Alesis ION

EASE OF USE

For the most part it's a highly intuitive synth thanks to the major functions being mapped to knobs and buttons on the face of the board. For instance, if you want to change an arpeggio it's as easy as hitting the arp edit button and everything you need is right there in front of you. I don't have the manual. Bought a floor model (get to abuse it until a new one comes in :)

I'm still not exactly shure how/why splits seem to be happening on every path (I don't like splits, so maybe I need to download the manual :)

I think the polyphony is fine. I can play some pretty rich chord textures with no worries thus far. Just keep in mind this isn't a multi-timb keyboard.

The effects are fine. Then again, if you're a decent programmer you can make this board sound like anything you want it to sound like... without ever even turning the effects on. It is that versatile. The filters are insane. And while we're on this topic, don't ever trust a gear reviewer who says "the effects suck." You will never hear a bonafide musician say that about ANYTHING. Why? Because musicians are focused on the music, not the (eg) modulation rate of the chorus. For all you young gals and guys out there coming up, always remember: it's not about what's coming out, it's about what's going in.

This board has no expansion capabilites whatsoever. It's a no frills synthesizer built for players. Period. It employs the same MIDI everyone else employs. Seems responsive to me.. although admittedly I'm going straight into my DAW with the signal. No, there is no sequencer integrated with the Ion. Again, it's a player's board. If you can't play keys, don't even bother. That's my advice.

I'm not going to ramble about the sounds. But I will say is this: the board has a distinctive character. It sounds very different than my Motif ES (which is why I got it). It can growl, hiss, whir, buzz, belch, sweep, wah and change colors in ways I've never heard a synth do. There is no aftertouch but in all honesty, with the third wheel (heh) it's a moot point. Aftertouch never works right anyways. I love having tremolo mapped to the wheel for almost every patch. I think it was a great idea on Alesis' part.

Overall the tone is warm and lush and then cold and bitter. I'm really floored at how good it sounds. Converters are dynamite. Sounds BIGGER than my Motif ES.

Who knows. Just got it

No clue

I'll give it a 9 overall. I would have given it a 10 but the display is FLAT and I have to crane my neck to read it :( Haven't checked into software for it yet but I'm betting something is out there. Anyways, it's a sweet keyboard and I love the sound it makes. Just love it. Will be in my studio a long time.

I just picked this up used at Guitar Center for $449. It was filthy, but a little Windex and a couple of paper towels, and it's as good as new (well, almost). It had OS version 1.0 on it when I brought it home, and it didn't take long to notice it was flaky (especially the display, which was jumping all over the place when I played the keyboard). The good news is that I updated it to 1.05 (via the Sysex tool in Cakewalk Sonar), loaded all of the updated patch files from Alesis, and it has worked perfectly since!! Selecting presets and doing some minor edits on them is pretty easy. Hitting an edit button next to the oscillators or filters (or just about anything else, for that matter) brings the parameters up in the LCD window, and you can scroll around and make any changes you like. There's even a compare feature so you can assess your changes on the fly. Saving your changes is as easy as hitting the store button (and then verifying). Having owned a Juno-106 for 15 years, I had some knowledge of programming an analog synth, and I felt right at home on this one! I have several ROMpler synths, and almost never do any editing. The Alesis BEGS to be experimented with, and so far all of my efforts have been rewarding. The manual looks ok. I haven't spent much time with it though, because much of the Ion is pretty intuitive. Alesis has done a nice job with the interface.

You can get the specs at www.alesis.com, so I won't repeat all of that. Polyphony is only 8, but that doesn't seem to be a problem (hell, the Minimoog is still monophonic!). Built in effects aren't much to speak of, but I plugged an Alesis Picoverb directly in the signal path between the Ion and my mixer and WOW!!! Like others have said, the keyboard action sucks. No, I take that back, it's hideous! When I'm in the studio, I play the Ion from another keyboard. Live, however, I just have to suck it up. No onboard sequencing and no expansion capabilities.

Ah...how does it sound??? First of all, I've been lusting after a VA synth for a few years. I really wanted an Access Virus C, but couldn't justify the expense given that I have a lot of soft synths (Minimoog-V, Pro-53, B4, Absynth, etc). I took a chance on the Ion after reading some reviews, and I have to admit, I've been blown away by it. My old Juno-106 and JP-8000 were jokes compared to this thing. It really nails some of my favorite Moog, Oberheim, Roland and Arp patches. The modelled filters are really impressive. It can sound FAT!! The onboard effects do not include a reverb, but like I said earlier, inserting a Picoverb in the signal chain made a HUGE difference.

I have only had it a few days, so I can't say much here. It seems solidly built (aside from the keys, which are cheap). In any case, I'm going to baby it as much as I can. I will be gigging with this, and I'm hoping for the best!

Haven't had to talk to them.

I would get another one if something happened to this one. If you want a VA, this is probably one of the best sounding ones out there. Sure, the $1500 Virus C has more polyphony and more built-in effects, but for less than 1/3 the price, I can put up with having to plug in my little outboard reverb.

The layout of the keyboard 'omne knob per perameter' etc- makes it very simple to prog or just tweek-
I LOVE the look of this synth- I know it shouldn't matter, but it does- it makes you want to play-

Lets be honest- this is a lead type synth - 4 parts and 8 poly wont let you program a symphony in cubase...however 512 patches (all over-writable) is great-
I scored this on what it is designed to do- not against a workstation....

Did I mention the wheels light as as you rotate them :-)

I don't miss aftertouch - I prefer the second mod wheel - but thats me.
I also own a VIRUS and (too many) VSTi's.....
This is the best VA synth I have ever used....it sounds alive and it doesnt get any better than that.
A few reviews moaned about the lack of effects (reverb and delay)- the INCLUDED effects are great and are suitable for the type of sounds this synth makes- I'm sure most people run through external mixer/VST effects (I know I never use keyboard reverbs...) so this probably wont matter to mo9st serius users...

Seems well made, heavy, solid and proffesional looking.

I paid 375 GBP (UK) new from a music shop selling them off on ebay. Spur of the moment purchase that I will now NEVER sell- I can't believe more people are not saying how great this is- As I said, many of the sounds are better than Virus (though less poly etc)-

For the price 'I' paid- it is 10/10 value (I have paid as much for software synths!)

Go in to a music shop- try patch RED 11 (called sizzeler) and move mod wheel 2-

Thyen get your credit card out ;-)

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 :)