Alesis QS8.2 88-Key Synthesizer Keyboard

88-key, fully weighted hammer-action keyboard. 64-voice polyphony.

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customer reviews

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71 People rated this product : * * * * * * * * * * 7 out of 10

4 People wrote reviews

* * * * * * * * * * 5 out of 10

"Alesis QS8.2 no longer meets the reliability test of the original QS8."

Feature:
It came with a sustain pedal. I purchased several PCMCIA cards for storing my sounds all in one place, for ease of changing sounds in a program. However, Alesis has removed one of the PCMCIA slots from the 8.2 making it harder to copy from card to card. Now you have to dump to keyboard and then reload back to a different card.

Quality:
I purchased this keyboard based on the reliability and durability of my original QS8. I have an intermittent problems with it locking up, the display showing some sort of heiroglypics and then resulting in a pink noise. This is a problem when playing live settings and there are no other instruments to cover for you. I have found out that Alesis was purchased by a company named Numark; it appears the quality is no longer the same.

Value:
I would never purchase another Alesis product based on my experience with this. It's worth it to pay more for a product and have piece of mind that it will perform when needed.

Desirability:
I think the silver color looks cheap compared to the original QS8 which was a semi-gloss black.

Sound:
I chose this product because I previously owned an original QS8 for over 10 years. I loved the sounds and the touch of the keyboard. Nice bright pianos.

Ease of Use:
Typical of most keyboards, you have to study the manual. The manual for the 8.2 was much easier to understand than the one I previously had with the original QS8.

Support:
I had to send my keyboard in for repair in January, 2007 (only 6 months old) for locking up (see above quality). They said they couldn't find anything wrong with it! (It was locked when it left my home.) It took 5 1/2 weeks turnaround to get my keyboard back and it was scratched, dented and had something spilled onit when it was returned. I made at least 15 phone calls to customer service trying to find out the status. Customer service would never return my phone calls. It was a nightmare dealing with them. Just last weekend, it locked up again while playing at church and I had to reset it to get it back on while the other instruments covered for me. This would be an embarrassment if I am the only instrument playing when this happens. I cannot trust this keyboard in a live setting any more and have purchased a Yamaha to replace it. It's still under warranty, but the chance of getting this intermittent problem fixed before it runs out is probably impossible. I sent an email to Tech support, but as I expected, they have not responded.

Overall:
I had to purchase another keyboard due to the unreliability of the QS8.2. I purchased an Yamaha S08 for a replacement. I wish I had known that Alesis was no longer the same company I purchased my original QS8 from before I bought the 8.2.

Submitted: 6/12/2007

Style of Music: rock

* * * * * * * * * * 8 out of 10

Feature:
The synth came with a damper pedal. Adequate. The most useful features to me are the great number of onboard sounds, as well as the expandability with cards. So far, the least useful has been the front panel sliders. I was hoping to be able to shape the sound faster and easier. Maybe it will just take some getting used to.

Quality:
The quality is great. Very well made. I was surprised at how heavy the synth was, but pleased as well. Nice keybed, nice weighted synth action.

Value:
Best in it's category. Tried everything. Yamaha S03, Korg TR, and everything in between. For me, this is the best value.

Desirability:
It is nice looking, but I think the silver exterior is starting to be dated.

Sound:
There are many different types of pianos, one that will certainly fit into the type of music you are making. The strings compare with Korg. With as many synth sounds as are on board, I'm suprised that I haven't really found a good, basic synth sound that will fit well into rock music.

Ease of Use:
This is one section that is the best. The synth is so easy to play, and change sounds. Very well laid out.

Support:
Not necessary

Overall:
I think I will keep this for my primary piano keyboard. With people like Keith Emerson(owns a QS8.0, and the Ray Manzarek(owns a QS8.2, I feel like it was at least worth a try. It is not the best on the market, but for the price, the piano's are stunning and varied.

Submitted: 4/5/2006

Style of Music: Rock

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About This Product!
Description
Docs, Multimedia
Alesis introduced the QS8 in 1996, and shattered the price barrier for professional 88-note keyboards. Normal working musicians - and those just aspiring to work more - could suddenly afford a no-compromise instrument for a very compromising price, and this tradition continues with the QS6.2 and QS8.2.

Featuring serious sounds for serious players, the QS synths are loaded with stunning pianos and keyboards, a soup-to-nuts collection of orchestral instruments, killer drum and percussion kits, and enough amazing synth textures, fat basses, and sizzling leads to keep dance musicians and remixers grooving into the next time zone. A deep programmable synth architecture and four-bus effects processor add the finishing touches. And a wide variety of fresh samples are available from our extensive QCard library.

Whether you need an 88-note workhorse or a do-it-all synth, the QS8.2 and QS6.2 keep your fingers flying for a down-to-earth price.

Features
True 64-voice polyphony

QS8.2 features an 88-key, fully weighted hammer-action keyboard with velocity and release velocity. QS6.2 has a 61-key synth-action keyboard with velocity, release velocity, and aftertouch

16MB of internal sound ROM (640 programs, 500 multi-timbral mixes) including Alesis' acclaimed Stereo Grand Piano sound

QCard expansion slot for adding 8MB of new samples and programs from the comprehensive QCard library

Onboard 4-bus multieffects with reverb, chorus, distortion, EQ, delay, rotary speaker simulation, and more

4 edit/control sliders, pitch and mod wheels. 2 assignable pedal inputs plus sustain pedal input

Technical Info

Synthesis Method: QS Composite Synthesis. 16-bit linear 48kHz sample ROM with lowpass filter.

Polyphony and parts: 64 voices, each with sweepable lowpass filter, 3 envelope generators, 3 LFOs, programmable effects send and QS Modulation Matrix, dynamic voice allocation. 16-part multi-timbral (64-part multi-timbral across 16 channels in QS Mix Mode)

Audio section: Alesis 24-bit stereo DAC with 128x oversampling delta-sigma converter

Waveform memory: 16MB, expandable to 24MB via PCMCIA expansion card

Effects: QS Parallel Matrix Effects (4 independent stereo multi-effect processing busses)

Sound Locations: Program mode: 512 preset, 128 user. Mix mode: 400 preset, 100 user

Keyboard: 88 hammer-action weighted keys with velocity and release velocity

Controllers: 4 control sliders. Programmable pitch and modulation wheels, and foot pedals

Audio outputs: Stereo L/R (1/4 in.), headphone (1/4 in.)
Other: Assignable aux pedal, sustain pedal. MIDI in, out, and thru.
Expansion: Type I PCMCIA slot, compatible with QCards, SRAM and flash cards (up to 8MB) with 120ns access time or faster

Power: Internal transformer

Dimensions (H x W x D): 4.3 x 50.5 x 13.5 in. (110 x 1283 x 343 mm)

Weight: 48.0 lbs. (21.8 kg)

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