Alesis Andromeda A6 voice chip replacement. How to find?

[Spectral Climax]

Ι think it's a blessing that this synth has over 8 pure analogue voices for this price/features/availability status...i wouldn't care for a broken voice if i could deactivate it and play with the rest...15!!!

[Xero]

Originally Posted by Spectral Climax

Ι think it's a blessing that this synth has over 8 pure analogue voices for this price/features/availability status...i wouldn't care for a broken voice if i could deactivate it and play with the rest...15!!!

what happens when you've got more than half the voices dead then? i mean it could only be a matter of time if they're dying already and it's not even that old of a synth yet...

[gr8ape]

Originally Posted by ~Zenshin Suru~

I have done many searches all over the web and I havent been able to find a source to buy an Andromeda voice chip. I have an un-tunable voice that needs to be replaced. I'm sure I can swop out the chips on my own once I find one. Does anyone know where to get one, or where you got your replacement chip. I know this is a fairly common problem with the A6. I've tried Alesis, Pro Digital, and wavefront semiconductors, all companies that should be able to provide this chip, yet none of them can. I heard a rumor that Alesis Germany may have some available, but I'd rather find one in the states, but really anywhere I can get one at this point.

Thanks for you help people!

how long have you had your andromeda?

[Analog_Alpha]

All synths will break eventually. It's just a matter of time. But I have this feeling, that Andromedas will last for a long time. Could you point me to one person with more then 8 voices dead on an Andromeda? There will always be bad units made. My Adromeda has a serial number at just over 100. It is 10 years old already. It looks like new (I still have the protective plastic over the display). It also never game me any problems. It will freeze once in a while, but I mean, once in a while. Once every few weeks. I can live with that. It is a very complicated synth, probably the most complicated and the most advanced analog ever build. One quick reset and 30 seconds later I'm playing again. Not a big deal. Tuning my Odyssey can piss me off sometimes. Resetting an Andromeda is a small price to pay for everything it comes with. If you want something worry free get a digital synth or a VST----wait, or don't.
There is no other.

Cheers
Alpha

Originally Posted by Xero

what happens when you've got more than half the voices dead then? i mean it could only be a matter of time if they're dying already and it's not even that old of a synth yet...

[lain2097]

Originally Posted by Analog_Alpha

..It will freeze once in a while, but I mean, once in a while. Once every few weeks. I can live with that...

Hmm not to nitpick but I've own/owned many analogue & semi-analogue synths over the years including the (in)famous) Juno 106. Zero of them have ever failed / freeze out on me besides the 106 which freaked out once in five years!

But I guess you have a point in that most haven't failed spectacularly (yet).

[gr8ape]

Originally Posted by lain2097

Hmm not to nitpick but I've own/owned many analogue & semi-analogue synths over the years including the (in)famous) Juno 106. Zero of them have ever failed / freeze out on me besides the 106 which freaked out once in five years!

But I guess you have a point in that most haven't failed spectacularly (yet).

they dont freeze cause they cant?

andromeda has pretty complex software

[dougt]

If anyone does end up buying a new voice board I would be interested in buying your old one...

[Xero]

Originally Posted by dougt

If anyone does end up buying a new voice board I would be interested in buying your old one...

haha yeah i can see it now, pplz buyin the old boards so they can scavenge chips off em for to repair other faulty boards... might help sustain these things for a while

still, i cant help but wonder in 30 yrs, will u still be able to get any parts for em? versus the discrete components used in older analogs, which don't seem to be in short supply....cept for certain things like cems/ssms/ir3109s and such, but, resistor arrays, divider chips, transistors, and so on....aren't going away any time soon...

and yeah like lain said, he and i both got a good amount of vintage stuff... all of which are fine all these years later, if there's significant amounts of andromedas losing voices after only 5-10 yrs, makes u wonder how bad it will be long term. Of course, we might only be seeing small exceptions to the rule, but who knows....

[Analog_Alpha]

Well, you're right, discrete would be the most serviceable out of them all.
I also think that, I would even take an Andromeda with only one working voice, over all the Viruses and other diseases. But, that's just me. I also think that, yes it's only a handful of people having problems with them. It is a very complicated synth, especially in the software department, and we are VERY lucky, that it does work the way it does. There could have still been updates to the OS, and I wish it did do few more things, but it is what it is. It is not perfect, but it's more usable to me then any board I have tried (my opinion only). I have VCOs, DCOs, Digital, VSTe. I use them all. I even whistle and fart and run these through sampler's synth engine, so it sounds unrecognizable. But I also know, that if I had to choose only one synth, it would be an Andromeda. Well, that and maybe an EMU 6400, so I can sample all the noises and sequence it through an Atari running Notator. Andromeda is such a versatile synth, that it could be my first and last or the only synth. Could be, but it's not.;-)))) There is just something about having an option to tweak few out of 1500 knobs and sliders at a time.


Cheers
Alpha

[Neyowolf]

Originally Posted by author

an analogue synth with custom analogue parts where you can't replace the custom analogue parts in case of a problem is not an instrument to keep and spend your life learning how to use, it's just an abortion of a product waiting for irreplaceable bits to fail.

alesis

When I read that quote it made my heart drop. Did they actually write that to you? I'm an owner of an Andromeda and to think anyone could treat it like an "abortion" that is not worth taking time to master makes me very sad. I always think to myself, why do electronic instruments go the way of the Rhodes and Wurlitzer? It's truly an awful thing.
I love my A6 and have spent years understanding the modulation capabilities. It truly gave me an entirely new perspective on music from an almost molecular level.

[Xero]

Originally Posted by Neyowolf

When I read that quote it made my heart drop. Did they actually write that to you? I'm an owner of an Andromeda and to think anyone could treat it like an "abortion" that is not worth taking time to master makes me very sad. I always think to myself, why do electronic instruments go the way of the Rhodes and Wurlitzer? It's truly an awful thing.
I love my A6 and have spent years understanding the modulation capabilities. It truly gave me an entirely new perspective on music from an almost molecular level.

while his comment was probably exaggeratively harsh, the fact is, if something happens to your andromeda in 10-20 years, you could have a very hard time finding parts...and it will essentially become a brick.

[ahmo]

Don't panic guys, jeez.

tons of synths have irreplacable parts or hard to get parts (Xpander or buchla anyone?)

The problem may not be one of failure over time but certain chips that were part of a bad batch, so if your chip fails in the first 5 years then that's what's going to fail. Most people I have heard with voice failures had them from the get go, not a few voices that went bad.

Something to note as well is some voices fail the auto tune but actually tune ok, the tracking may be off in the high end a bit, but that's it.

Also, to the original poster, did you try reloading the software or doing the different reset procedures which are available? This has helped many people (reset the tuning tables, etc.). Also, don;t autotune until it has had a chance to warm up, give a problematic voice 30 mintues before hitting autotune.

You have enough voices to have a servicable synth losing a lot more than the 1-2 voices I've ever heard anyone lose at one time, and in 30 years time, it might be cheap and easy to x-ray the chip and produce replacements. Possible now but expensive.

I mean, people still have synclaviers and fairlights serviced, so it might be too early to panic about 2040.

[JeremyPaulCarrol]

How did this get resolved in the end?

I still need a voice board for my Andy. Down to 7 voices now.

J.