Alesis S4 Plus

I don't know what software but this unit is my favorite. I use it on every gig. It has, by far, the best timpani sound ever in any electronic synt I have ever heard. I am a timpanist, I know. I have figured out how to edit patches, and this unit is very straight forward. The manual is also very nice.

I don't know what the polyphony is, I have never ran out of voices. I think it's 32 voices. It can accept the Q cards which I whish Alesis would make new and exciting cards. No sequencer but again, the sound of the timpani is the best. It works great in both mix and program modes.

Like any 16 bit machine, it has it's limits. Because it is not made any more, the sounds are sometimes dated. The Q cards can help that. It is probably the most reactive synth other than my wavestation.

I absolutely depend on it. The line lump speed bump power supply is a bit hefty, but it has not died yet. I heard there was problems, but I also have 2 other Alesis products that use the same power supply. I use it constantly on every gig.

The company is wonderful. I don't know why they are having such a hard time in their synth department, and claim they are doing well in mixers and other products. Frankly, their synths are the best at a great price, and their mixers, speakers and FX bite. I went from the Quadrasynth to the Quadrasynth S4 plus for a buck and a half. It was the best thing that had ever happened to my rig.

It's too bad Alesis is dropping all their synths except the ION, which I also feel is one of the best out there. I really wanted to see a 24 bit drum sound module with expandable sounds, sequencing and upgradability. The DM pro is not much of a step ahead of my D4. But the S4 plus really gets me by.

I am already used to Alesis synths, so to me it had no secrets. If it is new you might need a little time to understand but after al the thing is very logic and easy, I can work fast with it.
The module has a nice, big window, giving a lot of useble information. Even better then the newer QS series.
The manual is good. Even got an ownmade Dutch one from the dealer.

It's a presetsynth and that job it does very well.
Differend kinds of MIDI-settings, can respond on a lot of (synth/sequencer)info if you want to.
4 samples per program. 64 voices.
There is a slot for 1 ROM-card for more specialised sounds.

OK, here we go again: the piano's are great!!!
Analog brass sounds (Quadratix!) are very impressive.
Haven't heard any other digital synth doing that so well. Basses are good, some great.
Hammondlike organs are ok, but my Triton does that a lot better. The more classic organs are good. If you need better, buy an AKAI sampler or the Sanctuary ROM-card for the slot. Same counts for the vocals.
Analog sounds are good, but there are more and better on the QS-series. (and the vintage keys card is great for that)
This is a synth that can give more balls to a set-up. It colours great with my Triton (that's clean and bright). A big plus!

Never had any problems with it. It works everywhere, anytime.

Like I said, never had any problems.
I had with my other Alesis-gear, but the Alesis-dealer took all the time they needed to help.

My Triton replaced my old Quadrasynth+. I bought this module (a demo-model) to keep some sounds my bandmembers would allmost kill me for when I no more had them (and cannot be found or programmed on the QS7). Sounds can be very easaly transported from Quadra to S4.

But it didn't stop there. Allthough the Triton is the mainmachine now, the S4 adds a lot to it. Together with the QS7 I really don't now what digital synth would make my set up sound much more better.

I use them for symfo/prog. rock from Iron Butterfly to Eric Norlander and at home for many differend styles.

very easy. i have the S4 "PLUS" version.

great effects...this unit has the wonderful "Quadra Knobs" which Alesis REGRETTABLY omitted on the QSR module. these come in VERY handy for tweaking parameters.

nice sounds. some cheesey. some very unique. add the "plug and play" Q-card/QuadraCard slot and there is much fun to be had in this old horse.

the backlight on the display is looking a bit dodgy. still readable, though (and this is a minor repair). other than that,..it is an absolute tank.

flip a coin. could be good. could be a non-exsistent. i am not quite sure were Alesis is headed. one minute they offer up the Masterlink (a GREAT device),..the next minute they introduce the INEKO (what the hell is THAT all about?). the HD24 seems a good bet, however. a real Jekyll and Hyde operation...just when you get your hopes up......enough said.

if i lost it i'd buy another. i have 7 or 8 of the Q/Quadra cards for this thing. i like the unit alot. you can probably find one for $200 or less on eBay. worth the investment, i say.

Really a very easy to use interface if you're used to menus. At least as far as multitimbral use and layout. I haven't done any programming with it. I have other boards for that.

64 notes polyphony, which is decently impressive for a module of its age. The plus model has effects algorythms drawn from the Quadraverb 2. I love Alesis effects, so that appeals to me. Alesis reverbs are fantastic, although there are more natural reverbs out there. There's a synthetic sparkle to them I adore. Lots of excellent features in this box for the low used price.

Sounds fantastic to me. I bought the unit to use for "meat-and-potatoes stuff in sequences. Everything from industrial to trancy ambient and some mildly orchestral gothic stuff. Strings are quite decent for certain moods. Great for pulsing and building tension. Decent choirs. Beautiful pads and textures. I'm not big on the drums. They're okay, but they're supposed to be from the D4. My D4 has much better drums imho. Still great value for the money. Dosen't shine anywhere but the pads and textures, but most sounds are very usable. Top value for the money

The unit works great all the time. The only problem I've had is the occaisional stuck note. I velieve this is just a problem with my Cakewalk configuration. It seems that now and then it dosen't recieve a note off. This happens maybe once a week and, as I said, I do not think it is the S4+

I've heard of people having trouble with Alesis, but they've always been very helpful with any queries I've had. Almost every manual is in .pdf format on their website, which is more than you get from most companies about discontinued units. Alesis and Kawai have been my best experiences so far.

If it were stolen, I would get another... or a QSR. I've considered getting another for portable use since it's so much bang for the buck. It does exactly what I wanted it to do. Even if I replace it later by moving up to a JV-1080 or Proteus 2000, I think there are still sounds in the S4+ I would want available. I highly recommend the Plus version over the original. Better effects and a ton more presets. Again, there are much better mods. The ten beloew is for being a FABULOUS box for the price.

The Alesis instruments can only be described as having a very American sound as opposed to a Japaneses sound- more grittier than clean! (This is not necessarily a bad thing!!!!!) I tested it against the Roland JV1080 and Yamaha MU80 both of which were it's main comptetitors at the time and bought it because I felt it offered the most for the money at the time (I was very cash strapped- as a matter of fact I still am!!!!) When I first played the origional Quadrasynthe keyboard upon it's release, I didn't think much of it's sounds or keyboard action. WIth the new versions (Quadrasynthe Plus and S4 Plus, Alesis improved the factory patches greatly. The factory sounds are quiet good. I like the fact that all the main editing pages are displayed on the one screen. In fact, I'd go so far to say that this is one of the easiest 1RU modules to get around- it is logically laid out and I hardly needed the manual to get into patch and mix editing- except for the effects! Getting around this section is very frustrating- Owning a Korg Trinity Plus for 3 years with it's easy navigation spoilt me a bit! Whilst the manual was very good in helping me get to grips with the unit, it still failed to clearly explained the schematics of the effects.

64 note polypony- up to 4 waveforms per patch reduce this down to 16 notes. Non resonant lowpass filters- by far the weakest link of an otherwise powerful synthesis system. Very good modulation routings. I wish the LFO's synced to MIDI clock. The effects are good sounding even though the selection available is a bit limiting by today's standards- no multi-tap delays, compressors, phasers etc. The distortion adds some character to sounds that obviously need to be beefed up but don't think you'll get an exact replica of a soldano here! Good expansion capabilities with the option to add 8 MB flash Ram cards for burning your own samples using the supplied soundbridge software (I never tried this) and there is a Q card preset library available. I owned the Rap/techno/dance dard which was not bad- it had some nice grungy drum kits and loops. Good MIDI control- 16 part multi-bimbral- responds to velocity and mono aftertouch and good routhings are available to other controllers- I like the 4 front panel knobs for editing and real time control of sounds- FANTASTIC! No onboard sequencer- OBVIOUSLY! If this unit had better filters and the effects routing was easier to get to grips with, I would have giving it full marks.

I like the pianos (both acoustic and electric). They are not overally realistic when soloed but they sit very nicely in a mix. The strings are very cold sounding- they couldn't compare with my Trinity or JV-1080- solo violin and brass- FORGET IT! Saxes are flutes on the other hand are very good. Guitars are average- again whilst not very realistic, they are playable- 'radio guitar' is one of the nioest acoustic guitar sounds I have ever heard! The distorted guitars are not that good but could be improved with editing. I don't like the electric or acoustic bass sounds- not enough kick. Even with added EQ, they sounded wimpy to me. The drum sounds were not bad for the time but couldn't hold up to today's instruments- get one or more of the Q cards with newer drum sounds if you want. Bell and percussive sounds are good, as are many of the pads and hybrid layers. Coming from an organ/piano background, the organ sounds on this lack balls- the shitty sounding leslie effect doesn't help here either.

The big LCD screen decided to temporarily die on me one morning 2 months after I got it- IT WAS THE SAME MORNING THAT I HAD 3 CLIENTS COMING IN TO PICK UP WORK ONE AFTER THE OTHER AND MANY OF THE SOUNDS WERE COMING FROM THIS UNIT!!!!!!! Besides that, it worked flawlessly. NOTE TO ALESIS- PLEASE REFRAIN FROM MAKING UNITS WITH EXTERNAL POWER SUPPLIES- I FUCKING HATE THEM AND SO DOES MOST (IF NOT ALL) OF THE MUSICAL FRATERNITY. As for other views concerning my opinions of these disgusting things, please read my other instrument reviews elsewhere.

I have dealt with the electric factory (Alesis distributor in Australia) quiet a few times. They have been OK.

When I brought this unit, I did not have much gear (just a Korg T3 and Boss DR660). I had used a friends JV1080 for a few months and fell in love with it but it just cost too much for me to afford it at the time. The S4PLUS is a very different sounding beast to the Korgs and Rolands out there. It complemented my T3 very nicely when layered together in a sequence. I would not use the S4PLUS as the only source of sounds in my studio if I could afford just one unit- not that it sounds bad, it simply lacks balls in some important areas- bass, drums, organs, strings, solo brass- and the effects system is hard to grasp. I sold mine, not because I didn't like it but because it was not being used enough anymore to justify keeping it- I have brought much more gear since then. I found the S4PLUS to be a fantastic instrument to layer up with the Korg and Roland gear in my studio- the Japanese instruments sound clean and polished and the Alesis sounded dirtier- A GREAT COMBINATION!! The 4 real time knobs were one of the main reasons why I brought it over the JV1080 (besides the fact that I couldn't afford the latter!) It also has an ADAT didgital output but I never used this. SOME THING I LIKE ABOUT THE S4PLUS- overall gritty sound. 4 outputs, large LCD, 4 control knobs, overall ease of use. THINGS I HATE- external power supply, non resonant lowpass filters, very course pan positions (only 7 positions), confusing effects setup, overall lack of punch in the sounds (bass). Don't let my criticisms and the fact I sold the unit put anyone off the S4PLUS (or Quadrasynthe keyboards). They are very unique sounding. When used in conjunction with other gear from different manufacturers, they really hold their own!