alesis andromeda opinions

thebedroom · Post by **thebedroom** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 11:51 pm

I currently own the voyager ae and love it but have been considering purchasing an alesis andromeda for my analog polysynth. I have looked at the dave smith poly evolver as well but those extra twelve voices would be really nice. I know some peeps around here have the andromeda. What do you think? I have read the reviews at sonic state and other places but i really trust the opinions of the users on this forum. There are a great bunch of ears here with taste and class so let it rip, good and bad.

thanks in advance

TonyR · Post by **TonyR** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 3:35 am

alesis suck , no matter what they make it will just depreciate 60% a year like the rest of their plastic garbage . They should stick to their ADAT's and SR-16 drum machines and stay lost in 1994 .
HA HA HA HA HA

sheesh you could buy a jupiter 8 and a couple other decent poly synths that have some actual depth to their sound and still have change left over for the price of that beastly andromeda.

Just my opinion tho and ive had large amounts of alcohol tonight.

KEEP TWEAKIN THOSE KNOBS SON

Demokid · Post by **Demokid** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 5:20 am

Hi!

I own an Andromeda and a few other classic vintage polyphonic’s like Prophet~5, Jupiter-8, and OB-8. The Andromeda is a really complex synthesizer and it takes awhile to learn how to program it. I must say I was a bit disappointed at first, one hour trial in a music store is not enough to get a good sense what it can do and the presets suck. It took me about 6 month of before I really started to like it. Now I learn new things every time I play with it… The Andromeda grows with time and that’s a good thing.

The Andromeda sounds really analogue, warm and deep, especially if you turn off temp and background tune. It’s an analogue sizer and they should drift a bit in tune.

It doesn’t beat the Prophet~5 or OB-8 in analogue warmth but it can beat the JP8 and it definitive beat all VA sizers out there.

Most people who say the Andromeda sucks don’t own one and haven’t really programmed it or they own VA sizers and complain it is unstable (again this is good since it’s analogue). Another good thing with the Andromeda is that it is new… Most classic is over 20 years old and the chips have an average lifetime of around 20 years. If you buy an old vintage polyphonic then be prepared to pay a lot of money in repair. My JP8 visited the doctor last year and that set me back €320 and now my OB-8 is in for service.

I made a few demo sounds for another sizer list I’m in. They didn’t know that sizer made the sounds. They guest OB-8, Prophet~5, even Moog.

The sounds are recorded without any effects.
http://hem.bredband.net/maggla2/Samples/xSynthBrass.mp3 Brass
http://hem.bredband.net/maggla2/Samples ... _Sweep.mp3Sweep
http://hem.bredband.net/maggla2/Samples/XSynth_Bass.mp3Bass
http://hem.bredband.net/maggla2/Samples ... _Blipp.mp3Blipp

Regards
Demokid

moogish · Post by **moogish** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 6:45 am

Wow really nice sounds from the A6. My friend has an A6 and I think it sounds good. It’s not a moog but 16 voices with 2 vco, 2 vcf, 3 lfo, 3 envelopes and a lot of modulation possibilities still are a great thing.

It has some bugs but so does the OB8, Memorymoog and so on.

I think it is a great buy especially when the price has dropped.

\\Moogish

ikazlar · Post by **ikazlar** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 5:16 am

Hi,

I have an Andromeda and it is just amazing. You will probably need 400 years to exhaust all its sonic possibilities. It is easily the synthesizer with the most depth. With clever programming it can beat even SCIs or Moogs. I have created amazing solos, amazing pads, amazing basses. It can be done. That's my opinion.

MC · Post by MC » Mon Feb 21, 2005 10:41 am

I have both the Andromeda and Voyager. They are a great combination. The Andromeda is the most versatile synth in my arsenal and the Voyager gets those fat lead sounds that go beyond the Andromeda. I have gotten many sounds on the A6; moog, oberheim, roland, CS-80-type poly sounds, pads, horns, FX, strings as well as sounds no other polysynth could pull off. If you like deep programming with an extensive modulation matrix, the Andromeda will keep you happy for years.

MW · Post by MW » Mon Feb 21, 2005 6:04 pm

I've got an Andromeda and here's my two cents:

If you are into analog synthesis and programming your own sounds, the Andromeda is a synth that will keep you happily busy for YEARS. The mod matrix is mind-boggling. It is very deep and very complex. And very very flexible.

Someone said that the Andromeda is "like a polyphonic modular." I'd have to agree.

Sadly, the factory sounds are lousy and if you only listen to them, you'll probably regret your purchase. But if you use them as jumping off points, you can create some truly astonishing sounds. Some of my personal faves are strings/pads with enough high-pass sizzle to make a Prophet 5 weep with envy.

Head to head against something like a Virus, the Andromeda sounds incredibly warm and lush. Against a Voyager, it's not nearly as fat or brash, but it sure tries.

Plus, it's got that wonderful ribbon controller. Just like a CS-80. Fun? Oh yeah.

Like another poster said, right out of the box, the Andromeda may not blow your socks off. But if you invest the time programming it, you'll discover what an amazing synth it is and you'll be rewarded with some of the lushest (or alternatively, weirdest) analog sounds you can imagine.

Hope this helps.

thebedroom · Post by **thebedroom** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 7:01 pm

Thanks again for all your opinions, I will probably take the plunge for an A6 soon. If anyone else has any opinions please feel free to keep adding, you can never hear too much....

cheers

Demokid · Post by **Demokid** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 9:09 am

If you are interested in buying an Andromed then visit this web page. The web page contains a lot of info and a great mailing list that you can subscribe to.

http://www.wohmart.com/a6/

Kind regards
Demokid

suthnear · Post by **suthnear** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:09 am

I don't own one, but I had one in my studio for over a month and I was very sad when I had to give it back. It's an incredibly deep synth and it will definitely reward you if you're prepared to put the time into learning how to use it properly. If you're not, though, you should probably avoid it.

Lengai · Post by **Lengai** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 6:18 pm

thebedroom,

I was looking at getting an A6 until the Voyager came out, otherwise I would have bought one. I know a lot of people don't like Alesis products, but the A6 is a nice synth.

You mentioned the Dave Smith Polyevolver and that it has less voices than the A6. I'm not sure what the A6 goes for now, but if it's still close to 3K, you could get 2 Polyevolvers and an Evolver and chain them together for 9 voices and control them with the Evolver. They were designed to be chained together. If you go to Dave Smith's website and click the news link, you'll see his SCI T8 chained to 5 Evolvers! The Polyevolver is a very sweet synth so don't let the lack of voices steer you away - much like the Voyager.

Demokid · Post by **Demokid** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 4:28 am

I love the Sequential sound, in fact my Prophet~5 is my favourite polysizer. I’m thinking of buying the Polyevolver Keyboard when it is out. Never tried an Evolver but with two Prophet~5 VCO’s, two Prophet~VS DCO and two analogue filters it must sound great.
The reason why I want the keyboard version is because I don’t like rack sizers. I think they are harder to program since they often lacks the knobs. I also find it nicer to play the sizer keyboard when turning knobs.

Regards
Demokid

Boeing 737-400 · Post by **Boeing 737-400** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 7:08 am

Demokid wrote:I love the Sequential sound, in fact my Prophet~5 is my favourite polysizer. I’m thinking of buying the Polyevolver Keyboard when it is out. Never tried an Evolver but with two Prophet~5 VCO’s, two Prophet~VS DCO and two analogue filters it must sound great.
The reason why I want the keyboard version is because I don’t like rack sizers. I think they are harder to program since they often lacks the knobs. I also find it nicer to play the sizer keyboard when turning knobs.

Regards
Demokid

Totally agree with you!

ikazlar · Post by **ikazlar** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 12:54 pm

Sadly, the factory sounds are lousy and if you only listen to them, you'll probably regret your purchase. But if you use them as jumping off points, you can create some truly astonishing sounds. Some of my personal faves are strings/pads with enough high-pass sizzle to make a Prophet 5 weep with envy.

90% of the presets are indeed lousy - it could certainly benefit from a set of sounds by European producers.

This high pass sizzle - actually I can't decide which filter I love most - when you sweep filter 1 (the Oberheim SEM filter) from the stratosphere it sends shivers everywhere...

markorbit · Post by **markorbit** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 9:26 pm

Hmmm.... my problem is... I have an Andromeda which is fairly new and I have never really taken to it. There's something about the sound I don't like and I thought the filters sounded weak and the whole thing a bit on the flappy side. I agree most of the presets suck apart from a couple. From experience I'll probably never acclimatise to it but then I read posts like the above... I was seriously thinking of selling.

Given the choice again though - I would spend my dosh elsewhere than on an A6. Virus TI perhaps. I have a couple of Matrix 1000s and some old big polys.

Moog Music Forum

alesis andromeda opinions

alesis andromeda opinions

The Andromeda is a great synth

Andromeda