Alesis QS8

The QS8 is a great board, don't get me wrong. The programs and mixes are easily accessible, but it takes a lot to learn how to use all the edit/store functions. I would reccomend it as a master midi cotroller.

I love the action of the QS8. Nice and heavy like my Roland Fantom X8. I'm so used to the havy action that this is just a slightly differnet feel than my roland.
It's got enough polyphony for the type of music I play...64 voices.
I actually like this better than the QS8.2 because it has 2 exp. slots, and a digital out.

Some sounds are pretty bad, and can't be used. The pianos are pretty bright, and with a small band in a gig, this is the perfect controller with a bright piano present to cut through the mix. I also prefer most of the synths and pads over my fantom. I'll take the small sting/violins/cellos etc. in the fantom, but this has more usable/mixble string ensembles. I also will nebver touch the organs/e-pianos on the fantom after using these(even though the fantom has a dedicated piano switch with a huge e-piano section). I like all the effects it has too. For the price I got this, I cant be happier. I actually record more of this than my fantom x

It's kinda heavy, rugged, and has never died on me, though I bought it used off ebay. For a controller, it's perfect. For a keyboard, it's up to par with My fantom x in everything except for the acoustic pianos, and the extras, like the sequencer, sampler, pads, arpeggios...Hey, that's why the fantom is $3k.

Never had to deal with them. my keyboard must be special for being used and $400, with no probs.

I'd definetely buy it again, even if it costed $1000. I love the sounds and the feel. My only complaint is editing patches and all the internal features where you have to hold down two buttons, scroll 4 times, OK a parametetr...etc. If they added a larger screen and added a few more buttons (all that's there are the sliders and global, midi, and program/mix buttons), I'd be completely satisfied.

I am using the QS8 Synthesizer for 9 years now, and i've never been really sorry about it. combined with a sequencer (i use Cubase) it is an reliable tool witch is allmost the basement for most of my creations. The knobs are working precisly and working with it in aktion is easy and inspirating. Using additional ROM soundcards is easy just plug in and enjoy, Using it with a ram card is more difficoult, becaouse conectivity via midi is very slow and the added software for dumping progrmas is a fiddly work. even try to change progrmas an creating new sounds is very hard directly on the synth and the added software for changing it with the PC is very complex and the syncronisation with the QS often fails ore is doing strange things... the display of the synth has only 2 lines!
better download full program banks from internet and enjoy the sounds athers have made... if u do it by yourself.. it will take hours!!!
The factory presets are almost similar to all synths of the ninetys some piano, some synth, some strings etc. Boring but in good quality. Even if people here say something different the Piano sounds are mor realistik than known from yamaha clavina sounds! i love it!
The manual is almost standart

In fact that the Synth is very hard to edit i will lower the points heavily, because it is called a synthesizer and not a Casio budget keyboard - 4 points!

Features are mentioned before, but what i really do miss on this synth are filters. for having a filter-effect the synth uses different recorded samples wich u can overlay with the mod wheel so that it sounds like a filter... WANNABE!!!
The effect section is high quality, but it is not possible to chose differnt effects in multimode so that every sound comes with the same effect. fortunately the QS8 has 4 outputs so u can rout sounds in a dry way to ypur mixer and set effects externaly.
The 88 keys weighted keyboard is really heavy duty and undistroyable! but at the expense of playability the keys are hard to push dun, but they are working well and precisly, i like it, others do not...
the 16x midi-multimode works fine and i never had lags ore similar..
-2 for missing filters!

sounds are fine but to conentional. one Bank is wasted with good but not needed GM soundbank. i use it with a RAM card so that i have 1280 Programs for my synth. thats more than enough and u can compensate the lack of filters with a hughe variety of programs. with much time and creativity u can elicit woverwhelimg sounds!
But the natrual sounds are even very realistic, and u can have much fun with making your own band or orchestra with teh QS!

i had never one problem with the QS. and i would never having a doubt that it could fail anytime!

Bad, worse, Alesis...
the support has been very bad there is only customer support in the US .. now it changes but that took 8 years..
The to Host ability with the RS 232 cable i culd forget when windows XP was introduced. there is no support for XP and so u can dump your sysex via midi and that is terrible slow, even editing programs via software is slow... shame on alesis that is not standart in the music business! The deliverd software is too complex and not intuitive, an update would have changed much, but there was never one.. (maybe with QS8.1?? i don't think so..

As i said, i never felt sorry about buying the QS but today i would not buy it again! But it works well as a great Masterkeyboard because the keyboard is more than excellent, and HEAVY DUTY. The metalcase prefers it for road use if u have big muscles ore an "Mr Universum"- Roadie!!!! The midi funktions are well and u have 4 realtime sliders for editing external midi periphery. the sounds are aged and i prefer more flexible VA synthesis and that delivers the QS8 not. in germany we would call it "Preset-schleuder" - preset-sling....

But i still use it today and i would miss it if i could nit use it. i love it, but allways with a tear in my eye and a greedy glance to my VA synthesizers...

I had many live gigs with my QS8(.0) and I think most presets don't sound very realistic. I give a rating of 4 only because I like the piano samples (not the presets). Now I use the piano bank from "Sam's Alesis Page" and I like it, good mono and stereo piano patches.

Easy to use. Quick access to groups/types of presets. Relatively easy to edit patches, if you're used to editing patches on smallish LCD displays (mine is the original QS8 with the smaller LCD). Easier to program with a computer via MIDI and software (not included). The manual is EXCELLENT. If you are somewhat new to synth programming, the manual gives lots of help. Maybe it could be deeper or more detailed, but it is very friendly to new users.

64-note polyphony (ignore the recent reviews stating 16-note, they are incorrect). 16-part multitimbral, I believe.

Key action is weighted. It's luxurious at the price I paid (just under $1500 new when these things had just come out). Compared to a real piano, it's not the same, but it is far far better than synth action unweighted keys. Compared to other brands, I don't know as I have not compared. Other people have said it compares pretty well. Aftertouch is a great plus (channel, not note). No on board sequencer.

Has theoretically great expansion capabilities with PC Card slots (the original QS8 and QS8.1 has two slots as opposed to the 8.2's single slot). I don't own any QS Cards as they have been above my price range for their smallish sound sets (8MB per card max). If you do choose to use the cards, they're very easy to work with. Plug in and switch to the next available bank.

The "theoretically" part is in reference to the fact that, while you can build your own QSCards or use PC Cards for memory expansion to add your own sounds, it can be time consuming to do so. This feature turns a QS8 into a virtual sampler (meaning, no recording, but you CAN add your own sounds), at the cost of lots of planning and expirimentation. The software required to do this is available for both Classic MacOS and Windows from Alesis' web site. I highly recommend using a serial connection for the process of "burning" a card as the transfer rate is much faster than MIDI. It is the difference between an hour long card-write and several hours long. If you plan to put your own sounds to a card or two, make sure you plan the process before doing so. Loop your samples and set their root note values in a sound editor on your computer, then and save as WAV or SampleCell Instrument files. You can NOT make changes to ANY sample-related information once written to the card. A bad loop or root note value means starting all over again. The tediousness of everything can be irritating, but if you have time and patience, the QS8 lets you put 16MB more of custom samples into use (8MB for the QS8.2 which has only one slot).

It is fantastic that this synth has ADAT built in. I have lots of problems with ground loops and noise in my workspace. Moving from analog output to digital on my QS8 was a HUGE improvement. Be warned, the QS8.2 does not have ADAT!

Lots of controller options. Aftertouch. Pitch and mod. 1 foot switch and 1 continuous controller (foot, other). Four CC sliders. No knobs.

Very nice pianos. I recommend adjusting the brightness (decreasing) for lighter velocities and possibly changing the key sensitivity to a lower value (to make the brightest notes less likely to be hit on lighter key presses).

Nice strings.

Nice assortment of synths.

Brass and woodwinds are about the same as on most decent synths. Nothing here that even approaches the qualities of modeled synths.

Overall Sounds:
Good for all genres of music, unless you want filter sweeps. I agree with most reviews here. The sounds range from boring to interesting while the majority are somewhat plain. This is not a bad thing if you want to avoid making music that with an obvious "Alesis Signature sound." As a general sound source, it's quite good.

If you're looking for inspirational and wild sounds, you won't really find much here. I don't know if this is due to Alesis' sound designers or the synth's architecture as I have not programmed mine all that much (I have tended to use samplers and custom sounds and, briefly, some on-board sounds for generic music).

Not enough ROM patches make use of the controllers (such as aftertouch), in my opinion (I think this is common in a lot of synths). The specs show lots of possibilities, especially with the modulation (possible to emulate an arpeggiation) and some patches make interesting use of these features. Though they still don't command attention. The lack of utilization of controllers probably has a lot to do with the fact that the lower range models of this synth (QS7, QS6) uses the same set of sounds - why put lots of modulatable patches on a machine without aftertouch and fewer sliders?

Still, if you want a set of sounds that don't leave an "Alesis QS8 Signature" on all of your music, this is all a good thing. I expect that the hardware is capable of more impressive sounds than it offers in the ROM set, but it's up to you to program it. This synth is capable and has a great feel and set of controllers. Don't buy this synth for the sounds alone.

I don't think the onboard effects are all that impressive. Reverb is fine, but distortion feels way too underpowered and lifeless.

I've not had any trouble with my QS8. I do not travel with it or perform live. It is somewhat heavy, but this is due to the metal housing, which is a big plus if you DO want to gig with it. Feels solid and sturdy. Does not have any computer-like behaviors (crashing, freezing, etc). Reliable.

I have not needed to contact support. I hope I never need to, especially now that the QS8 has become greatly outdated by the other stuff out there, and especially by Alesis' Fusion, which seems like a monster that I'd love to have the justification and money for. If you plan to get PC Cards (PCMCIA) for custom sound expansion, the max is 8MB per card and you need the cards that use ceramic edges instead of metal. Check at the QuadraSynth Pages web site for more details.

If I didn't have the cash to buy something more modern (like the Alesis Fusion, Korg OASYS, etc), I would probably buy another QS8 (though I'd go for the QS8.1 for the larger LCD and dedicated transpose button). I have an Akai S6000 that's my primary sound source (or will be if I ever get my butt in gear), so the sounds on the keyboard are pretty irrellivant and I am happy with the keys and controllers (though I would like a ribbon controller and would rather have a Korg-like joystick instead of separate pitch and mod wheels).

I'm writing this because after several years I finally sold my wonderful
QS8, but I had to replace the LCD first, and that was a hassle due to
some odd engineering thing in the QS8 and the Alesis repair game.

So let me first say the original QS8 is a great keyboard. Solid,
looks good, plays well, good piece of equipment. I don't trust
Alesis repair/support though. To many bad stories and experiences.
See the part of my review on customer support to see an actual
e-mail from Alesis and how I eventually replaced my LCD for much
cheaper and better quality (and prettier backlight) than I could
have through Alesis.

The keyboard action was a little heavy for my tastes. I don't think
they were all like that. I tried other QS8's that had a softer
touch. That was my ONLY gripe about the instrument and it wasn't
a big gripe at that. Next weighted keyboard I get, I'll be VERY
picky about the action.

16 voice polyphony. Works great.

Some instruments are great. TrueStereo piano is good.
There is a divide between fantastic sounds, good sounds, so-so sounds,
and boring sounds. That is completely subjective. Most of them sound good to great.

It was VERY reliable except for the LCD which got dim and lost some
pixels after 6 or 8 years. I really liked that instrument.

Here's an actual e-mail dialog with Alesis customer support as of
12/13/04 regarding the replacement of the LCD in my QS8. Alesis
wanted to charge me a 300% markup on the part! (I explain how I
solved the problem after the e-mail from Alesis -- this could save you
hours of research or just giving up)



Hi,

------------------ Alesis E-Mail from arobichaud@alesis.com ------

Alesis customers may use any local service center to get their non-warranty merchandise repaired. If a local search fails to find a qualified service center, we can recommend this preferred non-warranty service center;



Techniserve

762 Rt. 17 North

Paramus, NJ 07652



info@tsirepair.com

201-670-1767 Tel

201-670-8176 Fax



P/N: 9-44-1602 LCD Display $59.00 + Shipping



To place a parts order I need the following information:



Name (as it appears on the CC) & Address

Telephone Number

Part Number & Description

Payment - Visa/MasterCard or Money Order

Ground or Air shipping



(Please attach all prior email correspondence.)



Thanks,
Allen J. Robichaud
Alesis, LLC
Parts Department

200 Scenic View Drive, Suite 201

Cumberland, RI 02864

Phone - (401) 658-5760 ext. 249

Fax - (401) 658-3654

Email - arobichaud@alesis.com

www.Alesis.com

---------------------------------------------------------------

ALESIS QS8 LCD REPLACEMENT:

Alesis is ripping the public off in my opinion. They are charging
$59 for a $15 (or less) 2x16 LCD display, available from any number
of sources, including my favorite, crystalfontz.com (they have great
colors, backlighting and great quality). The cheaper standard LCDs
are nicer than the cheap Data Vision LCDs Alesis used.

But there is a catch! For some stupid reason the LCD in the QS8
has most but not all of the pins crossed. I thought this might
be an accident until I see what they're charging for the low-quality
replacement part, which leads me to think it is a repair scam of
some sort.

If you want to use a standard (Hitachi 44780 controller based) LCD in
the QS8 instead of the overpriced lower-quality stock part, you need
to make your own cable or adapter some how to swap pins [Important:
The first two pins, pin 1 and 2 (- and +, respectively) are NOT swapped]. Here's how it goes:

QS8 LCD connector pin ---- Standard LCD Pin
1 1
2 2
3 4
4 3
5 6
6 5
7 8
8 7
9 10
10 9
11 12
12 11
13 14
14 13
15 16
16 15

You need to make a special cable to attach the superior cheaper
standard Hitachi controller type LCD.

That cable makes the LCD work, however, to make the backlight work
so you can actually see it well, you have to also solder wires
from LCD pin 1 (-) to to LCD Pin 16 (or LED- pin on Some LCDs), and
from LCD pin 2 (+) to pin 15 (or LED+ on some LCDs). And finally, if
the LCD is too bright and/or the pixels bleed light you need to
adjust the contrast. Use a resistor with some low value between
0 and 10K (or use a 10K trim pot between the + voltage and Pin 4,
rather than just connecting + to Pin 4, which drives the LCD at
max and usually too brightly). Experiment with the the resistor
value (or adjust the trim pot) until the LCD brightness is just right.

I would consider getting another QS8, but would probably look for
something newer technology and lighter action instead.

The presets are pretty good, but you'll want to buy a Q-Card expansion ROM or two or three. Editing patches is simple. Everything is accessed through buttons on the keyboard, and displayed on an easily readable LCD. The manual... hmmm don't remember reading it.

The QS8 has a fully-weighted keyboard WITH aftertouch -- if you use that feature, you'll appreciate it on this synth. Polyphony is decent with 16 voices -- you can combine up to four voices per program for some complex patches. The real problem is the processor which isn't fast enough to keep up with some of those complex patches -- especially when built in delay is used to sequence four offset voices.

One other annoyance is the midi control sliders. They're set by each program and many are global values. The midi controls are NOT reset when you change to another patch. So if you, for example, change the chorus with slider number 1 in patch X, and then switch to patch Y which has slider number 1 pointing to delay, you're stuck with the global chorus value until you go back to patch X and reset it, or issue a midi reset. That's why this gets a 6.

The patches have been inspirational... that is, I've created some songs just by playing around with a single patch or maybe two, and been driven to compose something. With the expansion ROMs, you can play almost style.

Once I fixed the bad pitch wheel (the notch holding the return spring wasn't fully molded, and the spring kept popping off), everything was great. I've not had a single problem since then.

Alesis has a pretty decent download site. Their website is rather poor overall (though I guess that's not strictly customer support related). I've never had to call them, so I'm leaving this blank.

This was my first synth -- I bought it back in 1999(just before the QS8.1 came out :^( I'm still happy with it and still use it as my master keyboard years later. It's a great value for a fully-weighted board with aftertouch. A plus for the solid feel of the keyboard, but a minus for its weight (this thing is heavy!)

Thought this was an Awesome keyboard when I purchased it Circa 1999, but the thrill wore off faster than with other units I own. It has a handful of Marque patches (like Scarlamare) but for the most part it the sounds are flat. They lack the balls you get with say Roland sounds ala XV88 or XV5080. The manual is good. Editing is no more quirky than any other unit.

The effects are pedestrian, and like most keyboards of this type, you cannot dynamically assign diffrent effects to a multitibral setup - only the level of a single effect. No expansion. No sequencer.
Overall, it's easy to use because it's not very deep.

Most acoustic sounds are weak. Back in 1999 I used the Stereo Piano patch by turning off internal effects and adding Lexicon reverb. It has a decent array of synth sounds, organs and EPs, but most acoustic instruments sound thin. The keyboard is nice to play and has aftertouch. My preference is for the XV-88 keyboard, the QS8 keyboard is a distant 2nd. There's something about the shallow depth of the instrument that affects its playability.

Pitch bend wheel died. The the display died. Others that I know who have one, have not had any problems, so perhaps I'm just unlucky.

Called them years ago when I had ADATs and they were very responsive. Local guy fixed the problems above.

Wouldn't replace it if stolen. Don't have a lot of use for it. I keep it around as a 88 note controller just in case my XV-88 should give me a problem one day. If you have the bucks, get and XV-88. If you can find one used, it's not a bad unit, just not a great one.

Bottom Line: It's the FORD ESCORT of keyboards. Simple, plain, pedestrian, boring, and somewhat reliable.

The preset sounds like most rom sampled modern synth, not particulary original, but some "evolving" sounds great.
It's not very difficult to edit sounds, but i don't like the interface.
The manual was very clear and useful

The action is great, i'm not a keyboard player, but it's largely better than my Rhodes, effects are largely usable. I didn't use the pcmcia expansion cards now so i didnt try to run a sequence from it

Because i have a Rhodes i didn't like the E-pianos.
Because i bought this for the keyboard, i didn't pay much attention to the sounds, but there is nothing to complain exept THERE IS NO FILTER on this one, but you can get cool sound without filters.
I always loved velocity and after touch and some sounds react very well to them, i changed many sounds i programmed ond my others synths because velocity works so much better than my ESQ1 (hopefully)

I removed the wood corners, because the walls couldn't be pushed, and it work well.
It sturdy built, great, but heavy, something like my JP8

They where very helpful and friendly, i asked them about my stupid walls that wouldn't be pushed and they removed the corners to measure the gains.
They where right, great service

It was the cheapest weigthed keyboard i could buy and i didn't regret.
The thing i would love on it is a great FILTER.
I don't particulary like the sounds but they couldn't be considered as bad,
they simply don't have too much personnality but for general use it could work great

La manera en que este teclado se maneja es muy facil cuando llevas un tiempo de usarlo y entenderlo no se me hizo la cosa mas facil del mundo pero despues de un a?o con el puedo decir que es facil de usarlo, cabe aclarar que nunca habia teniado un teclado tan grande y con tantas, y tantas funciones distintintas, pero yo realmente me refiero a un uso para hacer midis y para studio, pro que en lo que se refiere al uso para tocar en vivo, no te espantes este teclado lo puedes usar desde el momento en que lo saques de su caja.

LLevo aproximadamente 5 a?os en esto de los midis he programado midis con aterioridad con otros teclados pero definitivamente ninguno se compara con este, hasta ahora, la sensibilidad de las teclas es impresionanate no hace ni mas ni menos que lo que tu quieres que haga ademas de que se puede cambiar a diferentes tipos de sensibilidad o incluso hacer tus propias curvas de sensibilidad, la polifonia trabaja excelente aun usando los 16 canales nunca he notado que tenga algun problema con ello, algo de lo que mas me gusta son sus efectos tiene reverb's, delay's, distor, lezlie, chorus, flanger, eq, etc, creo que no le falta ninguno de los basicos suenan muy bien totalmente digitales, super, super, manejables en cada uno de los aspectos de cada efecto, maneja efectos por patch y por mix, tiene la capacidad de usar tarjeta<s de epxancion de sonidos pero yo nunca las he usado, yo lo uso para mi studio casero y relamente creo que esta hasta sobrado...

Lo primero que debo decir de los sonidos del qs8 es que estoy enamorado de las baterias, los presetts que trae de baterias son buenos y y bien combinados pero si te agarras el manual y te pones tu a hacer tu propio kit de bataka, puta madre! te queda una bateria muy chingona por que como le digo a la gente que ense?o, no se trata de que el midi se oiga como midi, un midi bueno es aquel que no puedes diferenciar de algo que se toco con instrumentos relaes... y el qs8 en este aspecto llena mis espectativas, los sonidos de piano son de lo mejor que he escuchado y tambien son muy customizables puedes hacer de ellos lo que quieras, los orgalnos hay algunos buenos y otros no tanto, pero finalmente tu pedes hacer los a tu gusto, los strings son lo unico que me ha decepsionado del qs8 no me laten, los sonidos de synth son muy buenos, en general tiene muy buenos sonidos, y el aftertouch y la velociad responden de lujo por ese lado no tiene ningun problema.

LLevo solo un a?o con el lo he movido poco por que lo uso para mi estudio personal y ademas pesa demasiado alrededor de 30 kgs pero en este tiempo lo he usado casi diario por periodos hasta de 7 horas y nunca ha fallado.

Pues he entrado a la pagina de internet de Alesis.com y logre bajar de ahi mis manuales y mi driver para pc, pero la unica vez que les escribi al mail de soporte fue para pedir informes del manual en espa?ol y jamas me contestaron lo que se me hizo una mamada!

Definitivamente no pienso cambiar este teclado en mucho tiempo solo que saliera uno mejor que este de la misma marca y con las mismas caracteristicas (pero mas avanzado obvio) solo asi lo cambiaria, es lo mejor que encontrado de acuerdo a mis necesidades y lo recomendaria ampliamente, el manual es muy explicito y no deja lugar a dudas no dejes de leerlo por que solo asi descubriras un monton de chingaderas que tiene ocultas.

The only problem I have is selecting sounds. If I want to use an organ and the preset number is 34, instead of pressing the 3 and 4 buttons, I have to select the 30-39 button and then either scroll up or press the 3 and 4 button. Other then that, I have no problems. I play a QS8.1 love the way they made transposing easier with this unit compared to the old QS8.

The main reason I purchased this piano is for the feel of the keys. I only play live in a band and use mostly the piano settings and it feels like I am playing the real thing. I did purchase Roland weighted pedal instead of using the cheap plastic pedal that comes with it.

Like I said previously, I use mostly the piano sounds such as the true stereo, dark classical, and sometimes the 64 grand. I do occassionaly use the American organ and the Rockin B3. Those sounds could be better but do get me by. The different pianos each sound sound their best depending on which range of the keys you are playing most on any particualar song. I use this mostly for country songs.

I have to depend on this because I can't afford a backup. So far, so good.

I would buy this piano again in a heartbeat, especially for the money I spent. That was no error, I paid $800 dollars new for my QS8.1. If you want to know how I came across that deal, feel free to email me. I believe the piano sounds are the best. I use a Korg Triton Pro-x at church and I love it, but I don't believe it's piano sounds compare to the Alesis. If you are like me and need a unit to use in a band setting, go with the QS8.1.

Really easy to use for the most part, when you get used to the menus.
I haven't seen the manual so I can't comment on that.

Great features. I use it mostly live for its sounds and controlling other synth modules, so I don't need a workstation or onboard sequencer. The MIDI capabilities are there and work great. Has tons of expansion cards for various sounds. I don't care what you people say about their sounds, the classical card especially has some of the best synth samples I've heard

Amazing feel with this keyboard. I don't think I've felt a better keyboard other than a real grand. Sounds kick major ass. I've used just about every category from synth bass, piano, organ, strings, drums, and synth leads.

Only thing I'm concerned about is one certain rhodes patch I use fades in and out. If I turn off/on the Alesis, it is normal, but anytime I go to the patch from another w/o resetting it does this. Other than that, It's durable, heavy as hell, and built solidly enough.

Don't know. Hope I never need them from what I've heard.

The most important things to me are:
1.The great sound presets that can easily be altered to perfection
2.Great feel and ability to control other synth modules
For this it works perfectly and I have no complaints.

My QS8, purchased mid-1999, was very easy to use out of the box. Related sound groupings made searching for patches easy. For me, editing patches and mixes is another story, but I didn't purchase the QS8 for the synthesizer features (I leave those duties to my other boards and modules) - I needed a great feeling piano controller. For my hands, the QS8 played better than the Roland RD series, and I refuse to entrust my musical endeavours and activites on a gray plastic Korg or any Yamaha instrument, no matter how many voices, touchscreens, sequence tracks or megs of samples they contain. This is a great no-brainer digital piano hiding behind the mask of a synthesizer badging.

Wish the QS8 had 128 voices and more audio outputs, (and more User bank patch memory) but since I use it primarily as a "digital piano" the 64 voices work out nicely. Also it could use better MIDI implementation for splitting and channel control, but I make do without these occasional necessities just for the feel of the weighted keyboard. Effects/effect editing leaves much to be desired, so I opt for external processing. Another neat obscure feature: it opens-up easy with a single screwdriver, making on-the-spot repairs a breeze. Key replacement takes one minute with basic tools, assuming that Alesis/Numark can ship your part order within the next decade.

IMHO, the first two stereo piano waves are perfect for my purposes (neo-classical new age instrumental music) and some of the strings, patches and synth pads are very usable. But the rest of the resident sounds including most of the other piano waves are not much use to me, especially the rave, trance and percussion waves. The thought of having to rely on some of those sounds to build a 16-part QS8 Mix for my sequencer to rely on scares the shit out of me... so I opt for ofboard modules instead. Back to the piano action - true the QS does not offer an impressive, flexible synth engine, but the keyboard action makes it all worthwhile.

Can I depend on it? Without the proper tools, case protection and care, any keyboard will get fucked. Either get a nice SKB with wheels or an Anvil ATA case. A cloth bag or foam "porter" case will bring on a slow death for any keyboard. With the QS8, I offer a word of caution: place extra soft/thick foam padding in the case over the length of the key-bed to reduce key movement in transit. Case in point - I flew from L.A. to Seattle for a recording session, checking-in my SKB-encased QS8. On arrival, two keys (C5 and D5) were broken while in the case! The action is somewhat gravity-based like a real piano, so if two Roadies were to shake your QS8, you'll see your keys dancing about. Despite all this, I perform confidently with no back-up, but I make sure to pack a small toolkit and a tube of crazy glue just in case.

In the past, Alesis was a pleasure to order replacement parts. And to request service, just mail or deliver your instrument, and they'd take it from there. Nowadays, it's a whole different animal. When Numark purchased Alesis, their old policies and procedures went down the toilet. They refused to sell parts directly to customers! They recently overturned their policy and are letting customers purchase parts... but they're originating from a warehouse in Rhode Island or New Jersey, not from the old Alesis knowledgebase in Los Angeles. And unless you escalate your request up the Numark foodchain and make damn sure that they have your correct shipping address, expect your part in three months, perhaps longer. When I tried to replace my broken key (see last section) I had to wait MONTHS for any status on my order. After I was the recipient of an accusatory/screaming session from their Parts department staffer who blamed me for his ordering mistakes, a polite Numark/Alesis manager intervened and had my part shipped overnight. Word to the wise: when ordering Alesis parts, make sure they repeat your shipping address back and if necessary, be diligent in follow-up confirmations on your order: they'll make it happen... eventually.

Searching for a no-hassle MIDI piano/controller? IMHO an excellent piano action, some usable sounds and a rugged steel chassis, worth a try and should appeal to some keyboardists, but it's damn heavy and must be transported only in an ATA-rated case (SKB or Anvil). Aside from it's obvious drawbacks, I love playing it and even though I use other weighted action keyboards, I prefer the QS8's action over the rest. Replacement keyboard? I'd consider a weighted 88-key Roland XV-series keyboard but would get an old QSR module just to keep my favorite piano/string/synth waves on-tap.

I find my QS* to be relatively easy to edit patches and effects setups however i do recommend youknow how to re-initialize this one.

The action was originally very good on this board and the features i liked most were programmable pedals and outputs.

i really think the piano sound patch user 00 is the best especially when playing with A BAND(TUNING). The organ sounds arent the best but they work wll in the mix esspecially if youtweek the rotary effect and use the assighnable foot pedals for it. I didnt immediately warm up to the synth sounds but after playing with them for a little while i became comfortabe and play then regularly.

as far as reliability is concerned this board should stay home.I gigged with it 500 + times and i have seen some weird shit come out of this machine.my output amp is noisy. the keyboard is fatar and as another owner commented this is tragic, i mean at first it played very well but through wear and tear this board turned into crap i replaced the keybed after two years becausew ofg a weird ghost note issue. randomly this thing would be hauled off the stage only to finish the gig with an old faithful DX7.Right now my QS8is a good boat anchor. PS shes very sensitive to electrical power shes a finniky pain in the ASS.

well alesis got bought out and the word ive gotten about parts availibility is not good.im near the east coast and thats bad any repairs to be made would have had to go far away( i heard the atlanta authorized service will break it for you if it aint broke already.im taking my alesis to be serviced by a technician who knows alese digital output busse with a very large pot of coffe and i will pray.
keep your alesis off the road the steel chasis is not strong enough for the keyboard assembly or a real rock player with arms ive had rivits and welds in my chassis pop out as a resu7lt of normal wear and tear or can i just say lemon.

Basically, the QS8 is a keyboard for the beginning player (that's why I bought it). It is very easy to find sounds and to switch between them. Editing the sounds took me 5 minutes to figure out without the manual. A simple keyboard for the beginning player.

Personally, I think the action on this keyboard is very slow, almost like playing through mud. However, this is also coming from a guy who plays mostly upright pianos and Hammond organs, so if you are in to big Steinway grands, I'm sure you would feel at home. The expansion slots on the keyboard appear that they would make the keyboard more versatile, but unfortunately, the Q.cards are all made by Alesis and therefore have their sounds. The sliders and modulation wheels on the keyboard are designed to access the effects and it is quite easy to access them, just move the appropriate switch.

The sounds are bad. Most people think that at least the piano sounds are good, but in my opinion, I think they just sound too synthetic. The organs are the worst I have ever heard and the electric pianos aren't much better. Every sound on the keyboard has a fake and extremely synthetic sound which renders the keyboard almost useless in a studio setting and of limited use in a band setting.

The only plus that I have for this keyboard is it's reliability as it is built as solid as a tank and is about as heavy. I use it without a backup and have never had a problem.

If it were stolen, I would take my insurance money and buy a real keyboard, like a Korg Triton. The only sound I used this keyboard for was the piano, and recently I bought an old Yamaha CP-60 (the ones with the real strings) and it is ten times better than the QS8 for piano and also over ten years older. If you want the real sound, go with the original thing (like a B-3 or a Rhodes). Some digitals come close and are acceptable, but the QS.8 wasn't even in the ballpark. The only thing I can say is try it out, for it is certainly reliable, and if you think it sounds okay, then buy it (not for more than $500 used though).

Shame on me, I just played the presets. The presets in general are decent and usable. So that was obviously easy to use. Navigating presets is a joy. Nothing can be simpler. Using it as a master controller is also easy in the Mix mode. The manual is excellent.
The headphone volume is weak.

64 voice polyphony, 88-weighted keys, tons of onboard preset, ADAT optical output...they packed this thing with features. I used the old Pop Rock card, and it had phenomenal guitar samples.

I use the QS8 mainly for piano sounds in a live band. My biggest gripe is the number of button presses it take to transpose. They finally fixed it in the QS8.1 with the dedicated transpose button.

When I bought it in summer of '97, there was really nothing that could touch it in sheer number of usable sounds. The piano sound (Dark Piano is my favorite) is quite convincing when playing in a band, but lack body if in a studio session. String sounds are very lively and sizzling, but lack warmth. Brass sounds suck big time, especially solo intruments like trumpet and sax....better look elsewhere. Electric pianos are nothing to brag about (well, I use the Yamaha SY77, which excels in EP sounds). Organs are decent and quite usable. Drums sound get a C on the report card, considering it has lineage in the excellent SR-16 and DM-5. Synth sounds, especially leads, are excellent. The onboard effects are good, although on dense passages I've noticed clipping a few times. General MIDI sounds are pretty sad.

The main reason I bought the QS8 was to get an affordable 88-key weighted synth. Back in '97, nothing came close for the money. The keyboard action is fast, but I'm never able to control the expressiveness the way I want to. Could be the velocity curve, or maybe the fast initial travel. I don't know. I now play a Korg SG Pro X, and it's night and day. I can finally put feelings into every keypress.

I've always toted the QS8 in the SKB 76 key hardcase when on the road, and it's given me zero problems. Very well built keyboard (heavy gauge metal except for the hardwood endcaps.)

Never had to deal with Alesis for my QS8, but for other products, they were very accomodating.

Like I said, in 1997 it was hard to beat. But this is 2001, and there are many superior products out there (including ALesis's own QS8.1) Is it worth what I paid? Yes. I bought it new for $1400 out the door when it came out. Used it in countless shows. Never gave me trouble. Back then the only other "affordable" choice for me with decent piano sound was the Kurzweil PC88MX.

Would I buy it again? No, I recently sold it and got a Korg SG ProX, and I'm not looking back. But I do recommend it if you're looking for an inexpensive 88-key weighted synth with tons of sounds. If you're looking for the ultimate piano sound, look to the Roland RD600, Korg SG ProX, or Ensoniq ZR76. If you want the ultimate keyboard feel, this is not the one.

The presets are easy to access and the manual is relatively decent (by comparison to some that I've seen). Editing the patches is not exactly a joy, however, I've not tried using an external patch editor.

Keyboard action is spectacular. The built in effects sound very clean, although it took some work trying to figure out how to edit them. The Alesis Q-cards (especially the vintage keys card) add extra sounds easily. As a controller, it works exceptionally well. It also has expression sliders which are programmable to any number of functions so you can "edit" your sound on the fly.

Most of the instruments are usable and well suited to many different types of music. My only wish would be a more adjustable velocity curve. The sound defines this instrument. Spectacular.

I have had no troubles whatsoever with this instrument.

N/A. Haven't had to deal with Customer Support.

This instrument was worth every cent I paid for it. I've been playing for 24 years now and have used a multitude of pieces of equipment. While I am a purist of sorts and prefer to use a real piano or a real Rhodes piano, sometimes these options aren't realistic. The QS-8 makes a great substitute. The electric piano sounds are quite good (and it doesn't weigh nearly as much as a Yamaha CP-90 either!). I recommend this instrument highly.

I'm a sucker for knobs, but my goal when I originally bought this was to use it for jazz composition. The presets overall are good - excellent selection of guitar & piano, pretty good basses. Some of the synth sounds are pretty good, but overall they're pretty poor. The percussion selection, especially the various drumkits, are quite good. Nice selection of bells as well. Strings & horns, as one might expect, are pretty bad, except for some of the pizzicato presets. The GM sounds suck.

It's pretty straightforward, with regard to editing, but using buttons to flip through page after page is not intuitive in the least. I didn't edit very many patches at all, and was never able to figure out the included patch editor. The manual is quite thorough, though, and did help explain virtually everything. I also almost never edited the effects, mainly due to their poor sound. My biggest complaint about it is that is has NO resonance on the filter - why bother having a filter then?

Keyboard action is very good, confirmed by a couple of my pianist friends. Buil-in effects suck. Can accept expansion cards (can burn your own samples), but I never bothered. Has 4 sliders, 2 wheels and has aftertouch. However, none of that makes up for the so-so sounds and pain-in-the-ass editing. Best feature: uses a serial cable as direct midi connection to the PC.

If you are into regular sounds (and don't expect much out of string & horn patches), it'll work for you. I switched my focus to electronic music and got rid of it since it's uninspiring to me. Damn well constructed, though.

Did contact them when trying to figure out what driver to use to take advantage of the serial cable - informative and prompt.

Depends on what type of music you want to make. I sold it to a music therapist. If you're into electronic music, avoid it like the plague.

Manual is ok. Pretty easy in general to use, but that's not what sets the QS8 apart from the competion (more on that later).

I won't list off the features, but they all look very good on paper.
The QS8 is expandable via PCMCIA cards dubbed "Q-Cards" but the sounds on the cards are no better that the factory sounds, so what's the point?

Mmm K... I'm sorry if I offend anyone by saying that the Alesis has the worst sounds you can get in a keyboard that costs US$ 1500. I'll allow that the piano sound is decent, and a few other miscellaneous sounds are ok, like some the the analog synths. But especially the organs. If you know anything about how a real Hammond sounds, you'll be disgusted with the third rate reproductions that Alesis has incorporated into the QS8. Personally, I can't see how anyone in their right mind could say, "All the sounds on the Alesis are excellent." BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT. Seriously sit down with the Alesis and another keyboard (it really doesn't matter which brand, anything would sound better. hehe.) You will probably find that for the same price, you can get a Kurzweil PC88, or better yet a Korg N1. Both have 88 weighted keys and both have sounds which are many times better than the Alesis. One good thing it has: four sliders that control different aspects of the sound. These are very convientient, but with sounds not even worth tweaking...

It is dependable. I use this keyboard at twice per week in a band and it has not failed yet.

Never had to repair the unit.

It is not worth owning a keyboard with only a handfull of good sounds. If 99% of the sounds are worthless, so is the keyboard. In my humble opinion, try a Korg N1 (I own one, it is glorious, but I shouldn't sound biased) or a Kurzweil PC88.

I am currently not using any software. The Keyboars is farily easy to use one you dive into it. I use the Qs8 a couple times every week for our church service. I would not trade it for anything. I am not into editing the patches as i am usually the only keyboardist. The manual has had a lot of useful info.

I believe that this keyboard has everything that i will ever use (plus a few that i wont) I WOULD recomend this keyboard to a first timer. It has most any feature that anyone could want! I travel with this keyboard as well. It is very very well built!

Thank you Alesis!

I would have to say that the Alesis Qs8 has to have the best replicationj of sounds that i have ever heard! I use the keyboard with our church and there is nothing that holds a candle to the Qs8's flame! I dont use many of the effects but a few and they work very well. The keyboard reacts to the way that i play like none other.
Again thank you!

I have never had any trouble with my Qs8.

I would go without a backup but i dont because i work with youth. And if the Keyboard were to be knockd of stage or something you cant expect anything to stand up to that.

NEVER had to deal with Customer Support.

Dont have to deal with Customer Support when you have a product this good!

If anything happened to this Keyboard I would Prob. Upgrade to the Qs8.1 I have been playing for around 7 years. What do i love about it? That is simple, Everything!
It halps make music for me!

I purchased this Keyboard from my Grandfather, THANX Gramps
Would be happy to answer any questions that anyone has!

Generally very good; would be helpful to have ability to store frequently used patches in a single bank. Actually this is possible, though labor intensive. Editing patches is not a simple process, but there are plenty of on board sounds. A good keyboard for gigging-as light as 88 keys can be.

Great keyboard action; not a true piano action, but very quick and comfortable.

All in all, very good. The pianos, strings are excellent; the organs are good, not great.

I have mine for a 18 months, used 2-3 days a week, and have had no problems.

Have never had any reason to call.

Would definitely but it again. There is nothing else out there comparable for the same money

I find the general setup and interface quite usable, as is the patch editor. The buttons are clumsy at first, but, after a few months they are as natural as anything. Though the patch editor isn't a first-rate FX processor, it wasn't made to be. The manual was very helpful. Oveall, I was searching for a good performance synth, and the QS8 has far exceeded all my expectations in that field.

I have been a classical pianist for the majority of my life, and, after reading some of these reviews, I wonder what kind of piano experience some of these guys have. The keys are very natural, the touch-sensitivity and scaling options are great. I love the Q-cards, and the blank PCMCIA cards are truly superb to say the least.

The piano sounds, especially with the stereo grand piano expansion card, are magnificent. They are probably as close to a true concert grand piano as I've ever heard! The types of music it works for best, I think, is gospel, worship styles, classical, jazz, dance, and just about anything. With the right settings and expansions, this keyboard can do just about anything you can imagine!

Very dependable, reliable as a solo instrument, or as part of a group. The work-horse of keyboards.

I have had a few curious questions regarding expansion options, sequencing capabilities, and every time, I've received, fast, informative responses.

I truly love my QS8. So, all the people out there with their rude, non-factual remarks toward the QS8 or Alesis can just shut up!!

This keyboard is fairly easy to use. It has provided instant gratification and also yielded surprisingly rich depth as I've learned my way around the controls. It's flexible without being intimidating. The preset patches are straightforward to use and generally good quality. Presets are organized efficiently by instrument and it doesn't take a long time to find an appropriate sound. I've edited a few patches, and found the manual helpful but this was decidedly NOT an intuitive process. Editing patches is time consuming and I haven't tried it enough that I can do it without the aid of the manual. This tends to discourage me from getting extremely creative with the patches, but then again the presets plus the very easy-to-use Q cards provide a wealth of good sounds. I still haven't talked myself into coughing up the $78 needed for a computer cable so I can use the patch editor on my PC. I did play around with the patch editor software and it looked humble but workable.

I bought the QS8 specifically because of the keyboard action. It feels right, and this was extremely important to me when deciding what to buy. I did slightly favor a Yamaha keyboard, but not by much, and at $2000 for the Yamaha, I couldn't justify the extra $600. The built in effects are a mixed blessing- you have to experiment with the sliding bars to try to figure out which ones the programmers have chosen for your patch (if any), and what exactly they do. For the most part, the pre-programmed choices of effects for each patch are sensible and work well once you find them. Maybe there's too much reverb used on many of the samples, especially the piano samples. But you can usually turn it off. I read the manual and you can supposedly program the effects yourself, but I have been frightened away by the complexity involved, and begrudgingly settle for the pre-programmed ones. But hey, my separate digital recorder has tons of effects anyhow. The MIDI section is straightforward. There is no onboard sequencer-- a big minus. BUT, the expansion capabilities are a strong plus- I've purchased two Q-cards and been very satisfied with the ease of use and quality of sounds.

More of the instruments are realistic than not. Acoustic guitars, pianos, and drums especially sound very natural. So too do the many organ and electric piano sounds. Individual instruments like violins, flutes, are usable but somewhat less convincing. I have used the QS8 to record rock and dance music and it does both equally well. I'm currently having fun arranging the music to a Broadway-style musical entirely on the QS8, and its has been versatile enough to handle all the different styles. I haven't recorded classical music with it; I wouldn't want to rely on this keyboard to be a workstation for an orchestral score either. The lack of an on-board sequencer and ultra-realistic orchestral smaples would make this a daunting task. But when I need a nice patch with stacked acoustic piano and orchestra in the background to fatten up a pop tune, the QS8 comes through in spades. Reaction to velocity and aftertouch is smooth and easy to control. I find the keyboard itself to be very expressive, and the mod wheels are easy to use and excellent quality.

So far, so good. I hit it pretty hard when I was recording an African drum segment, and it held up to repeated pounding. It is a heavy keyboard, and I wouldn't want to lug this around to gigs. I leave it home and use it for recording projects. When and if I go on the road, I'm sure this would be reliable, but I'd rather bring a lighter unit like the QS6 or QS7. I've owned my QS8 for two trouble-free years, and it sees regular use as the centerpiece of my home studio.

I've used the information on the Alesis website often, and encountered no problems that have required a direct response from Alesis, so the jury is still out on this. I am particularly impressed that Alesis has so many user's forums available on their website, with many user-supplied helping hints, free patches, and general advice, both pro and con. Alesis maintains a very open climate on their website, and if people use that forum to discuss their gripes, the comments stay up there. This is refreshing in an age where most manufacturer-sponsored sites heavily censor their own bulletin boards.

This is a good keyboard that has served me well. It is the center of my home studio, and the only keyboard I have needed to complete all the various projects that pass through here. I've been playing for 20 years, and recording for the past 2. I compared this keyboard to the Kurzweil PC88, the Korg N1, the Yamaha DG200 (?), and a comparably-priced Roland, and I am very happy that I chose the Alesis, because it really has exceeded my expectations.

This is probably one of the simplest keyboards/synths I have used. I have a "project" studio and this is the only piano-action input device I have. Thus, I am relatively sure this silly thing will be in my studio for some time in the future. For a while, the QS8 was the only piece of gear in my studio, and, as I'm a profilic songwriter, I have many works that utilize it's facilities heavily. Nowadays, I have a lot of other, more expensive gear, and the QS8 has really been outpaced, but there are a few patches with the QS8 that just can't be beat. In particular, the stereo piano patches are (in my opinion) every bit as competitive as the extremely nice piano patches that ship with the K2500. I also like a small number of the acoustic guitar pluck patches on the QS8, and have selected them above equivalent patches on the K2500. HOWEVER, in general, I'd have to admit, I'm using my QS8 less and less and more expensive equipment in my studio more and more (of course, this should be any reasonable person's expectation, right?). With regard to many of the patches on the QS8, they are so ... well, bizarre, that I just can't use them. A good example of this is the electric guitar section of the patch presets - many of which sound tinny, unrealistic, cheap, and corny. Another complaint I've had is the sound synthesis method seems to achieve low "musicality". I don't sense subtle overtones and not much dynamic range. Since this synth is ultimately sample-based, my best guess is alesis engineers put a lot of effort into recording a subset of instruments extremely realistically, without recognizing that other factors, such as broad dynamics variation, overtone subtleties, etc., have a major contribution in modelling compelling sound. As a result, there are two kinds of patches (for me): a handful of patches that sound extraordinary; For example, as though you were sitting right in front of a real acoustic guitar plucked by a maestro. But, because there is very little random-ness of the sound, despite an extraordinary recording of the real thing by alesis engineering, you quickly realize that it's the same sample, the exact same dynamic curve, the exact same overtone sequence, etc. The other kind of patch is stuff that is just not usable for me, it sounds just... not at all like a fuzzy guitar, or a cello. The culprit is the ADSR envelopes, which can be investigated more thoroughly in the manual, but suffice it to say, they're pretty primitive by today's standards. I found editing patches to be simple, but the results were never quite up-to-par with more expensive equipment (again, something to be expected). I didn't have any complaints with the manual. The manual authors treat you a bit like a beginner, but probably this is appropriate given the kind of instrument the QS8 is. One thing I liked about the manual was it was easy to find the electrical requirements for the keyboard in the back - Something that I have never found anywhere in the bevy of K2500 manuals! It made managing my electrical and UPS systems just a bit easier.

The keyboard action of the QS8 is pretty good. I've used yamaha grand pianos, uprights, the famous (infamous?) disklavier and a variety of other real pianos, and, well, the QS8 is of course nowhere near as good, but, for a synthesizer keyboard with simulated hammer action, I didn't have to adjust too much from the way real pianos feel to me. The FX of the QS8 are not trivial to use, but not the most difficult to use, either. For their quality, I would say a couple of things: First, their input (the QS8 synthesizer section) is of relatively low quality, so the effects are kind of hampered to begin with. But considering the effects strictly in their own light, they are (in my opinion) doing a competent job. Not great, not outstanding, but they work, and if you're careful, they can do the right thing in your mix. My personal experience is, don't ask for too much. Currently, I limit my QS8 to providing the audio for ONE INSTRUMENT in my mix. For example, I'll have my QS8 deliver a stereo piano sound. Or I'll dedicate the QS8 to providing a plucked acoustic guitar sound. In this sort of application, you can optimize the instrument sound and the effects block and produce some VERY nice results. In particular, the QS8 effects block offers some modes that allow you to create things like a stereo leslie + reverb configuration (and other dual effects combinations), so, use subtly, this can be just the spice that brings out the beauty and ambience of a nice acoustic guitar. Outside of this one particular application, the FX unit is a bit rough, and I get better results by turning FX off and using an external high-quality reverb or FX box. You will NOT get lexicon quality reverb from your QS8.

I've touched on the instrument quality a bit throughout this response, so I'll be brief. Some instruments are superb, and I use them rather than other equipment I have, such as a K2500, dedicated high-quality tone modules like the Yamaha FS1r, and so forth. The vast majority of sounds, unfortunately, are not usable in my applications. I am a stickler for realisticity, expressiveness, flexibility, and CONTROL, and the QS8 just can't win out over other equipment in my studio. But, to provide a bit more perspective, when I consider using my K2500 for various applications, there are still limitations! Most of my K2500 guitar patches just can't win out over my FS1r. So, my QS8 is sort of like any other module in my rack: Sometimes it just can't be beat. A lot of the time, I'd rather use one specific module for a given instrument I need because I know it's just perfect for that one particular sound. In comparison with other instruments in my studio, the QS8 sounds a bit on the low side in terms of "does it sound real? does it sound live?" for two reasons I've already covered above; The sounds are sample based, so consecutive notes tend to sound exactly alike. More unfortunately, however, is that the QS8 synthesis method seems to lack a large dynamic range, so patches tend to sound more "lifeless" than patches from other equipment in my rack. For the former problem, I've found that careful and judicious use of the onboard effects improves the situation a bit. For the later, I spend quite a bit of time carefully varying the note velocity sent to the QS8, in combination with outboard digital dynamics processors like the dbx quantum will help. I wouldn't recommend this path for the average user, but I would be doing this kind of triage even for my K2500 and my other gear, so it's "the usual treatment" for me and doesn't bother me too much in terms of the time and patience commitment involved.

I've never had any problems with my QS8. I'd have no qualms bringing a QS8 along to a gig, it's sturdy. It weighs I believe 70-80 pounds, however, so it's easily the heaviest piece of gear I own (unless maybe you consider my rack a single piece of "gear"). As far as the gig goes, however, I would only use the QS8 as a controller, the sound quality is pretty lifeless and that would not go over well in a gig, so really only the midi controller aspect of it would have to work.

If my QS8 broke or was stolen, I'd buy a QSR instead. The situation is, so much of my music uses the QS8, that it would probably be crippling to not have one. As far as a controller, I'd much rather consider a Kurzweil or a controller-only type of deal over the QS8. The QS8 has a nice hammer-action deal, but I'd rather spend my money on something higher-end and leave my QS8 in a rack (with the QSR), where I feel it belongs. I paid a fairly low price for my QS8 ($1300, after tax), so I feel like, in the end, things have worked out. The QS8 has some MAJOR limitations and shortcomings. Since I haven't mentioned it anywhere else, if you ever get a chance, confirm for yourself that the pan on the QS8 has a total of SIX (6) positions! Compare that with the Kurzweil's 128 independant pan positions and you'll see at least one reason why the QS8 should most properly be considered something appropriate for people who don't need to expect a lot from their audio. There are a whole host of other limitations like this (which I won't get into), and it's not just the QS8. I also have the DM Pro from Alesis, and it has exactly the same set of limitations (sigh). However, the QS8 (and neither the DM Pro) doesn't cost what a kurzweil does. So, I feel like I got what I paid for. *chuckle* I've been playing for about 18 years, I own too much gear to list, but the highlights are K2500, Yamaha digital mixers, dbx mastering processors, EMU E4XT, ADATs, studio mics, apogee scintilla reference audio monitoring and an all-digital studio with a -120 db noise floor. I give the QS8 a 5 overall because the unit is just a little bit below average. The sound quality is not up to big studio standards, lots of limitations and shortcomings, but for a first piece of equipment in a beginner's studio, I think it's a great buy. That's the way it went for me, and I'm not looking back with regret.

Editing existing patches is time consuming, but I have to be honest in that I have not spent much time doing this. The manual is ok but to me confusing. It also needs a larger LD display for readability. Presets are generally ok and logical. It takes time to learn and there are many of them.

I personally like the keyboard action and play this for the pure pleasure of it. It is true and consistent. I have not used any of the expansion cards as of yet. I use this synth for some midi use mainly with my Mac computer and it does a good job. Because my Mac is USB and firewire I bought a Roland USB Mpu64 Midi-Interface. After some problems I got it to work.

I like the grand piano sound and some of the electric piano sounds. The old Roads sound is really close to the one we used in my school situation years ago. The string sounds are mediocre at best, however the string ensemble sounds are passable. Most modern synths are geared more to the pop medium and is my biggest complaint with them. The classical sounds are just not very good. They all sound very compressed and ugly. You can get by with the flute sound, and possibly the horn sound. The keyboard response is very good. It's fun to play. My son likes his roland response and I like this Alesis response better. We are in the ball park and the playing field is pretty level.

I have had no problem with this machine, but on the other hand it has never left my studio.

I cannot comment as I have never called anyone at the company.

I would buy one again and the low price for what you get can't be beat! I am an older musician, now retired from active teaching. However, I use the Alesis for composition and some sequencing and mainly for pleasure. I would recommend this instrument to anyone.

Okay, first off, to any interested buyers, I'm a guitarist/composer who owns several synths but does tend to get deep inside them very quickly. Just keep that in mind--I'd hate to discourage apotential buyer who's needs and synth skill level are very different from mine.
I wanted an 88 weighted keyboard. It occured to me that it might be nice toget 500+ new sounds that I might or might not work with--thus the QS 8 rather than the Kurweil PC-88 or comparable Roland units.
I haven't used the Sound Bridge software yet. I've done some rudimentary editing of patches and find that it's neither hard nor easy. The manual is good compared to, say, Roland's.

I'll deal with sound of presets below.

I like the keyboard action a lot. Of course, I'm a guitarist primarily but I do have along history of piano noodling. Effects seem fairly powerful, though I'm not a huge fan of Alesis effects (well, I was in the mid-80s when the midiverb was the first of its kind in that price range). I've toyed with a few of the Q-carss in the store but have not been impelled to buy any. Midi features are fine, though, as others have noted, there are complexities to transferring effect settings from Program mode over to mix mode for sequencing. The midi controller sliders are great. No sequencer. I use Cakewalk Pro Audio 9.

I've been generally disapointed with the sounds on the QS 8. Remember I have not ventured far beyond the presets, but it is significant that I haven't really felt compelled to. The acoustic instruments are mostly weak -- strings are awful, all but a few of the brass patches are mediocre standard synth fare. There are a few good basses but they tend to lack bite. Forget the woodwinds. It doesn't stand up to my Korg NS5R, which is itself pretty standard fare.

The wealth of sounds is in the keys dept, and here the story is mixed. For acoustic pianos, the Dark Classic and Pure Stereo pacthes appeal most to my ears. The presets tend to be drowned in reverb--perhaps covering up some suspect samples, I'm not sure. I have not found these piano sounds easy to mix with. They're kind of amorphous; they bleed across the EQ spectrum and tend to blot out other sounds regardless of volume. Takes a lot of work to wrestle them into a mix. Dark Classic works well in spaese, piano-dominated settings. Pure Stereo and True Steroe work better in pop mixes, but there are some glaring artificialities to the piano sounds, especially in the midrange. I give the pianos a B. I realize this is highly subjective. But for dense pop and rock mixes, my Roland U20 has a much more workable piano sound. For beatiful pianos, I use the gigasampler now.

Electric pianos are a fairly strong point. There are a couple of excellent wurli and Rhodes sounds, and they tend to be the most playable and expressive, imo. The organs pose a problem. There are many of them, and they cover of an impressive range (a bit heavy on the aggressive rock organs, to my displeasure) but I don't find them particulary expressive.

The hidden strength of this keybaord is its synth sounds--ironic, because I don't use a lot of synth sounds in my work. They are fat and weird and LOUD. Really good leads. Mod wheel implementation is intelligent and cool, and the effects are put to excellent use here. This keyboard might be surprisingly good to people who use a lot of synth sounds. I find myself using more of them just because I like them.

Drums were a bit of a dissapointment. World percussion is not at all good. The trap kits have some very good bass, snare, and toms, but the cymbals are ludircously bad, with some of the most unnatural and stingy decays I've ever heard.

Oh, and the General Midi set is among the worst I've ver heard. I understand this has been improved in the 8.1.

So far so good. It never leaves the house.

No need for it yet. I've owned numerous other Alesis products and have had few problems

I would not buy it again, largely because I'm not a gigging keyboardist and I think this thing's strengths might be in performance. I would buy a straight controller and then pick among my favorite soft synths and modules. But at this price, it's not a huge mistake by any means (and I see a lot of used ones real cheap!)
I wish I loved it. Who the hell wants to spend a grand on an instrument just to bitch about it? If I ever get deeper into programming it and my opnion changes, I'll be a conscientious reviewer and post and addendum.

I am currently not using any software. We bought a &quot;Q Card&quot; with the stereo grand tones, and unfortunately, the keyboard won't read the card. I would use software, but I feel like I would be just wasting more money on a lame product. I will give it this - the presets are very easy to manipulate and use.

Features? It has feautres?

Tones... They are horrible. They only decent tone I found was a clarinet, and some of the rhythm/FX tones. The piano tones are a joke, especially the acoustic grands. The organ tones are very diverse, but they are only good if you like distortion and favor a cheesy rendition of Leslie rotary.

I have to admit, the thing is built like a tank. if you play with a lot of other instruments, never play solos, and travel a lot, this might be the board for you.

I am hoping for someone to come and steal this thing. I must admit, buying it was not the smartest move in the world. For me, nothing can match the piano tones of the Roland A-90 or the RD-500. However, the price tag shows it, too. If you are looking for medium priced keyboard that will &quot;get by&quot; until you can afford the real deal, then buy a QS8. It is built sturdy enough to last for a while, the only problem is, it will always be an Alesis, and that's just not very good.

I found the QS8 very easy to use right out of the box but have had
a good deal of trouble figuring out how to make the amplifier effects
do what I want.

The QS8 looks like it's been stripped bare compared to the $5000
workstations but it had everything I was looking for. The keyboard
action is the best I've played and the only time I run out of
polyphony is when I'm layering sound on sound on sound in mix mode.

I've read some of the reviews that really trash the QS8's sounds and
describe them as "sounding like a cheap Casio." Having purchased the
QS8 to upgrade from home-consumer products I totally disagree. While
I usually am not happy with most of the sounds on the QS8 I can always
find one instrument in a category that sounds nice. I've used the
keyboard for public performance, using it with a computer sequencer to
provide orchestral accompaniment while I play trumpet and have always
liked the final product.

I haven't had any problems at all. I use the keyboard every week for
public performance and have never had a problem.

N/A

Right now I'm looking at retiring the QS8 to a second keyboard
because I'm growing in my music. I'd like to get a KORG N series or I
series workstation and keep the QS8 for extra capability with a
sequencer and additional flexibility in performance. I still like
the way it plays!

I am not using any software at this time. the main thing I would like to express is the fact that I feel that I wasted $1500 hard earned dollars on this clunker. the presets are horrible, especially the piano. I have been gigging with this unit live for a year, and am embarrased to use the piano patches that sound like a 30 dollar casio. The edIting patches are not to hard to get around, if you really have the time to spend on the manual. The manual itself is pretty complicated reading.

expressiveness sounds are of low quality, they sound very thin and cheap

Overall rating is a 4

I'm not a keyboard tech specialist, but I find that the basics are easier to use than others that I've used in the past. I'm still trying to figure out the patches, and haven't needed to use any software. Some of the presets are good, but most of the ones that I've needed (guitars, strings, bass, piano, electric piano) are very disappointing. After using them for a while, they sound more and more phony. The manual isn't too hard to follow. It's much easier than others I've had to fight with.

Keyboard action feels good. It's a little light, but there is a more positive feel at the bottom of the range of motion. I like that. I play a grand piano predominantly, and this keyboard can't compare to that, but it's OK as far as keyboards go. No onboard sequencer, but I use my old sequencer set-up from a previous keyboard and it works very smoothly.

The sounds on the keyboard are lousy. Piano sounds are very bad. I heard such good reviews before I bought it, but there is no way to make it sound as good as Kurzweil or Technics. The only way to make the piano sound good is to cover it up with other instruments. I will never buy another Alesis again for this reason. If you want a keyboard with a good piano sound, go with another brand. What I'm trying to say is that the piano sounds STINK and I've had to plug a friend's Kurzweil into my sequencer to "borrow" its piano sound when I copy to minidisc. What a pain.

Keyboard is very dependable. Technically, it is very dependable and I've had no trouble.

I had to call TECH support recently and got absolutely no help. After asking a couple of simple questions, he sounded bored and didn't volunteer any information. After explaining that I was looking for a better piano sound and asking for his help, he hung up without answering the question. I waited on hold for over 20 minutes and then got absolutely no help at all. TECH support is pretty important for such a complicated piece of equipment, so I'll never buy any Alesis equipment again because of the lousy tech support. In all the times I've called, they've never volunteered any information and have been no help. That's too bad.

I have played piano for about 7 years, and I create soundtracks for use in a church setting. I've done this for about 4 years. The keyboard has been an extreme disappointment, and due to the lack of TECH support, I'll have to sell it (losing money in the process) and buy another brand. This is the 5th keyboard that I've used over the past 7 years, and it is undeniably the worst sounding. I've never needed TECH support before, so I can't compare theirs with other brands. Overall, I made a costly mistake in buying the Alesis QS8.

I'm not a keyboard tech specialist, but I find that the basics are easier to use than others that I've used in the past. I'm still trying to figure out the patches, and haven't needed to use any software. Some of the presets are good, but most of the ones that I've needed (guitars, strings, bass, piano, electric piano) are very disappointing. After using them for a while, they sound more and more phony. The manual isn't too hard to follow. It's much easier than others I've had to fight with.

Keyboard action feels good. It's a little light, but there is a more positive feel at the bottom of the range of motion. I like that. I play a grand piano predominantly, and this keyboard can't compare to that, but it's OK as far as keyboards go. No onboard sequencer, but I use my old sequencer set-up from a previous keyboard and it works very smoothly.

The sounds on the keyboard are lousy. Piano sounds are very bad. I heard such good reviews before I bought it, but there is no way to make it sound as good as Kurzweil or Technics. The only way to make the piano sound good is to cover it up with other instruments. I will never buy another Alesis again for this reason. If you want a keyboard with a good piano sound, go with another brand. What I'm trying to say is that the piano sounds STINK and I've had to plug a friend's Kurzweil into my sequencer to "borrow" its piano sound when I copy to minidisc. What a pain.

Keyboard is very dependable. Technically, it is very dependable and I've had no trouble.

I had to call TECH support recently and got absolutely no help. After asking a couple of simple questions, he sounded bored and didn't volunteer any information. After explaining that I was looking for a better piano sound and asking for his help, he hung up without answering the question. I waited on hold for over 20 minutes and then got absolutely no help at all. TECH support is pretty important for such a complicated piece of equipment, so I'll never buy any Alesis equipment again because of the lousy tech support. In all the times I've called, they've never volunteered any information and have been no help. That's too bad.

I have played piano for about 7 years, and I create soundtracks for use in a church setting. I've done this for about 4 years. The keyboard has been an extreme disappointment, and due to the lack of TECH support, I'll have to sell it (losing money in the process) and buy another brand. This is the 5th keyboard that I've used over the past 7 years, and it is undeniably the worst sounding. I've never needed TECH support before, so I can't compare theirs with other brands. Overall, I made a costly mistake in buying the Alesis QS8.

I think Alesis should stick to making ADATs ( although, digital hardisk recording will soon put an end to them ). I thought that their effect units were substandard, try playing their synths. The presets aren't programmed terribly, its just that that samples and sounds used suck. The upper octaves are entirely useless!
Editing? Why bother? Junk in equals junk out.
Who wrote that manual? Cheetah?!!!

The polyphony is adequet ( 64 voice ) and the keyboard action isn't bad. The built in effects are definatly Alesis. You can expand on it, but I've heard their alternate cards. May as well throw your hard earned money down the toilet...they stink!
The keys are pressure sensative, but so what...so are all the other keyboards out on the market. Onboard sequencers are awkward and limiting.

Realistic sounds....it depends on what drug you've taken. The famous Alesis piano is substandard compared to others on the market ( a bit thin for my taste ). Whoever programmed the string and ensemble sounds should be ashamed ( actually, Alesis should be ashamed for releasing an instrument with such awful sounds ). The same with most of the brass sounds. If you hold the electric piano sounds down you can hear just how amaturish the samples and patches sound ( horrible fades). The guitars are equally terrible and the percussion / vibes type sounds are weak ( thats a major accomplishment...).
Surprisingly, the synth pads are very good! And some of the analog module simulations ( the Emerson stuff)are pretty good. But not worth the price of this unit!
The type of music this unit would work well with....how about a Swiss Viennese shuffle based loosely on a Hans Christain Anderson tale.
The onboard effects remind me of the Alesis FX boxes. Its probably the best feature in this unit.
It does have velocity and aftertouch...again, what doesn't!?!

The LCD display is on its way out! Man, I've had synth's for far more years then this unit and their LCD displays are fine. Shear craftsmanship!
Thanx again Alesis!

It takes forever to get thru to them and once you do, its attitude city! Also, they limit the amount of Pro audio repair stores that they allow to work on their units, as well as refusing to send them the parts needed. In LA, there was only 1 guy allowed to service their ADATs outside of taking that long hike to their offices. What a crock!

I prayed it would be lost or stolen so that I can collect on the insurance and purchase a real synth. Lets face it, Korg and Roland and Kurzweil, etc, make incredible products that are competitive with each other soundwise and with their quality. If Alesis wants to play with the big boys, then I suggest they study their competition before releasing and falsely advertising what a great product they have.
What do I love about it...nothing. What do I hate about it...alot! You may be asking yourself, "Why did this guy purchase the QS8 if he dislikes it so"? I didn't purchase it.. I bartered it as part of payment for some sessions I did...should have just taken the money.
Although this is just my opinion, if your going to purchase a synth keyboard... go for the Triton, the Trinity, the Roland XP models, the Kurzweil stuff...even the E-Mu modules...highly NOT recommended!!!!!

I think Alesis should stick to making ADATs ( although, digital hardisk recording will soon put an end to them ). I thought that their effect units were substandard, try playing their synths. The presets aren't programmed terribly, its just that that samples and sounds used suck. The upper octaves are entirely useless!
Editing? Why bother? Junk in equals junk out.
Who wrote that manual? Cheetah?!!!

The polyphony is adequet ( 64 voice ) and the keyboard action isn't bad. The built in effects are definatly Alesis. You can expand on it, but I've heard their alternate cards. May as well throw your hard earned money down the toilet...they stink!
The keys are pressure sensative, but so what...so are all the other keyboards out on the market. Onboard sequencers are awkward and limiting.

Realistic sounds....it depends on what drug you've taken. The famous Alesis piano is substandard compared to others on the market ( a bit thin for my taste ). Whoever programmed the string and ensemble sounds should be ashamed ( actually, Alesis should be ashamed for releasing an instrument with such awful sounds ). The same with most of the brass sounds. If you hold the electric piano sounds down you can hear just how amaturish the samples and patches sound ( horrible fades). The guitars are equally terrible and the percussion / vibes type sounds are weak ( thats a major accomplishment...).
Surprisingly, the synth pads are very good! And some of the analog module simulations ( the Emerson stuff)are pretty good. But not worth the price of this unit!
The type of music this unit would work well with....how about a Swiss Viennese shuffle based loosely on a Hans Christain Anderson tale.
The onboard effects remind me of the Alesis FX boxes. Its probably the best feature in this unit.
It does have velocity and aftertouch...again, what doesn't!?!

The LCD display is on its way out! Man, I've had synth's for far more years then this unit and their LCD displays are fine. Shear craftsmanship!
Thanx again Alesis!

It takes forever to get thru to them and once you do, its attitude city! Also, they limit the amount of Pro audio repair stores that they allow to work on their units, as well as refusing to send them the parts needed. In LA, there was only 1 guy allowed to service their ADATs outside of taking that long hike to their offices. What a crock!

I prayed it would be lost or stolen so that I can collect on the insurance and purchase a real synth. Lets face it, Korg and Roland and Kurzweil, etc, make incredible products that are competitive with each other soundwise and with their quality. If Alesis wants to play with the big boys, then I suggest they study their competition before releasing and falsely advertising what a great product they have.
What do I love about it...nothing. What do I hate about it...alot! You may be asking yourself, "Why did this guy purchase the QS8 if he dislikes it so"? I didn't purchase it.. I bartered it as part of payment for some sessions I did...should have just taken the money.
Although this is just my opinion, if your going to purchase a synth keyboard... go for the Triton, the Trinity, the Roland XP models, the Kurzweil stuff...even the E-Mu modules...highly NOT recommended!!!!!

Navigation through the system is far from obvious on this keyboard, given the lack of buttons, imparting a rather clean look to the instrument. The display is *tiny* which does not help matters in the slightest. Most frustrating on this keyboard has been the recording aspect of it. I am admittedly a beginner in the field of advanced sequencing, and still am perplexed on how to record onto my computer with the included Cubasis software. Editing patches becomes second nature once you figure it out, however, and the manual is outstanding for that. It reads very easily and explains things in depth, except for the RECORDING aspect!

For the money, this keyboard has a great many features that are found only on more expensive synths. I love the keyboard action. The simulated hammer action is especially welcome for piano players who hate the heavy keys on other keyboards. In addition, these keys jump right back up for clean trills and fast playing- you don't get that dead feeling at the end when you strike the key. The effects are good, although I have not dealt with them very much. This keyboard does have expansion capabilities, but be ready to pay a lofty $200 for an expansion card. If Alesis really wants to dub this thing as expandable, it should bring those card prices down. This keyboard does NOT have an onboard sequencer, and as I said before, recording onto the computer with this thing is not a simple task. But again- the features (after touch, 4 independent control sliders, etc.) are not lacking on this keyboard for the money.

The pianos and organs are first rate. The brass are okay, as are the strings. The drums themselves sound great, especially in the demo sequences. The solo instruments and percussion keys, however, are laughable.
The demo sequences of this keyboard say it all: this is a rock/fusion/live gig keyboard. This thing is not that great for orchestral recording or dance music. But again, for the money...

This keyboard has never failed me. A sample one in the store that I bought it did, however- it locked up when I browsed through some sounds. I would definitely, however, trust this keyboard as my sole instrument, without a backup.

They were TERRIBLE. I think they hate it when you have a simple question or something... I had e-mailed them THREE times with a question, and they did not answer. I finally decided to call them, and was met with minimal success: I was put on hold for a long time, and was finally met by a guy who talked with me in a very brusque manner (and did NOT answer my question, by the way. I was just crazy to get off the phone with him). I hope you do not have to deal with them if you have a problem with this keyboard.

I like my QS8. Really. But I don't think I would buy this keyboard again. I was between this one and a Korg N1. I don't think I really have regrets, though. I just feel a bit cheated because of the terrible tech support that I received.

This keyboard is relatively easy to use. Once you have found your way around, one can make program changes quickly and smoothly.

Here we go..... I play in a dueling piano bar three nights a week. The company took two grand piano shells and put QS8s in them.
They are played hard, three nights a week, by guys who really know how to play.
We have to disassemble these keyboards at least once a month and clean and repair the keyboards because of the crappy FATAR actions they put in these things.
They feel and sound like toys. After less than a year of the bar being open, we are going to be forced to find something that can live up to being called a musical instrument.
All of the piano players are very unhappy and disappointed with the QS8. Too bad. The sounds are respectable enough to use in this venue. Unfortunatly, the hardware isn't.
Overall, the sounds are OK. The piano sounds are mediocre. The organ sounds are awesome.
However, the bass and string sounds are a joke, not to mention the drum and percussion sounds.

See above

In a word, horrible. Keys are constantly "going out." They sometimes have no velocity sensitivity, or don't play at all.
This keyboard was not designed to be anything close to a serious instrument for live applications.
Probably the biggest reason for this is the FATAR action. I have had several keyboards with a FATAR actions and have had nothing but trouble.
I have learned my lesson. Stay away if you want something that feels anything like a real piano and will hold up to "real" playing.

Another joke here. I won't even get into it.

If the bar were lucky enough, the keyboards would completely fry and we would be forced to go and purchase a new brand of keyboards other than these.
What would we buy??? Most of the piano players are obviously hooked on real pianos if possible. But since we are unable to do this, the vote has been for the Yamaha P-200.
Why? Play one and you will feel an instrument (and I stress "instrument") that is built like a tank, feels like a real piano (there is a lot ot be said here,....we've played them all and nothing even compares....), and has the best sounding piano this side of a real Steinway.
Next in line would have to be one of the Roland or Korg keyboards, respectively. Not as "real" feeling as the Yamaha, but close enough.
If you find yourself reading this and disagree about what I have to say about the QS8, I am sorry. Chances are pretty good you have not put your QS8 through paces worthy of what an instrument should be able to handle, or you don't know what a piano, digital or real, should really feel like. When I was in college, I tuned and rebuilt the Steinways and Baldwins on campus. I know what a piano should feel like and the QS8 with it's FATAR action is not even close.
I have personally owned over twenty digital pianos and keyboards, everything from the Roland A-90EX, to the Korg Stage piano, to the whole line of synths that strated back in the '80's. I have never been so disappointed in an instrument until now.

Alesis needs to take time and learn what musicians really need in a keyboard if they want to stay serious about this part of the music business.
I might also add that I have owned several pieces of equipent from Alesis and have been more than pleased with their quality and value. A great example would be the SR-16 drum machine or the several different effects machines that have been made in the past.

This synth is very easy to use. Alesis has the buttons well organized, making selection of sounds much easier.

The keyboard action is terrific. The sounds are superb. This synth has sounds for every application. The keyboard action is very very close to the real thing.

I liked the synth sounds, piano, and organs the best. They are very high quality and I have no complaints whatsoever about them.

I would absolutely use this on a gig without a backup synth. It is made out of metal and is very durable. I haven't had any problems with mine.

I haven't dealt with customer support since I haven't had any problems with it.

This is my favorite synth that I have ever used. It's very versatile and easy enough for even a beginner to use. It suits everyones needs from home user to professional musician.

The keyboard is straightforward in terms of using the presets and Alesis saved big money by not making the editing and sequencing interfaces overly usable from they keyboard itself. Just a note, almost all sequencing, library work and patch editing is done these days with a computer. Alesis was smart to realize this and totally underbid its competition to make a perfect keyboard for this function. You can record sequences using the included software and then play them back through the QS8 without the computer if you want, and no matter what in interface is, it is still tedious to create or alter patches on any keyboard without a computer and the right software.

For my money this is the best feeling keyboard on the market, the korg's feel plastic and the roland A-90 is way to deep for my tastes. The reponse is light and good for making runs, one not however, the keys are larger on this keyboad then on an acoustic piano, or most synth style keyboards. The screen size is not a problem either once you get use to it, once you learn a keyboard you hardly have to use the screen at all except toi determine patch title. Also bank layout is smart considereing the number of presets availible. Aftertouch is responsive, polyphony is plentiful. and the effects are wonderful. I have learned since the purchase of this keyboard that controllable sliders, or knobs, are a complete necessity for all keyboards. Alesis was very smart in the fact that these 4 adjustable sliders are active and usefull on all of the presets. For example on certain EP patches on slider will control reverb, another digital delay, and another overdrive, with these features at the touch of your fingers each patch gains depth and tremendous flexability. This only works due to the great effects processor on the keyboard. The reverbs, delays are noteworthy, and the rotary speaker is one of the best i have heard. The modulation controller is excellent providing convincing rotary speaker sounds, great stereo vibrato and even a fun dirty wah wah effect on some of the lead sounds. Expansion is tremendos too, Alesis uses space will in creating patches to 16 more megs of expansion possibilities is more then you will ever need.

The sounds are what always sells the keyboard when i am looking to purchase. The main stereo piano is excellent, especially the lower half, deep bass is great. one note though, sometimes the action response is too hard, ie does not respond well to light touches, so i wouldn't necessarily use the board for classical solo piano and the like. The only piano sound i liked better was on the Roland A-90. The EP's are great, rhoads, wurli's and other keyboard type sounds are excellent. The basses and guitars are convincing, especially when the effects are put into play. One area that the sounds suffer in my opinion is the strings/woods/winds. The violin is almost laughable and reeds and horns don't sound too good either. Korg still handles those sounds the best. But for what i use the keyboard for that is a non issue. The QS8 is a great rock./pop/modern keyboard, not for orchestration, though i have heard that the expanded Q-card sounds are a step up from the orchestral presets. The keyboard excells in the synth/lead/loop department. There are enough choices in these areas to fill anyones needs. from slow pads to piercing screaming leads the alesis rocks, especially if you use the effects to the fullest and learn how to master the sliders. There are many rhytm-type patches, with a dedicated beat on the lower half of the keyboard and a lead patch on the top. these are very fun, but not practicle if you have a drummer. organ patches sounds great, and the sliders act as drawbars for tremendous variation possibilities, but it is just damn difficult to play hammond esque riffs on a fully weighted keyboard, well you can't have everything. Check out "rays rhoads" "shine on" Fuzz box" "keith's c'3"

built like a tank, keys make a slight thud as you use them, but fatar makes good keys and i would trust them for a long while, unless your playing style tasks them tremdously. I would and will certainly trust the QS8 as my only keyboard for live gigs.

N/A

For the money, unbeatable. Feel, sounds, number or sounds, expandibility, controller options are all top notch. I bought the keyboard mainly as a live gig board, but it will serve perfectly as a master controller for a midi studio. I would gladly buy it again. The number of sounds inspires new musical direction, and Alesis is smart with space as well, fitting a full 88 keys into the smallest package availible. one last note, from what i have learned the features added to the QS8.1 are cute, but not even close to worth the increase in price. Try to find a used QS8 if you can.

The presets on this keyboard are outstanding. I am a dumb guitar player that can play piano. I know nothing about editing, MIDI and all of that jazz, but I am learning to layer sounds and do simple editing functions on the QS8. So far, I use it mostly for tracking / recording on my 4-track. I have yet to experiment with Cubase and all the MIDI stuff. The QS8's piano, strings and organ sounds are amazing and sound great when I mix them with guitars, basses and acoustic "rock" drums. The manual caters to professionals who already know how to get around on a synth. I wish someone would publish a "QS8 for dummies" book so an idiot guitar person like myself could learn it's advanced operations without a headache.

The hammer weighted action is great. In my opinion, it feels exactly like a piano. It has tons of effects that are easy to patch in to a particular sound. No onboard sequencer. The Cubase software acts as the sequencer, which is better for me, because I would rather compose on a PC rather than on the keyboard.
I have the Hip Hop Q-card which is awesome! It has thousands of varieties of shuffle beats, techno and jungle beats along with loops. The Q-cards are very easy to use.... just dial in the bank and value and press a key and you have a "dope" beat. I play and write rock music, but I am experimenting with Hip Hop beats and improvised leads on guitars.
This keyboard is NOT very easy to program. There is a big learning curve. I knew this before I bought it.

There isn't a bad sound on this synth. I love the "synth" sounds, piano and strings. I use it for progressive hard rock.

It has been dependable so far. I will gig with this when the time comes. I will be switching, back and forth, from guitar to keyboard.

Alesis was very helpful when I had to purchase my 9-pin serial cable for my PC. I have never dealt with them.... hopefully I never will.

I love this synth. I wish I had more time to dig into the endless possiblities this keyboard has to offer. I spend most of my musical time playing guitar and recording. I plan to devote more time to the QS8. Roland makes good synths but they didn't have the features that I wanted...(hammer-weight action, 88-keys). I'll give the QS8 a 9 rating because of the huge learning curve that the user must overcome.
If this keyboard was stolen, my renter's insurance would cover it. If I found the person who stole it, I would rip his head off and deficate down his throat.
I bought this keyboard primarily for drums and piano sounds. I don't plan to use it as a "lead" instrument, since my music is very guitar and bass driven. This synth does a great job of enhancing my music.

Great for live performances. I can change a whole 16 CH mix, including volume levels, panning, effect gate and bus, in just one second using the mix program mode. Basically, this is the polyphonic mode of the QS8 and it allows you to do what I just explained you above. I haven't mess with the edit programs, but according to the manual, which it is very organized and well illustrated, gives a comprehensive look at the EDIT MODE.

The polyphonic cabality of this synth is of 64 voices and the keyboard action is amazing, you can actually feel like if there was a hammer hitting a string inside. When you get into the effect menu, you'll find from lesley speaker to tube distortion; the Delay can be panned to ms.I do everything from the Qs8: All my sounds comes from there. I use a Roland D-20 only via midi to use sound of the QS8.I tthose not have a sequenser, but with the softwear that comes with it, you hook it up with your computer and using a PCMCIA card, you can burn the sequences to the cards and then just insert the card in the slot in the back of the keyboard, press MIX and GLOBAL and choose your sequence and just play along. I'm telling you this is amazing.I forgot to mention that you can expand it with the qcards.

For me, the Pianos and loops are the best sounds it has, but i'm not happy with the organ dept.It respond to the slighest afterpressure that i put to it.

Very reliable and i would go to the center of the earth with it.

I haven't deal with them

Very good. The keyboard comes with enough presets so that if you know NOTHING about editing, you can still come up with a great sound for what you want. However, if you're a pro with editing, then you can also mix and match the programs to get a great sound. The only thing i would gripe about is the TINY screen. However, it's only a minor setback, because my friends Kurzweil K2000 has a giant screen, and it feels like the extra screen goes to waste. The screen could be fixed, but.....no big whoop

The features are good. I've played better, but for the price range, this is definitely the way to go. The keys are a dream to play on, and it's very easy to switch sounds on. You can get to any sound on the keyboard within 6 pushes of keys. The midi capabilities are good, although i only use it in conjunction with my computer, and no other synths.

Great, everything is good! You need a good amp though! without a quality amp or P.A, it sounds poppy and junky with a lot of the piano and synth sounds.

Very dependable! haven't had any trouble with it yet

Never had to deal with them

If lost or stolen, i'm sure i would buy another one, and it's definitely worth the money i paid.

There's a teenie weenie LCD display big enough to show the truncated name of the patch you're working with and that's just about it. Nothing fancy here. In fact, it's somewhat tiresome using this little "window" to get around. As one who likes big displays, gizmos and gadgets to make getting round on a workstation easier, I was disappointed with the QS8's interface. On the other hand, I was aware of the limitations prior to purchasing it--so now you know, too. The stripped-down interface was the only way Alesis could get this thing down at this price range.

Purely a keyboard with a lot of sounds. Took me 3 days to hear all the presets and combinations of sounds (about an hour per day). Not much else, except for a signal effects processing engine for some acceptable, often unusual audio effects, but nothing fancy here. As an 88-key workstation, the QS8 seems quite a steal for its price, but the truth is with a horrible interface and no sequencing capabilities it's purely a sound-emitting tone generator and master keyboard, nothing more. On the other hand, the keyboard on the QS8 is pretty good, and there are worse keyboards out there for a lot more.

The QS8 seems to be focused around piano, bass, and unusual rhythmic synth sounds. The rest of the sounds aren't horrible, either. The sonic quality of the presets on this synth are definitely top-notch, especially in comparison to Alesis' competition.

I haven't had it for very long, but it seems to be holding together without any problems so far. It's a pretty big board for carrying around, but at this price range if something went wrong and it had to be replaced, it would probably be worth it.

Four (!!) posts of mine on rec.music.makers.synth were replied to by Alesis employees! They were extremely helpful and blew me away completely.

I bought this thing needing a "MIDI base", something to build a MIDI studio around. I feel I made a wise decision. There's nothing fancy here, and the piano sounds and weighted keys are great to keep me practicing on. But unless you're intending to do live keyboarding which this board would probably be great for, it's useless in the studio without complementing gear (i.e. MIDI sequencer, other synth modules, etc.)

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.