Overrated/over-appreciated Gear

[Birdienumnum]

Also, these threads suck because they tend to drive up prices of the underrated gear while not lowering those of the overrated gear .

 

Well, that's true, folks. And what would be the antidote to an "underrated gear" thread? An overrated gear thread. Viola. Expect prices on these keyboards to lower overnight!

 

The only trouble, of course, is that an "overrated gear" thread steps on people's toes; it hurts the feelings of those who own said gear. Be that as it may, here is a candidate that, being rather old and outdated, is less likely to cause tears than a more recent, shiny piece of poo that you may have invested in. We've all done it (well, most keyboard veterans have) including myself, so here is my big bucks mistake:

 

 

I sold my Fender Rhodes Stage 88 to get this. It got great reviews at the time, and it "had a Bosendorfer piano!" It had 88 weighted keys! It had massive amounts of all kinds of sounds and more - Q Cards! It was programmable and had that classic Alesis reverb from their MIDIVerb series (I owned the MIDIVerb II). And, for the time, it was reasonably priced, like all Alesis gear.

 

The only trouble was . . .

 

The "Bosendorfer" sounded like a banjo, particularly in the critical middle register. The high end sounded like you were pounding the thing with a hammer, and it was drowned in reverb, which was difficult to remove. I loved Alesis reverb, but be careful what you wish for.

 

This brought me to the second problem, which was the difficult synth engine, the tiny LCD, the poor manual, and lack of a good guide from Alesis or anyone else. At least with my DX7II there was a great book, The Complete DX7II, by Howard Massey. With the QS8 (point zero) you were on your own, and it was a pain in the ass.

 

Then, the action thumped like a ton of bricks. Early Fatar.

 

The sounds ranged from ok to poor . . . and the Q-Cards were no better than the on board sounds.

 

It was built like a tank, but like the Stage 88 it replaced, it weighed a ton.

 

I could go on . . . I am an Alesis fan, I currently have Alesis monitors, a matching power amp, an IO/26 interface, a Micron, an original blackface ADAT that still plays (great build quality) and recently now a Fusion 8HD, which has very good (that is, consistent and even, unlike, say, an M-Audio keybed, which is rockier than the surface of the moon) light but weighted action IMO. Finally got 88 weighted keys again.

 

Some of the "classic" lackluster QS sounds made it into the Fusion ROM, which is one reason the latter tanked . . . and so it goes. I sold the QS and dreamed of a Yamaha S80, which I almost bought . . .

[ElectricPuppy]

*cough* http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showpost.php?p=28886684&postcount=29

 

:poke:

[ElectricPuppy]

Of the stuff I've owned, I'd say the most overrated is the Juno-106.

 

lol wut?

 

That's not to say it's worthless crap. As a beginner's synth, I think it serves nicely, and that's what it was for me. For what it is, it's a nice synth, but let's be honest: It's about as basic as they get. I just don't think it deserves quite the moon-eyed adoration that it seems to induce in the vintage-glorifying fan boys these days.

 

It's a nice synth. It's not a GREAT synth.

[controlvoltage]

the tb-303 transistor bass. monophonic, only like five parameters to tweak, no onboard fx, no patch memory; I could go on. Even if you *really* love what it does, it shouldn't cost more than a grand. I think they should be priced similarly to the desktop Evolver.

[marmorek]

Roland Fantom - It has a lovely big colour display, but the interface is still harder to use than many with smaller monochrome ones.

 

Hammond B3 - it kicks ass of course, but why is it so much more expensive than a C3 or A100 if they are the same internally?

 

For audio in general, anything made by Bose.

[Yoozer]

 

Yeah, I went there. I could get better sounds out of almost all of my other gear. Much more bang for the buck-choice: Novation Nova.

[augerinn]

As long as we're "going there"

 

I was never impressed with the ION. I wanted to be, but just couldn't get in to it.

 

[Michael Blue]

Re: Ion...Really?

 

I'm still researching the differences between this and the Micron (does the Micron really have more workstation features?!) but I've been contemplating getting one or the other within the year...

 

My on-topic contribution...

 

Korg microKORG

 

 

Yeah, we're going there.

 

Been hearing all the hype on these since they came out, and almost relegated myself to "having" to buy one, if they were so useful.

 

Finally got a chance to bang on one last week, and WOW, what a complete pile of crap! The tiny, chincey keys felt like a cheap child's toy, and the presets were complete garbage!

I've seen some good YouTube demos, and maybe it has some promise if you really spend time on it programming, but even the parameters are set into a dual-dial menu system that you'd NEVER sort out on a dark stage for live tweaking.

 

...I'll keep my new Roland SH-201, thanks...Full size, velocity-sensitive keyboard, ALL important functions have dedicated knobs on the face and a child could sort out mid-level synthesis on this thing! Sure, the plastic case and off-board power supply make it feel light, but the more I read up on this thing, the more I know I'm going to enjoy digging deeper.

[Hoopaa]

 

Finally got a chance to bang on one last week, and WOW, what a complete pile of crap! The tiny, chincey keys felt like a cheap child's toy, and the presets were complete garbage!.

I dunno... I can see your point about the keys, but to judge such a powerful synth by its presets is pretty unfair. Paired with its PC editor software, the Microkorg is really a capable device.

 

It is definitely overrated, but I would not go so far as to say it's a pile of crap.

 

My favorite overrated synth: Minimoog. So it's 30 years old. So nothing else sounds like it. So what? It's not the be-all-to-end-all of synthesis, and there are plenty of modern synths that just sound better.

[Birdienumnum]

*cough* http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showpost.php?p=28886684&postcount=29 :poke:

 

Yes, you tried, but if you wanted to get things going you needed to have an example and put your heart and soul into it, he said immodestly.

[Birdienumnum]

For audio in general, anything made by Bose.

 

Yeah, baby! And Monster Cable. It's really good, but overpriced/overrated. There are small companies putting out hand wound cables that are just as good.

[setAI]

 

muddiest sounding crap ever

[mytee2.0]

virus and oasys :o:o

[Birdienumnum]

Yamaha & Kurzweil pianos :o:o

[Howard Scarr]

1) Ovation guitars

2) Alesis QS series (I also owned a QS8)

3) Korg Polysix

4) Theremin

5) Clarinet

[pighood]

 

5) Clarinet

 

 

Even if it's like umm like aaahhh NINETY feet long?

[Birdienumnum]

Hmm . . . Mozart disliked the flute . . . Sibelius disliked the tuba . . .

[Birdienumnum]

Anyway, Howard Scarr programmed patches for my Nord Micro Modular, so he can say anything he damn pleases.

 

http://www.zorchmusic.com/hscarr/

[MuzikB]

1: Korg Microkorg

2: Alesis Ion

3: Roland V-Synth (Not to include the GT model)

[pighood]

3: Roland V-Synth

 

 

meh...whatever...I care only about noises.

[The Audacity Works]

I'll probably get flogged for this, but... the Nord Lead.

 

Yes, yes, it was the first major VA synth made. But it just doesn't sound that great, at least to my ears. Took too long for Nord to add effects, the screen was too small for too long, the Modular's interface was slow to get around...

 

Owned both a NL2 rack and Nord Modular keyboard. Didn't use either one very often. Always navigated toward the Virus B, MS2000, JP-8080, SH-32, or even Triton Classic first. Hmm, go figure.

[mildbill]

I wouldn't say the QS8 is overrated - because most people bash it instead of praising it.

At the time, way back when though, it - (in typical Alesis fashion), broke the price barrier for 88 weighted keys.

 

I'd say the minimoog is overrated by some people. Some people are absolutely fanatical about it. Same thing goes for the Oasys.

 

I'm semi-fanatical about the A6, but it deserves it.

[Birdienumnum]

I wouldn't say the QS8 is overrated - because most people bash it instead of praising it. At the time, way back when though, it - (in typical Alesis fashion), broke the price barrier for 88 weighted keys.:

 

Why yes, most people bash it now . . . but back when I actually plunked down my hard-earned cash for one, it was vastly overrated. And that's what counts.

 

You are right about breaking the price barrier, tho. Alesis has always given great bang for the buck.

[mildbill]

I think almost all gear is overrated - when it's first released.

 

 

It takes time for a lot of people to get it, discover its flaws, and to be able to look back on it and tell whether it was really overrated, given what else was available at the time.

[mchristi]

Couldn't agree more with the Alesis submissions. I too owned a QS8.1 and was continually disappointed with its sounds. Piano sound was alright with the right reverb, but everything else was garbage. Esp rhodes sounds, could never find one I liked.

 

I own the Ion as well - again when comparing it to others in its class, I should be happier. Great layout of knobs, but presets are awful. I feel I should be getting better sounds with less time tweaking. People say the SH-201 is a much better synth and is definitely comparable in price, correct?

 

Definitely wished I had seen this thread years ago when I was looking at keyboards. I feel I made two mistakes buying these synths. Got very little return on my QS8.1 and will likely get the same with the Ion.

 

Now I have an electro and I'm a million times happier.