Hello, I tried a forum search, and Google search and couldn't find an answer to this:

What is the difference between the original Alesis Quadraverb and the Quadraverb 2? What year did the Quadraverb 2 come out?

I'm looking to get a circa 1992 shoegaze guitar sound (like Lush and The Cocteau Twins). I've read good things about the Quadraverb in other forum posts, but am not sure whether to get the original or the Quadraverb 2.

Thanks!

Well, they are completely different beasts. They share nothing but the name. Q2 came out around 93. The original Quadraverb is from the 80's and is a bit noisy. I think the Q2 would sound more lush, although guitar players in the 80's and early 90's loved their Quadraverbs.

the q2 is a much cleaner sounding unit, and much more flexible.

then there is also a Q20, an upgraded Q2

I picked up a Quadraverb 1 last week, working on a similar project (Cocteau Twins, Slowdive, MBV etc)... sounds amazing! heh

The flexibility and algorithms in the Q2 are incredible for sure and it's well worth the money. As far as sounding "clear" though, I always thought it was a little muddy compared to Lexicon fx, but that's Alesis. Not nearly as muddy as Zoom stuff from that era though.

A very cool alternative to the Q2 for guitars from that same era is hands down the Digitech GSP2101. Amazing FX, great imaging but a little clearer IMO than the Alesis boxes from that period. It was Alex Lifeson's box of choice at that time, in studio and on the road I believe.

I never used the Q2, but I've had an original QuadraVerb (software-upgraded to the Q+) since 1989, and I had both a DigiTech GSP2101 and a Digitech 2120 Artist

Notice the word "had".

While I agree that both Digitechs were clearer than the Alesis, they just sounded character-less, like an anonymous layer of faux glossy cheese had been slathered all over the guitar sound. Whereas the QuadraVerb seems to have this cool ability to integrate into the guitar's sound and respond to playing nuance better...I find it much easier to create unique sounds w/ the Q+ that don't sound like everyone else's "processed guitar".

I have had a Quadraverb 1 for years and it is in my rack now, i never heard alot of good for the Q2, Like i said, its in my 12u rack with a cheaper Lexicon mx400 ... the q1 sounds great..i bought mine in the early 90's and bought another off ebay recently...

i had the 2 sec. sampling option in mine. awesome!

are we confusing the quadraverb2 to the quadraverb plus?...I know one of the quadraverbs had an upgrade ROM for sampling which can be bought off ebay for the q1 ...the plus was a different beast?....am i right? no?

My first had a 2 sec samplier, but dont know about this one i have now...i could do crazy things playing around with it

You could update a Quadraverb to a plus with an Eprom change. It gave you (I think) multitap delay, crude sampling and some other things.

I've had an original since 89 and I used to use it on guitar all of the time until I got a Lex MPX1 which, imho, blew it away (although I think the QV may change patches quicker). On the subject of Digitech, take a look at the new GSP1101, fantastic modeller and fx unit (poor man's Axe-FX I call it, LOL)

My feelings about the Quadraverb were that it did reverb really well and also subtle chorusing but it's delays were pretty sterile (they do not degrade from what I remember) and don't expect to get a lush chorus out of it for a clean sound.

I remember seeing Gary Moore using one back in the day...sounded great...but then he was on the end of it heh

I also understand that the Q2 was a totally different beast.

For shoegaze you should look into an SPX 990.

Thanks for the replies. I currently use an Alesis Wedge and - don't laugh - I really like it, but want something in a rack unit because the Wedge is on its last legs. I'm assuming the Quadraverb 2 would be the unit to get if I'm familiar with the Wedge and want to step up to a rack unit?

Another box I always forget about from that time is the Chameleon from Rocktron. Some guitarists passing through town would have one and rave about it. It was super popular, hard to find (where I was) and more pricey. I don't think it would be easy to find one though.

my Quadraverb does not power up. got a new power supply for it & nothing. LCD's are also known to die out on em.

Oh, i was thinking of the one made for a guitarist, gt? I love my qv first version and its not real noisey for a more busier mix, but its sound is so different than other outboard effects...its add nice trails and the eq's in it are to die for....

and for the price, the lexicon mx400 i own is very awsome using it with single effect, so smooth and soo clean and dead quite(can be used limitly as a pro unit)...i also had a TC 350...SUCKED using for home mixing,,,yuck

Yeah, I know the one you mean, can't remember it's name, perhaps GT as you say. It had some analogue stuff in the front end I think like distortion and a compressor. I tried one and preferred my JMP1 / original QV combo.

I spent a decent amount of time on that original long ago and upgraded it to a plus. I replaced it with a Q2 years later but never got comfortable with the 2's funky block diagram interface. That flaky thing was something I remember on the original Quad. I think the LCD occasionally malfunctioned on mine, and the meter lights used to stick or something. It may have even been in for a repair when the upgrade ROMs went in (can't remember if I installed it). I liked it nonetheless.

Note- I'm not knocking the Q2 user interface. I blame myself for just never putting in much time on it.

Also (don't see this feature mentioned yet) I bought that new one for the ADAT i/o. thumbsup

George

The JMP1 rocks it thumbsup

A while ago, my Quardaverb started displaying jumbled letters and characters on the screen, then, if i remember right, stopped powering on soon after. I mentioned it to a tech friend and he said 'bring it to me, I'll resolder the whole box it'll be good as new. That was about 15 years ago and the it still works great. He said the solder joints can go 'cold' over time from heat up/cool down (expand/contract).

I've owned a Quadraverb and a Quadraverb Plus since the early 90's. Still use one of them in my guitar effects loop. Pretty cool for this role. I created some patches years ago which I still use lots. The second unit has sat unused for at least a couple of years, but sooner or later I'm sure I'll find an occassion to fire that one up as well.

You may find answers at @ - quadraverb.nl

I used a GT for a long time. It's actually quite good for live stuff.

The EQ had some noise issues - you had to balance the digital noise of the filter and the tonal balance you were after. You probably want a buffer in front of it to keep the level high too (I used a Shure wireless system for this....).

For a recording session, you can probably do better with plug-ins these days.



-tINY

Off topic, but if you are looking for early 90s shoegazey tones, a lot of people were running Yamaha SPX90s through their amps. They are dirt cheap as well these days.

There's this heavy algo in the Q2 called "large room" which takes over 90% of the DSP Power (aka "reverb only" mode). This one is simply amazing, and far ahead of the original quadra's sound quality. Really stunning reverb.

Does any body know if the Quadraverb (1) is balanced or unbalanced? The manual says it can operate at -10 to +4, so... TRS or no??

Hi Fellow Techs and Musicians,
I keep reading about the Alesis Quadraverb being noisy, I have 1 x Quadraverb, 2 x Quadraverb +, 1 x Quadraverb GT and 2 x Quadraverb 2.
I have never had any bother with unwanted noise from any of my units, this may be due to updating some of the components myself as I have been repairing and updating these great machines for a long while now and I think any guitarist would need to go a long way to find anything better, and that also goes for some of the effects on vocals too. Cheers Friends

Turn up the gain on the GT and start editing the EQ parameters.... You will hear the noise that started bugging me a bit after 3-5 years of using it.

It's subtle, but the 20-bit processing does leave some artifacts....



-tINY

Qv Qv-gt, Q2 being the quietest..and has octal optical digital io.
when Noise is what your after any thing alesis is the go to box..

Noisy or not, QuadraVerbs are great. I own five [5] of them -- four [4] QuadraVerb 1s, and one [1] Quadraverb Plus. The noise can be to One's advantage: for example, I PURPOSEFULLY [just slightly] overdrive mine by upping the input knob for synthesizers (mostly string-sounds and solo instruments), and the fuzzy, in-the-red distortion is SO pleasing to My ears; it is warm and 'velvety.' ~ Michael Ash Sharbaugh