I still prefer these old romplers over so many modern sample libraries. The sounds are extremely playable and full of character. If only there was a VST version, I'm excited to see if Nils ever tackles this like he did with the Kawai K1.
totally agree, it is a great synth for all of those bread and butter sounds and better than vsts all day. There is a massive difference between the architecture of the K1 which is essentially vector synthesis and the Quadrasnth which has 4 sound sources with full snyth architecture simultaiously. It is closest to the ensoniq model because there is also no resonant filter, it also has an effects which is almost identical to the quadraverb 2. I do not think that a softsynth version would be in the offing as it is very complex and strange
@@jameshancox1 It would definitely be a challenge, but I strongly believe any hardware can be reverse-engineered into software. And if all else fails, a sampled kontakt library would suffice lol
Thanks for the video. I have this synthesizer and I do not understand its bad reputation, I think it is due to its milimanist design. Today I think this way of thinking has changed. It is a unique synthesizer of proven quality :)
Regarding the reputation. the reasons are: a tough for most musicians menu architecture (albeit extremely suitable for techies), and then somewhat extremely bad reliability for displays. And, because there were of a special order (not like QS6/QS8 displays), nothing helps except outboard editors.
@@antoniusriigipuha7831 man you have to admit that the menu is kinda awkward though. I've had my Alesis Quad for about three years and I still have issues with the menu set up.🤔
It beautiful and clean with a lot of sophisticated piano sounds as well as some average and quite standard ones. I have the impression the naming scheme is Alesis, not sure why that was needed. Before this i believe the only did drum trigger module so thank you for you well keyed surprise.
Gotta make an acknowledgment at 4:27. I was tempted to shout out “BLIND, BLIND, BLIND, BLIND, BLIND!” When I was 17 in ‘97, I was given the follow-up to this model, the QS6. It was my first synthesizer, the main reason why I’ve still got it as of June 2024. If I had been more discerning, I would’ve chosen a more expensive model that had better fidelity. What was it about the QS6 that only sounded a fraction as good as this, especially regarding the rock piano preset at the beginning? That sounds infinitely bigger than the grand piano sounds in the QS6.
You can't beat a bit of talking heads. The acoustic piano is not the strongest point on the quad. The EPs though are very good. From what I gather the qs6 is a scaled down version of this. I have never played one, so am not an expert. I have owned this since about 97? It is quite unique in the way the sound design works, probably the closest thing is Ensoniq. But both units have very different sounding sound roms.
@@jameshancox1 I in fact DID get it. the price was right and the sounds are great. Great live instrument. I have a Triton but it is heavy as hell and I don't like to take it out much. Plus s lot harder to navigate on the fly.
I have a Quadrasynth and for some reason I have different presets. However, there is no special qcard in the machine. And I am referring to presets, not user presets . I do have some of these however. Any idea what’s going on?
Hi! I recently acquired this same synth second hand. Some of the buttons do not work and the dials on the right keep scrolling randomly even when they aren't being moved. Have you ever run into this, and do you know how to fix it by any chance? I can't seem to locate a manual either
Yes, some of the buttons on mine don’t work either. I have tried repainting the carbon on the contacts but it made no difference. Mine has a habit of switching patches by itself. You can reinitialise it without reloading the factory settings. But in my experience that doesn’t work either Email me, I think I have the manual on my drive and I will send it to you. I also have a fair few sysex patches of sounds
@@jameshancox1Good to know about the resets and carbon contacts--thank you. If you're willing to send me a digital copy of the manual, that would be awesome! I'll send you an email. Thank you!! :D
Yes and it has after touch too, the Keybed on mine has been absolutely hammered as I have played this synth allot and I have owned it for more than 20 years
Does anyone knows why my Quadrasynth acting weird....(ONE) Sometimes a modulation drifting happen suddenly from time to time (TWO) Sometimes 4 keys can not played and rarely all 76 keys are played...strange ??
@@jameshancox1 Over the years those ''american'' vs ''japan'' synths are becoming more unstable and reliable. Maybe its the electronic's parts/software failure ??
Mine has a battery, which went dead and was replaced. Unfortunately it is soldered in, so consider adding a battery holder to make things easier. User bank is deleted without battery backup.
I still prefer these old romplers over so many modern sample libraries. The sounds are extremely playable and full of character. If only there was a VST version, I'm excited to see if Nils ever tackles this like he did with the Kawai K1.
totally agree, it is a great synth for all of those bread and butter sounds and better than vsts all day. There is a massive difference between the architecture of the K1 which is essentially vector synthesis and the Quadrasnth which has 4 sound sources with full snyth architecture simultaiously. It is closest to the ensoniq model because there is also no resonant filter, it also has an effects which is almost identical to the quadraverb 2. I do not think that a softsynth version would be in the offing as it is very complex and strange
@@jameshancox1 It would definitely be a challenge, but I strongly believe any hardware can be reverse-engineered into software. And if all else fails, a sampled kontakt library would suffice lol
Just got a mint one. £80. Oh my goodness!
Good luck, mine was very temperamental
Thanks for the video.
I have this synthesizer and I do not understand its bad reputation, I think it is due to its milimanist design. Today I think this way of thinking has changed.
It is a unique synthesizer of proven quality :)
I totally agree and may do some more videos of the memory card banks I have. It is actually very powerful and unique
@@jameshancox1 S4 user here, more ROM memory than the JV-1080. IMPRESSIVE!!!
Regarding the reputation. the reasons are: a tough for most musicians menu architecture (albeit extremely suitable for techies), and then somewhat extremely bad reliability for displays. And, because there were of a special order (not like QS6/QS8 displays), nothing helps except outboard editors.
@@antoniusriigipuha7831 man you have to admit that the menu is kinda awkward though. I've had my Alesis Quad for about three years and I still have issues with the menu set up.🤔
I didn't know this thing had a bad reputation, I've only ever heard good things about it
Great review / demo.
Thank you
Thnx. That's precisely the rarely found style to present synth capabilities ... no tremendeous ego involved, no [BW]LM grotesque.
The synths are the stars of the show not me
It beautiful and clean with a lot of sophisticated piano sounds as well as some average and quite standard ones. I have the impression the naming scheme is Alesis, not sure why that was needed. Before this i believe the only did drum trigger module so thank you for you well keyed surprise.
It sounds unlike any other synth I have heard and has some great character
It has all of the D4 samples and a built in quadraverb 2
This is one I wish I still had
You can still pick them up cheap
Very niche synth
I need to get mine out and plug it back in. It's been dormant most of its life.
give it a whirl
Gotta make an acknowledgment at 4:27. I was tempted to shout out “BLIND, BLIND, BLIND, BLIND, BLIND!”
When I was 17 in ‘97, I was given the follow-up to this model, the QS6. It was my first synthesizer, the main reason why I’ve still got it as of June 2024. If I had been more discerning, I would’ve chosen a more expensive model that had better fidelity. What was it about the QS6 that only sounded a fraction as good as this, especially regarding the rock piano preset at the beginning? That sounds infinitely bigger than the grand piano sounds in the QS6.
You can't beat a bit of talking heads.
The acoustic piano is not the strongest point on the quad. The EPs though are very good.
From what I gather the qs6 is a scaled down version of this. I have never played one, so am not an expert.
I have owned this since about 97?
It is quite unique in the way the sound design works, probably the closest thing is Ensoniq. But both units have very different sounding sound roms.
I’ve noticed that when I have tried working with fellow musicians who own Ensoniq synths and keyboards, @@jameshancox1.
I may be acquiring one later this month.
Sounds unlike anything else I have ever owned, can be picked up at bargain basement prices
@@jameshancox1 I in fact DID get it. the price was right and the sounds are great. Great live instrument. I have a Triton but it is heavy as hell and I don't like to take it out much. Plus s lot harder to navigate on the fly.
the lights behind the display are 6 tiny incandescent bulbs, 5 volt, that easily come out on a
single strip. sourcing them might be hard.
THANK U!!!
Always a pleasure
Didn’t you know that the cool vibes present was used in most Baby Einstein videos?
9:00 The Cool Vibes sounds like the Baby Einstein (series).
Some of the sounds are great and easily stand up to and beat the competitors
15:55 Another Baby Einstein Sound Patch
They must have used the quad because it’s quite distinctive
@@jameshancox1 Yep They Did Since Language Nursery (Only Used Harp Pluck And Some Kind Of Xylophone) (The Cool Vibes We’re First Used In Baby Mozart)
I have a Quadrasynth and for some reason I have different presets. However, there is no special qcard in the machine. And I am referring to presets, not user presets . I do have some of these however. Any idea what’s going on?
You need to transfer them via sysex, use midi ox
If you can't find the files email me and I'll send them to you
Thanks for doing this. Apologies if I missed it but would it be possible to hear the preset ‘Ooohtron’?
My one is arriving
Good luck
Hi! I recently acquired this same synth second hand. Some of the buttons do not work and the dials on the right keep scrolling randomly even when they aren't being moved. Have you ever run into this, and do you know how to fix it by any chance? I can't seem to locate a manual either
Yes, some of the buttons on mine don’t work either. I have tried repainting the carbon on the contacts but it made no difference.
Mine has a habit of switching patches by itself.
You can reinitialise it without reloading the factory settings. But in my experience that doesn’t work either
Email me, I think I have the manual on my drive and I will send it to you. I also have a fair few sysex patches of sounds
@@jameshancox1Good to know about the resets and carbon contacts--thank you. If you're willing to send me a digital copy of the manual, that would be awesome! I'll send you an email. Thank you!! :D
@@josephine3887 check your email
is it velocity sensitive?
Yes
Yes and it has after touch too, the Keybed on mine has been absolutely hammered as I have played this synth allot and I have owned it for more than 20 years
6:48 Language Nursery Electric Piano
It has quite a distinctive sound
Does anyone knows why my Quadrasynth acting weird....(ONE) Sometimes a modulation drifting happen suddenly from time to time (TWO) Sometimes 4 keys can not played and rarely all 76 keys are played...strange ??
I have no idea why, mine has a tendency to switch patches by itself though
@@jameshancox1 Over the years those ''american'' vs ''japan'' synths are becoming more unstable and reliable. Maybe its the electronic's parts/software failure ??
@@aw93053 Won't work , if you haven't test it onto your Alesis then its not ok
Mine has a battery, which went dead and was replaced. Unfortunately it is soldered in, so consider adding a battery holder to make things easier. User bank is deleted without battery backup.
Pacifica sounds amazing - Anyone know the history/origin/first synth to have such a mixture of "tones" / sounds? 3:33
Basically - I think there's a
1) "ah" ,
2) "uuh"
3) "strings"
4) Maybe a basey pad?
And some FX, but can't tell
Moody Flute sound amazing too - 4:53
Also Sahara Sun 6:29
The sax section sound shouldn't sound so good at 1993! 7:45
Potsticker 12:14
where can I find samples of this synth to play with my Midikeyboard?
I’m not sure if anyone has done a library yet, sorry
0:04 alguien save como se llama esa cancion del principio ? o los acordes que toca
Hi sorry, I just made it up to fit the sound
2:45 D4 Power Kit from Baby Einstein