New Fusion Audio Demos...

[keynote]

A new Hip Hop Demo plus a Jazz Piano Demo Here They are at the bottom of the page.

 

My opinion?? Humm.. The Fusion sounds are decent but I keep hoping for better and I'm not hearing them. I know .mp3's are a less than optimal sound format but they at least give you a good idea of what's under the hood and to me the Fusion isn't what I was anticipating soundwise.

 

I think Alesis is making a good effort by giving the user all those great features but in my humble opinion the sounds are not over the top and just don't thrill me like I wish they would.

 

If Alesis could have given the Fusion a more top notch sound set I would have no problem shelling out another Grand or so to buy it. I would guess most others would have that same consensus also.

 

Features should never take precedence over sounds. But to be fair I will withhold judgement until I can at least play one at length before making my final decision. I'm hoping and praying my trepidations will be unfounded and in the end the Fusion will truly shine big time. But those .mp3's seem to be spoiling my party some how.

 

Oh well.. like I said, I will have to play one at length before giving it the final yea or nay.

[Tonysounds]

I played a Fusion this week. A let down.

[MikeT156]

Quote by Keynote:

----------------------------------------

If Alesis could have given the Fusion a more top notch sound set I would have no problem shelling out another Grand or so to buy it.

----------------------------------------

I don't know about paying a $1000 more for a Fusion. That would put that board in direct competition with the big three workstations. Alesis has always been the bargain basement KB company (A6 not withstanding) and that's there niche. You're right about the sounds. They have to take precedence over features.

 

 

Mike T.

[kanker.]

Originally posted by tonysounds:

I played a Fusion this week. A let down.

Agreed. It really didn't sound much better than the QS series.

[aliengroover]

I think the interface really killed it for me and, in particular, the sequencer pissed me off. I like what it has to offer, though, and I think for some buyers that will be the selling point. However, while I think it sounds good, it's not as full of "inspiring" sounds as the Fantom X or other workstations are.

Peace

[Ken Hughes]

You guys are giving me good info. Thanks. I'll make sure I look at these issues in the review, when and if the requested (begged for, threats issued, pleaded and cried for) review unit ever makes its appearance. If this goes on too long we may, for the first time in a long while, exercise the option to try and borrow one from a retailer.

[Byrdman]

Originally posted by kevank:

Originally posted by tonysounds:

I played a Fusion this week. A let down.

Agreed. It really didn't sound much better than the QS series.

That's a shame. For me that was a significant reason to get one. Would like great EPs too.

 

The QS8 when it came out (7 years ago or there-abouts) was stella (by starlight) in the sound department for the time. The only piano that came close was the Kurzweil and it only had 16 way polyphony.

 

Number one priority should have been a pack leading piano once again.

[DafDuc]

Ken, maybe the next review of an Alesis product could mention the complete dismantling of their repair network as a potential caveat. I bought a QS8.1 new (3 years back now), unaware that the repair network was no more. When I ran into a problem, I was required to ship the beast to New Jersey (from Michigan).

 

I paid for local repairs instead. The warranty is basically not worth exercising, until Alesis has an authorized repair network rolling again. I love my 8.1, but never again. And the Fusion looks like it has many more things that could go wrong with it - perhaps the most complicated keyboard out there this side of the Oasys.

 

Daf

[Synthguy]

Hrm... that is an interesting point, Daf.

 

As for the sound, I never rely on patches to do more than give me a sense of what a synth is capable of. If I did that, I'd always think that Korg was the best, and possibly Kurzweil, though the Kurz - Oasys aside - obviously gets the nod. Rolands always sound the lamest, but next to the Kurz they have the most soundpower.

 

I do my best to open the hood and listen to everything I can from the raw samples, the sound of the filters, reverb, everything I can get my ears around. The Fusion may just be suffering from Roland-itis.

[Ken Hughes]

Originally posted by DafDuc:

Ken, maybe the next review of an Alesis product could mention the complete dismantling of their repair network as a potential caveat.

That's an interesting point, and entirely worthy of coverage - in some other way. It doesn't belong in a product review unless we decide to make discussing repair networks an across-the-board policy and start it in a specific issue. And frankly that's beyond the scope of what we can handle right now.

 

While it may be true that Alesis "de-authorized" existing authorized regional repair centers (I dunno for sure either way), I've had enough gear "repaired" by supposedly factory-trained hacks at local repair centers to know that it's not necessarily a bad thing to pull all repairs back into the mothership. Some of these field guys are plain incompetent.

 

Lemme dig into this a little bit - sounds like there's a story there, if I can get anyone to talk. Watch - we'll do the story and y'all will say, "What a waste of pages - give us more advanced lessons instead!"

[DafDuc]

I had/have a good guy. He's just all of a sudden non-Alesis-authorized.

 

Hey, if you're taking article requests, I'd love to hear about your church gig, if you're still doing it. I about fell out of my chair the first time you did a product review that mentioned dragging the board to church. Wish I could get MY day job to interact nicely with my church gig...

 

Jay "Dafduc" Ricketts

Director of Music

St. Clement of Rome Church

Romeo, MI

[DafDuc]

BTW, I believe the de-authorization was related to the bankruptcy / takeover. Seemed to coincide in time...

[Moon Zero Two]

I also remember hearing that in order to service Alesis equipment special repair gear had to be purchased - specific to Alesis only - something to do with the kind of specialty chips in their boards.

[MIdi]

Ken i just got one if you want me to write a review of it.......midi@cox.net

[Ken Hughes]

Originally posted by DafDuc:

BTW, I believe the de-authorization was related to the bankruptcy / takeover. Seemed to coincide in time...

That sounds about right. Given the circumstances, I'm not sure what else they could've done. The field guys aren't generally amenable to carrying on without knowing if they'll be reimbursed for warranty work. . . . And of course the status of everyone's warranty was up in the air at that time anyway.

DafDuc:

Hey, if you're taking article requests, I'd love to hear about your church gig, if you're still doing it.

Naw, I couldn't do that. The mag isn't a vehicle for our own fame. (But I wouldn't complain if somebody hooked it up so our guys could appear as talking heads on some of those VH1 shows where they get "music experts" from Blender, Spin, and the like!)

Originally posted by RonL:

I also remember hearing that in order to service Alesis equipment special repair gear had to be purchased - specific to Alesis only - something to do with the kind of specialty chips in their boards.

I seem to remember hearing something about this as well, but I'm not sure if it was from a reliable source or if it was just a rumor. I can ask Jim Norman @ Alesis what the status of the repair network is. I think an informational sidebar would be an OK thing to do. Is it really enough of a concern these days that you'd want "warranty repair procedure" and/or "factory-authorized repair resources" included as a line item in, like, the Vital Stats chart? Give it some thought.

 

originally posted by MIdi:

Ken i just got one if you want me to write a review of it.

If you're serious about offering up your services, PM me. I wouldn't start any first-time freelancer with an assignment so huge, complicated, and politically thorny (Most of Alesis' eggs are in this basket, so it's possible they'd make a strong attempt to spin the review and argue against any criticisms we end up having, and that process has to be handled with diplomacy), but we could definitely get you a trial assignment.

[DafDuc]

Originally posted by Ken Hughes:

Naw, I couldn't do that. The mag isn't a vehicle for our own fame.

Okay, tell us about it here. We promise we won't make you famous...

[Ken Hughes]

Sometime, I'll do that. Too busy today though. Still have Synth Workshop, the Nord Stage review, and a quickie on the Frontier Tranzport to finish, and arranging the delivery of next month's reviewables. . . .

[Byrdman]

Plus, of course, the photo shoot for the cover of Rolling Stone.

[niacin]

I am wondering if all the negative comments on the Fusion rompler soundset might not have been influenced by lengthy comparisons with the OASYS prior to the release of either board which have resulted in unrealistic expectations given the price?

[MIdi]

The Soundset's not too bad, all you have to do is move some controler sna dyou can really muck up the sound to your taste, played with it extensively last nite and really got into it, this one's a sleeper!

[aliengroover]

Originally posted by niacin:

I am wondering if all the negative comments on the Fusion rompler soundset might not have been influenced by lengthy comparisons with the OASYS prior to the release of either board which have resulted in unrealistic expectations given the price?

That didn't factor in at all. I kinda come from the Jimmy Jam school of thought: if the people who've spent months with it couldn't get motivated to make great sounds, what does that say to me? However, I think the possibilities are there for the Fusion, and that certainly intrigues me. I'd love to sit with one for an hour or two with some cans and see what comes out of it before I make my final judgement.

Peace

[Les Mizzell]

I originally posted a version of this on the Fusion Board, but what the heck...

 

I think many folks are looking at the Fusion the wrong way. I'm interested in it for two reasons - first, my own music, which is very experimental at this point in time. I'm currently using a large analog modular synth in the studio, plus Absynth and Supercollider. If I decide to attempt to play some of this stuff live somewhere, I don't want to move all that crap around. The Fusion seems to be capable of doing what I want in this area.

 

What's in this thing?

1. A Yamaha DX Synth (FM) *with* a multimode filter included, which Yamaha didn't really do right until the FS1R. Additionally, you couldn't modulate the frequency of an individual operator on the original DX Synths (Can you on the FS1R? I forget...). The Fusion allows this. Too cool.

2. "Reed" and "Wind" Physical Modeling (like the Korg Z1 but with more polyphony). Alesis has stated that there will be additional models to be added later.

3. a killer Analog Modeling Synth

4. Sample Playback

5. 8 Tracks audio Recording

 

1 through 3 *alone* would be worth the price to me for my experimental work. Ok, I'm one of those crazy people that actually *liked* programming the Yamaha DX7 when it first came out, and I see some real programming depth in this area that just wasn't possible with the original DX series. I could easily get lost in this area and not get back out to look at the other areas for some time. Just the one small sound example of FM on the Alesis site shows real promise of some really twisted FM timbres.

 

I have a Yamaha WX5 Wind Controller, so I'm also very interested in the possibilities of the Physical Modeling section. Excepting the Oasys, Korg only give us 6 notes of polyphony of modeling with the addition of the MOSS board to their Triton series, and Yamaha gives us only 1 note? You've got 40+ notes of modeling polyphony in the Fusion. Sheesh.

 

I'm a Gemini, and true to form I have an alter ego. In addition to being the mad audio scientist that is really excited about the extreme programming capabilities and potential sonic manglings, I also need a more "normal" synth to use for the occasional theatrical pit-band job. But, I'm simply not going to invest in two different keyboards for this. I just finished "dejunking" my studio and I don't need to start another new pile of stuff anywhere. One keyboard is going to have to suffice for multiple jobs. So, the Fusion also has sample playback. Hopefully most of the sounds are good enough for what I need to do my "mild-mannered pit-band musician" jobs as well.

 

Being able to import other format sample libraries is of great importance to me as I perhaps have a favorite string section I wish to use in the pit. I tend to prefer smaller string sections to the typical "massed" sound that's so common on all keyboards. If I hold a note in the lower mid section I want to be able to differentiate the three different cello players used to make the sample. I've got this exact sound in Giga/Kontakt format. I'm willing to give up the key-switch feature, but I want to be able to import *that* sample set into the Fusion, with key-mapping and velocity-switching intact. Alesis has already announced compatibility with Akai format libraries "real soon". Hopefully other formats will follow, so I'm not actually too worried about the onboard sounds for my own use.

 

I'd like to know more about plans for future sample-based sound sets for the Fusion as well. I don't really care about more presets for the other synthesis sections, as I'll be doing my own, but I'm not hiring my favorite English Horn player for a recording session just for that sound. Hopefully Alesis or 3rd parties are already neck deep in a number of additional sample libraries for us.

 

While I'm sure we folks on the board here are a little more technical minded than the majority of buyers out there, I'm well aware that most folks that are buying workstations available today will *never* get past the preset sounds. If they don't like the first 20 or so presets they hear when auditioning a new keyboard, it immediately "sucks" as far as they're concerned and they'll never dig any deeper into it to see what actually there. I typically use presets as a gauge as to what a particular synth *might* be able to do with some further digging. The Fusion looks like it's going to be almost as much fun as the Nord Modular in my book, and that's a *lot* of fun!

 

Check out the modulation matrix. You can easily do "modular chaos" type patching:

LFO 1 ---> LFO 2 [Rate] ---> LFO 3 [Rate] ---back to LFO 1 : And then route the output of this whole wild mess back into something else, like OSC pitch while controlling the depth of everything by EGs. Damn fun, huh?

 

OK, nobody near me has a Fusion in stock. Probably won't either. It's too redneck "Lynyrd Skynyrd git-tar only" in this part of the woods. So, I haven't been able to check out the initial sound-set myself. However, the internal synthesis architecture of the Fusion is nothing short of amazing and it's an open-ended system, so I'm looking at future possibilities, *not* what I might be stuck with today. With that in mind, what else comes close?

 

Let's see (synthesis functions only - not worrying about the quality of the factory sample based presets. That's subjective anyway, right?):

 

FANTOM Sample-playback (ROM) only. No other forms available. Give it brownie points for a pretty large library of very nice additional sounds.

 

TRITON out of the box it has sample-playback (ROM) only. You can add six voices of modeling by adding the MOSS board. Good sound expansion possibilities, but not currently as many as the Fantom (somebody correct me if I'm wrong).

 

MOTIF this gets a little closer than the Triton or Fantom. Out of the box it has sample-playback (ROM) only. Want physical modeling? Add the PLG150VL for a single monophonic voice, compared to the 48+ in the Fusion. Want FM? Add the PLG150DX board. Analog Modeling? Add the PLG150AN.

Considering that these boards are $150 to $250 or so each, you've just spent over ½ the total price of the Fusion adding boards to your Motif to get some of the same capabilities.

 

OASYS Ok, now we're getting there. This is the only thing that comes close right out of the box. I haven't had the chance to play one of these either, and I'm sure it sounds amazing but it is $6000 more amazing that the Fusion? I don't know, I'm going to have to drive to Atlanta or somewhere where I can actually spend some time with both. It's got to be super-amazing for the additional amount it cost though, that's for sure!

 

What the heck is Kurzweil doing these days? Anything new at all? I dunno, but they're way overdue something new, right?

 

 

All the above is only my opinion, for what it's worth (not much, probably). Once I get a chance to spend some serious time with this instrument I'll be able to better say exactly what I think of the possibilitites. Specs are one thing, but putting them through their paces is another thing entirely.

[DafDuc]

Welcome to the board, Les.

 

Hey, can you play Freebird?

 

[DafDuc]

I test drove a Fusion last night at the local Banjo Mart.

 

I was VERY disappointed with the stock sounds. I didn't have time for a full tour, but kept trying to find something I liked.

 

I'm sure it has its strengths - the interface looks easy to get around in - but the factory presets are not among them.

 

I'll try it again, cos I really WANT to like this thing. The concept kills! But our first date didn't go well. I left her at the party and took home a Snowball instead...

[RABid]

I downloaded the manual and I am shocked that there are no controller features for external gear. No mention of splits, layers, zones, and changing of external patches. That makes me think that this unit is designed for home studio use rather than stage.

 

Robert

[sizzlemeister]

I completely agree with LesMizzell. The major complaints I've seen about the Fusion so far have been the ROM sounds! (the first OS glitches aside)

 

That's like 1/6th of what this thing can do. I mean, from what I've heard of the Oasys' "rom" sounds, they're not all that inspiring either - granted I've only heard demos of both machines.

 

FEW machines ROM sounds are "inspiring" to me - ESPECIALLY piano sounds and piano sounds are what people seem to pay attention to the most. A piano emulation is ALWAYS going to sound like a piano emulation when you play it on its own. Period. They only "come to life" in a mix.

 

Not to seem like an apologist for Alesis, but this is SOP for them: release an immature product and use the first-adopters to help them refine the product.

 

Granted, my opinion may change when I finally get a chance to fiddle with one (nothing beats real-world experience) - but, honestly, how many synths and keyboards out there are chock-full of "inspiring" sounds from the factory? I can think of a sound here or there on various boards (the Motif Wurlitzer roms come to mind) that knocked me out but in most cases they're ho-hum.

[MIdi]

Oh, but remember how blown away we were by the factory presets on the Roland D-50 back in '87?

Or the Yamaha SY-77 in '89? Or how about those evolving presets on the Korg Wavestation in '91? Those presets defined the instrument itself. The Fusion is kinda like the A6 in that regard, they give you all the tools, its up to the user to create sounds that inspire. I'm sure, over time, that the Fusion soundset will grow and amaze us all. This one's a keeper for me!

[Les Mizzell]

Originally posted by MIdi:

Oh, but remember how blown away we were by the factory presets on the Roland D-50 back in '87?

But don't forget, the technology presented there was "new" and quite unlike anything previously out there. Same goes for the M1 and DX7.

 

OK, rant time.

 

Considering only hardware synths at the moment, name something "new" that's come out in the last year or so.

 

I can think of one: Hartmann Neuron. That's about it.

Wait - maybe the Roland V-Synth.

 

Even the expensive Oasys hasn't really anything "new". It's just a bunch of "updated previously existing technology" stuffed in a box. I was really hoping for it to have the next logical incarnation of physical modeling (Z1). Heck, it doesn't even HAVE physical modeling! At least the Fusion has that!

 

I've been quite amazed at the lack of "new" lately to be honest. Where's the "next big thing"? Everybody seems to be comfortable making either straight sample (PCM or whatever) playback machines or trying to emulate the past. Been there, done that. Give me something completely new to play with.

 

I know that the manufacturers are trying to make money. They're going to make what they feel folks are going to buy. Unfortunately, the majority of the buying public wants instant gratification, and "new" doesn't cut it in that area because "new" technology/terminology takes time to master and most consumers aren't going to take the effort required to learn something new.

 

There's some great software out there and a few niche manufacturers doing neat stuff, but the 'big boys" are more worried about their bottom lines. Let's face it, SuperCollider and Kyma are probably two of the most flexible and advanced sound creation tools out there, but look at the learning curves! I've been working with SuperCollider for over a year and I still can't do squat.

 

Just my opinion anyway.

[Dan Phillips]

Originally posted by LesMizzell:

Even the expensive Oasys hasn't really anything "new". It's just a bunch of "updated previously existing technology" stuffed in a box.

Actually, the entire foundation of the architecture is new.

 

To start with, the system provides dynamic allocation between different synthesis models, allowing either a single sound to use the entire system, or dividing the system between multiple sounds/methods, with automatic protection against processor overs.

 

I'm not aware of any other system which truly provides this functionality (including certain other recently released synths, at least as far as I can discern from working with them), and it's a pretty important element of the overall structure. To the user, it means the ability to use different sounds (and combinations of sounds) without worrying about which algorithms are used to create those sounds. In other words, this enables the whole idea of a musician-friendly, multi-algorithm system, with software expansion of synth engines and effects.

 

To put it another way, from a computer perspective: this is like having banks of sounds which rely upon different plug-ins. The OASYS architecture lets you use these sounds multi-timbrally, changing programs on the fly, without needing to be aware of which programs use which plug-ins, or the amount of resources those plug-ins require.

 

The voice allocator is part of an underlying system with an entirely new code base, designed to be a platform for Korg development in the future, and a hardware design which treats the Pentium as a big DSP. On top of this, almost every aspect of the synthesis engines is new - though they naturally build on what we've done before.

 

It's difficult for me to single out just a few features, but some hilights include:

 

* New ultra-low-aliasing PCM oscillators - the best realtime bandlimiting interpolation available, bar none. This means pure sounds (aliasing is heard as distortion and grunge, generally with pitch components as well) and clear high frequencies.

 

* Fast, smooth modulation - all envelopes, LFOs, step sequencers, Wave Sequences, and Mod Mixers are updated every 2/3 of a millisecond, and then filtered at the sample rate. They're also locked to the sample clock, so they won't slow down or glitch, regardless of how many notes you play. LFOs, vector EG, step sequencers, and Wave Sequences all can sync to tempo. Envelopes can be reset from any modulation source, and have adjustable curvature per segment, for emulation of various classic envelope shapes. Mod Mixers build on the concept of Kurzweil FUNs, allowing processing of one or two modulation sources, from simple adding to scaling to lag processing, curvature control, and quantization.

 

* Wave Sequencing - many updates from the original, including time/tempo modes, sample-locked tempo synch, constant-time crossfades even in tempo mode, adjustable exp-to-log fade-in and fade-out shapes per step, adjustable swing, trigger quantization and key sync, realtime duration modulation, control of reverse and sample start point per step, and dual step-sequencer-type outputs for modulating Program parameters from the Wave Sequence. Plus, of course, you can use stereo samples, and RAM samples.

 

* AL-1 - new, low-aliasing oscillators; with Drive and ring mod disabled, they have no audible aliasing throughout the entire 88-note range, even with sync enabled - without need for "wrapping" as on some other synths.

New MultiFilter. Lots of modulation, with 5 EGs, 4 LFOs, and a step sequencer per voice, plus an additional LFO, step sequencer, and Vector EG per Program; see korg.com for more info.

 

* Even the CX-3 has been re-architected, with dynamic voice allocation, full EX functionality in split mode, user-programmable vibrato chorus (in addition to the standard 6 presets), and various small improvements (better noise range, faster horn speeds, assign percussion to either upper or lower drawbars, set the stop phase for the rotary speaker, etc.).

 

* And, then there will be new EXi instruments...but that's for the future.

 

Originally posted by LesMizzell:

 

I was really hoping for it to have the next logical incarnation of physical modeling (Z1). Heck, it doesn't even HAVE physical modeling!

I'd note that the CX-3 should qualify as physical modeling.

 

Also, for more synthesis types and technologies - that's what EXi are for. :-)

 

Best regards,

 

Dan Phillips

[workstationM.I.]

All the "Fantoms" need to be gathered up in one place and pushed into a very deep body of water....