Qcards with quadrasynth

B

BIOchip

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I know they work with he qs series but does an alesis quadrasynth take qcards as well? I just wanted to make sure because I was considering getting the quadrasynth if i could upgrade it with the euro dance qcard.

Anyone know?
 
You gotta check the specs, I know it takes some of the certain cards, but not all of them. I got a QS7.1 and have 5 cards for it that work fine. Good board for the money, I keep wanting to sale the keyboard and get a rack to save space.
 
actually a better question is whats the difference between the quadrasynth, the qs6.1, and the qs6.2?

I know the quadrasynth has less sliders and such compared to the the others but what else is different? Can someone clarify this for me?
 
BIOchip said:
actually a better question is whats the difference between the quadrasynth, the qs6.1, and the qs6.2?

I know the quadrasynth has less sliders and such compared to the the others but what else is different? Can someone clarify this for me?
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You left out the qs6.0 which came after the original Quadrasynth. All Quadrasynth successors share the same basic engine, with the "QS" series having a better piano (the "Bosendorfer Stereo Grand"), the user and preset patches were re-written, some QS boards take two cards and some only take one. That's about it.

The .2 revision isn't actually a revision at all, but a strip-down. Other than the new silver paint job, they left off a lot of hardware ports on the back and there's only 1 QCard slot. Otherwise I like my QS8.2 for bread+butter gigging with the Jazz Piano, Vintage Keys, and Vintage Synth QCards. The piano samples on the Jazz and Classical QCards are much better than the stock piano on the QS. They are very usable.

Before the 6.0 came out, there was the Quadrasynth Plus. This expanded the memory from 16 to 24MB by putting the Bosendorfer Grand 8MB multisample in there as stock. The S4 was the rackmount version.
 
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alright thanks... Now can anyone give me a good comparison as to what the main differences are between the quadrasynth, quadrasynth plus, qs6.1, and qs6.2?
 
BIOchip said:
alright thanks... Now can anyone give me a good comparison as to what the main differences are between the quadrasynth, quadrasynth plus, qs6.1, and qs6.2?
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I thought I had already done that (above) - and you keep leaving out the QS6(.0). But if you need to know precise details, here is my chart showing the specs of the entire Quadrasynth line. I researched this pretty carefully, so if I'm wrong about anything, please let me know.


qschart.jpg
 
6.2 runs at 24 bit. i'd say that more than makes up for not having an ADAT out for your timpani noises and harps.
 
oh well thats true (though two card slots would be nice... have one for my own samples and sounds then one for the euro dance qcard). so how hard is it to find the qs6.2 at a price around $400? And how about a good price for the qs6.1? You'd almost think they would have made the qs6.2 less due to the fact it was stripped of alot of the goodies and hardware.
 
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BIOchip said:
wow almost seems to me the qs6.1 is better the the qs6.2... why is this?
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Like I said before, the x.2 series was not a real upgrade but a downgrade of sorts. The higher bit resolution is a plus (especially for the FX section), however the original samples are still 16bit/44.1kHz, so it shouldn't make too much of a difference there. Everything else is stripped down hardware (less ports). Also note they didn't make a 76-key version this time around (no QS7.2).

It seems to me Alesis only released this upgrade to keep continuing QS customers happy with new QS product and warranty (instead of taking a chance buying used 6.1 off eBay).... while they were putting R&D into new products like the ION, Micron, and Fusion. Also, QS continues to be a cash cow for them, continuously outselling IONs, Microns, and Fusions!

I would personally recommend 6.1 over 6.2 if these extra hardware goodies mean anything to you. But if you are basically happy with the sounds, only need one card slot, and don't intend on using Soundbridge to import samples to PCMCIA cards, then 6.2 will work just fine. I think 6.1 can usually be had for under $400, about the same for 6.2 because it's newer even though less full-featured.

One thing I can say about the 88-note QS boards is that they are still the most compact 88-key full-blown synth (i.e. not just a digital piano). Not exactly light, but it's pretty hard to find any 88-key hammer action full-blown synth for under 50 lbs. It is smaller from front-to-back and side-to-side than Motif, Fantom, Triton, etc. largely because the pitchbend wheels are above, not to the left of the keys. The Motif is especially oversized for what it is (why are keyboards getting bigger not smaller? to impress?). Please don't say it's because of more memory, sequencer, and features. Most of that is in the software. The contents of a Motif could easily fit into a QS sized casing if they really bothered to try.
 
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well it seems to me they never really had a problem with the qs series either. Its based off their first synths, the quadra synths, and those left quite an impression. But their other products such as the ion. the micron, the fusion, and the a6 andromeda have had all kinds of bugs due to the fact that alesis released them way to early before thouroughly testing them which is why they lost so many fans. It seems the Ion has been fixed for the most part (it used to ghost on people) and the fusion is just all out bug-ridden right now.

...While qs is just stable as can be...

Anyway I suppose instead of an adat computer interface the Qs6.2 uses just midi/usb? And how much of a difference is made between 16-bit and 24-bit?
 
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BIOchip said:
Anyway I suppose instead of an adat computer interface the Qs6.2 uses just midi/usb?
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There is only MIDI. No USB.

BIOchip said:
And how much of a difference is made between 16-bit and 24-bit?
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This was already elaborated on quite extensively in previous posts. Please re-read.
 
Excuse my ignorance chipcurtis.

Anyway I know there is no usb but i mean would a midi usb interface work? Or how do you import samples into it? Because quite honestly Im trying to figure out what these things are capable of before buying one. People say they are synths but arnt they actually just romplers? I mean there really isnt any patch editing on it is there? I know there is no sequencer on it. So is there any way to edit it without a computer?

I apologize for my many questions but I have no experiance with romplers and little experiance with samplers. All i ever worked with was VA synths but I have people telling me that two VA's arnt all that good of a combination.

Ok all I know is I need somthing that can put out some good piano's, strings, pads, leads, maby some drum sounds, and has a good modulation matrix for realtime tweaking. I would like a nice sequencer but from what I hear these are only capable of sequencing by making one on the program freeloader and dumping them onto a flashcard. And I need somthing under or around $400

Just explain to me if the QS6.2 what im looking for or should I look elsewhere?
 
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BIOchip said:
Excuse my ignorance chipcurtis.

Anyway I know there is no usb but i mean would a midi usb interface work? Or how do you import samples into it? Because quite honestly Im trying to figure out what these things are capable of before buying one. People say they are synths but arnt they actually just romplers? I mean there really isnt any patch editing on it is there? I know there is no sequencer on it. So is there any way to edit it without a computer?

I apologize for my many questions but I have no experiance with romplers and little experiance with samplers. All i ever worked with was VA synths but I have people telling me that two VA's arnt all that good of a combination.

Ok all I know is I need somthing that can put out some good piano's, strings, pads, leads, maby some drum sounds, and has a good modulation matrix for realtime tweaking. I would like a nice sequencer but from what I hear these are only capable of sequencing by making one on the program freeloader and dumping them onto a flashcard. And I need somthing under or around $400

Just explain to me if the QS6.2 what im looking for or should I look elsewhere?
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from what u are saying you want the 6.1 series. You can do a few thing with that I can't talk about on here, but it will do everything you need it to do. Realtime tweaking is a little odd at first but happens real fast. But what do you plan on using for a external sequencer?
 
bhunt said:
from what u are saying you want the 6.1 series. You can do a few thing with that I can't talk about on here, but it will do everything you need it to do. Realtime tweaking is a little odd at first but happens real fast. But what do you plan on using for a external sequencer?
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I was hopeing it would have a sequencer option in the freeloader program. Again iv read up that you can do the sequences on there and dump it onto your flash drive. But I suppose all the fancy sequencing will be done on the korg emx-1 when I play. I just need somthing with good pads. I figure I could get the qs6.2 (or qs6.1) and throw in a eurodance card. And for piano use the present piano in the board seeing how that is supposed to be great quality.

I guess when it comes down to it I dont need a sequencer for it. Just the best quality sounding pads, strings, pianos, leads, etc, I can get from somthing for under $400 to throw in with an Ion and an electribe emx-1. just to give my setup that extra bang.
 
Yes you can use a USB/MIDI interface, just like you can with any MIDI based synth. Samples are imported via MIDI (very slow) or via the serial port on the 6.1 (much faster).

It's a synth. Okay, ROMpler if you insist. But a ROMpler is still a synth, another name for them is "Sample + Synthesis" keyboards. They output samples but those samples are then run thru filters, LFOs, etc. just like any synth. The QS are lacking a resonant filter, though.

Yes you can edit patches and mixes (combinations) right on the synth itself. A computer patch editor could ease the pain a bit, but I've done all my editing right on the control panel, it's not that hard. You also got 4 programmable sliders that can be used for some live realtime tweaking.

I'd use an external sequencer and not bother with the burning to card option. It's a pain in the ass quite frankly. You have to create a MID file (most sequencers will export to this format) and then you burn the MID file to a PCMCIA card. But you CANNOT alter the sequence itself, once it's burned it's burned.
 
ah thanks thats all i needed to know. So you can edit it like a va or anything else but you just dont get the sequencer. I suppose Ill go for to qs6.2 for the 24bit resolution seeing as its appears to be a big plus and just throw in the euro card. Thanks everyone!
 
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BIOchip said:
ah thanks thats all i needed to know. So you can edit it like a va or anything else but you just dont get the sequencer.
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you can edit it like any other rompler. the qs 6.2 that i've used wasn't particularly useful for much except medium quality acoustic tones - it's certainly not nearly as useful as a roland XP30, or even something like a trinity.

if you can find an especially good deal on it, i'm sure it would be fine - but i don't see the superority over any other dime a dozen mid and late 90s technology rompler, even something like the s03.
 
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