Alesis QS8

The presets are ok. This is my first synth ever, i bought this one because it offered a good price, hammer-action keys and lots of presets. I don't think it's easy to use. Not that it's very difficult, but it can't be that expensive to put some more buttons on it, and a larger display. As it is now, it's a little messy to keep the overall picture inside the head. But since i've only had it for three weeks, maybe that'll pass. The manual is meant to be read from the beginning to the end, at least for newbies. If you want to look something up quickly, be prepared to be browsing around in it for a while.

64 voice polyphony. Keyboard action is nice. Maybe feels a bit cheap. When someone is playing on the keyboard using headphones, the keys give away so much slapping sounds i'm afraid he will break it. Two PC-card expansion slots ar nice, i have filled one with the alesis eurodance card, which i think make this synth feel more like what i expected from the beginning. Serial port for PC interface, i like that although i have not used it yet. But i will. No onboard sequencer, but with such a small display and few buttons i am glad it don't have one.

The piano sounds are nice, but I can't help to think that the truestereo (00, preset1) sounds a bit false above C3. The other sounds I've not cared much for yet, but i have found lots of interesting ones. I'm sure that if i ever start to do some music on my own, i will find enough sounds to give me a good start here. especially on the extra Q-card. The keyboard is maybe too responsive for me :-)

As far as i'm concerned, it's built to last. but since the keys sound strange, and it makes me not sure how durable the hammer mechanisms are, the top score is out of the question. Btw, i will be moving (including myself) this piece of steel from Boston, MA to Stockholm, Sweden soon, and if someone have any suggestions about how to do it/not to do it please be welcome to email me at nolsson@bu.edu.

Have been in contact with them once, got an email answer after two days. The email wasn't really answering my question, but i realized that i would have to solve the problem myself anyway. But at least, getting an answer after two days by email, is above average.

If it got stolen, i would probably by a QS8 again. But my dream machine is a Korg Trinity ProX of course......

Presets sound very good, for the most part. Finding them is easy, with the buttons laid out over the keyboard. Editing patches can be excruciatingly tedious. All management is done with the patch selection buttons, which have different uses depending on which part of a program you are editing. The small viewing area offers little more than the current parameter you are editing. The manual is straightforward, but hard to follow at times. There were many questions which the manual could not answer for me, and its explanation of the effects bus is minimal. For most purposes, however, the QS8 is easy to use.

Nice 64-voice polyphony. The keyboard action is superb, very fun to play on. It feels unlike other weighted, hammer-action keyboards, and almost has a magnetic quality. The effects settings is where I feel the QS8 loses a lot of ground. There is one effects bus with multiple inputs, theoretically replacing multiple effects units within the synthesizer. The effects sound wonderful when used properly, and they offer a lot of variety... the problem occurs in MIX mode when all programs must share the same effects bus. This shouldn't be a problem, as each voice can be routed through the bus differently, leaving certain sounds without the delays, reverbs, distortion, etc. Unfortunately, managing all 1-4 sounds in each program is a nightmare, especially when auditioning sounds. The QS8 also has a bad habit of resetting my effects settings when I change banks or patches. Considering setting up proper effects for sixteen programs could take a good 15 minutes for an experienced user (maybe two hours for an inexperienced one), I found this very frustrating. The only expansion capabilities the QS8 has are the QCards, which I have not used but seem like a good idea, if a bit expensive. It works great as a controller, having velocity, release-velocity, and aftertouch sensors.

Several of the instruments are good: acoustic and electric guitars, pianos, organs, bass, saxophones, and a lot of the synth sounds. On the other hand, several instruments are not very good: drums, flutes, brass, and strings of all types. The strings are the QS8's main weak point. There is only one "string ensemble" sample, which is shared by nearly all such programs, and it is a very low quality sample--it sounds rough by itself and drowned in chords. The solo string sounds like violin and cello are too harsh and are impractical for most any type of playing. Drums have no punch to them, but they aren't too bad. Despite these shortcomings, the good quality sounds from the QS8 make it a lot of fun to practice on. There are some great synth sounds which are controlled by many things, like wheels, sliders, and velocity, for some wild sounds. I wouldn't recommend this keyboard for orchestral music, unless you have the Classical QCard: judging by the demo CD, this card corrects the many problems with the QS8's orchestra instruments. Many of the sounds are impractical for mixing/sequencing purposes, since they are layers of similar instruments usually not mixed exactly how you want them. Again, fun to practice on though.

So far, no problems with it whatsoever. It's built very solid.

Alesis has been very helpful and prompt in answering my questions about the serial cable.

I would probably buy the QS8 again if I lost this one. The price is so good, and I need a good master controller... most 88-key, weighted controllers cost more than this and don't have as many sounds. Definitely worth the price. My favorite thing about the QS8 is its action. The keyboard is fun to play on, with or without the volume turned up. My main disappointment with it comes with the MIX mode and effects bus. I have found it impractical for my purposes. I was looking for something to handle lots of voices and make a great multitimbral mix, but this unit does not... if you can survive without effects, or using the effects setup of one patch and sharing it with all other sounds, then you might not have this complaint. But I find myself saving up to buy a good rack module. I don't see myself ever really using the QS8's internal sounds in a sequence. It works great for practicing or performing, however. I chose the QS8 because of its price and great reviews. It satisfied me for a long time, until I tried to do some sequencing on it, and I realized that it wasn't the keyboard for the job. Overall, I recommend it for anyone who wants a great feel but doesn't expect the awesomest sounds, effects, or versatility. It is average in all these categories, but excellent in feel. Buy it for the 88 keys, and if you like the other things that come with it, think of it as a bonus.

I've had mine for over a year and us it profesionally on stage and in my midi studio. Not an easy thing to program if your not used to programming, something like the trinity is far more intuative but it is quite flexible. Presets are very good. The strings are a bit weak, and the analogue synth samples are a bit feeble and need beefing up with loads of chorus (this can be a problem if you're in mix mode and want to use a distortion-heavy effects algorithm) The manual is the usual sort of Alesis thing, nicely presented but not detailed enough. A pull-out laminated page with the effect algorithms would be nice to keep in my case...... I think a larger screen would be better than a patch editor, but i know u can't have everything......

yep, 64 note polyphony (u probably already know this !!) Keyboard action my best in tha whole world (apart from a real piano) Fatar (you may not know it is a Fatar keyboard) keyboads are VERY GOOD. As hinted at earlier, effects are a little limiting. If you are using a hammond with loads of distortion and leslie Mix mode and want to fatten up a synth pad with some juicy steroe chorus....er....u can't, not very well at least. But for the price.....i shouldn't complain.... I have one BIG complint though....PCMCIA cards : why are they so much more expensive than ordinary PC PCMCIA cards ??? I think it is such a good idea to be able to burn your own samples into a flash RAM card with Sound Bridge....all i've got to do now is shell out the four hundred odd pounds sterling to by a decent one.....However....if you can buy one , the QS8 is extremly, or in fact infinately axpandable GREAT STUFF.

I've tweaked the Rays Rhodes patch and come up with some really good Rhodes sounds. The main stereo piano sound Patch No. 00 is crap in mono but very good in stereo (it is a composite if 2 different samples) , it really cuts through the mix no matter what style your playing. I find that the whole keyboard MUST be used in stereo for it to sound good. The factory presets are a good all round collection regardless of what style u prefer. I have used it for everything from dance/techno to hard rock ( you can get yourself nasty blisters trying to play that weighted keyboard like a Hammond !!) The preset assignments for the ABCD sliders are well thought out and usefull. And thay are easy to assign yourself, I use them like drawbars on my Hammond sounds....Pretty cool....

Dead reliable...... I would (have been) using it without a back up....its a work horse....!!

Depends who the distributer is in your part of the world. The UK guys are alright.

For the price , you get a lot of powerfull keyboard: You'd have to spend a lot more for something like it......I'd buy another (i've already backed up all my patches on my hard drive. Give me a shout if you want to know more.......

I find most of the presets to be very good sounding, which is nice since editing programs is not exactly a picnic (especially if you are a beginner like myself). I have not used a patch editor yet but I suppose it would be a real help. The way the sounds are organized is a big help. The manual explains every feature in betail but fails to give you any clues how to put things together.

64 voice polyphony is more than enough for my needs (I don't use it with a sequencer yet but I think with a little careful planning playing a few MIDI channels simultaneously will work fine. To say that keyboard action is like a real piano would be a lie, but on the other hand would you really like it to be? I find it a good compromise though. The built in effects sound very good but are a nightmare to edit. I would appreciate if they took some features away and made it more user friendly. The synth can be expanded with a variety of cards. It can also be directly connected to the serial port of a computer which is nice. There is no built in sequencer but I guess most people use computers anyway so that is ok.

I am quite pleased with most of the sounds. The pianos are not perfectly authentic but some, like "Dark Classic", are close (it gets even better if you turn the reverb down a bit). Organs are excellent, the B3 style ones are really rocking thanks to good Leslie simulation. Drums are also very good and so are basses and winds. I especially like some of the sax patches. I'm a little disappointed with brass and very disappointed with strings. Being a violin player myself I hear that the sound of the solo violin is not even close to the real thing. The string ensembles are a little better but not much (I guess I have to check out the QS expansion card with classical instruments). Synth sounds and special effects suck but I did not buy the QS8 for them anyway so for me it does not matter.

I will use it mainly at home and do not expect it to break down. It seems very solid though and I'd use it without backup if I get in that situation sometime

Just bought it and haven't needed any support yet

I find this a very nice synthesizer. I bought it mainly for the 88 key weighted keyboard, which I hope will be a good substitute for a real piano, and the overall good sounds. This is the first synthesizer I've ever owned and I will mainly use it to spice up some of my home recordings that needs something more than just a bunch of guitars. I think Alesis has doen a good job keeping the prize don while included a lot of features. My main complaints are the tiny LCD and complicated way of editing programs and effects. Imagine the same synth with a larger display and being able to edit four different aspects of the sound at once. I do not think it would make it any more expensive to manufacture and it would transform a very good synth to an awesome one.

It a bit tricky to navigate, but you'll get used to it, though the display is a bit small. The presets sounds ok, until you reach the synth sounds, they are really cool. The control-faders get real funny during the synth and organ sections. The sounds are sorted in a good way, so the sounds that sounds alike is placed at the same location in each bank. That gives you a "variation" by shifting bank. The weighted keys, is what i was looking for when i bourght it, and they are IMHO better than those on the A-90. The manual is ok, allthough it's missing somthing about sysex codes.

The QS-8 has most of the features you need for a mothersynth, and it's even equipped with cool sounds. It got 64 notes polophony, witch is counted from single-voice patches (correct me if I'm wrong), and the thickest sounds consists of 4 voices, witch limits the multitembral (Mix mode) to minimum 16notes polophony. I won't say that the effective polophony is 16, but in extreme situations you are limited to 16. There are 16 parts with 4 audio outputs (Main and AUX), a Adat optical out, and a sync in. All these makes it really usable in a studio setup. The built in effects are split out on 4 seperate busses, but it's not as flexible as it could be, so I'm just using the aux outs, for external effectprocessing. The internal is usually just left alone. In time I'll be using them too, but for now it's easyer using externals. Expansioncapabilities are great, with 2 pcmcia slots for up to 16mb, of samples you can burn or buy. All midi functions are there, except the faders only sends standard midi commands, not extended NRP commands. Read the specs at www.alesis.com, even the manual can be downloaded in pdf, so you really know what you are buying.

It's overall sounds are great. The only instruments that aint very realistic are the winds (Brass etc.) It's fitting great into my setup, and works well in both film scoring, techno, and whatever I plays. Onboard effects are quite fine in program mode, but in mix mode they ain't allways sufficient. Velocity, aftertouch, key sensetivity, and all that is just as it sould be, Great. It's hammer action keys.

It hasn't failed me yet, except for a dead-on-arrival key. It seems to be solid, and I wouldn't mind using it without backup.

The web page is help enough. :-)

IT's fantastic ! I would buy it again, and I love it. Read about the effect section on www.alesis.com, or ask a dealer, course it's a bit special. The price is extremely good.

This is fairly simple keyboard. Accessing the presets are easy, and the sound groupings are logical. While some people have complained about the small LCD display, I do believe they're sufficient. Manual is not exactly easy to follow, but the quick reference guide will help you get started quickly. I found that editing mixes are rather confusing and taking some time to get used to.

I haven't really explore all the features yet, but everybody seems to agree that this keyboard is very powerful and offers more bang for the buck than other more expensive keyboards. However, years of exposure to classical piano make me somewhat critical about the piano sounds. I do find the QS8 lacking from really good piano sound choices.
The weighted keys are rather light, especially when compared to A90. If you are an acoustic piano player, you will probably find that the keyboard action are realistic enough, but still not very realstic.

Again, I think the piano sounds are ok. More choices are welcomed, though. The piano sounds are not the best for playing classical tunes, but still offers a good alternative to acoustic piano.

Don't know yet. So far, I've heard two main problems: Dead on arrival and for some keyboards build during the first quarter of the year, Alesis seems to have problem with the tuning (internal software problem ?) Mine is ok till now.

Did try to call them to ask some questions. This is what I got: "Customer service is closed for lunch." =) But they responded to my questions quickly (within 5 min) and they seem to know what they're talking about.

Great value for a keyboard under $1500. I guess I do not need to say much.

This one, I'd break up into two categories. For starters, getting great sound with any preset is quick and, mostly, painless. However, tweaking and fine-tuning are not at all obvious. But, like anything else, once you get the hang of it it's no problem. The software is comprehensive and quality. I had problems getting the proper cables and getting the midi to work (see customer service) but overall, it's not bad. Oh, the LCD would be much more useful if it had a few more lines, but it works (can't complain since the price is right).

I was initially only looking for a few quality sounds and capabilities and this synth simply blew me away. It has exceeded my expectations in every area. With 64 voice polyphony, I've yet to run out of voices for a patch. I haven't played with all of the options for the reverb (like the other effects, can be added to any patch) and chorus & such. MIDI capabilities are top notch and fast. The QCards provide expansion I suppose, but I haven't heard them. There's no onboard sequencer, but I use a computer for that anyway, so it would have been overkill. I love the action. It plays much better than anything in its pricerange as well as many things much more expensive.

I was interested in piano sounds from the beginning and they are positively a class act. The organs, drums and even the bass guitars are very well done. Really, the flute and the brass are the only instruments that aren't entirely natural - but how many synths actually accomplish that? The velocity and aftertouch capabilities are well done. A+ on the sounds.

So far so good.

OK, customer support was a mixed bag of tricks. The tech support guy s were helpful and friendly, A+. But when I tried to order a cable, it took 5+ calls to get a message taken and get in touch with the _one_ sales rep for this kind of thing. Since this isn't a big part of the company I can understand to an extent, but calling over and over just to order a cable? Oh well, after the cable, tech support made up for the malady.

Although I'm new to doing orchestration and MIDI, I love the keyboard's feel and the piano sounds (the bread & butter anyway). Would I buy it again? You bet. The Kurzweil K2000 had better orchestral sounds (especially the flute and winds) but the onboard sounds are still very good. It's only bad features are the little square pedal that comes with it (better than none, but...) and the cabling nightmare that was the first two days. Other than that, I love the sound and feel and that's what counts. You'll be hard-pressed to beat the price, too.

Pretty straightforward. It is quite easy to find your way around since all the buttons have little texts beneath them listing the different functions. A larger display would have made a huge difference though for ease of use. The manual is kind isn't really bad but it seems a bit thin on some topics.

I love the action on this keyboard. For me, not being a pianoplayer in first hand, the lightish touch is great. I find it nice for pianos also though. Expansion and MIDI-capabilities are more than I will ever need in one synth. I don't mind the lack of onboard sequencer since I use it with Cubase VST. 64 voices are wonderful! And the effects are killer! Great leslie for an internal processor (I'm a Hammondfreak).

This is a very allround-instrument. Great pianos, organs, synthsounds, you name it. I would like some fatter basses though and better brass though. As I said before, it's response suits my playing perfect. Oh, and the effects are great!

Haven't had any real problems so far.

Check the above answer.

This instrument is definetily worth the money I paid for it. It doesn't have everything but it sure does manage a lot of situations. I compared it to a lot of other stuff before purchasing and nothing in it's price range even came close. The only thing I would even consider getting instead would be a PC88MX, a K2500 or a Trinity ProX. I think these are actually better instruments but now we're talking a whole other price range. I haven't yet seen the new Korg N1 but if it sounds evenremotely like it's little brother N5 it doesn't even represent an option for the QS8. I would definetily get another one if this baby got stolen. Love my board!

Selection of preset patches is very straight forward. However, many common functions will require several keystokes, at times a bit tedious given the small display. For example, it takes 2 keystrokes and 4 page forward presses to transpose the keyboard. It will take even the motivated programmer a bit of time to learn how to use the powerful synthesis engine to modify patches and the effects processor. However, it's well worth it when you do, as the sound engine and effects processor are very good. The documentation is quite good, though it only states the facts.

64 voice polyphony, but most programs will use at least 2 voices. The stereo piano patches will have a 32 voice polyphony. And if you want to layer programs or do extensive programming with crossfading between multiple samples, your voices will quickly run out. The synthesizer is best utilized when connected to a computer. Downloading patches and samples (need PCMCIA RAM card) as well as modifying patches with a patch editor are common functions used by many owners. There is no on-board sequencer, but again, a computer can run a sequencer program included in the CD-ROM that comes with the keyboard. With the exception of a resonant filter, this keyboard is packed with power and features. You can expand the keyboard with Q-cards that hold 8 meg of samples, or again store your own samples onto cards that you can then travel with. The keyboard weighs < 60 pounds, which makes it very portable for an 88 key weighted keyboard.

I have a Yamaha Concert Grand piano to compare the piano sounds. The piano sounds are fair, better than the Korg Trinity. Less expressive than the Roland RD-600. It is acceptable for solo playing for pop ballads and jazz. The expressiveness is not ideal for classical music, but I can still entertain a small audience with Debussy or Chopin quite well. Other sounds vary, and obviously depend on one's personal taste. The keyboard action is lighter than a piano, but that makes playing other sounds a lot better. I like the action better than Roland, Kurzweil and Korg. But it is not truly a realistic piano action.

Have not had problems yet...

No dealings...

The key for me was the price. I did not find as much keyboard for the price as this keyboard. I was looking for an 88 key weighted hammer action controller with a good piano sound, and enough extras for sequencing music of different genre. And I'm very happy with my purchase.

The presets sound good. The manual is pretty involved and can be pretty confusing at times.

64 voice polyphony, keyboard action is very nice for an 88 key weighted board. Can purchase Q-cards to add voices.

Piano sounds are very good.

I am VERY disappointed with the reliability. I sent the first one back after 2 weeks (the last 8 keys stopped producing sound for some strange reason). I am in the process of sending back the second one (when you play some notes, the pitch goes up and down - very irritating). I've about had it with the ALESIS QS8!

I haven't dealt with them. I just keep sending the keyboard back to the music shop.

I really like the keyboard if I could just get one to work properly for more than a couple of weeks. I am NOT at all impressed with the reliability. My back is getting sore from lugging these keyboards to the UPS depot to send them back to the music store. No more Alesis keyboards for this guy.