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 Forum index » Instruments and Equipment » Alesis Andromeda
A6 Newbie
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beaker



Joined: Apr 01, 2007
Posts: 7
Location: USA

PostPosted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 2:14 pm    Post subject: A6 Newbie Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I'm a newbie to this forum. I recently purchased an A6 and I'm just getting started with it. What a beast!! Twisted Evil I though my Mini was good, but I'm getting as much punch and snap out of my bass patches as I ever got with the Moog. I had borrowed an A6 from a friend back in 2000, flicked through the presets and decided it wasn't for me. I should have started tweaking it back then to see what it could really do. I could have saved myself 7 years of dealing with temperamental old gear.

Anyway, just venting my enthusiasm. My wife doesn't quite understand. I figured someone here would. Smile

Also, does anyone know if the A6 is going out of production? I just wondered since zzounds is selling them for $2699, which is somewhat of a price drop (I got mine from them).
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jonkull



Joined: Sep 22, 2006
Posts: 164
Location: Burbank, CA

PostPosted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 3:36 pm    Post subject: Re: A6 Newbie Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Beaker wrote:
I'm a newbie to this forum. I recently purchased an A6 and I'm just getting started with it. What a beast!! Twisted Evil I though my Mini was good, but I'm getting as much punch and snap out of my bass patches as I ever got with the Moog. I had borrowed an A6 from a friend back in 2000, flicked through the presets and decided it wasn't for me. I should have started tweaking it back then to see what it could really do. I could have saved myself 7 years of dealing with temperamental old gear.

Anyway, just venting my enthusiasm. My wife doesn't quite understand. I figured someone here would. Smile

Also, does anyone know if the A6 is going out of production? I just wondered since zzounds is selling them for $2699, which is somewhat of a price drop (I got mine from them).


I got mine last week My wife didn't understand either. Wink I hate the presets. I think Alesis was trying too hard to make it sound like a Virus. I would have programmed it full of ambient and vintage patches but that's just me and I want to be Tomita not techno.

I don't know if they're out of production. I know Alesis went bankrupt and was taken over by Numark so they weren't being produced for a while but I think they're shipping new ones now (with the tuning issues fixed). At least that's what I was told when I ordered mine.
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beaker



Joined: Apr 01, 2007
Posts: 7
Location: USA

PostPosted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 7:48 pm    Post subject: Re: A6 Newbie Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

jonkull wrote:
I got mine last week My wife didn't understand either. Wink I hate the presets. I think Alesis was trying too hard to make it sound like a Virus. I would have programmed it full of ambient and vintage patches but that's just me and I want to be Tomita not techno.

I don't know if they're out of production. I know Alesis went bankrupt and was taken over by Numark so they weren't being produced for a while but I think they're shipping new ones now (with the tuning issues fixed). At least that's what I was told when I ordered mine.


Well, they may not understand, but they didn't stop us getting one either. Wink

I agree about the patches. The sequencer and arpeggiator are nice to have I guess for a certain type of music, but why have it on half of the presets? This machine can can pull off a pretty decent set of vintage sounds. I'm not sure why Alesis compromised on presets, when this is an uncompromising beast in every other way. One preset I do like is Bank 2, Program 11 (Deep Pop Bass). Sounds a lot like the bass in Stevie's "Boogie on Reggae Woman". It's a good starting point for it at least.

Well have fun. I'm off to coax some Juno pads out of it.
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jonkull



Joined: Sep 22, 2006
Posts: 164
Location: Burbank, CA

PostPosted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 10:13 am    Post subject: Re: A6 Newbie Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Beaker wrote:

Well, they may not understand, but they didn't stop us getting one either. Wink

I agree about the patches. The sequencer and arpeggiator are nice to have I guess for a certain type of music, but why have it on half of the presets? This machine can can pull off a pretty decent set of vintage sounds. I'm not sure why Alesis compromised on presets, when this is an uncompromising beast in every other way. One preset I do like is Bank 2, Program 11 (Deep Pop Bass). Sounds a lot like the bass in Stevie's "Boogie on Reggae Woman". It's a good starting point for it at least.

Well have fun. I'm off to coax some Juno pads out of it.


No, she didn't stop me. I guess I can kind of see her point though as far as why do I need so many. I could probably sell everything but 1 and still make music...if I wasn't lazy and didn't love gear so much. Wink

I know what you mean about the arps. A few would have been OK but they put way too many in. I don't get why they put all the drum presets in their either. I mean there's like half a bank of drum sounds.

How's the tuning on yours? Mine seems to be fine so far. I'm hoping it stays that way.

I'm going to attempt some JX strings myself.

Enjoy.
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purpurkatten



Joined: May 27, 2005
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 11:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Don´t forget put your nice presets here for others to enjoy... thumright
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jonkull



Joined: Sep 22, 2006
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Location: Burbank, CA

PostPosted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 11:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

klagga wrote:
Don´t forget put your nice presets here for others to enjoy... thumright


I will...well if they turn out good.
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beaker



Joined: Apr 01, 2007
Posts: 7
Location: USA

PostPosted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 4:16 pm    Post subject: Re: A6 Newbie Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

jonkull wrote:
How's the tuning on yours? Mine seems to be fine so far. I'm hoping it stays that way.


The tuning seems good. I've only got about 15 hours on it so far though. Was the tuning problem that you mentioned a hardware or a software issue?
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jonkull



Joined: Sep 22, 2006
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 9:37 pm    Post subject: Re: A6 Newbie Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Beaker wrote:
jonkull wrote:
How's the tuning on yours? Mine seems to be fine so far. I'm hoping it stays that way.


The tuning seems good. I've only got about 15 hours on it so far though. Was the tuning problem that you mentioned a hardware or a software issue?


Alesis Andromedas are known for having hardware related tuning issues and voices that go bad. That's part of why they don't sell too well.
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beaker



Joined: Apr 01, 2007
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Location: USA

PostPosted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 10:54 pm    Post subject: Re: A6 Newbie Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

jonkull wrote:
Alesis Andromedas are known for having hardware related tuning issues and voices that go bad. That's part of why they don't sell too well.


Ouch Shocked Didn't know that. Well, I hope they sell replacement boards!

I'm loving the A6 though. I'm not going to go out and sell off my other gear just yet, but I've got about a half dozen pieces that are looking a little...well...obsolete. The user interface is very well thought out, and considering the depth of its functionality, is easy to get around. I don't just mean the LCD (that's my least favorite part), but all the controllers are laid out well, and very logical. It's frickin deep though, I'll be tweaking for a while before I get on top of this machine, not like a Juno 106 or something which has relatively simple architecture.

Anyway, I'm getting some nice Juno sounds. To create say a Juno type bass or pad, what I'm doing right now is starting with everything turned off, and using just the comparable features from the 106, like a single oscillator with the sub oscillator and filter 2 only. I limit the use the of the envelopes to just A-D-S-R for the amp, and A-D for the filter. Now if only I had a noisy chorus Laughing My Juno bass patches sound pretty good so far.

I'll post some patches soon. Maybe we should create a bank of 'vintage' presets. I wish I had a Jupiter 8, since I want to create some Jupiter-ish strings and pads. It would be nice to have a reference for sanity. I sold my MKS80 and programmer a few years back, and kinda regret it.

Happy programming!
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purpurkatten



Joined: May 27, 2005
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 7:11 am    Post subject: Re: A6 Newbie Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Beaker wrote:
Maybe we should create a bank of 'vintage' presets.


GREAT idea! Very Happy
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Groove66



Joined: Apr 11, 2007
Posts: 15
Location: uk

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 7:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Hi peeps...just got my new Andromeda last week too Razz

This thing is a beast, sounds are amazing.

I have a question though. On the back of your Andromeda's, is the 'MIDI IN' port slightly fitted into the A6 case compared to the other MIDI ports?

please report back, appreciated.

Cheers.
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ThreeFingersOfLove



Joined: Oct 21, 2004
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PostPosted: Tue May 22, 2007 3:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Quote:
On the back of your Andromeda's, is the 'MIDI IN' port slightly fitted into the A6 case compared to the other MIDI ports?


All Andromedas are shipped like this, there is nothing to worry about.

Quote:
Alesis Andromedas are known for having hardware related tuning issues and voices that go bad.


Lots of analogs do that. You can check whether your A6 has a faulty voices with the Vox monitor. My first Andromeda had a faulty voice #6 and it appeared one month after the purchase. At that time I had contacted Alesis (both in US and Germany) and I had it replaced with a new one. The new one is functioning properly.

I noticed that if you let it warm up (disabling background and temperature tuning) the A6 still works fine - but not always. What I do is to switch it on let it for 10 or 15 minutes, then press Autotune. After I press Autotune it stays perfectly in tune and VERY occassionally I tune it again.

Quote:
I agree about the patches. The sequencer and arpeggiator are nice to have I guess for a certain type of music, but why have it on half of the presets? This machine can can pull off a pretty decent set of vintage sounds. I'm not sure why Alesis compromised on presets, when this is an uncompromising beast in every other way.


90% of the presets in Andromeda suck big time. As far as I know, most of them were programmed by Americans - when Alesis hired some Europeans things got a little better. I was greatly put off by the presets - (in contrast to the Virus TI or Triton Extreme let's say) but the A6 is such a great machine that I did a great deal of programming and man am I glad I did.

Cool
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Mohoyoho



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PostPosted: Tue May 22, 2007 5:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

What is the difference between American and European sound designers? Why do you think they are different?
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Groove66



Joined: Apr 11, 2007
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PostPosted: Tue May 22, 2007 3:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Yep, thanks for clearing that midi thing up - god knows how much time i wasted on finding that out.

The A6 is my favorite synth right now, and i just picked up a Moog LP and Virus Ti, still the A6 shines Cool

Btw, i have also disabled BK tuning, as i find the A6 works for many hours without needing a re tune.

This is also my 2nd A6 (first one had 4 bad voices), but my new one is from the newer batch of this year. Fingers crossed Rolling Eyes
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ThreeFingersOfLove



Joined: Oct 21, 2004
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PostPosted: Tue May 22, 2007 10:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Quote:
What is the difference between American and European sound designers? Why do you think they are different?


Well just listen to the sound sets. And then listen to what comes from say Access or Waldorf to what comes from Alesis or Moog. What the american programmers term or describe or program as for instance a "techno" patch is either not a techno patch or unusable as such. In any case, one can easily come up with tons of new sounds, after all why would anyone buy a $3000 synthesizer?

Cool
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Mohoyoho



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PostPosted: Wed May 23, 2007 5:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I've listened to them. I've replaced most of my Waldorf (Q & XT) presets as well as my Moog and Alesis presets.
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ThreeFingersOfLove



Joined: Oct 21, 2004
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PostPosted: Wed May 23, 2007 10:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Wink
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kandalf



Joined: Jun 01, 2007
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 8:23 am    Post subject:  hello friends
Subject description: boot issue
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hello there my friends !!!
i am a new and very pround andromeda's owner , and i want to ask you about something
sometimes , when i set the machine power on , the screen is lightening but nothing appears at all ( no characters , only light )
if i turn it off , and immediately set the power on again , then the machine boot normally without problem

what can i do about that

p.s. sorry about my bad english
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kandalf



Joined: Jun 01, 2007
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 1:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

hello again

i think the situation does not change and getting worse Sad
sometimes , and after the first time that i set it power on - power off , and power on again , it stucks at the logo screen , and does not complete the boot procedure !!! Sad

what can i do for that ? Sad

p.s. soory for my bad english
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ThreeFingersOfLove



Joined: Oct 21, 2004
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 2:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I suggest that you do a soft/hard reset. If the problem persists, then maybe an electrician could help.

Yannis.
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Groove66



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PostPosted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 7:27 pm    Post subject: Try the reset Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

If the hard / soft reset does not fix your Andromeda, it looks like you may have to return it for a replacement or repair.

My first A6 from last year had a similar booting issue. It took forever to load and sometimes the screen would freeze. After a few restarts it would work again. But this same unit also had tuning issues as well. I returned it and waited for another unit.

It's more likely to be a software problem. Maybe the internal battery may need replacing. Did you buy the Andromeda new? if so give it back and get a new one.
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kandalf



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PostPosted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 3:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

its a new one !!!
i bought it 28 May
how can i do the software reset ?
i am asking because i dont open the packet with tha manual and other stuff
Monday i sent it back and i will ask for replacement

yannis you are a greek man also
can i contact you personally ?
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ThreeFingersOfLove



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PostPosted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Of course you can and if you are Greek, why don't you write in Greek?

Cool
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