Its been confirmed that its now discontinued. So 
I wonder if Moog could in someway license the design for a new poly using the chips and boards from the A6 to save on costs??
Thoughts??
Havenāt they been saying d/cāed for years? Is there a new source? I tried a quick google, and the product page @ Alesis.com is still there?
A few people on KSS have had their orders cancelled..
And these rumors have been re-surfacing for the last five years.
Thatās shocking news, but weāve heard it before. However, neither Musicianās Friend, Musicians Buy, nor Sweetwater have any Andromedas in stock, so maybe thereās truth to the tale.
I donāt think another analog polyphonic synthesizer currently exists that could fill the spot. But the next natural question is, which poly synth will step in to take first place? I say the Prophet '08, perhaps coupled with a Pā08 Desktop or a Tetra, or maybe the Poly Evolver Keyboard coupled woth a PEK rack. In my opinion, the PEK is one of the best kept secrets in the synthesizer world. It really is an under-rated four-oscillator monster that is often written off because two of its oscillators are digital.
These instruments are pricey alternatives, but there arenāt many analog poly synths out there. The loss of the Andromeda certainly leaves a vacuum.
If Moog finally produces a poly synth merely because it buys the Andromeda design, then Iāll be very disappointed with Moog. At this late date in their history, canāt they produce their own design?
Alesis has been making Andromedas in batches since production started - they make a batch, sell all of them, and then wait & make another batch several months later. Sweetwater, MF and Nova all have units on order, and there should be some available in 2 - 3 months. The major problem I have with Alesis is that they do not respond to emails or inquiries regarding the Andy. A few weeks ago, I sent emails to Dave Smith and Alesis regarding their poly synths - Dave Smith answered the same day, and I never did hear back from Alesis. With Alesis providing virtually no customer support, I decided to go with the Prophet. I like the fact that the Prophet is U.S. made, and has excellent customer support. I have owned both machines, and each one is great, but while the Andy may be a deeper synth, there is no substitute for great support & customer service - something Alesis simply does not provide. Ideally, I would like to own one of each, and someday I will. I also want to see Moog make a poly, but I want them to keep the bloodline pure & use only Moog-based components.
Superd2112 -
I couldnāt agree with you more!
This is not a bad idea at all. I used to have an Andy, itās got a sound of itsā own and at the same time I still think it can approximate the vintage analogs. The āMoog factorā in those oscillators is pretty big (IIRC, theyāre based on Moog Modular oscs), and that comes from a Model D ownerā¦ An 8-voice multitimbral āMoogdromedaā focusing on the āMoogishā side of the sound would work well, IMHO. Less features, smaller size aāla the Pā08, wooden end caps, all knobs Moog style - I might just buy that. I never understood why Alesis never developed the concept, a slimmed down 8-voice Andromeda and a rack might have worked very wellā¦
This may also be the only way for Moog to release a poly synth that wonāt cost an arm and a leg.
A rackmount eight voice A6 was in the works. Alesis dropped development of Andromeda derivatives after they were acquired by Numark. Many people left the company and there are very few of the A6 team still working at Alesis. That left an āorphanedā product that continues to be manufactured ten years later.
As for a Moog polyphonic made from A6 chipsā¦ Iād welcome the ASO chips (oscillators) but not the ASF chips (filters). The moog filter in the A6 is a bit lacking although the oberheim filter is pretty good. Plus Iād rather have better sounding VCAs - the A6 VCAs are a little too sterile.
The old Oberheim polysynths had OTA VCAs that distorted wonderfully. SEM, OB-X, and OB-SX had OTA VCAs and voice audio summers. OB-Xa had OTA VCAs but a CEM3360 for the voice summer. The OTAs were pushed hard enough that they operated in non-linear land which introduces distortion - that distinct Oberheim creaminess. When the OB-8 replaced the OTAs with ultralinear CEM3360 VCAs, Tom Oberheim thought something had been lost. Few would argue with him.
Iād have bought two such rackmounts in a heartbeatā¦
True dat - the filters on the Andy are trying to be everything. The 12 dB filter was nice, but the 24 dB could be improved. Perhaps the existing chips could be tweaked..?
Yep, the OB-8 is a bitā¦ āpoliteā compared to earlier Obies, even my OB-Xa was a bit on te sweet side. We have a Two-Voice, itās absolutely incredible.
I donāt think the Andromeda filters are that bad. There was a guy on vintagesynth.com that did a Model D/Andromeda side by side comparison and it was surprising how close the two can actually sound at times. If I can find the link Iāll post it here.
I wonder why that evil Numark company has never hired someone of the software developers back (or a new one) to make a new OS.. After all they have milked the A6 for long enough, right? It pisses me off when I see products like the Virus series, repackaged over and over again and everyone goes nuts when a new repackaged Virus comes out. Access however have been listening to their customers and they have provided them with plenty of new features and fixes. Why not Numark? I donāt understand how is it THAT difficult to do this.
Numark committed the unpardonable sin of allowing a classic analog synthesizer to die before it had been perfected. I gladly would have handed over $3,000 for an Andromeda IF the company had corrected the instrumentās problems and provided the sort of service that DSI provides.
Yeah!!
I had an A6, and mine became more crazy and buggy as time went on. There was nothing that factory resets or OS updates could fix. So I had to trade it back and got a V-Synth XT which admittedly is different but extremely cool nonetheless.
I wish someone would buy the Andromeda design and make it work.
The other problem is that if/when Alesis stuff goes down, thereās very little that can be done to fix it. Iāve seen a graveyard of QS synthās sitting idle in my local music storeās basement because they canāt get parts from Alesis. Andā¦ Iāve seen many Ions, Fusions, and Microns new in the store with weird problemsā¦ self editing pots, displays that are missing rows of pixels, etc.
I think their synth designs are great, but the quality control and aftermarket support is not good.
For what its worth, I liked the 24db lowpass in the A6. If moog ( or even the big 3 with their larger budgets) bought the design and worked on it, I think it could be incredible. I own a Prophet '08, and would still shill out $3k for a synth that could do what the A6 does, or did.
Even though Iāve been a harsh critic of the Andromeda/Alesis situation, nevertheless I say, āFix it!ā Let someone buy the design, purge all the bugs, and offer a rejuvenated instrument with a fresh face and the sort of service that DSI offers. Without the Andromeda, the analog polysynth world has a vacuum. We need something massive and highly sophisticated, something to strive for after weāve mastered the other instruments.
Iām thrilled with the Prophet '08, but Iād also love to go beyond it, to tackle a monster of a synth with a great big sound and even a large size. Sighā¦ Sorry, guys, I was just dreaming out loud.
Before the OB-8 take too harsh a drubbing here, opinions do vary 
I had my first OB-8 twenty years ago, sold it and regretted it. Nothing ever took its place for āthatā sound, and I tried a LOT of instruments, including a very nicely functioning 6-voice OBMx, one of the first. Bought an OB-Xa on the recommendation of a friend, honestly found it unremarkable and sold it with no regrets. Have since re-bought the OB-8, and am delighted. I understand the intrinsic differences between the instruments, but again, feel the OB-8 does a very nice, wide range of useful and fun things. This one is a rev B5, factory MIDI and very stable. It lives with a Jupiter-8, a Memorymoog and a PolyEvolver (rack), holds its own and represents the Oberheim dynasty nicely, here. Peace to those who may disagreeā¦back on topic, I had an Andromeda also, again early on, and thought it was great. If a way can be found to license the best parts of that technology into an affordable Moog polysynth, then Iād like to see it - with wood, lights, brushed aluminum and all the trimmings that Moog has to offer
Vince, your post illustrates something that took me far too long to learn - no two analogs sound the same, and seldom can one be substituted for another. I think if anyone out there wants or misses the Andromeda, you should make every effort to acquire one. I just purchased a Prophet '08, and I thought it would stop me from missing the Andromeda I sold a few years ago, but I was wrong. The Prophet is a GREAT synth, and it has an irreplaceable sound all itās own, but it is not a substitute for the Andy - nothing is. Same thing goes for my Phatty. When I sold my Andromeda, I also sold my Voyager EB (I was in between jobs, and I was not willing to part with any of my basses) and recently I purchased a Phatty S-II thinking it would take the place of the Voyager - I was wrong again! The LP has the overdrive circuit I love, but I still miss the 3rd oscillator and deeper mod section of the EB. An Andy-based Moog poly would be cool, and while it would not replace the Andy, it would be a unique & new synth on itās own. Iāll never sell any of my synths again, and after thinking I was all done, I still need to get an Andy and a Voyager!
You are so right superd2112. No two analog synths are the same. In fact, I have also found very subtle differences between the same model of the same instrument. No so much in sound, but playability. For example, each of my Andys and Voyagers play just a little bit different from each other. Also, each of them has subtle differences in their keybeds, feel of the pots, etc. Mind you, the differences are small, but I can definitely attest to each having their own character and feel.
I too have learned not to sell anything unless I know that I do not want that particular one anymore. I sold off my first Andy thinking that I would not use itās power. I figured that I could always get one again. And in fact, I did - two actually, but while each of them is awesome functionally, that first one really had a smooth and satiny keybed. I have never touched another like it again.
Michaelā¦
Well, I thought Alesis was simply taking their time making another run of Andromedas, but after attempting to hunt one down, I see that most of the dealers have either listed it as discontinued, or have removed it entirely from their sites, and as usual, Alesis will not respond to any of my emails requesting info about the beast. If it really has been discontinued, then indeed it is a sad day for analog synth lovers everywhere. Given the cost of development and production, I doubt we will ever see another poly analog from any maker with the sound, power and depth of the mighty Andromeda, and almost certainly not at a price anywhere near what the Andy sold for, even if such a monster could be produced. It appears my quest for a well cared for used Andy has begunā¦ 
Sometimes buying used has its advantages: any software or hardware problems should have manifested themselves and be made known to buyers.
Good luck!
A synth well worth it!