant attacks to them. I will consider buying a jazz piano card to solve this.

Most of the rest of the sounds are pretty much unusable for what I do. The horns/brass, strings, pads, etc simply sound terrible, and I can't imagine ever using them... I have a $400 yamaha 'toy' keyboard laying around the house that blows the QS8.1 away for these sounds.

The electric pianos and organs are excellent, however, and I use the rhodes and whirly patches a ton. The hard keyboard action is very Rhodes-like, and is great to play when using these sounds. Even though the organs sound good, it is impossible to get REALLY good hammonds out of anything but a hammond or a good hammond clone... The true Hammond sound is just simply too dynamic to be recreated by mapping sliders and controllers to different parameters. The on-board Leslie effect is abysmal. When I used it for organ sounds, I piped the QS8 through a Korg G4 leslie simulator with good results. The G4 added the warmth and 'woodsy' tone that the QS8.1 could not muster up. However, if you want good Hammonds, you will never get it from ANY synth. That is why I bought a Hammond XK-2 to cover organ.

I am not impressed with the speed or expressiveness of the keyboard. Playing something like a fast fill of octaves (i.e. Jerry Lee Lewis, or classical with fast runs or trills will expose the lack of speed. The keys just don't return fast enough, and have a muddy, clunky feel to them. Granted, it is better than most full weighted action synths, but I have found it restricts what I can play.


My biggest gripe about the QS8.1 is how the volumes of the presets jump all over the place. It is impossible to play the presets on this board live without first copying them all to a user bank and fixing their volumes. It is pretty obvious that whoever set up the presets never plays live. You select a piano, and have to crank up the volume - then switch to an organ, and have to turn the volume down 75% - select a string paed, and even cranking it is not loud enough to match the previous piano. It is absolutely unacceptable to have this lack of attention paid to balancing the volumes of the factory presets, and a constant annoyance.

I carry it in a SKB hard case to 8-10 gigs a month, and it gets tossed into the back of the truck like all the other gear. It is built like a tank with metal and hard wood, and if you do the smart thing of buying a quality case for it, it should stand up to the road very well. If you throw it into a cheap soft case, you will have to expect it getting damaged, as with any other piece of gear.

Never had to call, but there is a good amount of information in the manual and on the website. There is also a fairly good user base on the web to turn to.

I s'pose if I lost it, I would buy it again simply because it is a very heavy duty keyboard that stands up to the road very well. This is almost more important than sound quality since hard road use will limit the lifespan of a keyboard very quickly. As for the sounds, I wouldn't buy it again if I could find a similar weighted action board in the same price range. I would rather have gone with a Korg Triton or Kurzweil, but would never want to bring either of those on the road.

For me, the QS 8.1 is a generic multi-purpose board with the most bang for the buck that fills the need of a good road board. If I was playing in my living room, I'd be looking elsewhere.

As far as my background, I have been playing piano for 25 years (classical/ballad), and keyboards for 15 years. If it doesn't feel like a certain type of piano or a Hammond B-3, I generally turn my nose up at it. - I am very pick in that department. :-)

Very easy board to use. A steady gig that I did for a couple summers used the QS7 and I found the menus very easy to navigate. When I found myself in the market for a lightweight, reliable 88 key jobbing keyboard, I remembered what a snap the QS7 was to use and looked into the QS8. The 8.1 is even easier to use with a larger display and dedicated one-touch transpose and sequence buttons. Even easier to use are the four control sliders - you can affect the sounds in real time and do some really fun things live. For anyone who has any experience using a keyboard synth, they don't come much easier to use than this one.

The QS8.1 has some nice features. It's expandable via the 2 Qcard ports at the back. I found it REALLY nice to able to swap out cards on the gig without having to crack open the board. However, if you're using the QS as your main sound source in a home studio environment then the lack of true expandability may be restrictive.

Being designed with price as an issue, you won't find an onboard sequencer, the polyphony is a very ho-hum 64, the built-in effects are limited in both flexibility and quality. It's designed to be a solid 88-kry synth with few bells and whistles at a budget price, and at that it succeeds.

On the other hand, it does have some glaring faults. Of all the weighted keyboards I've owned, this one was by far the least expressive. The keyboard action is terrible. It's a budget 88 key keyboard that feels like a budget 88 key keyboard. I've been playing for close to 30 years, classically trained, degree in jazz, full-time pro. I have a VERY solid touch and no matter how I scaled the board, it didn't have the kind of responsiveness I wanted nor did it have a snappy enough return to keep up with really fast playing. I used it primarily for live jazz gigs and it was disappointing to say the least.

The limitations of the keyboard showed when I used the QS as a master controller in my studio. I had a flute sample that I use frequently on soundtrack projects. It has a little trill sample layered to trigger at a velocity of 127. No matter how I scaled the keyboard, I could never trigger this sample with the QS. My sequencer was recording velocities that topped out at 125, so I had to manually draw the velocities to trigger the effect. Same thing at softer volumes - the QS is VERY hard to play softly and expressively. Velocities under 10 seemed to be scaled to 5, 10 or 15 - no room for nuance at all.

The sounds were tolerable. They worked a lot better for live funk/rock stuff.

The "acoustic" instruments (piano, acoustic guitar, horns, winds, strings, etc.) were awful - dull, fake, and completely useless in a studio situation. I did get the Stereo Jazz Piano QCard to use on live jazz gigs. It was as major upgrade over the onboard piano sounds, particularly in the lower register, but it too seemed very tinny and mechanical in the upper. Combined with the terrible action, it wasn't nearly the piano substitute that Alesis touted it as.

Where the board shone was its electric pianos (Rayz Rhodes), clavs (particularly "ClaviTube - loved this patch) leads (alpha lead) and some of the wackier synth sounds. All these were a lot of fun live, seemed to react much better to playing nuances, and responded VERY well to the control sliders - you could get some really fat, rockin sounds just by playing around with the sliders.

Never had a problem on a gig - solid, reliable, and the lightest most portable 88 I've ever had.

If you're looking for a board that is in essence a portable piano, this is not it. If you're looking for a master controller, this is not it. Best suited to a jobbing rock/funk guy who wants fun sounds, easy navigation, reliability and portability.

I WISH mine had been stolen - I could have cashed in on the insurance ;-). Instead, I sold it in disgust and bought a Kurzweil Pc2x. Now THERE's a board - not in the QS's price range, but you get what you pay for.

I think it's easy to use, but I don't get into the real complicated settings.... sounds are great, especially strong are the fine piano sounds....

I play fast, and I use all of the polyphony...works fine, keyboard action can't be beat for the price, and is very acceptable...

Very fine sounds... i repeat that the piano sounds can't be beat...including the best Kurzweil and Yamaha...fine stereo sounds...

I wait six months to submit this review to be certain of the reliability... I can tell you it is flawless...doesn't even make the slightest static or problems of any kind at all...I don't move it around though...I would NEVER trust any single keyboard without backup at a gig...I give this a ten from my experience...

I haven't had any communication from them, but i was a bit disappointed that they don't send out by email a regular newsletter or anything....

I would absolutely buy the same one again if lost or stolen...i've been playing 35 years...i have a few keyboards, a few sound moduals and a Baldwin grand piano... After the problems I had with an Ensonic, the ALesis is really a pleasure...for what's important to me personally, (piano sound quality, reliability and value for money), nothing can beat this...

The QS8.1 for the most part is a very easy Keyboard to use. Its sound sets are arranged into logical groups and are easy to find. The screen is not the largest I have seen but it does the job. Editng patches can be done by variation of layers within the patch and depending on how you want to edit a particular patch it is fairly easy to do. The keyboard has a very easy to use button for transposing the key, all you have to do is hold it down and press a key to the left or right of middle C in order to transpose. The manuals are well written and they have even included a quick reference guide.

Be warned right now that this is a keyboard for serious musicians only! If you're looking for a toy this is not what you want. The reason I say this is because it's more for live performance than for sequencing and making weird sounds. I am using this keyboard by itself at the moment, I used it mostly for the piano sounds and to accompany my brother on the Guitar. The piano sounds are some of the best I have heard and I have compared it to some of the most expensive keyboards and believe me it comes on top. The keyboard action is great and has not been exaggerated by making it too light like some other keyboards. The sound sets are great for the most part but a little weak in the synth section. Some of the best orchestral sounds you will find are in the mix mode and they are quite impressive. I like the four controllers which give instant access to changing a sound. For example if you find that the Grand Piano sound is too dry you can use one of the controllers to wet it up.

It has been reliable so far. I have had no technical problems with it.

The company is not very helpful to your needs.

I play Rock, Pop and Classical music and this is a very good keyboard for a musician that wants to do a lot of live performance. What I love about this keyboard is it's Piano sounds, some of its orchestral and string sounds and its nice look (a very nice looking keyboard!). What I hate about it is that you can loose factory preset sounds if you're not careful and even by reseting the keyboard you can't bring them back. The only way to bring back the factory presets is by hooking the keyboard up to your computer and re-programming it again. I compared this keyboard to many others in its class and believe me for its price it comes on top. I only wish that the keyboard had some built-in sequences for accompaniment. But this keyboard definately inspires me to play and if it were lost or stolen I would buy it again.

QS8.1 uses soundbridge software. Easy to create programs and mixes, and you can add new samples for them. The manual is very easy to undesrstand. I put all the programs and mixes I usually use in the User bank, so it's easy for me to change the sounds of my synth during performance or recording.

My QS8.1 is full expandible and I love hammer action in keyboard. For sequences I use Soundbridge software.

Programs in QS8.1 are composed by 1 to 4 samples, so you can create your own programs and then use them in your own mixes. Piano sounds ar 10/10 realistic and effects work very good with them.

I love my synth. It is all I need to create and composse music. I love 88 keys full hammered keyboard and the options to create new sounds. I love piano sounds of Alesis synths. It'll be better if I can sequence in the same synth without using a PC or Mac with software

This board is very easy to use. The sounds contained within are laid out in a straight forward manner and accessing them while performing is quite easy. To truly alter the effects on each of the sounds will take some time and the manual is very good in my opinion. However for quick peramiter adjustments the drawbars are great. For live performance this is a great board - it shines!

Hopefully someone refering to the reviews on this page has allready gone out and done their own research and determined if the product will satisfy their own needs. For me this board was perfect. The action is tight - nice and sturdy. Very easy to play expressivly like a piano. Great sounds (which I will get to!) Fully midi compaitble, sequencing software provided if that's your thing, the effects that are housed in this board are very lush and with practice are very easy to mold to your liking.

This is the reason I got this board - the sounds. Particularly the Electric Piano sounds and the Organ Sounds. Both are *excelent* (and I own a suitcase 88!) The piano voicings are tollerable, but I sugest buying one of the expansion qcards if you will be using this as a "piano" The jazz & classical cards are both VERY convincing - beautiful. There are a bunch of synth sounds that are interesting and fun, the strings seem a little thin (once again - qcard!) Bass sounds are nice and lush... go test one and play around with it - seriously, there are tons of sounds!

I have this board in a foam gig bag, I gig with it several times a month & I haul it to and from studios weekly. No problems at all it's built like a tank, just be smart!

Have yet to deal with them...

I play Classical & Jazz music at home & Improvisational Jazz/Funk live. I don't think there is another 88-key keyboard of this (small) size, with the features & sounds built into it that can stand up to it - period. And the price!?!? I play live 85% of the time. This board satisfies my needs perfectly. It's not a Korg Triton with all the bells and wistles, this is a keyboard for people who can actually play & if you like to play live, even better. I have it hooked up to a sustain, expresion and wah pedal, sometimes hooking up a digital delay for the reggae :) I have received many compliments over the last year on it's sound from both people at shows and other keyboard players. I can't say enough about the qs8.1, it's been a wonderful keyboard and I am vey happy that I purchased it.

Quite easy to use. Editing is fairly straight forward and comprehensive using the included software. You really have a lot of control over the sounds if you are into programing, but it does take some work to get the most out of it. The transpose button on the front panel is great.

64 voices, but programs can use up to four each. If this is your only instrument and you are composing, you could possibly run out of voices.
The keyboard action is great. Not identical to a real piano, but quick and lively.
Haven't tried expansion with the Q-cards, but I know they are popular. There are a couple of QS forums out on the web which can answer any questions about them.
Full MIDI implementation. Four control sliders. An excellent controller keyboard.

I myself love the sound of this synth. The piano is the best you'll hear in a general purpose synth. Beautifully sampled from a Bosendorfer grand. The preset pianos are excellent, especially PureStereo, but may not be responsive enough for classical work. This can be tweaked, and patches are available on the net.
EP's are great, organs are great, (except for the pipe organs - rotten) The control sliders act as drawbars - nice.
Strings are more orchestral than synthy, but no preset slow strings. Brass too are more orchestral. In truth there are a lot of limited use gimmicky patches, but this is true of most synth's presets.
Guitars a mixed bag. I guess you need to play before you buy. You'll love it or hate it, depends on what you're used to, your abilities as a player and programmer, and what you're looking for. I think there is a bit of unfounded snobbery toward the brand, but this is a lot of synth for the money, no matter where you're coming from.
One note: Many of the programs are stereo. A lot of sequencers will set the pans on these stereo patches to center, whether you want them to or not. This is ruins some of the patches, especially pianos, when the stereo channels get combined to center.
The solution is to send a sysex message after the sequence starts to reset the pans to the patch settings.
Too complicated for some users probably.

It's lighter than other 88 key boards, but I don't carry mine around.
No problems here.