Alesis Q20 User Manual

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ell before the birth of the ADAT,
Alesis enjoyed a reputation for
making great gear at gro u n d -
b r eaking low prices. No
p r oduct helped build that re p u -
tation more than the original
Q u a d r a Verb multi-effects pro c e s s o r,
which off e r ed four simultaneously
p r ogrammable effects, as well as
audio quality previously unavailable
at its price point.
In 1995, Alesis upped the ante by
rolling out the QuadraVerb 2, or Q2,
which off e red twice the number of
simultaneous effects and was one of
the first effect s boxes to feature
A D AT Optical (Lightpipe) I/O.
Despite superior audio specs and
many extra features, the Q2 didn’t do
as well as expected: perhaps because
of the QuadraVerb moniker (the unit
had been aimed toward budget
users), re c o rding professionals over-
looked it. Home-re c o r ding folks, on
the other hand, saw it simply as a
rehashed QuadraVerb at a higher
p r i c e .
Several new, fully professional fea-
t u r es should make a real diff e r ence in
clearing the way for the Q20’s accept-
ance in the pro-audio world. These
additions include S/PDIF digital I/O
(as well as ADAT Lightpipe), 20-bit
converters, 200 user programs (twice
as many as the Q2), and an intern a l
power supply. Whats more, the addi-
tional 100 user programs in the Q20
include programs created by To d d
R u n d g r en, Francis Buckley, the
Angel, and many other well-known
musicians, engineers, and pro d u c e r s .
Still, the Q20s operating system
and front panel are virtually identical
to those of the Q2 (reviewed in the
June 1995
E M
), so it’s fair to look at
the Q20 as an improved Q2 rather
than as an entirely new animal.
T h e re f o r e, I’ll discuss the units navi-
gational details only briefly and focus
primarily on whats new and diff e re n t
about it.
OUTSIDE THE BOX
You could easily mistake the Q20 for
the Q2 from the front, except that
you wont find the name
“ Q u a d r a Verb anywhere on the box.
H o w e v e r , you will find dual 4-seg-
ment LED level indicators for the
analog inputs, concentric knobs for
right and left analog-input levels, a
g e n e r ous backlit LCD, a knob for
analog-output level (digital signal
levels are controlled through the
operating system), a Va l u e / E n t e r
wheel, and two rows of seven but-
tons that get you around the many
pages of effects and system parame-
t e r s .
A glance at the Q20s rear panel
reveals a wealth of interface options
(see
Fig. 1
). For starters, the analog
inputs use Neutrik combination con-
nectors that can accept either
b a l a n c e d X L R o r
1
4
- i n c h
bal anced/unbalanced jacks. The
S/PDIF I/O is on standard RCA con-
nectors, which Im happy to see
because manufacturers of computer
digital audio interfaces often favor
this ki nd of connection over
AES/EBU. Separate XLR and
1
4
- i n c h
balanced outputs are also pro v i d e d ,
and a BNC jack is on hand for re c e i v -
ing 48 kHz word clock.
Footswitch jacks for bypass and
advancing through programs are also
available on the rear panel. You can
specify the range of programs you
want to advance throughuser pro-
grams 10 through 20, for example.
After the last program has been
selected, the Q20 will wrap back
a r ound to the first program of the
specified rangean especially handy
f e a t u r e for live situations.
The back panel also houses MIDI In
and Out/Thru jacks so that you can
c o n t r ol a number of effects parame-
ters in real time from your favorite
c o n t r oller or sequencer. And every-
one should be happy that the lump
in the middle power supply has
been replaced by an internal power
supply and standard IEC power cable.
INSIDE THE BOX
P r ograms can comprise up to eight
e f fects algorithms, or blocks, which
o f fer four basic functions: EQ ,
Reverb, Pitch, and Delay. Each func-
tion has several types of effects, such
as flange, 3-band parametric EQ , and
so on. (See the table Building
Blocks for a complete list of eff e c t s . )
The Q20 uses the same 24-bit DSP
chip used in the Q2, so none of the
e ffects are actually new. However,
the Q20’s effects do sound better,
thanks to the 20-bit A/D and D/A
converters. In general, the box
sounds crisper, and the reverb pro-
grams are clearer and smoother in
their decay, especially in the highs.
To my ears, the chorus programs rival
those of units costing twice the
m o n e y .
Anyone who is serious about
tweaking will love the bevy of eff e c t s
parameters in the Q20. You can mod-
ulate up to eight parameters per
p r ogram in real time through MIDI.
What’s more, two modulation-sourc e
generators are avai lable, each of
A L E S I S
Q 2 0
Superior multi-effects
with a host of professional
I/O options.
FIG. 1:A plethora of I/O options helps elevate the Q20 to pro status.
The Alesis Q20 uses the same effects and operating system as version 2 of the QuadraVerb 2; thanks to 20-bit conv e rt e rs ,it sounds noticeably better.
W
By John Kro g h
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1 2 3

Summary of Contents

Page 1 - A L E S I S

ell before the birth of the ADAT,Alesis enjoyed a reputation formaking great gear at gro u n d -b r eaking low prices. Nop r oduct helped b

Page 2 - B u i l d i n g B l o c k s

which can be set to one of five types:input envelope, peak follower, ramp,LFO, or footswitch. You could, forexample, use the two footswitc

Page 3 - Q20 multi-effects processor

which you set level, source, and des-t i n a t i o n .As stated previously, you can com-bine up to eight effect blocks toc r eate one pro

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