Alesis Studio Electronics was founded in 1984 in Hollywood, California. Initially started by selling digital effects processors at a price more accessible to home project studios, they branched out into sequencers, drum machines, and revolutionized the audio industry by introducing the ADAT digital tape standard.
The Alesis Quadrasynth series seems to be named after the QuadraVerb 2 FX processor that was developed for the QuadraVerb 2 multi-effects unit released in 1994, the "Quadra" prefix aluding to the four categories of effects provided - Reverb; Delay; Pitch and EQ. The first three generations made use of the same processor for effects, with the fourth and fifth generation featuring a "QuadraSynth 2" four-Bus Parallel Matrix (reverb, chorus, distortion, EQ, delay, rotary speaker simulation, and more).
All QuadraSynths featured 64 voices. The keyboard units all featured velocity and aftertouch sensitivity. 4th and 5th generation included release velocity.
Gen | Year | Name | ROM Size | Expansion Slots | Keys |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | 1993 | Alesis Quadrasynth | 16 MB | 1 PCMCIA slot - 8 MB | 76 keys; semi-weighted; synth-action |
1st | 1993 | Alesis S4 | 16 MB | 1 PCMCIA slot - 8 MB | n/a |
2nd | 1995 | Alesis Quadrasynth Plus | 20 MB | 1 PCMCIA slot - 8 MB | 76 keys; semi-weighted; synth-action |
2nd | 1995 | Alesis Quadrasynth Plus Piano | 24 MB | 1 PCMCIA slot - 8 MB | 76 keys; semi-weighted; synth-action |
2nd | 1995 | Alesis S4 Plus | 20 MB | 1 PCMCIA slot - 8 MB | n/a |
3rd | 1996 | Alesis QS6 | 8 MB | 1 PCMCIA slot - 8 MB | 61 keys; synth-action |
3rd | 1996 | Alesis QS7 | 16 MB | 2 PCMCIA slots - 16 MB | 76 keys; semi-weighted; synth-action |
3rd | 1996 | Alesis QS8 | 16 MB | 2 PCMCIA slots - 16 MB | 88 keys; weighted, hammer-action |
3rd | 1996 | Alesis QSR | 16 MB | 2 PCMCIA slots - 16 MB | n/a |
4th | 1999 | Alesis QS6.1 | 16 MB | 2 PCMCIA slots - 16 MB | 61 keys; synth-action |
4th | 1999 | Alesis QS7.1 | 16 MB | 2 PCMCIA slots - 16 MB | 76 keys; semi-weighted; synth-action |
4th | 1999 | Alesis QS8.1 | 16 MB | 2 PCMCIA slots - 16 MB | 88 keys; weighted, hammer-action |
5th | 1999 | Alesis QS6.2 | 16 MB | 1 PCMCIA slots - 8 MB | 61 keys; synth-action |
5th | 1999 | Alesis QS8.2 | 16 MB | 1 PCMCIA slots - 8 MB | 88 keys; weighted, hammer-action |