Autechre I got an Alesis Quadraverb the other day...

So, I really wanted to come on here and gush about my purchase, but I was afraid that I'd make the prices go up on ebay and really I wanted to buy another. Now that I just won a bid on a second one, I finally feel comfortable talking about it. I love my Alesis Quadraverb. It's so much cooler than I thought it would be. Yeah, I see why people hate on it all the time: it's a bit noisy, the reverbs sound totally unnatural, everything you run through it comes out the other end noticably degraded, the delay is very clinical, everything it does sounds distinctively digital, etc. This box would totally suck if I were recording a band, or processing lead vocals, or making top 40 music. So what do I like about it? Well, It totally nails the sound of early Aphex Twin, Autechre, and countless other electronic artists of the same time period. These Alesis units were ubiquitous in budget recording studios at the time, and the sound is instantly recognizable. Yeah, plugins completely kick its ass in the dsp department, but on the other hand, no vst plugin sounds quite like a it. I pulled out a bunch of plugins and spent an hour trying to copy some of the sounds, but couldn't really get there. The quadraverb just has that mojo in spades.

So now the secret is out. You can nab these all day long on ebay for well under $100. Just beware, it's very much a dated, lofi piece of technology. Don't expect super lush, analog sounding effects that can compete with plugins. But if you love the reverb, chorus, and flanger type sounds of early Warp records stuff, this is the box. I almost feel weird giving out this information. Maybe I should have kept it to myself. Oh well, now you know.

Almost forgot, if you want to get one of these, try to get the "plus" model. As far as I know, they are exactly the same hardware, but the "plus" model has upgraded firmware that adds a lot of extra functionality and more effects algorithms that weren't part of the original. The only difference is the firmware, so many of the old ones will have the firmware upgrade even though they don't say "plus" on the front (It's just a ROM chip swap). I just got lucky and got one with the upgrade even though it wasn't advertised. I'm really glad I did after hearing all the stuff I would have been missing out on. I think the firmware upgrade chips might even still be available through alesis if you have the older model. Just don't get the Quadraverb 2 or GT models. They are totally different boxes, and I can't vouch for them.

yep, it sure is an amazing unit. i don't have one but a friend does. the only thing that i've heard come close to the sound of a quadraverb is the behringer virtualizer pro. they're also quite cheap, i'm considering buying a second (and perhaps third) one.

  On 7/5/2011 at 11:42 AM, modey said:

yep, it sure is an amazing unit. i don't have one but a friend does. the only thing that i've heard come close to the sound of a quadraverb is the behringer virtualizer pro. they're also quite cheap, i'm considering buying a second (and perhaps third) one.

I was looking at those Behringer rack units, but when I saw that the display is just limited to a few numbers, I figured it must not have much editing capability. Is it just a preset machine or can you actually edit the patches?

BTW, this is what I plan on doing to the second quadraverb. I already ordered the parts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8K_vSfoBpU

the Quadraverb was the standard back in the day I think FSOL used it a lot too

had a Quadraverb2 which had amazing routing possibilities and amazing reverbs but the other FX sounded a little bland

speaking of classic FX racks the Boss SE70 was also a workhorse heavily used by Liam Howlett and the vocals on Underworld

the Yamaha FX500 and Boss RV50 reverb also have a nice lo-fi charm

I'm not sure that getting old FX units just to sound like your favourite albums is a cool thing tho. the chances are they used what they could get their hands on and it just so happens that these boxes were decent and cheap back then. I'm sure if they could afford Eventide stuff back then it would be a different story.

  On 7/5/2011 at 1:25 PM, soundwave said:

I'm not sure that getting old FX units just to sound like your favourite albums is a cool thing tho.

This. I actually had a chance to get a Quadraverb for $50 a while back but I didn't bother specifically because it would feel weird. And because I've already got a bunch of vsts & spring reverbs I like anyway.

But I suppose if you legitimately like the sound & not just for the Warp connection, s'all good.

maybe I should have bought that, just because now the cat's out of the bag & I could get more for it on Ebay

  On 7/5/2011 at 12:48 PM, MrSparkle666 said:

I was looking at those Behringer rack units, but when I saw that the display is just limited to a few numbers, I figured it must not have much editing capability. Is it just a preset machine or can you actually edit the patches?

yeah don't be fooled by the display, each effect has 6 parameters that you can edit, usually only one effect at a time although some can be doubled up with delay or reverb.

  On 7/5/2011 at 1:37 PM, Cryptowen said:

  On 7/5/2011 at 1:25 PM, soundwave said:

I'm not sure that getting old FX units just to sound like your favourite albums is a cool thing tho.

This. I actually had a chance to get a Quadraverb for $50 a while back but I didn't bother specifically because it would feel weird. And because I've already got a bunch of vsts & spring reverbs I like anyway.

 

But I suppose if you legitimately like the sound & not just for the Warp connection, s'all good.

 

maybe I should have bought that, just because now the cat's out of the bag & I could get more for it on Ebay

strange, i never really made the warp connection when i played around with it in my old band. then again we only ever really put guitar or digital piano through it. i don't see what's wrong with a bit of hero emulation, as long as you don't completely rip anyone off. though i'm probably only saying that because my pselodux project is based on the style/sound of early-mid 90s tracker music..

I too have seen these going for dirt cheap prices on Gumtree/Ebay although I don't know yet if I'd really have use for one. I'm more concerned with getting the internal fx in my Roland 1080 to work how I want them. :( Oh yeah any Roland 1080 pros out there feel like popping over and showing me a trick or two I'd really appreciate it!!! :D