melonadem's Electronic Studio Setup

I've got this so I would be able to hook up more MIDI gear as I got more of it. This thing not only solved my MIDI problems with my S4, but it is also built like a tank. It's wonderful and I can't wait to get more gear and use this with it!

This was Alesis's first foray into the world of synthesizers, as far as I'm aware. My particular unit has defects (the front panel buttons and knobs are very unstable), the seller decided to not even put it in a box. It's got 64 voice polyphony, and so far from using it I haven't been able to hit it. I'm not sure if this synth is only 64 voice (with up to 4 voices making up for a patch) or 64 note polyphony (if it's the latter, that is bloody impressive). The sounds are all cheesy and very much still usable today. I've been sneaking this in my productions, I'll leave it up to the listener to find out.

The only areas I think this lacks in are the filters, they're non-resonant and lack any real character. Also the effects, it's derived from one of their FX units (Quadraverb, I think). It's good enough, in fact I think it adds a lot to the base sounds as a whole, it's got a tasty reverb, a nice delay, and a chorus, but I would've really liked to see more. This was released in 1993, and compared to offerings from Korg, Roland, and Yamaha it is kinda lacking.

Overall, I'd heavily recommend it if you're looking for a new spice of sounds that's neither Roland, Korg, or whatever other popular manufacturers you think of. If you can, get the QSR. It's an updated version of this and adds a ton of much-needed features and is generally part of the more popular QS lineup of products from Alesis (based on the same concept though)

I had this for about 2 years now, it's seen quite a bit of use. I thought I'd just leave this home, when I left for the UK, and just make do with another keyboard - quickly realized I do quite like the bigger keys and them being somewhat harder to press.

While certainly not the best quality you'll ever get, for the price ($100 when I got it) I think it's a pretty sweet deal. The keys took a bit for me to get used to, because I went from some budget Casio keybed with no weight to this, which definitely has more weight to the keys. They're also full sized, if you care about that kinda thing. It comes with a bunch of software and samples and whatnot, namely Ableton Live Lite, X!pand2, some piano library, Pro Tools First, and a bunch of loops from Touch Loops. This bundle could be really useful if you're just getting started. The only con (for me) is the lack of controls, and while I definitely didn't need them when I just got it, I do kinda want them now. It's only got a mod wheel, a pitchbend wheel, and an assignable fader (it's labeled Volume). If you want controls on the keyboard, I suggest you look somewhere else, but if you just need a controller to start out with, I do recommend this.

The SC-8850 might as well have been my introduction into HW as a whole, and definitely has been my introduction to the world of MIDI modules, whether those are desktop modules like this, or rackmount devices like the JV-1080, JD-990, and so on.

It's got a ton of great sounds that I use quite a lot these days - they might be more than two decades old, but that doesn't make them unusable at all. In fact, I think a device like this really shines in a day and age like today, where a lot of video games set out to emulate an aesthetic that only devices like these can produce, in terms of music.

Even outside of that, it's got great keyboards, fantastic reeds, decent guitars, outstanding basses, decent strings, loads of synthesized sounds, and flattering flutes. It's even got a few more obscure instruments, and while a few of them don't sound great, they're usable if you think outside the box.

The effects are great too, even if a bit limiting at times. You have your standard reverb, delay and chorus that are basically effect sends, but then you also have EFX, with dozens of effects that you can just apply to any sound, like distortion, bitcrushers, compressors, limiters, choruses, flangers, and more. There's even 'combo' versions of these as a single effect. As great as that all is, you only have one EFX slot. You can route as many channels to it as you want, but you don't really get more slots. You can't have both a guitar amp sim and a bitcrusher, for example.