Alesis airFX

Extremely easy to use, though you need to refer to the geometry you learned back in school. You can move your hand (or any body part :)) over the infrared dome... the X-axis is left-right, the Y-axis is forward-backward and the Z-axis is up-down.

Since it's a very spartan, very basic user interface, the manual is pretty brief. You can finish it in less than 5 minutes. All patches are preset, no editing, but then you'd probably pay more for that.

I use it in my home studio (on a Behringer 24-channel mixer) and live (on a Mackie 1202). I use TRS insert cables. I wish they had 1/4" jacks but the RCA jacks are more common and I've heard that Alesis wants to market this to mainstream consumers rather than just musicians, engineers and djs.

The sound quality is supposedly the same 24-bit quality as they use on their multi-effects units, though it sounds amazingly clean and adds basically no noise. All the effects are digital but the analogish ones (i.e. filters) sound like pretty darn accurate emulations.

There are 50 presets -- filters, flange/phasers, special fx (panning, modulation, volume) and tone-generating sounds like aynth sounds, white noise, a turntable "scratch" sound and synthetic percussion.
My favorites are #10 (the price is worth this one alone) -- "telephone" which is a lo-fi filter (Think of that part in the Madonna song "Music" where you hear the filter sweep when she sings, "Hey Mr DJ pu a record on..."). #12 is a hipass filter, and there's real fun effects like #42 (Skratch!)- a corny but too-cool turntable scratching sound, and #49 (Sci-Fi Theatre) a lower-range theremin-like sound (with a sawtooth wave rather than a sine).

Very little moving parts. In fact there's only ONE moving part - the data wheel. I'd definitely use it for gigs, I do live electronic music, and someone moving their arms on this thing is more interesting than someone twiddling knobs or pushing buttons. There's also a hole in the underside of the unit so you can mount it on a standard mic stand.

I've heard of Korg KAOSS pads breaking down, losing their touch sensitivity. This one you don't really have to touch anything. Low maintenance, low wear.

I've had great results with Alesis, but it's not typical of everyone's experience, since I live within a 30-minute driving distance of Alesis' heaquarters and factory facilities. No need to wait 'cos everything's local for me.

This is a MUST for electronic (live PA) musicians, remix producers and DJs (especially house/trance DJs). You can have a repetitive loop or sequence sound no-so repetitive by pumping the singal through this baby.

The price is just right, it can be had for $160-$200.

I wish it did have a power switch. MIDI would be nice but I can live without it for this price. Programmability would have been nice as well, but Alesis seems to cover the bases in filter/flange type effects. I also wish the dome could be rotated so one can position the unit a different way.


Light and extremely portable. Sturdy and simple - only one moving part. Though I'd never drop it over a hard floor.

This is a revolutionary piece of gear. Whoever designed it deserves some product award. It's also a godsend for us live electronica geeks who get accused of putting on boring shows by twiddling knobs. This gives stage presence a whole new purpose and meaning.

Very easy to use. For a DJ it might be hard to use it though, you only have two hands to work with and this thing requires one of them....

Very good sound quality. Not noisy at all, some effects are weak and don't do much. Others do stuff that is supposed to be on all the time, which isn't practical for this type of device. So a 7 for sound quality.

Don't know never giged with it, not sure much could go wrong with it though...

Never dealt with the company.

This is a very interesting device, I use it with my guitar, I was looking for the thermin sound and I can get something close to it with this thing. It is supposed to be for DJ's but it just doesn't seem practicle. Neat noise maker though. I hooked up a CD player to it and it does what it says it does. If it were stolen I would be really mad, and I probably would buy another own because it is just so cool to wave your hand over it and have it go chicka-chicka... This thing really does get in the way of making music, it is a toy not an instrument, it is excellent for live production I think, because of the awe producing effects it has. Overall rating a 7 because it is a cool toy if you have $200 to spare.

The air FX is as basic as it gets. Just turn the knob to change programs and use of hand motion over the AXYZ beam and thats it. Even a 5 year old could understand how to use this. The biggest downfall to this unit is that there are only preset patches and no user. Plus there is no on/off switch. Only the adapter is used. I can definatly see an upgrade of this product sometime within the next 2 years.

The effects are really cool especially the filters. The preset effects are filter, flange, phaser, pitchshifter, tremolo, distortion, panner, rotary speaker, and some bizarre synth oscillator effects. Most of the sounds are clean and are 24 bit. The filters tend to be a bit grainy if the volume levels are close to clipping. I would describe the FX as a combination of the Korg Kaoss and Rolands D-Beam. Alesis made this unit particularly for DJ's and those whole love to add weird textures to their music.

I haven't had it long enough to rate.

At such a low price with a really cool performance its hard not to rate this product excellent. During the 30 minutes I was at Guitar Center there must have been 15 people waiting to fool around with the FX. It definatly caught my eye and my wallet.

Don't know... but I have many ideas on its use

With its interface design, I'd be willing to compromise in this category. The interface blows away the Korg Kaoss Pad, I think.

Don't know

This is where I have an opinion. If you don't what this is, check out Alesis' website.

Anyway, with its user interface, there's many possibilities to imaginative musicians... and even non-musicians. Well, I sent an email to tech support and PR departments about some questions and also ideas/suggestions.

So far, no answer to a potential customer that's practically ready to purchase it. But, not if they don't give a damn about its users.

I'm already planning to buy Electrix FilterQueen so I can wait for someone else to improve on Alesis' design because it's not too hard. But that's what separate good companies from great one... being responsive to customer needs and demands.

WAKE UP, ALESIS!

As far as the product design, I'd give it a 10 for this alone. For sound, it probably be a 7 or 8.

But, for customer service, LOUSY. I'm going to start the rating on this neat little toy very low because Alesis is missing a huge point of being in business.

Alesis, read and respond to my email and I may retract this lousy review.