ION - a hard softie-- ( not a microsoftie )

elektro80 · Last edited by elektro80 on Mon Nov 03, 2003 3:07 pm; edited 1 time in total

It is great!

huh-- well.. i am talking about the Alesis ION. It is a cute little VA synth which is.. well.. great.. open the trashcan.. then get all your minimoogs and shit and get rid of those dull boxes. This one is it!!

( ahhh.. well.. anyway.. you guys get the drift.. I like this little toy )

--

seraph · Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 3:02 pm Post subject:

I have not been able to try it but I have heard nice reviews about it

elektro80 · Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 3:04 pm Post subject:

Noooooooooooo! It has shrinked!!!! Those thingies are supposed to be handwashed! Carlo!! Shame on you!

elektro80 · Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 3:05 pm Post subject:

Played it! Loving it! best little analog synth of its kind I have ever played.. well.. the keyboard could have been far better... and .. it is not analog.. it is a VA and it STAYS in tune!

egw · Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 3:30 pm Post subject:

Yes, I heard that the keyboard is not too good, but it's very easy to get nice sounds out of it. I like the extra mod wheel! Also it is very inexpensive.

elektro80 · Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 3:38 pm Post subject:

Well.. the keybopard is not worse than much old stuff anyway.. but i did not quite find the aftertouch feature there.. I suspect the device supports it opver midi but its keyboard does not. Nice sounds. But.. I discussed this synth with some young kids in the shop.. and they did not make much sense of it. They were into those Tribe boxes and modules and stuff. I guess this one is meant for people who actually understands a traditional analog synth.

seraph · Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 3:50 pm Post subject:

you are right: it has a aftertouchless (!) keyboard and 8 notes polyphony

seraph · Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 3:52 pm Post subject:

elektro80 · Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 3:58 pm Post subject:

The sounds it makes are very nice. I recommend you guys invade the local musicshops and test it.

mosc · Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 7:07 pm Post subject:

In the Keyboard Magazine review, it mentioned that it has rotary encoder encoders instead of potentiometers, and that these encoders are very high resolution - many times the 128 step resolution of midi controllers. I would like to try it out. Unfortunately, the Clavia Nord Modular G2 has encoders that are at midi precision. Too bad the ION is a fixed architecture, but still it looks like a very fine design.

elektro80 · Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 7:21 pm Post subject:

Yup.. yes.. to me the ION has rotary controllers that kinda behave like pots.. when pots work.. etc etc

Well.. yes.. it has a fixed architecture.. but.. then again.. you can do a lot with the routing. It is not a modular.. hey-... it kinda resembles that obie thing.. the matrix.. nah.. rather the xpander.

mosc · Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 7:39 pm Post subject:

Yes, they feel like pots, but when the patch is changed, they are set exactly where they need to be. Pots have to be moved.

The price is about 1/2 of the G2.

elektro80 · Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 8:13 pm Post subject:

yes.. you are right.. it is half of the G2. Mind you, it is NOT a G2 design.. but for what it is.. it is inexpensive and very capable.

but.. someone should tell Alesis that they are onto something. It is easy to imagine the ION getting a big brother which would truly be a modular.

And.. the ION sounds good both into a mixer and then routed thru efx and also good plugged directly into the PA. Not all VAs sound good when plugged directly into a PA.

mosc · Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 8:23 pm Post subject:

elektro80 · Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 8:43 pm Post subject:

Well.. all tings in the universe might need some postprocessing.
What comes out is the result of the patch... and gear is not perfect.. which means that some modules you might need hafta be put in later in the signal chain. I often patches wich involves a slight addition of reverb before things go into the filter.. which means I have to rething the signal routing and choose a VS or softie or whatever which allows this. Hopefully we will get better instruments that are designed for ordinary synthesists and not preset manics. The Nord Modular series is getting there.

mosc · Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 10:55 pm Post subject:

Yes, I'm not totally opposed to reverb and all that. It is overused. The new G2 has a reverb module built in. The old Moog and Buchla modulars had spring reverbs. The hummed a lot.

elektro80 · Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 11:05 pm Post subject:

Yeah.. they always did..

Reverb is pretty cool to use inside patches.. as well as vocoding. Moden VA synths should contain modular effects like compression, distortion, limiting, reverbs, echo, gates and such. -With CV and gate signals.. or midi which does the same job. Add in serious vocoding. i guess the G2 has most of that already?

seraph · Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2003 1:25 am Post subject:

seraph · Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2003 4:36 am Post subject:

http://www.alesis.com/craiganderton.html
Acclaimed musician/author Craig Anderton to tour with Alesis Ion Synth

seraph · Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2003 6:21 am Post subject:

http://www.alesis.com/products/Ion/index.html
for more informations
Posted Image

dalekay · Joined: Nov 16, 2003 Posts: 145 Location: Lancaster CA

Klaus Schulze had one on stage with him on his poland concert.

So far, I am happy with mine. As soon as I get some sysx info, I plan on some software for it to load the patches in and out where I want them. Similar to the patch buddy for the MS2000. I have one of those too. Together they work very well. Which is what I was going for with the ION.

In the user group for the ION, many report different problems. So far nada with mine. Works well.

Dale

seraph · Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2003 1:51 am Post subject:

Dale
welcome to electro-music!
I had heard you were coming.....
what's that bearded avatar? Gandalf?

elektro80 · Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2003 2:35 am Post subject:

"Gandalf shaking his stick" Very Happy

Cyxeris · Joined: Oct 30, 2003 Posts: 1125 Location: Louisville, KY

I use Alesis gear. I've always thought they got the job done, but from a material standpoint, were pretty disposable. My DM5, for example, which I wound up having to send back for a replacement due to an out-of-spec chip, and the replacement's power switch disintegrated, so it is now hardwired on perminantly via a soldering job I did with copious amounts of alcohol in me.

However, I was most impressed by the limited experience I have had with the Andromeda. With that in mind, this bad boy looks most intriguing...

Cyx

Cyxeris · Joined: Oct 30, 2003 Posts: 1125 Location: Louisville, KY

i think it was alcohol...