Alesis ION

A previous reviewer wrote:
"Still wish it had aftertouch though but since second mod wheel acts as aftertouch I can still give it a 10."

I don't know how many times I've come across a comment like this, and can't figure out why this misunderstanding (or ignorance of terminology) persists. But I hope this helps to clear things up. Please Note: AFTERTOUCH is a function of the keyboard, not any other knob, slider, wheel, or joystick. If the keybed doesn't alter the sound by pressing harder after a note has been stuck, the synth doesn't have Aftertouch, period. Aftertouch is not a synth parameter like Cutoff, Envelopes, Resonance, etc., it's a controller that you can assign any number of parameters to (depending on the synth). This function can't be replaced by some other device that forces you to remove a hand from the keyboard, thus a 3rd mod wheel is just a 3rd mod wheel and cannot replace the Aftertouch function. I think this confusion persists with those who are mostly into using synths for dance, i.e. noises/effects/bleeps, etc., a largely post-1995 phenomenon when Aftertouch became a less appreciated and demanded aspect of synth offerings, and was dropped on many synths. You can only really appreciate how expressive Aftertouch can be as a keyboardist (live player) not as a knob twiddler. It truly makes the instrument feel like a living, breathing thing, responding to the touch from your fingers, just like an acoustic instrument would. Even though you are creating and using synthetic sounds, real Aftertouch (in the keybed) brings the instrument out of static, robotic world and into expressive world, putting the musician in touch and in control of the sound dynamics without removing hands from the keyboard.

OS 1.05. Everything is perfect now. This Ion came out of the box with OS 1.05 on it. The newer Ions have had all that knob issue stuff ironed out. Presets are nice but come on, this synth was not bought for presets, it is made for creating sounds...3 oscillators per voice! Powerful sounds.

All the features are terrific and work just as they should. his is one powerful synth. I chose the Ion over the Nord Lead series. Only feature I would like to see added would be aftertouch but second mod wheel basically acts as this feature.

Again, I chose the Ion over the Nord Series because it sounds to good. Took the Ion home with me the first night I ever heard it, I was that impressed with it. Still wish it had aftertouch though but since second mod wheel acts as aftertouch I can still give it a 10.

The newer Ions are flawless. Cut Alesis some slack, it was a brand new product and there were bound to be some bugs but Alesis took care of it all.

First ion was bad but customer support did not waste any of my time. In fact they sent me out a new one the same day I called them and before I even sent mine back in.

This synth is just too amazing. I would absolutely replace the Ion. I chose it over the Virus (although very tempting) and the Nord Lead based on its sound. I already have a master controller board so I didn't need that in a synth just a sonic powerhouse like the Ion. Does not sound thin or brittle but fat and analog.

I really feel that this keyboard deserves all 10s which is unusual but I can't find any faults with it. I feel it is underpriced which gives the perception it isn't powerful or that it is a toy which is so far from the truth.

As of now, i'm running v1.03. Thus far, i'm finding the Ion quite easy to get around. Most of the common parameters have a dedicated knob, though to get to all of the possible changes that can be made, you'll still have to page through a few menu screens. We're used to this by now, however, and the layout is quite logical. However, I could easily see a patch editor being a benefit, if only for patch creation that requires a better view of everything simultaneously. Beginners may have trouble wrapping their heads around the 'part' settings, but a flip through the manual easily remedies this. It's a dry read, but clear enough.

Big points to Alesis for the inclusion of endless-rotary knobs, btw.

There's one thing that makes all this a bit more difficult to use, however.....

I haven't done any heavy sequencing with it yet, but thus far, I haven't found the polyphony limiting at all.

Playing is very comfortable; velocity sensitive, no aftertouch, but I can live with that. Very well suited for creating electronic music, which is exactly what I was looking for. 'Professional' players will likely wish the Ion was available as a rack, however, as the keys are a bit springy. I tend to like this in a keyboard, though.

Modmatrix, filters, and ADSR are very nice, and invite you to go nuts tweaking your sounds. Very flexible, many possibilities, it should suit the average beginner or a seasoned pro. I would've liked a bit more direct modification of the waveforms, and a larger selection than just saw, sine, pulse... but this is really just nitpicking. Mod wheels are very comfortable to use, and I find myself frequently reaching for them to thicken or modulate the crap out of a tune...this is particularly nice when you assign the M1 wheel to modulate LFO. Perfect for those 60's sci-fi moments.

Haven't delved into MIDI much, but Alesis was kind enough to include MIDI Thru, which I greatly appreciate.

I read for months about how analog this thing sounds, and while I don't necessarily disagree, I just don't *care*. For those of you who want authentic analog for your latest rocktronica or prog visitation, fine, whatever... for me, and i'm sure many others, I wanted a synth capable of producing mutilated rhythmic sounds, gutteral drones, and alien soundscape kind of stuff. I have *not* been disappointed.

The overall tone falls somewhere between a Nord Lead and a Waldorf Q, imo. Capable of being very light and airy, yet just as easy to push over to the digital darkside and get those cold pads and FM metallics.
If, like me, you're looking for something that spans everything from Dr. Who to Aeon Flux to Skinny Puppy to Haus Arafna, you'll probably fall in love just as I did.

As for the FX, they tend to range from excellent and pure crap. The distortions are quite nice, esp. the tube amp.. chorus, phaser, and flange bring me back to late-80's/early-90's Front 242 kind of stuff - very synthetic, but strangely lush, too. I'd highly recommend an outboard delay and/or reverb, though.

Easy to use, yes. Easy to use, no?

You've heard about it already - Parameters that suddenly jump around to something else. There seems to be a particular insistence with this thing to jump to the filter settings constantly, even if you're not editing anything remotely related to them. I've been able to prevent this by setting it to 'edit only', which is somewhat of a pain, since I have to hit the corresponding 'edit' button for whatever I want to tweak in order to see the layout on the display. Likely due to the OS, and something I hope will be corrected when I update to v1.05.

Apart from that, the keyboard feels sturdy enough, but is a bit cheap. Every so often, you can see a little of the underlying circuitry between the keys.. not too encouraging, but again, sturdy enough. The knobs are quite comfortable, and don't really have any reliability issues, but the pots could be a bit tighter, as it's *very* easy to brush something you weren't intending to change by accident.

Dunno, haven't had to contact them.. we'll see if that still stands after I upgrade the OS.

Rather than being a one-trick pony, I like to think the Ion has a nice position right between analog and digital. I'd initially been looking at a Nord Lead or a Waldorf Q, and with the Ion, I feel like i've gotten a little of both in one affordable little package. It may not have as many features, but where it lacks certain on-paper specs, it has such character and distinct tone that I don't really give a damn.

I'm a software-fiend making a transition towards hardware + software, primarily pairing the Ion with the likes of Reaktor and Absynth. Thus far, they compliment each other beautifully, and I couldn't be happier. I'm sure a few jaded oldies will step in here and make the usual 'it's not a Moog!' comments, but c'mon; if you're actually comparing a $700-$800 VA with some legendary analog that runs past the $1000+ mark, you're too blind to see the Ion for what it's really capable of. Awful synth if you're the type to spew that kind of swill, great synth if you want to sit down and tweak the crap out of the thing and make it scream like the psychotic wiremother that it truly is.

I am using software version 1.05 as of yesterday. The presets sound pretty good to me. Many are usable with only slight tweaking if any is needed at all. Editing the patches is pretty easy, after all it is a analog modeler so most of the important parameters have a dedicated knob. I have found it very easy to get some excellent sounds for use in techno and house type music. There is a manual with the Ion that is "so-so" if you know what I mean. There is some stuff in the manual that is not in the final version of the software like an arpeggiator note output through MIDI on/off toggle. When I called tech support to find out what was up that is what I was told, and he said it will be included in a future software update. The rest of the manual is ok for just "looking up" something about the Ion. No great detail is given on any particular subject of the synth in the manual.

The polyphony is a litte limited at 8 voices when you want to do some mutitambral sequencing, Although I guess It's not really a problem if you just want a good synth to perform with. The Ion does have some built in effects that sound pretty good. Especially the vocoder! I have never really considered a vocoder to be an "effect" But that's just the way that alesis has it set up in the Ion. The Ion has the usual suspects for effects such as phaser, flanger, slapback delay and such. I sure would have liked to have more delay time to play with. The effects are fairly easy to use also. There are no expansion capabilities with the Ion. It's too bad they didn't make a polyphony expansion board to go with it! The MIDI capabilities are pretty solid. Although the knobs don't send "regular" control change info because of their special design and resolution. They do send NRPN's(Non-Registered-Parameter-Numbers) though! So that should be good enough for most. The software is upgradeable via MIDI system-exclusive. The keys are pressure sensitive but there is no aftertouch. There is no onboard sequencer to use, but for most this should not be a problem. There is a pretty cool arpeggiator with some innovative rhythmic functions that allow for "instant techno"!

The sounds in the Ion are not meant to be "realistic". most are geared towards techno/electronic type stuff. There are many sounds that are faithful recreations of synths from classic rock tunes and such. Which is cool for a classic rock cover band I guess. The Ion is, in my opinion a dance music powerhouse! It has excellent playability and probably the best tone closest to the tone of a real analog in any of the "virtual analog" synths.

The reliability seems pretty good to me. It is made of mostly metal except for the red plastic end pieces. Taking it to a gig without a backup would probably not be a problem. It seems reliable to me. I have only had it for three days at the time of this review, so I can't say too much about it's reliability! I did soon notice a dead spot in one of the knobs, that must have been that way when it left the factory. So, quality control is kind of an issue with Alesis. For some reason, they shipped my Ion with the 1.00 software version on it when the 1.05 was available! When I started to upgrade the software to 1.05, the program I was using had the wrong setting for system exclusive transfers and for about 2 hours while I figured it out the Ion would not boot and gave a message saying "bad OS code...please reload OS code"! luckily I was able to figure it out and not be stuck with non-functioning Ion till I could get it sent back to fix it. Also there is a sort of sqeaking sound that comes from the Mod2 wheel when it is rotated kind if quickly.

I called alesis tech support to find out why i could not find the parameter for the arpeggiator send MIDI notes out. The guy on the other end was kind of rude and condescending! He said, "you can't find the parameter because it does not do that" in a condescending and what I thought was a rude way! Thay was when I was told that the parameter did not make it in the final OS code and was logged for a future update to the OS. I'm kind if not looking forward to when I have to send it back to get the dead-spot knob replaced/fixed. I have read other reviews on this site saying people have gotten stuff back from Alesis after a repair and their stuff was all scratched-up!

If it were lost or stolen I guess I would replace it, although I would have a hard time getting it at the price I originally paid for it! It is definitely worth the price that I paid for it. I have been making music with this kind of stuff since 1994. I also own a JD-800, ASR-X, JV-90, POLY-61M, SCI DRUMTRAKS, TR-505, Siel MDP-40, Doepfer Pocket control MIDI knob box, PC with Audiophile 2496, And various software synths and sequencers. I really like the Ion's arpeggiator, It's filters, Audio input and Vocoder. There really isn't anything about it that I hate or even do not like except for the knob that was sent out with the dead-spot on it and the squeak coming from the mod2 wheel when rotated. I guess that can be easily fixed with some lube though? Mostly I chose the Ion because It is loaded with great features and at a great price. there is not really anything in it's price range to be compared to. Except maybe the Korg MS2000 and it does not have nearly the great tone and sonics of the Ion. The only thing that I wish it has is more polyphony and maybe a longer delay. The Ion definitely does alot for my sonic arsenal and gives me much music making power I was only dreaming about before I got it.

The going price of the ION's, as of time of writing, is generally $800 - but can probably be had for less if you try and haggle.

I currently have os 1.05, upgraded it right out of the box. It appears as though the older generation of ION's had significent problems, both with hardware and software. I will explain that more in depth later. The presets that come with it are OK in my opinion, some of them at least. There are several great ones, some good ones that need tweaking, but the point of Analog Modelling hardware is to be able to create your own patches. Yes, there are some inspiring ones, and there are a few patches that will give you an idea of how the vocoder works, but you'll most likely want to program patches over them.

Editing patches is quite easy. It features a great deal of endless rotaries which send Non Registered Parameter Numbers, and you may have to take some time apart to setup your software sequencer(If you're using one) to deal with them. Working with these endless rotaries is lovely, and gives you a great depth of control over the various settings. Unfortunately, the entire panel is pretty much flat, and very hard to see if you're not standing directly above it, as others have mentioned. There is a contrast setting for the LCD, but in my opinion, it doesn't do much. The writing next to the parameters doesn't seem to show up that well unless you're in good lighting conditions, and standing over the board. On this board, there really aren't many menus to get lost in, each parameter has its own menu, and, by default, will come up everytime you make a change, and display what changes have been made in real time. All in all, this is a pretty easy 'board to program, and if you know what you're doing, then programming it will be a breaze - as its a VA synth.

The manual is pretty straight forward, no real complaints here. Its short, and to the point.

One of my gripes about this board... polyphony. It has 8 voices of polyphony, and is four parts multi-timbral. You can layer and split the keyboard into those four groups. Each part is represented by a button directly above the middle of the keybed, labeled parts a-d. You can have all parts active at once, and depending on how you configured your setup, it will allow for those various parts to be played.

It features three oscillators, Sine, Triangle/Saw, and pulse. Next to the waveform select buttons, there is one rotary per oscillator, which controls the shape of the wave. This is a really neat function, with each waveform, the shape can be + or - 100 points. A -/+ 100 Sine wave will feature a more jagged wave(As jagged as sine waves will get), with the Triangle/Saw waveform, it will go from being a triangle, to a saw, with -100 being a down-up saw, and +100 being an up-down saw, and finally, with the pulse waveform, you can change the width of it. Each oscillator can be set +/- 3 octaves. There is also a noise generator(White or pink), a ring modulator and an external input, which can be put through the filters and effects section.

At the pre-filter mixer, you, of course, set the levels of each individual oscillator. As well, you set the ammount of noise, the ammount of ring modulation and the level of the external input(which, is stereo btw). Next in the mixer section, you can set the balance for each oscillator between the two multimode filters, the ring mod balance between the filters, exterinal input, and noise, plus the type of noise(White or pink). Finally, you can set the overall mix that will be sent to the filters.

The built-in effects are very sparse, and consist mainly of phasers, flangers, a chorus, and a slap-back delay. There is no 'real' delay, to speak of, nor a reverb. Alesis seems to have focused most of the DSP power in the oscillators, and I imagine that the bare-bones effects greatly help to keep the cost of this unit down.

The keyboard action, in my opinion, feels very springy, and rather cheap... but after more extensive use, it has grown on me. The keys do not feature aftertouch, at all, but responds to release velocity, a somewhat rare feature amongst synths and to make up for this, the ION features a three wheels, a pitch bend, and two mod wheels. Though the action is useable, and release velocity tracking is nice, I would not recommend this for someone's main controller.

Also featured, are two LFO's with an assortment of waveforms, which can oscillate at up to 1000hz, a useable but non-user programmable arpeggiator, unison mode(You can stack 2, 4, or the full ammount of voices), portamento and three envelopes(Attack Decay Sustain-level Sustain-time and Release), one for the Amp, one for the Filter, and one which can be assigned to pitch/mod. There is a 12-slot mod matrix, which is quite nice, and you can 'patch' just about any parameter as the source, and any as the destination.

For the price, the ION has quite a few features packed into it.

The ION is a Virtual Analog synth, so it features no realistic sounds, per se. The sounds that it does generate, are lovely and warm, and in my opinion, this has to be one of the most 'analog sounding' VA's available, with a wide assortment of filters. The filters it has are based on filters from classic analog synths, as well as a few of Alesis' own. To name a few, it has filters based on the 4 pole low pass filter on the moogs, the 2 pole Low/High/BP off of the Oberheim, a 4 pole LPF based on the ARP filters, a tb-303 18db LPF clone, etc. The filters are absolutely wonderful, and can really make the sound warm, fat, and lush. In my opinion, the filters are the gems of the ION.

The ION's sounds will fit well in just about any mix, from rock to dance to hip-hop.

This unit has a section titled drift, which will simulate analog drift, and can be set from %0-100. This feature really livens up the sound and gives it some character.

As I said earlier, no after touch, but it does respond to both note-on and off velocity.

This is quite a toss up really, from my experience, the original models were very unstable, and were plagued with various problems, from dead spots on the rotaries, to ghost editing. I am happy to say though, that the model which I have now, has none of these problems, and is in good working condition. But only time will tell, and the ION is still rather new in terms of synths.

Used-buyers beware, if you can, make sure you demo the unit to make sure that there are no problems with ghost editing, dead spots on the knobs, dead buttons, etc. Buying used, with the ION seems rather risky.

I have no dealt with Alesis yet. The original unit I had did not work properly, so I simply took it back to the dealer and had it replaced with a new one.

The ION is a beast(If it is working properly), I've found it to be one of the warmest, lush, and fat sounding VA's on the market. My only real gripe is with polyphony, when building pads using unison mode. Aside from that, this is the perfect VA for me.

If lost/stolen, I would most likely get another one. I love the filters on this, and would be willing to buy this simply for use as a signal processor with the filters.

It would be nice if it had more effects, but if you're a serious about what you do, then you will most likely have an external FX unit, so that should be no problem.

Overall, the price-feature/sound ratio, IMO, cannot be beat. This would be a fine keyboard for a beginner, and would allow them to learn the basis of subtractive synthesis and then some(It also includes FM synthesis), and compared with the MS2000, when the new user starts to grow, they won't feel as limited(8 poly vs 4, more than a dozen filter-types vs a few). For the professional, this board would easily adapt to any studio or live usage, and would fit very well in a mix.

There are major problems with these keyboards. Before buying one, visit the alesis-ion forum on Yahoo Groups and see what problems people are having. Some people have gone through 5+ keyboards, every keyboard having problems. Alesis is having owners send them in for repair, then sending back scratched up, damaged keyboards - and even then the problem isn't fixed. It's a great synth, if your not having problems, but think about if you want the possible headache of owning one.

Alesis' customer support was rude and acted like they were doing me a favor.

Great idea, but POOR quality. If Alesis threw a few more bucks into quality control, they'd have a winner.

Currently using version 1.5 of the OS. After reading issues with the initial build, I immediately updated it as soon as this synth was out of the box.

Personally, I don't buy a synth for the presets. Most of the time they are useless (although some inspire some ideas to mess with the particular patch). The presets are organized very simply: Bass->Leads->Strings/PADS->FX->Drums. The drums (as I always find) are crap on any VA, adn I still don't know why anyone would buy a synth for the drums sounds, unless it's a drum machine. The presets seem to cover a broad range of emulation of some well known originals, and some patches are even named after them.

Editing on this box is fairly straight forward. Most of the knobs cover the bare necessities, like OSCillation, Filters and ENV, however the envolopes are cut up into 3 sections (Filter, AMP, MOD) so u gotta sort thru some editing pages there (which I find annoying)

Haven't seen any software on the net yet that can edit this thing thru midi, unless someone would be kind enough the "dive" into sounddiver and make a plugin for that program. Don't know why though..it's not really necessary.

Well, the ION seems to fit into the same category when it comes to other VA's on polyphony. Though this thing does just fine with 8 voices. One can do a 3 fingered chord with a PAD in all out Unisonmode, however your are restricted pretty much to 1 part timbral. No worries there though...once you cranl the "drive" on any patch, the sound seems to just expolode!

No effect worth mentioning. I personally never use any effects on any synth, and I've always though of them as a waste of space (or DSP cycles) I use all outboard effects.

No expansion capabilited to speak of (after all it's not a Roland). Has external input as a sound source, and runs the full course of the internal subtractive circuitry (haha I mean "virtual" circuitry)

I haven't noticed any advanced midi on this thing. I had one glitch of Cubase changing pactehs/modes on the ION without me telling it to, so I had to change a few settings to get around that. Does all the normal CC data handling, in and out, as well as sync.

Doesn't appear to be alot of after touch on this board. The velocity is par on this board too. The keys themselves are relatively cheap, though I didn't buy this thing for the keys themselves.

No on board sequencer. One thing I like is a step sequencer (like with the MS200) for modulation or even a custom ARP. If the ION had that...damn this thing would be a one stop wonder.

Some of the reviews here say the sound isn't at all realistic. WTF did you buy this synthesizer for? Go buy a Roland, or Yamaha if you want realistic.

All the presets at least use both modulation wheels, mostly for filter sweeps, and some for LFO traking etc.

So far, there's that A-Typical Leads sounds made famous in Dance music. But in origin those are simple to create. There are some really awesome bass sounds as presets, if you tweak them a bit.

I've personally never owned a piece of analog gear in my life, and probably never will. I didn't buy the synth for it's analog emulation, though that's what it's aimed at mostly (so I've read) I do like thiose classic sounds though. I've gotten some real grinding tones out this thing it my short ownership, that I can use in my style of music (industrial). Some of the filters on this thing are crazy! They can make a patch come to life, almost screaming terror into your brain! I have played on a TB303 before, and there is one particular pacth in the user section called "Old Favorite" which is obviously modeled after the 303. At 1st, it sounds like a decent emulation, until you add some "drive" to it (particularily the Tube Amp). That's whn it comes alive! Add some res to it and there you go: London Acid City ;)

Sometimws I've found on certain VA's, the highpass and bandpass's can produce a digital "flange" or "phase" effect at high frequenciesm but thus far I haven't heard any. The filrtes are buitiful on this thing. The only other filter that I like more is the one on the MS200 (on certain sounds) which to me sounds liquidy. By no means though does this synth compare to the ION. Each is unqiue.

Sometimes I've found a crackle here and there, especially when using unisyn, and pretty much overdriving the signal thru the synth. Other than that the sounds is squeaky clean, and Big. Very BIG. One of a kind in it's emulation for sure.

I had some glitches with sequencing with this boy at 1st, but I sorted it out. I've never done a gig, because I do all studio work, so I can't answer this question properly. However, I would ALWAYS back up my patches for sure, no matter what ( and probably have a backup unit itself).

I haven't delt with Alesis before, and this is my 1st Alesis product that I've owned. I read issues from other owners about OS problems, defective components, and even RMA's, but thus far I haven't had these problems.

I fit were lost or stolen, I would be pretty pissed off that's for sure. If there was something better out at the time, I would consider it (only if the sounds was the same, and a steo sequencer was thrown in). The price for this beast is unheard of though. I would say they threw in cheap keys, no FX (really they aren't worth a damn) to bring the price down a bit, to focus more on the sound, not the gravy. In that comparison the ION is a box of spicy fries, and why would you put gravy on that :)

This thing is rather large for it's capabilites. Almost makes you think there is analog circuty inside (because of the space it takes up). It also weighs a few pounds to boot. The colour scheme is rather ODD...I think Alesis shoulda gone with a Blue backligh display, instead of a green one (to match the metallic silver colour), but that's a pure astetic taste my mine. I think the sound capabilites on the ION have yet to be discovered..the presets do not do it justice. this thing can really scream bloody murder if you play around with it a bit.

One thing I don't like is the 3 paged Envelope. There's room on the surface for at least 4 more knobs for control. At the very least if the knobs were smaller, Alesis could have fit knobs to control all the aspects of the ION.

From a astetic point of view, the LED faded mod wheels are a delight. I personally think the Nord Lead 3 still has it going on for lights. The knobs are sturdy on the ION though in the end, but the buttons seem rather cheap, as do the keys. For pure looks I think the ION come sup short. Te sound is mean, but the looks are simple, and generic to me. Because of the polyphony, this is another solo intrument for me, to go with my numerous others in an arrangement. Not a performance synth for me. I will use it for one sound at a time,to achieve the best sounds I can out of it. Fattest synth i got ( I own a Waldorf Q, Virus C, Roland XP-80...) I think AlL VA's have their own character :)

Software version 1.0
Let me first point out here that I am a guitar/bass player, and have only recently (4yrs ago) purchased my first usable synth (Alesis QS6) and am still learning how to use it to it's full utility. I owned a MicroMoog back in the seventies which was both monophonic and monsyllabic.(read NO fun) I'm 46 and all this new tech just blows me away! I'm giving it an 9 in this section because I like the fact that I don't have to dive headlong into labyrinthic menus (on a tiny little screen) to find a particular parameter I wish to edit. I really like how the LCD display instantly changes to the parameter that you are editing. As far as Patch editors go, this would be the best I've tried to date. The sounds are VERY cool and I don't have that much expertise in this department but I have had the chance to use other synths (Micro Moog, Roland JP8000, MC 505, Nord II,) and the sound thru my monitor system (see below) proves to me that Alesis payed pretty close attention to sound quality. As with most factory presets, the end user can readily use them as stepping stones to create their own sounds. I guess some folks find them useless, but I am very new to subtractive synthesis so starting from scratch is something I can't quite get a handle on yet. Any help from other members would be appreciated. The manual is about what I would expect from Alesis as I own several pieces of Alesis gear. Their manuals are factual and concise, and finding the info you need is easy. What is lacking however, as with most manuals (pay attention ROLAND) is that there are no step by step tutorials for "getting started." Turning the info gleaned from manuals into real results is a tough one for me at this point, but so far I've been happy with flipping the thing on and just experimenting and taking notes. This is the best way to learn how to use the ION. I give a 9 for ease of "TWEEK"

The polyphony really isn't that much of an issue with me. 8 notes is plenty for this price, and like another member has said, "if you don't like it just buy another ION."

Tha keyboard action is a bit plasticky but its not that hard to get used to. I used to work in a music store, and I've played more expensive units with crappier keys than the ION. As far as on-board FX, I just don't use them. I purchased a separate FX processor to handle this part since I like to fiddle with them separately and
tweaking them on a separate unit gives me more control.
I have not hooked this up to my MIDI setup yet, so I cannot comment on this question. There is no on-board sequencer, and from what I've heard and experienced, they are hard to use and not of any real utility anyway so I'm glad Alesis left this out. Helps keep the price within reach of ordinary folk. Didnt see any card slot on the back. Have one for my QS6, and it really would have been nice to be able to store more programs, but again the price??? I love the lighted mod wheels and the feel of the knobs! These have that vintage "viscous dampened" feel, they rotate 360 (with no audible stepping) and they appear and feel VERY sturdy. One drawback that I think is worth mentioning here is the tiny print on the faceplate under and around the panel controls. Although the main sections of the ION are well labeled and laid out, the contrast of the silver face and the tiny screened printing (black/red) make the thing kinda hard to see until you get the feel for where all of the controls are.
I had to install a small gooseneck light under my QS6 so I could see
the labels on the controls/buttons. Also, as others have mentioned, the LCD display coould have been tilted up a little more for those of us who stack our keyboards and don't always play standing up. The LCD is larger than on most keyboards, and the data arranged within it is (from above) easy to read.

Other than that, the 31 cool knobs and the smooth lighted mod/pitch wheels are very easy to get used to and make editing a snap. I especially like the rubbery feel of the knobs. Good tactile sensation.
I give an 8 here, ignoring the LCDs low angle.

The sounds produced by this piece are exactly what I was looking for.
I am not that into Dance, Trance, Techno, House, etc. but I don't want to crack on these genre because I really like some of it, and can read into what it must have taken to create it. If this is your type of music then this thing must have been created just for that. It has some of the most pleasing and suprising morphic resonance I have ever heard. Sounds are crisp and clear and the stereo imaging of some of the effects are very worthy of note. I am into sort of the "Ethnic Psychedelic," "ProgRock" and "Space" thing, so the ION is a perfect compliment to the assortment of homemade and imported ethnic instruments I own.
The keys are velocity and somewhat aftertouch sensitive, and it's nice that they threw that in there. I think that semi-weighted keys would have been a nice feature, and would have led to a little more "showroom appeal" and "key-credibility" for more advanced keyboardists. In my visits to the music store I saw a few of them walk away immediately without trying it after just touching the keys.
That "casio" feel has probably cost them a few sales.
Again the price. I think overall Alesis did well with this one, and the keys are not that big of an issue with me.

I do not gig anymore. I use my PA system for an occasional DJ gig (when pockets get shallow). If I had to however, as with any piece of gear this sensitive, I would get a road case or a sturdy padded gig bag. I have a pet peeve about loading gear into a truck, and then having the keboardist hand me his JUNO 60 wrapped in a scruffy dog blanket and just saying "it'll ride on top just fine." B*llsh*t!
No keyboard should be treated that way! Get a ROAD CASE!
I had a problem when the product first arrived via UPS.
This I will describe below.

The build quality of the Alesis ION is excellent! It has a nice metal shell that appears to be very sturdy. If I had to gig with it I would protect it as common sense would dictate, but I wouldnt worry about it. To me it seems VERY gig-worthy!

Had a problem when the ION first arrived. The two MOD wheels would not light gradually as they were intended. They did not light at all. I emailed tech support and got an answer that day. I called tech support as instructed and the person on the other end was polite, friendly, and non-assuming. I was not placed in the limbo zone for more than a moment, and I got no runaround whatsoever. No canned answers or put offs. Alesis emailed me a PrePaid UPS shipping label that day and I spray glued it to the original carton. I took the package to my local ups drop, and off it went. Upon reciept of my ION, they immediately repaired (loose edge connector) and returnerd it in perfect working order within TEN DAYS! This blew me away! I have had problems with other manufacturers before, and I must state emphatically that Alesis takes care of its customers!
I'm giving a 10 here because I have never experienced really GOOD customer support.

If this unit were lost or stolen I would repalce it immediately. There is no other keyboard/synth out there with as much value for the money. You just can't go wrong with this one. Its a gas to play with!
Tweaking in real time doesn't get much easier than with the ION.

I own several Alesis products including the QS6, MicroverbIII, MicroLimiter, Akira Signal processor and ADAT LX20. They are fine products!

When purchasing this product I had a mind to just get a used JP 8000
off ebay or something. Glad I shopped about. Read the reviews of the ION and made some phone calls, didnt like the triple crown retail price. Got a hold of a relly cool dealer in CA who sold me the unit for &799.00 including shipping, and all NEW accessories: an X stand, AT digital headphones, a gig bag, a MIDI cable, and a stereo 1/4" 6ft patch cable. The guy at the local (60 miles away) music store couldn't touch that.

Little northwoods studio: Stuff mentioned above plus FX processors: ART, Yamaha, Rocktron, Boss/Roland, BBE, Behringer, Desk: Soundcraft 16X4. AKAI 1/4 tape drives: GX4000-D 7"4track w/Sound on sound, GX635D 10" stereo mastering. Guitars: Gibson V-90 w/PRS pickup, Charvel LS-1 w/Seymour Duncans, Yamaha SSC-500 w/EMGs, ESP Bass, Tacoma "chief" acoustic w/Fishman prefix plus, SAE 2401 power amp, SAE 2800 parametric EQ, SAE 2100L Preamplifier, Behringer SuperX xover: Crest Power amplifiers, Fane loaded/Ramsdell Subs, Woodworx WX-15 tops. Studio amp Kenwood KA 9100 (set flat 100 of the cleanest watts available anywhere!) Monitors: Vintage JBL 4312 Control Monitors. Yamaha NS10M Nearfields: Pair of sh*tty 6X9s w/beer flat baffles; SAE 4200 speaker switching unit. Mikes Shure, CAD, AUDIX, NEUMAN. Processing: PC based PII350 Ensoniq SC, Sound Forge, Cakewalk Home Studio8. Lots of Bells, ethnic drums, homemade twangers, glass bottles, shakers, wood blocks, etc,etc,etc, for different sounds.



This is my little sanctuary.....
Couple o' barley pops, Mother Nature's helper and away I go!

Would like to correspond with any ION owners who wish to share tricks and tips with this V/A newbie.

Cheers!

No harder than any othe analog or wannabee out there.

For the money please! People have bitched about the features, so go buy a $2200.00 indigo digital sounding waste.

I have had or do have a roland jp8000(shit) Nord lead original(cool) SCI pro one(very cool) Novation k station(OK)and korg ms2000(shit), and this ion sounds better than all of them with all the filters and a deceivingly warm analog sound you cannot get better synth at this price or maybe even any. Brilliant sound.

It has to be more reliable than a 30 year old synth right?

I am mainly a guitar player so my keyboard skills are limited to say the least. I love this synth for its sound. I use this synth in the same way beck and the flaming lips use synths along with guitars. Beck "mutaions" and the flaming lips "soft bulletin" Truly great albums. Anyway just kidding about electronic music, it is gay, but to each their own. Buy it if you cant afford $2000+ synths and love the sound of analog you truly wont regret it.

v1.03-latest OS as of late 1/2004.
Presets sound pretty good, editing is fairly easy, it could be better - there are some layout flaws. I'll explain: Only one set of knobs for 3 envelopes, buttons hard to reach above large knobs, flat LCD display is to too high up on the keyboard to read without having to prop up the back of the keyboard. The LCD is large and displays plenty of information in each screen, but it's also extremely dim and adjusting the contrast doesn't help. You've got to be directly over it to see it clearly, obviously not easy when your seated. The keyboard is also quite deep and heavy. Another issue - knobs take about 2 full turns to do a full filter sweep. Manual is below average.

8 note polyphony. 4 part multitimbral.
Keyboard action is below average, even for the low price. Velocity sensitive, release velocity, no aftertouch.
Built-in effects are below average as well, the global effects - phasers, choruses, short delay, and one insert effect (distortion, overdrive, compression, etc.) All effects have a low quality 'digital' sound, not nearly as good as even a Nanoverb or an Ineko.
No expansion capabilities. Very limited arp, (no user patterns), no sequencer.
Pros: Lots of excellent filters, 3 oscillators, 2 LFOs, 3 envelopes, tracking generator, decent modulation matrix. Lots of osc and filter routings, very tweekable envelopes.

One of the few things going for it- the sound. It's easily the most 'analog sounding' virtual analog synthesizer. I've had it side-by-side with a Novation KS4, Supernova II rack, Nord Lead III rack, Korg MS2000b, and a Roland JP8080 rack. It's a big step above the others. There are many filters, and all are outstanding.
No noticeable stepping while spinning knobs, very realistic, though they only transmit NRPNs, not standard CCs. I assume this is due to the high resolution encoders/pots.
Expressiveness - Lots of parameters to tweek in the envelopes (curves, looping, etc). Lots of available filter and osc routings.
Poor sounding effects, I leave them off.

Reliability- my Ion is not reliable. It exhibits the notorious 'self-editing' 'ghost edits', 'ghost in the machine', whatever you want to call it. The screen will jump to a parameter and change that parameter as I'm playing, editing, or even when its idle. When I first noticed the self-editing, it would only jump to one of the osc edit screens and osc mix screen. My Ion now randomly jumps to the osc screens, osc mix screens, filter screens, filter mix screens, FM depth, effects, etc. The 'ghost' it definately happening more often, and affecting more parameters over time.
One more note, the 'Ghost' is completely random, it will self-edit nonstop for several hours in one day, then only a dozen times the next day.
More recent problems - several of my knobs have a noticable dead spot - an area in the knobs rotation where the parameter being modified does not change, thereby requiring 3 or more turns to sweep the knob from minimum to maximum.

I haven't experienced it, but several owners have had a problem with faulty Digital to Analog converters and faulty mod wheels.

Alesis has acknowledged these issues. They (as of late 1/2004) are waiting for the replacement parts to arrive. Apparently the fault is on 2 PCBs, (where every knob and button is located), and these will be replaced once RA numbers are issued, and defective Ions are shipped to Alesis. If your Ions has these problems and it bothers you, then you need to email Alesis your serial number, name, phone number, and wait to get an RA number.

I could use an Ion rack - I don't like the Ion's keyboard action, I don't like the large size, weight, and front panel design flaws. 8-note poly isn't great either. I especially don't like the 'self-editing', 'ghost in the machine,' and dead knobs.
I would not buy it again, I'd wait for the rack or the Micron once I'm sure there aren't serious any serious issues.

Some owners think Alesis should recall the Ion. I'm not sure about this, although I know a good number of Ions are defective.