Alesis Fusion 6HD

The latest version - It's pretty easy to get started - the keyboard has alot of hidden power to it -

The presets are very good - yes some sounds are just OK, but others are remarkibly clear and sound very real..

The Track HD recorder is good - it takes some time getting use to, but all in all pretty good - Edit patches takes some time - there are quik on the fly knobs and a few other effects that you can change right away -
I am not a big programmer and I only tweak the sounds as I need them - The Manual is OK haven't dived into it that much...

If you take the time to dive into this keyboard - You will be greatly rewarded!

The Poly is 128 plus - I mean its pretty amazing - even for complex sounds...

The effects are excellent and top notch - they didn't skimp here - very good effects processors - Midi is a bit quirky, but it works no problem -

It has USB - compact Flash Digital and Optical I/O and 80Gb Hard Drive - basically they threw in the Kitchen sink on this keyboard! -

This is a complete recording studio - I mean Totally complete - 8 Inputs for real time Hard Disk recording - The clarity is fantastic and could press a CD or MP3, or Itune with it ASAP - I have a 6HD with 80Gb Hard Disk - apparently they made them with 80Gb at the end of their production life...

Yes The sounds are good to excellent - Acoustic sounds are great - basically this keyboard is meant to produce movies, TV's shows and commercials on the fly -
The Piano sound is just OK at best - and the some of the synth sounds are common - Guitars are pretty good - horns and other stuff very good - Arp function is very cool - The keyboard sounds at times like a my Korg Triton LE - Honestly, the Triton is probably may sound a bit better on certain sounds, the the Fusion - sounds better with other sounds - so it's hard to say one over the other - but everything is processed very well..

Yes - the software seems a bit weird - I have not had any issues - just kinda of slow with my ROLAND A-90EX controller - Honestly, I have not really had any problems with mine at all - They are getting very hard to find so I would not - PERSONALLY I WOULD NOT GIG WITH THIS THING - I WOULD KEEP IT IN THE STUDIO - BECAUSE OF THE INTERNAL HARD DRIVE..

Company is OK dealt with them in the past - not too bad

Bummer they stopped making these things - The Fusion was really Remarkable for its price point and everything it could do - Some people bag on it because of its sounds, and some because of its software - Personally since I have alot of gear - I would buy another one, if given the chance - Pound for Pound the Phantom, Motiff and Triton Extreme or M3 will sound better, However, for quality of recordings and ease of use - along with pricing - You can beat it at all - It is a complete production studio with out any addons needed - That's what makes it so great!

I would buy another easy - but look for one in incredible condition -

been playing about 20 years or so- The Triton Extreme and LE, Motiff and Phantom - at $1000.00 less if you can find one - Got mine on Ebay - pretty much brand new - the Condition was excellent - I think the guy used it about 10 times total!

O.S. Is 1.22, second to last O.S. Revision. It is a little buggy, but nothing that has held me back or erased any or my work. Would upgrade to the newest version but don't want to risk losing all the new programs and songs I created. Like I said the bugs are nothing major so I probably won't ungrade. Rom presets are decent, VA presets are killer. Editing patches is eazy as hell compared to other boards I've owned like the prophecy, trinity and triton. The manual is a little basic. I think you can learn more just fooling around with the board for a couple of weekends. I think it's a easy to use board for people who have owned other romplers and va's but if it's your first board your pretty much screwed.

Polyphony is insane like 120. 4 freaking arps! what kind of electro head uses 4 arps at te same time on one track!? Thats way to cool.
Filters are pretty dam capable. You can load 40 gigs or sounds into it!
The Keyboard action is sweet but beware you don't want to play your drum parts on it. The keybed is not very resistant and you might end up with a broken key. I already hear a couple of keys coming lose but I'm taking it easy now. Effects are pretty cool, easy to use but you might want to have a extra efx box handy, not all the efx are high quality. Expansion blows everything out the water, the sounds you can create and load are almost endless. Midi control is sick but has a major flaw it dosen't count midi values from 1-127 it counts them 1-100 so the values on other gear will never match with the fusion's. Sequncer is good but I only use it for sketching. I usally import the sketch into my mpc and take it from there. Becuase of the midi, polyphony and expansion Is'm giving it a 9. If it had pattern based recording and better effect it would be a 10.

Instruments are well pretty dam good. There fat warm and gritty sounding. They sound alive with the right tweaking. There not pristine shimmering like a korg or roland. It's a whole nother direction, It does sound retro like but I like that, other people might not. It responses very good to my playing.

You probably can't depend on this board. But I'm crossing my fingers. Would recomend for live shows and studio playing but get yourself a padded case, becuase it was designed in the us but it was made in taiwan!!! I wish that it was made in germany or japan but you got to cut corners to compete.

CONSTANT UPGRADES, FREE SOUNDS BEING RELEASED ALL THE TIME. WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED?

Dam right I'm buying another one when this one is toast. I've been making music since 95 and this is probably the best sounding board I had but it's also the worst constructed. The pros out weight cons though.

Alesis listen up! The next workstation needs 1-2 gig's ram, better effects, pattern based recording and were gravy!

OS Version is 1.24

The original presets sounded fine. When adding the free sounds from Hollow Sun then overall, presets sound much better.
As for editing patches, I found it somewhat easy on the Fusion. I've owned numerous synths over the years (minimoog, ob8, yamaha fs1r, Kawai k5000s, korg trinity, triton extreme, the new korg m3..etc) and I was easily able to get into the Fusion and modify presets to the sounds I wanted. I still haven't got the knack of creating the FM sounds from scratch, but I haven't put alot of time into it either.

The polyphony varies per instrument style. Sample based, VA, FM, VM. with VM being the smallest..but thats ok, as the VM is the weakest section of the synth.
The effects are fine. The synth does take more memory, but that is misleading. All the sounds are stored on the 40 (or 80) GB HD and loaded as needed automatically.. No nead to go thru the load process each time for loading your own samples (this is a MAJOR plus for me)
The VA & FM synths are amazing, and the Sample based synth is what you make of it. If you don't like the sounds, you can buy some akai instrument CD's and load them..then tweak to preference :)

The on board sequence is ok. I don't use it, because I use PC based sequencers. The 8 track audio recording is nice. I've recorded live events on the 8 tracks and then did post mixing on it..very nice feature
I give this a 10 for what it does really well (sample synth, VA, FM, HD recording, auto loading of samples etc) ..and not what it might come up short with (sequencer and just ok VM)

I've used the Fusion HEAVILY for a soundtrack that ranged from 70's funk to orchestral to pads to hard music, an industrial metal cd, an acoustic rock cd, a couple of remixes and a new wave CD, and the Fusion did great on all projects.
My Korg Triton Extreme started collecting dust after I bought the Fusion. I think the synth sounds great!

My fusions (I ended up buying a 2nd Fusion 6HD since I liked it so much) have both worked very well. I've not had an issue with either. A friend of mine bought one and it had a lock up issue. There have been other issues reported ..but I don't really know that the fail rate of the fusion is any worse than any other synth.

I have used it on an important recording gig without a backup. And had it failed, it would have cost my client some $$. I used it without hesitation.

I've not had to deal with them.

Not only would I buy it again, if stolen...I bought it again without it being stolen. My current synth lineup is 2 Fusions & the new Korg M3.
I use the M3 and Fusion close to equal, but maybe the Fusion slightly more. I paid 2 1/2 times more for the M3 than I did my Fusion. If I had to choose to only keep one synth, I would still choose the Fusion..and thats over any synth I've owned over the years.
And at the price you can get this synth at, it's the best value on the market.

I am using v. 1.24. Pretty stable. The presets sound very good overall. Like most workstations, it has its strengths (synth, pads, leads, basses, analog strings, electronic drums, and even some of the guitar patches) and weaknesses (acoustic guitar, brass). Those that complain about the sounds of this keyboard obviously did not do their homework as they should have demoed it before they took it home. All workstations have a particular sound that does not cater to everyone. In this market, EVERYTHING IS SUBJECTIVE. If you are interested in this keyboard, you need to audition it for hours before you conclude if this is right for you.

I think there are some who purchased the Fusion based strictly on the feature set alone.

Nothing out there can match the features on the Fusion. If I had to gripe about one thing, it is that the memory for the sampler is not user expandable.

Polyphony is incredible. Effects are remarkably good.

Some people complain about the sequencer and although it does not have a real pattern sequencer, it is quite useable.

A lot of the sounds are textured and or evolves. In all, with the inclusion of Hollow Sun patches, this board could pretty much be used for a wide range of genres. The fact that a full featured sampler is included is also icing on the cake.

I haven't had it long enough.

Alesis has been very proactive and involved with addressing issues with its user base. While I feel this is starting to wane, it is still better than the other big 3.

I would definitely get one again if it were lost or stolen. It does not sound like the Motif, Triton, or Fantom, which is a good thing. It is not a ME TOO synth. When the Motif first came out, Roland and Korg tried hard to emulate that synth. Alesis did not choose to go that route.

IF you are looking for motif sounds, then you need to get the motif. If you want something totalty different, then the Alesis is the synth for you.

I'm using software version 1.24. Presets are excellent and very expressive. The additional samples from Hollow Sun are a wonderful sonic experience. Patches are easy to edit, and quickly stored in your "Favorite" banks for snappy access. The free "Fusion Converter" software converts various sample format libraries into Fusion format, including WAV, AIFF, Akai s1000/S3000/S5000, and soundfonts. The manual is very readable, and Alesis has been making supplements and tutorials available online for free download.

Polyphony is approximately 180 voices. The keyboard action is solid and excellent for a non-weighted device. The built in effects are easy to use and sparkling, but the leslie/rotary effect needs some tweaking. Expansion capabilities include the on-board 40 gig hard drive, a compact flash card slot, and optional install of additional RAM. The sequencer is fine for my use, but obviously won't meet everyones needs (that's what Cubase and Logic are for). The built in 8 track audio recorder is an unexpected gem.

This is one of the most expressive synths I've ever played, and velocity & aftertouch react to your playing and animate the sounds. With sample playback, user sampling, virtual analog, FM synthesis, and physical modeling, it's like having 5 synths in one keyboard. The instruments are very realistic - great pianos, horns, synth pads, choirs, and what not. And with the Fusion Converter, you can import the huge Akai library.

I use it for rock, jazz, blues, and standards. And it seems as though the more I play the Fusion, the more I find that my other keyboards are being stored in the shed. When I gig, I usually use only one other synth, my E-mu PK6. The Kurzweil, Korg, and Kawai stay home.

I've been using the Fusion for 10 months, hauling it to gigs, moving it in and out of my car trunk, and it has been totally reliable. The Alesis SR16 drum machine I purchased in 1991 has worked flawlessly for over 15 years. I owned an Alesis Quadrasynth for 12 years without any problems, as well as a QSR+ rackmount. Alesis makes reliable equipment and backs it up with upgrades and repairs if needed. I would use it at a gig without a backup, but prefer to use two keyboards, as I work a duo with my wife on guitar, play left hand bass, and like having one keyboard set up for lead sounds, and the other with bass/rhythm sounds.

I've had support dealings with Alesis since purchasing an original Quadrasynth in 1993, sent it in two or three times to upgrade the software, and once to have the power supply repaired. Alesis promptly did the work, and quickly shipped the unit back. The Fusion is a dream to upgrade. Alesis puts the software on their website, you download it to your computer, save it to a compact flash card, put the card in the Fusion, and upgrade the OS or load in new samples. Hollow Sun has been commissioned by Alesis to convert their huge library of vintage samples to the Fusion format, and you can download them for free. Two excellent user groups have formed that support Fusion players - Fusion Club http://fusioneer.proboards102.com/index.cgi and Fusion Zone www.promusicproducts.com/forum/phpBB2/index.php

If my Fusion 6hd was stolen, I would buy the 88 key 8hd, immediately, without hesitation. I purchased my first electronic instrument, a Wurlitzer 140 electric piano, in 1964. In the past 40 years I've owned over 50 keyboards, organs, synths, and samplers - The Fusion is the absolute best ever. It has a warm, moving, organic sound. It inspires me to play for hours.

In addition to the Fusion, my current instrument collection includes: 1861 Steinway Square Grand piano; Hammond M-3, X-66, & X-77 organs; Kurzweil K250 & K2000R; E-mu PK6 synth; Korg DSS1 sampler; Kawai PH50 synth; CDX Moog organ, Elka Unicord Panther organ, Alesis SR16 and Korg DDD5 drum machines; and Elka Wilgamat 3 auto-orchestra.

And the best thing about the Fusion is that my wife doesn't complain that it gets in the way of her vocals.

My current OS is 1.24 and on the whole I'm happy with the preset sounds. By the same token, the editing of sounds is logical and easily accomplished. Whilst the manual is useful, it is descriptive rather than instructional. That is to say, functions are described but with little or no implementation. Hence trying to use functions such as mix-song or the sequencer can be a nightmare

It has been stated that the Fusion 6/8HD is feature packed. This is an understatement, with Alesis cramming in just about everthing necessary for music production. (4 synthesis methods, sequencer, 8 channel audio recorder, effects and provision for up grading.) However, as has been stated, not knowing the way functions are implemented can make life difficult. In particular, the sequencer is a real pain to use and does not follow a logical sequence for its setting up, with the user having to backtrack through parameters that ought to have been set up upon initialisation. Hence the low rating.

Sonically, this machine is the dogs gonads. It works well with all styles of music and could easily replace anything from a DJ through to an orchestra. by the same token, the way in which this machine reacts to playing styles is a credit to Alesis.

Could I depend on this machine, I think not. Indeed, I shall be slaving it to my 18yr old ESQ80 which it was supposed to replace. My reasons are simple, the ESQ80 was developed by a small team. Hence, faults/bugs are small. Obviously, the Fusion was developed by a large team who lacked communication. would I gig it? No, not unless it was used as a tone module and nothing else.

I haven't used customer support as yet. However, the way in which this machine is behaving, I dare say it'll be soon. Especially as I'm having difficulty in deciding whether I have a hardware or software faulty machine. And that is said having used the onboard hardware diags (1+8 keys held down on boot up).

If it were lost or stolen then I could at least claim my money back on the insurance ( :-) ). Having played many pieces/types of equipment over 30+ years, this machine leaves me indifferent. That is to say, sonically beautiful but practically useless. Sofware based (like my Korg MS2000 and Alesis Micron)it is BUG RIDDEN! I have been in posession of this machine for over a week and have still not been able to turn out a piece of music. In stark contrast, my ESQ80 had me blairing out music in half an hour if that. DO NOT BUY. You will loose money or faith in the musical instrument manufacturer industry.

Using this keyboard is like going on a freaking treasure hunt. Yes, there are many great sounds. But they are hidden in endless menus and random places (i.e. a great synth lead in the ethnic bank). The software is glitchy and Alesis absolutely REFUSES to fix the problems. Editing patches is a puzzle, and the manual is terrible. The R&D team at Alesis should be shot. Seriously. How was someone with a college or masters degree even allowed to sign off on this?

Alesis has been terribly missleading about the Fusion. It's marketed as a keyboard where Alesis and users will continue to release new sounds and upgrades. Let me tell you: It will never happen. Alesis has essentially given up on this marketing flop.

Glitchy software and a total lack of focus have ruined this keyboard. Is is a pro-workstation, or a gimmicky techno toy for euro trash? Is it a classical piano, or a synth? Alesis can't deside. Have you heard of the expression: Jack of all trades, but master of none?

There is no real on-board sequencer for this supposed WORKSTATION. Yes, you can record your own sounds in real-time, but the sequencer is so terrible you'll want to buy a dedicated recorder. Yes, you can create your own sounds, but you'll need a PHD to do it.

As mentioned above, the sounds are decent, but a total treasure hunt to find.

Plastic. Made in China. Of course it's fragile and disposable. No surprise there. Alesis will make thousands of these and they will end up in landfills. That's the new American way. The last thing meant to last built in the U.S.A. was probably a car that used (God forbid) real steel in the 1970's.

You will call and get a company Yes Man. No one at Alesis really cares about the working musician. If they did, they would have sent the Fusion to a focus group to work out the bugs.

The Fusion is s decent value because it has a number of solid sounds and it's the only game in town offering true synth and organic sounds. However, it is a totally half-baked concept that never made it through true R&D. I'm furious with Alesis that they didn't give it there all. It should be called the Alesis Furious!

I just wanted to followup on my earlier review. A new OS was released yesterday that nails down the midi/audio sync issue. The two now work in perfect time with each other. In truth the onlt time I ever had a problem with it before was if I FFD or RWD while recording. I never used the audio recording much since I already had a nice HD 16 track. Now I'm thinking of live backing tracks....

I saw another review here to the effect that the user interface is not easy. I disagree with that. But everyone has their own comfort zone, right?

Using software V1.23.
After using this synth a couple of weeks I have to say the user interface is real easy to work with. Uploading akai samples is a peace of cake. Creating synth patches or complete mixes is dead easy. As with every synth or workstation, read the manual and get to know the machine.I do have to admit I don't use the sequencer since I'm using a pc for that but since most of the complaints you read about the fusion are because people didn't read the manual I suppose this as easy to operate as all other parts of the fusion.

Well compare the features of this synth to others and you know the deal.
Polyphony is much higher than any synth on the market (for all 4 synth engines). 4 sound synthesis types, sequencer, sample capabilities, alesis effects, usb, compact flash, hard drive.
Oh and the keyboard action is one of the best I've come accross in many many years.Finally a company that hasn't cut corners in the keybed department (compare the juno-g with the fusion and you know what I mean)

I read a lot of comments on the sounds in the fusion so I listened to every demo on the web and spent a couple of hours in the shop just listening to the presets and samples. The alesis sounds top notch! The VA synth and FM are very very good, the modeling is nice for special effects, maybe not for realistic reed sounds but it's excellent for expressive leads.The presets of my OS version are there with the best. Did you ever hear a convincing sax preseton a synth/workstation? Neither have I. Same goes for the fusion.Sound is very personal, but I like the piano sounds, the wurlitzer sounds from the hollow sun files can compeet with my clavia Nord electro2. The strings are marvellous.Acoustic drums could be better, but the electro ones are very good. Anyway I didn't bought this for the drums or guitars or reed instruments (I use a large sample library for these one's) or live players on stage.
As said, the keyboard is superb,it has aftertouch and the effects are great. I'm happy.

I haven't encoutered any problems yet.
It has a Hard drive and that is maybe a little bit dangerous.But I am pretty confident.
ALesis is doing a very good job in releasing updates with features and stbility updates.

I did not have to deal with them personally yet but when I see regular updates of the OS and also the amount of new free sound sets that has been relaesed by hollow sun and others. The sample converter they have licensed from the "chicken" guys.
I would say this is pretty good customer support. I haven't seen many competitors doing that.
Customer support is not only about dealing with repairs you know.
I have never seen Roland or E-mu releasing any OS updates for the synth I bought from them.

As you probably guessed it, I'm a happy Alesis user.Don't trust the negative feedback this machine is sometimes getting. There is also a lot of good feedback. Sound wise it's up there with the Yamaha's, Korgs or Rolands of this world. But it has more of everything (synth engines, sample cap., polyphony, audio inputs,...) and the price is unbeatable.

The Fusion is built pretty logically and has a big screen. However there are a few things that slow it down:
1.) The navigation is a bit cumbersome at times.
2.) The sequencer's interface is terrible - from adding new bars to looping to whatever else is often used. I just hate the sequencer.
3.) Loading times for instruments - inspiration killer.

Excellent features: the polyphony, the sequencer, the audio tracks are all fantastic on paper. The effects are also good, as is the variety of synth engines. Good keybed, by the way! But it sucks as a MIDI controller - limited # of knobs, no sliders, etc ...

The sounds are uninspiring.
The acoustic drums sound mighty thin, as do the bass instruments and the acoustic guitars. Distorted guitars are pretty good. Synth sounds are good as well. Strings are weak, brass is ok+. Organs are pretty good. EPs - some stinkers and some nice ones, nice overall. The grand piano is OK but has some "hollowness" in the mid-range and its velocity switching is way too obvious. Choirs - what choirs?
I found the sound set that ships with the Fusion to be a disappointment. The Hollow Sun additions sound good but focus on synth sounds mainly and take *time* to load. This loading time, which may seem trivial at first, quickly became a MAJOR inspiration killer for me.

I've owned the Fusion for 5 months now and have encountered 2 glitches. Both were fixed by powering the unit off and then on. My current OS is 1.21. In a software unit this would be expected. On a hardware unit - never, at least for me.

Haven't dealt with it.

For its current price, 999$, the Fusion 6HD is the best deal out there at the moment. However, that's not to say it's the best deal on an absolute scale.

In the end, the Fusion just doesn't "do it" for me. It's not good for acoustic type of music. It has great specs but that's not enough. I suggest you buy your next instrument based on whether it "does it" or not, not based on specs and low price. Music is an irrational field. Decisions based on rational parameters are bound to cause problems. Kind of like love. The most popular/richest/seemingly prettiest girl isn't always the one you fall for.