Should I buy this used Alesis Q88??

Joined
May 14, 2017
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Hi everyone,

I wanted to ask some advice and hope I can get it within about the next 15 hours or so. Let me start by saying I am a guy who has played various instruments throughout my life but not ever much higher than on a hobby level. I took piano lessons for a short time as a kid, dabbled with the keyboard and guitar throughout my life, played the trumpet very well for several years in high school, etc. About 15 years ago, I bought a cheap midi keyboard and dabbled with it a little back then but as everyone knows, software and sounds sort of sucked for home users back then and I ended up trashing the keyboard a few years back during a move because it had become obsolete and didn't work anymore (needed drivers and stuff.)

Last year I got the bug again and discovered how much tech had advanced and started learning about VST's and DAW's etc now, along with some budget keyboards. I originally had thought about buying a Casio WK-6600 but never did because at the time I didn't have the money.

Recently I got the bug again and discovered the Alesis Q88 which was a little cheaper than the Casio but is only a midi controller. Thing is, I mostly plan to play using VSTi's with the PC anyway so I thought this might not be bad.

To try to wrap this up, I recently found what I think it a pretty good deal for a used Alesis Q88 at a local store for $80 and I'm wondering if I should buy it. Honestly, it will be used mostly for learning, playing around, having fun, and seeing what sort of covers I can create. I like that it has all the keys like a piano and I am aware it doesn't have the same action but Inot having playing a bunch of high end keyboards, can't tell the difference.

I know this keyboard is one of the lowest end ones but I checked it out in the store and it was more solid than I expected and the keys felt better than I thought they would.

Knowing all that, do you guys think this is a good deal for me to jump on? I would need to grab it first thing monday morning before anyone else could so any responses I can get between now and then would be appreciated.

My thought is at a price like that, if I ended up wanting to sell it in the near future I could probably atleast get my money back or close to it worst case.

Just for reference if it matters, my PC specs are below. Thanks.



I7-950 overclocked to 4ghz
24gb DDR 3 ram
X58 Extreme mother board using integrated sound card

(It's an older system but maybe it can work and it is great for gaming and decent for VR)
 

happyrat1

Destroyer of Eardrums!!!
Joined
May 30, 2012
Messages
13,840
Reaction score
5,569
Location
GTA, Canada
What's $80? Two tickets to a hockey game?

Goferit. You did your research and you know what you are looking for.

You don't need anyone's approval but your own.

Gary ;)
 
Joined
May 14, 2017
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
What's $80? Two tickets to a hockey game?

Goferit. You did your research and you know what you are looking for.

You don't need anyone's approval but your own.

Gary ;)

Haha that's true. I forgot to mention that my wife is giving me a hard time about it. I guess I am just here hoping for some other perspective. The way I look at it, the price can't be beat for something like that even if it is a lower end unit. Unless there is something I am not factoring in.. Like I said I do know what software I want to get with it.

Only thing I am slightly concerned about is latency using my integrated sound card. I know the right way to do it is with an actual sound card and I may do that later, but hoping the latency won't be noticeable for now.
 

happyrat1

Destroyer of Eardrums!!!
Joined
May 30, 2012
Messages
13,840
Reaction score
5,569
Location
GTA, Canada
There are hundreds of free options when it comes to VSTi software.

As for latency? There are software tricks that solve that as well, mostly free except for your time and learning curve.

Personally I run Linux with a realtime kernel and use onboard soundcards on all of my machines. Nothing special or tricky about it. Then again I'm not a big fan of the stability of soft synths and compose mostly with hardware.

Soft synths will run perfectly fine though on a decent i5 or better laptop with built in sound. They're RAM hungry though if you plan to start any elaborate compositions.

My advice is to start looking at home recording and VSTi beginner threads and start educating yourself.

Gary ;)
 
Joined
May 14, 2017
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
There are hundreds of free options when it comes to VSTi software.

As for latency? There are software tricks that solve that as well, mostly free except for your time and learning curve.

Personally I run Linux with a realtime kernel and use onboard soundcards on all of my machines. Nothing special or tricky about it. Then again I'm not a big fan of the stability of soft synths and compose mostly with hardware.

Soft synths will run perfectly fine though on a decent i5 or better laptop with built in sound. They're RAM hungry though if you plan to start any elaborate compositions.

My advice is to start looking at home recording and VSTi beginner threads and start educating yourself.

Gary ;)

Sounds good thanks Gary :)
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
14,059
Messages
86,804
Members
13,151
Latest member
onion

Latest Threads

Top