Hey, everyone... I've been considering buying an Alesis QS8.1 lately but have played some on an old Kurzweil PC88 and like the sound quality.. is there anything any more current that Kurzweil makes similar to the QS8.1? How do they compare?

Woah! I'm not a Kurzweil fan, usually - but that stuff is way better than Allesis stuff anyday. If you want a great piano action and sound, make sure you check the Yamaha P80 too

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Uncle Dave

Uncle Dave,

So you don't like Alesis.. any particular reason? I'll tell you what I want.. I want an 88-key, hammer or weighted action (isn't hammer action better?) keyboard that has full-size keys like a piano, and 64key polyphony; I need something suitable for performance and just messing around with midi some in the future. Give me your input.. Don't want to spend more than $1,500.. I can get an ALESIS QS8.1 for $1,399 and have seen used ones on ebay go for as low as $1,100 or so.. whatcha think??

Hey Phil.

The PC-88 is a better sounding keyboard in my opinion, but the key actions and contacts wear easily on them and there has been many, many issues with them breaking down and frequently needing to be serviced. I suggest if you want a quality sounding piano and a sturdy piece of gear, then look at the Kurz SP-88. The Alesis QS8.1 is a good synth, I just personally never liked their sound. Its all in opinion.

I'm with you, Chris. There is something about the Alessis sound that bugs me. Same with General Music (ALL OF IT)

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Uncle Dave

Chris, you recommend the Kurz SP88... how much does this go for, and where's a good place to get it?

Unfortunatley I dont know the price off hand, but you can find them in any Guitar Center or Sam Ash store, thats almost for sure. Check out Kurzweils main webpage, it shows the specs for it.

Hold your horses for another month till the PC2, the successor of the PC88 will ship:
In the US, suggested retail prices are:
PC2 $2650
PC2X $3150

Hi, Phil,

Like you I spent a lot of time in search of a decent 88-key hammer-action keyboard. I owned Alesis Quadrasynth plus piano which had pretty good mid to low bass but very thin and sharp mid-high to treble piano sounds. Kurzweil PC88MX's piano sounds are sweeter and its keys are very responsive but the durability of its keys has been a big complaint among different synth/keyboard forums.

Owing to the recommendations from George Kaye and Uncle Dave, I tried Yamaha P80 and S80 at a local store. After carefully playing both models for a while, my vote went to the S80, a full-featured 88-key hammer-action synth (without floppy drive and sequencer for recording). I ordered one from one of my regular musical instrument suppliers and got it at the price slightly lower than the Alesis QS8.1. If you have not tried the S80, you might want to try it to see if you like the keyboard action and its piano sounds. I rate it higher than both the Alesis QS8.1, Yamaha P80 (much less features), and the Kurzweil PC88MX. If you like it and buy one please make sure you buy a 32 MB 3.3 V SmartMedia for data storage, very useful for system backup, patches and playback of MIDI files with its playback only sequencer.

Paul Ip
Austin, Texas