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 Forum index » Instruments and Equipment » Alesis Andromeda
Almost here!
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rh2y



Joined: May 08, 2007
Posts: 218
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 9:33 am    Post subject: Almost here! Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I just got a voicemail from my local dealer --- my A6 has just
arrived at their store. I'll be picking it up later today!

Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy


I'll be sure to post some MP3s when I get a chance!

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analogstndrpusy



Joined: Sep 12, 2007
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 10:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Mine is being shipped out to me today and is schduled to be deliverd on Friday! I can't wait. Very Happy
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rh2y



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PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 10:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

analogstndrpusy wrote:
Mine is being shipped out to me today and is schduled to be deliverd on Friday! I can't wait. Very Happy


Excellent!

I'm guessing traffic on this forum will probably be picking up as the backlog of new Andy's go out to their expectant new owners!


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ThreeFingersOfLove



Joined: Oct 21, 2004
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 11:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Quote:
I'll be picking it up later today!


Congratulations on your purchase. Tell us your first impressions when the A6 walks through the door!

Quote:
I'm guessing traffic on this forum will probably be picking up as the backlog of new Andy's go out to their expectant new owners!


That's very desireable - I always wondered why the traffic in the A6 forums was so law - did they exhausted all its possibilities?

Smile
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freq



Joined: Nov 08, 2007
Posts: 32
Location: UK

PostPosted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Great news rh2y. You have been more than patient! I hope you like it.
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rh2y



Joined: May 08, 2007
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 8:35 am    Post subject: It's finally here! Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

ThreeFingersOfLove wrote:
Quote:
I'll be picking it up later today!


Congratulations on your purchase. Tell us your first impressions when the A6 walks through the door!

Smile


Wow. Impressive. Unbelieivable.

The box was pretty heavy, though movable by myself with great difficulty. Upon getting it in the door, my wife and I took some pictures, which I'll post when I get a chance.

Upon opening the shipping carton, we found an inner shipping box, which sports a giant picture of the A6 on the front of it. Pefectly suitable for framing, if you are the sort of person who would frame a 3-by-6 foot piece of cardboard Smile

The Andy was well packed, and came with a little "accessories" box packed inside, containing the power cord and a sustain pedal. The sustain pedal matches the one that came with my QS6, and is made by Fatar for Alesis.
Only this one doesn't have 12 years of dust accumulated on it.

A printed manual was included, though that will get stored away somewhere, as I had already printed the PDF months ago.

Upon powering up, I was treated to a zillion little green LEDs lighting up. Cool!

Now for the good parts:

Listening to the A6 MP3 demos over my computer speakers is impressive enough, and helped me decide on the A6 versus some other synth. But hooking up the actual machine to my powered studio monitors upstairs is a whole different experience.

The sound is SO fluid, SO creamy... It's the difference between a pawn shop violin and a Stradvarius. The A6 feels and sounds like a fine musical instrument, not just some big electronic gadget.

I *love* the ribbon controller. It's so hard to tell in the pictures --- the ribbon controller is actually covered with some sort of nylon cloth, that allows your finger to glide over it effortlessly. My wife has a Triton Extreme, which has a small ribbon controller on it. Not even close to the same thing -- the Triton's is plastic, and your finger kinda sticks as you slide over it, and you have to sort press hard, too. Not so on the A6 -- it's like gliding your finger across, well, across a piece of ribbon (like the kind you tie up gifts with).

The keyboard is identical in feel and action to the one on my QS6. Which is a good thing (for me), as that's my favorite keyboard to play. The downside is that the aftertouch is the same, too, which means it's got a fairly short throw. It doesn't take much pressue to go from no aftertouch to full aftertouch, but I kind of got used to that on the QS6.

So far I've just been playing the presets, and tweaking them a little here and there to taste. While a large number of the presets are not ones I would use much, there are some real gems ("Romance", "Switched On", "Andro Techno Lead (which has nothing to do with techno... play it legato and it's a real expressive lead!)", and a couple others I can't remember the names of right now.)

My wife, having never read any internet forums on synths, and thus having never heard the term used to describe synthesizers before, said,

"It sounds so organic."

I nearly fell over... Smile

It seems as though the Andy is designed to be very expressive. The mod wheel, the pitch wheel, and the ribbon all react in a really smooth fashion, and let you really be expressive, whether it's a big heavy sforzando, or a subtle nuance, it makes you feel like a better musician than you actually are.

One or two minor disappointments: The knobs dont' feel terribly solid, but I suspect that's on purpose -- they seem to float around a little, and maybe that's so they're less susceptible to breakage than if they were mounted rigidly. Maybe Peake can comment on that.

The backlight on the LCD is a little dimmer than I'd like, but maybe there's a setting for that I haven't discovered yet. Adjusting the contrast helps, but it'd be great if the backlight were a little brighter.

As far as I can tell, I don't seem to have any tuning issues. I let it warm up a good 15 minutes or so and then ran the auto-tune sequence, and all voices passed. I didn't hear anything out of tune after that, but I didn't check with a tuner. I figure if I can't hear it, it's not worth worrying about.

No recordings yet -- I don't yet have it hooked up to my DAW. I'm one of those guys that has to re-do his power cords almost every time I add a new piece of gear, to be sure there are no ground loops. My PC makes nasty digital noise, and I had to get two Ebtech Hum-X units to cure it. I'm hoping that adding the Andy doesn't upset the balance... It has a grounded plug, which none of my other synths do, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Now the only trouble I have is I have to go to work instead of playing my synth! I guess it'll be waiting for me at the end of the day...

Very Happy

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Peake



Joined: Jun 29, 2007
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 5:32 pm    Post subject: Re: It's finally here! Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

rh2y wrote:
One or two minor disappointments: The knobs dont' feel terribly solid, but I suspect that's on purpose -- they seem to float around a little, and maybe that's so they're less susceptible to breakage than if they were mounted rigidly. Maybe Peake can comment on that.


The pots were chosen by the design engineer for a combination of price and durability. When you're talking 72 pots, and then 72 knobs, it can get very pricey very quickly...
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ThreeFingersOfLove



Joined: Oct 21, 2004
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 11:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Mike,

can you tell us if (and where) we can get better quality knobs for the A6?

Rh2y: Again congratulations on your purchase, I am glad you like your new synth!
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Peake



Joined: Jun 29, 2007
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 11:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I know that some folks have looked into that but I don't remember where they posted the results: AH, Womart, etc. Does anyone here remember, or know of a viable replacement?
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ThreeFingersOfLove



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PostPosted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 11:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

How about these?

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=1819&C=Maplin&U=SearchTop&T=Andromeda%20knob&doy=10m1

Do you think they're any better?
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rh2y



Joined: May 08, 2007
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

ThreeFingersOfLove wrote:


Rh2y: Again congratulations on your purchase, I am glad you like your new synth!


Thanks!

I'm really quite enamored with the synth; it's great! As soon as I get
around to hooking it up to my DAW, I'll post some MP3s. I've been busy
all week, so I've actually only had a chance to play it once, for about four hours on the day I brought it home.

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ThreeFingersOfLove



Joined: Oct 21, 2004
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Ok, looking forward to hearing your MP3s then, I might post some of them too

Quote:
The sound is SO fluid, SO creamy... It's the difference between a pawn shop violin and a Stradvarius. The A6 feels and sounds like a fine musical instrument, not just some big electronic gadget.


I had the same impression from day one, too!

Enjoy it, it is easily the best analog polysynth (probably the most difficult, too).
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analogstndrpusy



Joined: Sep 12, 2007
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 10:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Wow! After 10 months of waiting I finally got to listen to this great instrument I'd been lusting over, and its everything I had hoped for and more! After listening to some online demos I knew I had connected with its tone, and even more so after listening to her in person. I feel like im in complete controll over the sound ...its definitely not dialed into its "sweet spots" !

So far it seems as though Alesis/Numark has ironed out the problems it had with faulty voice's, among other things. My Andy is in perfect working condition and I couldnt be happier with my purchase.

I'm looking forward to contributing to the patch archive and listening to what others have designed with her.

Danny
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Groove66



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

PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 9:36 pm    Post subject: Re: It's finally here! Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

rh2y wrote:

One or two minor disappointments: The knobs dont' feel terribly solid, but I suspect that's on purpose -- they seem to float around a little, and maybe that's so they're less susceptible to breakage than if they were mounted rigidly. Maybe Peake can comment on that.
Very Happy


First off...Congrats on your new A6 Wink

Reminds me alot of when i bought mine home (the first A6 from 2006 was a problem unit with 4 bad voices). After almost giving up on a new A6, i finally called up my local Numark distribution in end of March 2007 and they told me they have one left in the warehouse from the new batch - I was like WOW.

Payed my dealer over the phone, I got in the car and picked it up in person from Numark (like 10 mins from me), and the rest was history. That synth smell and the whole experience was crazy when i spent all evening playing the synth and had skipped my dinner for it.

Regarding the knobs on the A6 - well i have now played with 3 units in total (1st bad unit i had, a UK store demo unit in Feb 2007 and my new unit). They all behave exactly the same. The knobs have a slight give to them, maybe wobble a little here and there, but they work - and that is what counts. They are PCB mounted knobs and not panel mounted like the Alesis Iion (which i also own). The LCD is a little dim compared to the newer stuff, but you don't get 16 amazing analog voices.

No product is perfect to be honest, and the A6 is a beast of a synth for it's price. It has the most fluid sound, very unique organic sound. If i could not find a new A6, i would have bought back the old one from the retailer and enjoyed the 12 working voices. Thats how much i liked it.

Long live the A6 Cool
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freq



Joined: Nov 08, 2007
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 11:40 am    Post subject: Re: It's finally here! Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Groove66 wrote:

Regarding the knobs on the A6 - well i have now played with 3 units in total . They all behave exactly the same. The knobs have a slight give to them, maybe wobble a little here and there, but they work - and that is what counts.


If they become very loose, apparently there are tabs that can be bent to tension them up again. (Just observe good ESD precautions Wink ).

http://mailman.code404.com/pipermail/a6/2007-January/004814.html

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1759105&highlight=andromeda+pots+knobs[/b]
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