Re: Alesis Andromeda

Sacred Synthesis

Re: Alesis Andromeda
« Reply #20 on: September 28, 2017, 10:55:40 AM »
Or even just looking at this picture...I can envision what a dual Prophet 6 may look like. Perhaps the patch buttons/display is simply duplicated in two rows with the second row underneath the one on the keyboard version.

http://www.upbeat.ch/shop/media/images/org/Prophetmodulll60cm.jpg

  ;D It's catching. ;D
« Last Edit: September 28, 2017, 11:11:49 AM by Sacred Synthesis »

Sacred Synthesis

Re: Alesis Andromeda
« Reply #21 on: November 16, 2018, 12:14:46 PM »
Is this an upgrade for existing instruments?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljaeOFCeb2w

chysn

  • *****
  • 1812
Re: Alesis Andromeda
« Reply #22 on: November 16, 2018, 01:41:13 PM »
Is this an upgrade for existing instruments?

Yeah, they replaced the display with something more reliable and modern and blue, added felt to increase resistance of the potentiometers, added an adhesive film overlay on the panel, built high-quality wood sides, split the electronics into two parts so they could use a hinged panel. Looks like quite a project!
Prophet 5 Rev 4 #2711

MPC One+ ∙ MuseScore 4

www.wav2pro3.comwww.soundcloud.com/beige-mazewww.github.com/chysnwww.beigemaze.com

he/him/his

Re: Alesis Andromeda
« Reply #23 on: November 16, 2018, 02:29:59 PM »
Is this an upgrade for existing instruments?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljaeOFCeb2w

Chysn is right, plus: the whole chassis is new. You need to send them the original Andromeda, which they will then take apart and the complete mod will cost about 2.500 Euros.

chysn

  • *****
  • 1812
Re: Alesis Andromeda
« Reply #24 on: November 16, 2018, 04:03:37 PM »
Alesis always had this habit of making innovative and easy-to-use things, but out of lousy materials. So I kind of get this.

I wonder what these guys could do with an MMT-8?
Prophet 5 Rev 4 #2711

MPC One+ ∙ MuseScore 4

www.wav2pro3.comwww.soundcloud.com/beige-mazewww.github.com/chysnwww.beigemaze.com

he/him/his

LoboLives

Re: Alesis Andromeda
« Reply #25 on: November 16, 2018, 07:25:30 PM »
I wonder if we will ever see a return of the Andromeda.

Re: Alesis Andromeda
« Reply #26 on: November 16, 2018, 09:30:08 PM »
I remember when the Quadra first came out.  I did not care for it.  It may have been interesting for live use given the splitting capabilities, but I was more into a synth that had more sound design depth.  The ARP 2600/Odyssey series were far more capable synths that way.  ARP probably would have lasted a few more years if it had taken those and evolved them to a Prophet or OBX type synth.  Alas, by the mid-1980's analog synths were nose diving anyway.  So ARP would only have lasted a couple additional years for the work.
Jim Thorburn .  Toys-  Dave Smith: Prophet 5, Rev 4; Prophet 08; Pro 2; Prophet 12 module; EastWest Orchestral soft synths; Yamaha S-90; Yamaha Montage 8, Yamaha DX-7; KARP Odyssey; Ensoniq ESQ-1.  All run through a Cubase DAW with a Tascam DM-24 board.

Re: Alesis Andromeda
« Reply #27 on: November 17, 2018, 03:08:49 AM »
I wonder if we will ever see a return of the Andromeda.

I'd say the Moog One is the current take on that.

Re: Alesis Andromeda
« Reply #28 on: November 17, 2018, 11:58:18 AM »
Alesis always had this habit of making innovative and easy-to-use things, but out of lousy materials. So I kind of get this.

I wonder what these guys could do with an MMT-8?

Or a JX-8P...
Prophet 12, Modal 002, MFB Dominion 1, Behringer DeepMind 12D, Korg Polysix & EX-8000, Roland JX-8P, Ensoniq SQ-80, Kawai K3m and now an OB-6!

Sacred Synthesis

Re: Alesis Andromeda
« Reply #29 on: November 17, 2018, 02:36:54 PM »
I wish that upgraded Andromeda was instead a revived in-production instrument.

Re: Alesis Andromeda
« Reply #30 on: November 17, 2018, 04:21:16 PM »
I wish that upgraded Andromeda was instead a revived in-production instrument.

Someone else would have to do it, as Alesis has long become a sub-brand of InMusic like Akai, Denon, M-Audio, Numark, etc. and they don't seem to be that much into synths anymore. Plus: the team that was responsible for the Andromeda doesn't exist any longer and the voice chips are not available anymore.

Used Andromedas go for up to $4-5k these days. If you add the mod to that plus shipping, you get close to the 16-voice version of the Moog One with no more customer support for what's inside.

LoboLives

Re: Alesis Andromeda
« Reply #31 on: November 17, 2018, 08:23:40 PM »
I wish that upgraded Andromeda was instead a revived in-production instrument.

Someone else would have to do it, as Alesis has long become a sub-brand of InMusic like Akai, Denon, M-Audio, Numark, etc. and they don't seem to be that much into synths anymore. Plus: the team that was responsible for the Andromeda doesn't exist any longer and the voice chips are not available anymore.

Used Andromedas go for up to $4-5k these days. If you add the mod to that plus shipping, you get close to the 16-voice version of the Moog One with no more customer support for what's inside.

Moog One is tritimbral.
Andromeda is 16 part multitimbral.

Not quite the same.

Re: Re: Alesis Andromeda
« Reply #32 on: November 27, 2018, 12:27:39 PM »
Ahhh.. the Andromeda. I recently dragged out my pre production Andy after getting my ProphetX and reviving my studio. I'd been busy with other projects over the years and the ProphetX inspired me to jump back into the studio.. After some tweaking and repairs it seemed to be working quite well.

After a couple of weeks though, It went back into the shop for repairs.

I worked on that puppy for 3 years. Designing the CPU architecture and developing all of the software for it.
I have to say though, the ProphetX sound is superior to the Andromeda in a lot of ways, most notably the low end and the filters. But I still have uses for the Andromeda, once I deal with the latest hardware issue.

The only thing that bugs me a little about the Prophet is the user interface and some items that appear incomplete . But it is an awesome beast.

I absolutely hated the cheap andromeda display and that's why I sold my production unit a couple of years ago. Believe it or not, we did have one of the blue/white displays up for consideration and I lobbied hard for it but we ended up with the one that's in there, unfortunately.

Re: Re: Alesis Andromeda
« Reply #33 on: November 28, 2018, 04:30:28 AM »
Talking about multitimbral keyboards that are in production, I think the Modal002 is the one to have. You can assign 12 voices from 1 to 12 patches and assign those to any keyboard ranges. I dont have a 002, but I am strongly inclined to buy one. In the 002 User Manual on Modal homepage you can see how they solved the user interface issue. Seems to be quite nice. For you Quadra fans it should not be a problem to create a modern emulation of this classic on the 002. If you dont mind all the digital stuff, of course :)
 

Re: Re: Alesis Andromeda
« Reply #34 on: November 28, 2018, 07:06:31 AM »
Talking about multitimbral keyboards that are in production, I think the Modal002 is the one to have. You can assign 12 voices from 1 to 12 patches and assign those to any keyboard ranges. I dont have a 002, but I am strongly inclined to buy one. In the 002 User Manual on Modal homepage you can see how they solved the user interface issue. Seems to be quite nice. For you Quadra fans it should not be a problem to create a modern emulation of this classic on the 002. If you dont mind all the digital stuff, of course :)

The 002 is a great-sounding synth, but you'll take a big hit on modulation and routing when coming from the Andromeda. I started using it right after learning the Prophet 12 and it was frustrating. Having used some mid-80s hybrids since then, I'm more in the mindset for it and am enjoying it. It's just really expensive to have a niche like that, and I'm unclear why you couldn't include more modulation routing in a modern synth in that price range. However, the NCOs sound great and the filter sounds great, so that's 80% of the battle. It ends up being a really good replacement for vintage analog gear because the oscillators sound really warm, and driving the filter can be quite musical.
Prophet 12, Modal 002, MFB Dominion 1, Behringer DeepMind 12D, Korg Polysix & EX-8000, Roland JX-8P, Ensoniq SQ-80, Kawai K3m and now an OB-6!

Re: Re: Alesis Andromeda
« Reply #35 on: November 29, 2018, 12:30:27 AM »
Thank you, it was great to read some experience from a 002 user. Yes, the modulation matrix of the 002 seems to be rather limited by comparison with current standards. Especially that you have only one global level for the sources and it is hard to understand why they have implemented such a limitation. I dont know if the Animator (parameter sequencer) of the 002 can reclaim some of the lost ground in this respect. Also it would have been nice to have voice panning, both as dedicated knob and mod destination. But, anyway, just like you said, with a good sound and full multitimbrality, it is for me still an enticing, if rather expensive, keyboard.     

Re: Alesis Andromeda
« Reply #36 on: November 29, 2018, 07:05:52 AM »
I've had mixed experience with the animator. I used it to cheat my way into some wave sequencing, since several of the waves are grouped into crude tables. I've also used very very carefully controlled one-shot LFOs to do the same thing. However, I'm still figuring it out. Other parameters can be smoothed in transitions, so it might be a good way to do complex envelopes--plus you can sync it to the clock.

I really hope after their current low-end series of products that they do another take on their flagships. I'd love to see a more robust version of the 002 in a desktop format.
Prophet 12, Modal 002, MFB Dominion 1, Behringer DeepMind 12D, Korg Polysix & EX-8000, Roland JX-8P, Ensoniq SQ-80, Kawai K3m and now an OB-6!