Alesis Micron

I'm using the latest OS (version 1.10).
As everyone has mentioned and I won't re-iterate here, it's method of editing patches is ship-in-a-bottle. I can deal with that, I usually just take an existing patch and modify it. I would like to make more patches from scratch, but am not committed enough to all the scrolling and hey, you get what you pay for. This is one inexpensive synth.

8 voice polyphony
Keyboard action is a little mushy, velocity sensitive, no aftertouch (but the os supports it from and external midi controller), and has key-off velocity which adds another layer of expression (nice if your sequencer supports it). The pitch wheel is good, and has 2 sliders, one for cc 0, the other which emulates aftertouch. These are on the top of the board, but it is easy to get used to the positioning.

The voice structure is 3 oscillators, the option of using some preset fm algorithms on those (equivalent to 2-3 operator), ringmod, noise and external audio input. These are fed into two multimode filters, either side-by-side or some amount of serial signal flow from filter 1 to filter 2. These are then fed into the amp mixer and drive fx, and then onto the fx1 (pitch) and fx2 (delay/reverb) effects units.

There are lots of modulation possibilities, and there are 12 mod routings. Plenty for any sound I can think of. 3 envelopes, 2 lfos, s/h and a neat tracking generator round it all up to one versatile VA.

It's good and it's bad.

Basically as everyone else on here had said, it sounds great. Great filters, good oscillators, good drive fx, decent fx (except the delay, which is next to useless), great mod possibilities, etc.

And now we come to the reason why I am writing this review. There is one problem which makes this synth a bad choice for any sound that is bass-driven. For those of you who already have a micron and wish to test/dispute my reasoning, load up a bass patch and listen carefully. There is an aliasing/zipper noise on attack and release of bass notes. That isn't the only place where this occurs, just the most common one.

The sole cause of the problem is too few discrete levels of amplitude in the last stage of the signal process. This amplitude parameter is modulated by envelope 1, and, in bass notes in particular, audible stair-stepping zipper noise can be heard. Especially when using a drive effect e.g. compressor. If the amplitude level values were interpolated, this wouldn't occur.

It isn't just the last stage amp which is affected by this, it is all level params (osc1lvl, osc2lvl, ... filter 1 level, etc.). It is just the amp stage which is most noticable, and the most unavoidable- the modulation of program level by envelope 1 cannot be disabled. This seems normal, I mean, who would want to disable it unless there was a problem in the first place?

Don't get me wrong, this is a great synth in all other regards. It is just this point where I get really annoyed at my purchase, and reinforces the "try before you buy, stupid" advice.

It is fairly reliable, however it crashes at certain times when editing sequences (usually long ones, after changing the length down). Not perfect, but seems ok for performance. I would gig without a backup, but that's because I'm adventurous :)

Also the buttons on my unit are now sometimes triggered by other buttons- probably a contact problem where the faceplate is pushing other buttons down when I use the tap-tempo and so on.

Sliders and pitch wheel are great. The knobs on the top of the unit, as someone else mentioned, aren't at all useful for fine editing control, but ok for performance.

This is another issue I had.

There are two types of customer support- support from the retailer, and support from the manufacturer.

The retailer, audiosyncrazy, was great. My unit arrived with a key that didn't work unless it was depressed very hard. I emailed them about it and they were quick to respond saying they'd replace the unit, but I wasn't too happy about sending it back overseas so I thought I could get it fixed locally (hah!). After being quoted $300+ from the only qualified Alesis serviceman in the state just too look at it, I rang the local electronics repair shop, and the serviceman there said it was probably a dirty key contact, and we figured I could fix it myself. So I opened up the micron and had a poke around, voiding my warranty of course, but nonetheless curious. It turns out the key in question was not moulded properly- the hammer which hit the contact membrane was half a mil too short. I stuck some hard plastic of the right thickness to it and now it works without a hitch.

Second problem- I contacted Alesis about the sound problem I mentioned above, and after several emails back and forth, I received the reply below:

"I have forwarded the mp3 as well as the .syx file to the
engineers and heard back from them. It appears what we hear is a normal product of the joys of analog synthesis in the bass frequencies. I do not believe a software update would be able to alleviate this. I would check out the Ion/Micron forum as other users may have found ways to tweak the patches so it is not so apparent in the bass frequencies at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alesis-ion/."

Although the customer service rep appeared to be acting in the best of intentions, it was nonetheless misleading. The cause of the problem is detailed above in the "Expressiveness/Sounds" section. And for those who aren't too sure how obvious the error is- real analog synths don't have discrete levels at any stage of the signal process, and they definitely don't use truncated, non-interpolated digital signal amplification for extra-added zing.

It is for this reason that I give Alesis a 2 for customer support. Nice one guys, next time don't try to pass off a stupid answer to a valid question.

Lost or stolen, I would consider buying a rackmount second-hand VA, probably a supernova or something similar. This is simply because I have too many keyboards :). I have a DX-7 which has great key action and I would be happy to just use that to control my other synths. However, considering that I've made quite a few patches for this synth, it's sig path is quite unique, and in most respects sounds excellent, I would buy it again if I saw it second hand. I'd then probably try to mod the case and rack mount it.

Really straightforward to use. Basically you turn the dial to select a function, press the button to edit that function. It reminds me very much of the Juno 1 although the Micron has keyboard shortcuts to all the menu function to save scrolling through all of them.

The only daunting thing is routing all the modulation matrixes but this is more of a thrill than a confusion as you never know that you might get sometimes.

Effects are a bit minimal but they are enough to add an edge. Some synths rely on effects to improve the sound. The Micron doesnt actually need them as the core synth is great already.

It has a very handy pattern generator for basslines, chords and ryhthms. It will also record control changes on that riff. you can have up to 26 if i remember rightly in setup mode. Imagine what you could do with that. Very complex sounds and patterns layerered or split not just twice but many many times. Can also have individula midi channels assigned to these parts.

This is not high on polyphony but its not meant to be. Its all about expressiveness and sound quality.

Great. Best sounding synth I have had since my Juno 1 and SH101. All other synths I have used including the very nice Korg Moss expansion or the Novation KS synths dont sound as analogue even though they are both good in their own right. This inst your digital sounding analogue synth sound you get from most virtual analogue synths.
This really does have a warmth you get from real roland analogue synths.

Dont expect to get realistic drum sounds . Its a proper synth not sample based synth

I wouldnt take this anywhere as i woudnt want to damage it

This could quite easliy be twice the price i paid for it. I looked at every kind of synth available. 5 years ago i would have got the JP8080.
I have heard the Korg MS2000 and that sounds a bit digital - similar sounding to KS and some Access virus Synths.
Its great for inspiration. You can make nice sounds like Boards Of Canada does.
Its fat and smooth

Personally i think the presets are spot on, if you want to change them though its actually very easy. even though it only has four knobs they've come up with a menu system that makes it very easy.

far more then i was expecting i really want to list them but thats what the manual does that and its 150 pages long with no chinese. it essentially has four sections, programs, setups, patterns and rhythms but within those has alot of lovely hidden suprises like the vocoder.

Sounds are incredible but are semmingly biased to modern dance music electroclash / new rave kind of thing. wonderfull if youre me. if youre looking for really tuff analog stuff though its not a roland jupiter or a nord lead, equally it wont do a stienway grand piano but for ??260 you dont get any better.

now this is where alesis are a bit crazy, make sure you get it from a reputable seller. with alesis 90% are good ones and are top notch i would gig with mine without a backup without any question the 10% unlucky. Im sure some peoples came out of the bow worked fine for 5 mins then died. buy it from a reputable seller and you wont have that whole long stream of problems. if yours has problems just send it back and get another.

no idea alesis just pass the buck to shop in the uk, so again make sure you dont get one from turnkey.

Its great, a synth of my dreams. a small little candy bar of sweet noise thats just about the most usefull gigging tool it also weighs about 4kg so is easily the most portable keyboard i have ever owned. very clever menu system and top digigtal sound quality. the only improvment could be usb and a software editor. but for the money you get so much with this.

I am using OS Version 1.10 (currently (12/2006) the most up to date OS for the Micron).

Some of the presets sound quite impressive regardless their Style. Most of the Presets have an 80ies or 90ies like Style. Quite a few Presets are more up to date.

Editing Patches in my opinion is the most problematic Part of the Micron: Because of the reduced interactive Elements (2 Sliders (m1,m2), 1 PitchWheel, 3 free assignable Pot-Knobs (X,Y,Z), 1 Menu-Knob) this Synthesizer is probably less suited for Beginners, who want to twist and turn Knobs to learn how to create Sounds or Patches. Even the more advanced User could feel a lack of inspiration because he has only a few Knobs to manipulate the Sound.
The 3 360-degrees Pot-Knobs X,Y,Z (which are free assignable with any Patch-Parameter) have a Hard- or Software limited turn-velocity based Threshold which has the following disadvantages:
1st: Because of the Knob-Threshold you cant fine adjust a Parameter, which is assigned to one of the 3 Pot-Knobs. If you turn a Knob and reach the Threshold, the Value "jumps". If you turn the Knob and dont reach the Threshold, nothing happens at all.
2nd: Because of the Knob-Threshold you cant change a Parameter continously and slowly
3rd: Because of the "features" mentioned before the already very minimal interactive Interface of the Micron is additionally limited.
Having these limitations in mind, in my opinion it is problematic to talk about "Realtime-Controllers".
Search Youtube for "Alesis Micron Realtime" and you will see what i mean.

The Micron-Wiki gives some hints how to use the 3 Pot-Knobs X,Y,Z to create Patches. In a squential and multiple-Stage process the following Parameters are assigned to each of the three Pot-Knobs:
1. oscillators
X=waveform, Y=waveshape, Z=pitch(with 2+ osc)
2. envelope
X=attack time, Y=decay time, Z=sustain time; use control knob for release
3. filter/env
X=freq, Y=resonance, Z=env amount; substitute flt env parameters
4. LFO
X=rate
5. drive
X=type, Y=level, Z=pgm level

There is a nice plattform-independent Patch-Editor available for ION/Micron at http://pwp.ibl.bm/~rgonzale/audio/midi/micronedit.html which requires Perl and tcl/tk as well as a working MIDI-Connection from your Computer to the Micron. This Editor can help in creating Patches.

The Manual is existing. One of the most powerful and crucial Features of the Micron (the Tracking-Generator) is explained on half (!) a page with a following example which does not help you to understand the Tracking-Generator at all. The Manual should be re-written.

8 polyphonic voices which can produce sounds. I find it quite interesting how different people talk about the Sound: Some say, that the Micron is the most virtual sounding VA Synth with the most "Silver-Dust" inside. Some people (f.e. at Harmony Central) say, that they love the vintage sound.

The 37-Keys Keyboard is OK.

The Micron has several built in effects. They are easy to use.

The Micron has a Modulation-Matrix which can be used to create up to 12 different Modulation Routes. Think of it as 12 additional Hands manipulating a Sound/Patch when you play a note. For each Modulation Route one out of 38 Sources can manipulate one out of 77 Destinations .(Hope i counted them all). The Modulation Sources are (for all Sources look into the Micron-Manual, available for Download at Alesis):
Amp Env, Filter Env, Pitch Env, several LFO-Types, m1/m2-Slider, ...
The Modulation-Destinations are (for all Sources look into the Micron-Manual, available for Download at Alesis): Osc123-Pitch, Osc123 Shape, Osc/Noise/Ext/...-Level, Env123-Parm,...
The competitors in this price-segment have no Mod-Matrix or a much less featured Mod-Matrix. For example the Novation X-Station or XioSynth has no Mod-Matrix, but instead a good interactive Slider/Knob-Set. So here is to choose, what you want.

As i mentioned before, there is a Tracking-Generator, which can use on e out of 38 Sources (same as the Mod-Matrix) and transforms the Level of the Source Signal through a quantized 32-Step Curve, which can be defined by the User. The Output of the Tracking-Generator is in turn a Source in the Modulation-Matrix. For example, the Tracking Generator can be used to generate a Curve which could be used as a Complex AmpEnv for Percussive Sounds (Handclaps) in the Mod-Matrix.

There is no way to add more expansion boards to th Micron. Maybe you are interested in what DSP/CPU-Power is already inside the Micron:
U13 Motorola MCF 5206E FT54
"Coldfire V2 Core" RISC-CPU:
50 MIPS @ 54 MHz, I2C-Bus-Interface
http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=MCF5206&nodeId=0162468rH3YTLC00M91277:
U20 Wavefront AL3101 DSP-1K
DSP:
Effects DSP, 50 MIPS
http://www.wavefrontsemi.com/index.php?id=11,13,0,0,1,0:
U21...U28 Wavefront AL3101 DSP-1K
DSP:
Voice 0...7 DSP, 50 MIPS each
see URL of U20:
--> 1*50 MIPS (Coldfire V2 CPU) + 9*50 MIPS (Wavefront DSPs] = 500 MIPS

MIDI: In/Out/Through

The Micron has an on-board Sequencer. It is quite flexible and hard to find in this price-segment, but cant compete with an dedicated sequencer in HW/SW.

Velocity and release velocity sensitive. No aftertouch.

The instruments are easy to use. You can create VA Drum Sounds with this Machine. Hand-Claps are poor. Bass-Drums are good as well as the Snares, Toms and Metal-Percussion.

I bought this Device to make virtual Sounds for electro/minimal based Tracks. I also wanted to emulate the powerful ARP Solus or ARP Axxe Sounds. Could be that it is more suited for 80ies or 90ies Pop- or Italo-Disco Music...

The On-Board effects seem to have only limited effect to the sounds to me.

I use the internal Sequencer for little sequences. So i cant really tell about "playing" the Micron and how it reacts.

Before OS 1.10 i had several glitches in the sound. I had one hang-up so far.

Support is there, but to me it seemed to be a first Level support to keep the customer away. The essentially Problems could not be solved:
I had a long and frustrating discussion with the Alesis-Support regarding the so-called "Realtime-Controllers". So i think i will never use the Support again as well the Alesis-Support has put a Spam-Filter on my email-Adress ;-)

If it were lost or stolen, i would probably buy another Machine with more Knobs ("real Realtime") from another Company.
For Beginners like me i see these possibilities:
1) You've tested the micron for a given time. If you are happy with the interactive Possibilities and the Machine keeps you inspired you should buy the Micron. In this price-segment there are only a few competitors reagrding DSP-Power or Sound Possibilities.
2) You spend some more money to buy a bigger Machine (f.e. Nord Modular G2) with more (interactive) Possibilities.
3) You spend the same money to buy an Novation X-Station or XioSynth which has all the important Knobs and Sliders to be constantly in touch with the Sound-Creation. But it has a much less powerfull DSP Engine and no Mod-Matrix...

The Realtime-Controller Issue is not new nor a tale created by me. You can read about it at the ION/Micron Group on Yahho.com: (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/alesis-ion/). At least one offical Bug-Request was sent from the ION/Micron Group to Alesis regarding the Realtime-Controller Issue. Nothing happend at all.

The Micron seems to me as a mixture of a sophisticted Groove-Box with a 37 Keys Keyboard.

The presets are memories of old synths I had in years gone by. Patch editing is like editing an old Keyboard, although I mainly want only to edit the assignments of the knobs or sliders to adjust the sounds in realtime. The manual ain't bad, but the glossary in the back is all goofed up.

I didnt want a lot of polophony in this Board because I wanted a vintage synth and if it is too slick it wont do the job ( I have owed vintage synths, when they weren't VINTAGE). I'm gonna use it when I play live with an 80's band I gig with on the side; and when i have a big stage setup and need another board. I don't care about sequencers, but it seems easy enough to use. The only thing midi I might do is use a controller to play the sounds out of it with sometimes, although it's octaves shift easily enough to use it's own keys. Action is good for a synth.

This is where I really love the Micron! It's made like an old Keyboard (where the geeks didn't have so many velocity points and couldn't over-do an envelope and make it hard to play). And..those sounds are so Retro it's just takes me back to playing 80's (in the 80's). Jump Brass is great, old Bells Pianos, quick attack Strings, and Square and Sawtooth Leads! It took me back in time, and I've been playing since 1974!!

It hasn't stop responding on me like I read it can, but I only use it as a supplement to my other 2 Stage Keyboards. It looks cool up there, and the Smallness of it, and the Red Color it shows up in the lights. The pot to the Alpha Knob is a continuous turn(it clicks) and mine has a little play. The sliders are better but it's just not meant to be Manhandled. Metal Case is sturdy and the keys can handle slams. Pitch Wheel is tight and performs great. Jacks are tight too, just that alpha wheel should be made better.

Alesis sound products have been good to me, but this is my first Keyboard from them I've had so I don't know about support,but for the money who cares?

I would buy another one, because I don't want to be without it because of the Vintage aspect of it. I have been playing Keys since 1974 so if I say it's Vintage, it probably is! I didn't want the Korg version because I don't like mini keys. I read about the Micron on the Internet and went and played it at Sam Ash and left, went home and thought it over, and went back and got it. It has been fun playing with it's sounds, and I'm gonna use it in the studio some too. Cheap price tag!!!! Worth the money it costs.

Software version 1.1 but didn't have any major problems with the previous version.

The presets as usual try to please everybody so most of them end up being useless to most people. There are some good presets though and many are good starting points to make new ones.

Editing is a nightmare because everything relies on that stupid knob. On some parameters you will have to turn it fully at least 50 times to go from one extreme to another. And there are no ways around this...

The manual sucks.

Polyphony is what it is, 8 notes and that's it.
The effects are mostly Ok, but the reverb is unpleasent to my ears. The vocoder is very limited, but can produce some nice sounds. The pattern sequencer is nice too.

I find it very expressive, but then again, that depends on the programming of each preet. With the modulation matrix you can make any parameter respond to anything. The possibilities are enormous.

The sounds are virtual analogue and it's extremely good at that. It won't do anything else, nor does it pretend to. It is the best VA I ever heard by far. You also have basic FM capabilites.

Didn't have any major problems. I think it crashed 2 times in 3 months and sometimes it stops responding for a few seconds but only happened when editing sounds, never while playing.

Wouldn't know

Sure I would buy it again. I might go for the ion though. In fact, I might get it also. They would make a good combination and 16 voice polyphony sounds a lot better. I have been playing for 17 years, but keyborads for much less. I own a micro-q and a AN1X and for VA I prefer the micron hands down.

Not really a breeze cycling through the menus and everything. Thank goodness for the semi-shortcut key feature. If you hate menu editing, you'll definately have headaches with it. One control button does it all, warning: dont get this mother button spoiled, but surprisingly for a limited control, there are tons to edit. You just gotta dig and dig and dig..if u're fine with it, or go with the Ion, played once b4, its more control-friendly definitely. Not much of a difference but lackes versatility to this. But for the money, the Micron is a bargain. Cool pads and lead sounds, ive to say, not to forget the mediocre written manual..rather confusing sometimes, but something u cant live without.

An 8 voice poly for a little small machine..im not asking for more. Its as good as it seems. reverb/delay is a bonus nevertheless, very Lexicon like. Also the built in drum machine is pretty alright, not the very best of either.Its kinda troublesome tweaking to the desired tempo..as the setting is at one end or another when frequently tapping the tempo button. Twisting is required here. Makes me feel bad for the main control knob speaking of this. Keys are pretty comfy, rubbery and all. With the weight and size, its excellent as a midi controller...but should there be more buttons...nvm, im not complaining really. On board sequencer isnt the easiest to tackle, but given some time should be okay.

Like most reviewers have said, this is an analog synthesizer; you wont expect any realistic sounds from this machine. But the organ sounds seemed real enough though, give or take a few. Its particularly easy, it will seem to blend into the music you play, very versatile, flexible and sounds really fat.The 8 voice polyphony is enough here, kicks your head goody good. Mostly it would be a compliment to play with genres mostly techno (pretty much), IDM, but mostly technoish/dance music, ive to stress. Its ambient friendly too.Do take your time to edit the presents for more possibilities in tackling other kinds of music here.Could be a headache, i know. No point to get this thing for its presets, but its pretty enough however, to rely on em alone .Onboards' effects are just ok, not the very best

This synth will definitely be vital for gigging, recording, and other means of carrying around. Heck, i don't think i'll need a backup for this.

So far so good. Touchwood.

A good synth but not perfect. I might buy this again if its gone.

This thing is pretty simple to use once you learn to work the knob and use the keys as function buttons. The manual is a good help.

I wouldn't recommend the on board sequencer because it does not bring that much freedom compared to using a software sequencer connected via midi. I personally use logic. Polyphony is good. Built in effects are decent.

The reason I bought this was for the well rounded selection of sound. YES some sounds are very cheesy and digital sounding, yet some are very unique and have a nice warm analog sound. The DRUM selection is Outstanding! At first I thought the micro Korg would be a better buy, looking back that thing is a piece of crap.

This is the reason I'm writing this review. Here's the problem. Not very reliable. 2 months into owning it 1 key died. Sent it back, received it pretty quickly good as new. Now 7 months down the line 5 keys died. They did say that they will give me priority attention so lets see how it fans out.

Good Company. Dependable Service.

Its a very sleek portable unit great for use as a MIDI controller. Good sounds. However not guaranteed to work 24/7.

Some of the presets are really good, some really suck hard. Its a synth so your gonna program your own stuff anyway. As far as editing goes once you get the hang of the push the button / press a key / Turn a nob making changes to a preset is a pretty easy task, building a setup the one time I tried was a royal pain in the rear, but most of the time I will keep this thing in program mode and only use one part from this synth in my sequences. Manual isn't great but it ain't the worst one I have seen.

8 voice polyphony / 4 midi parts / Step sequencer and drum machine functions... If this is the only synth you own and your trying to do multi-track sequencing you aren't gonna be happy, but If you are adding the micron to a collection of synths, or soft synths for that matter, then this is not a bad little machine. As a sound source or as a second or third synth in a live set up, It is gonna be fine. The Keys fell good to. I went to my local guitar mart to try a because I wanted a small keyboard to set on my desk with my computer so I did not have to stretch out to the right to play when I am sequencing. I bought the Micron because besides sounding awesome, the keys felt better to me than the m-audio controllers they had.

The sound rocks. I already have a Microwave XT, a Motif 6 and a Roland JD-800. The Micron is a nice fit, the textures and basses are not as complex as the XT, but a lot more analog sounding. In the store they had a micro Korg and the Micron as there virtual analog selection. The micron was much better sounding than the korg IMHO. It sounds closer to the Idea in my head of what an analog sounds like. The drum machine mode is also a great function. I have wasted hours with this thing pulling up a rhythm set and letting the pattern go while I'll play other sounds on top of it. Couldn't think of a better way to waste time...:) Oh and by the way just as the microwave showed me how weak the wavetable synth is reason really is, the micron has showed me how the analog model in reason sucks too. Long live hardware!!

Well i don't gig so it well spend the rest of its life in my home studio. It seems as though it will hold up pretty well....the pitch wheel isn't really smooth, but it fells hefty. The whole thing has enough weight where It doesn't move while I play it and the top and bottom fell like they are made of metal, so it should live for a long time. So far no software or control issues at all.

There web site is just OK, but haven't needed to contact support support yet. Holding my opinion on these till I need to talk to them.

If I wore robbed, I would hope they would take this and leave me Waldorf XT Rack Alone!!! Actually I would most likely replace it.
Its fits my need for a small controller, and is a pretty good synth.
I guess I am moving in reverse of the rest of the world, but I am saving my change and buying hardware to recover from the attempt to move to an all software setup. For $400 bucks this was a great way to add more possibilities to my rig. I don't think $400 is that bad when I think that my new project to re-cable my entire setup is going to cost more than that.

I have not messed around with editing patches or sounds much, (besides the 2 sliders and 3 x,y,z knobs) because I do most editing of the sounds on my computer. The screen is helpful and easily explained in the manual with easy shortcut buttons as well. The manual covers everything you need to know and more.

8 Polyphony which is enough for its size. The keys are full size, (not weighted) and are velocity sensitive (touch and release). I have not fully explored the effects, but the vibrato and frequency/noise/gain effects are great. Each x,y,z knob can be assigned to a diff. effect as well. It has extra storage spaces to save sounds that you like which is nice so you dont have to replace presets. It has MIDI in, out, and thru, which is my favorite thing to use. Can make some interesting sounds thru MIDI. It has an arpeggiator that is a bit difficult to get use to. It is very flexible. This keyboard is good for using the presets, but the main fun and great sounds come in after editing the presets. Easy to use after a quick read thru the manual.

All of the sounds are AMAZING presets, with the cut of one or two brass sounds. Editing the sound sonly results in better sounding synths. Great leads, great pads, great basses, and effects as well. The drum section is ok. This keyboard works great for techno, trance, electronica, but also some electronic rock (linkin park-ish).

This is a strdy synthesizer. Some people dont like the "cheap" red plastic sides, but I think it gives it a retro look. I would use it without a backup at a gig and have!
Knobs are stable, as well as the sliders.

never had to deal with customer support :)

I would buy this in a heartbeat if it got stolen. It is woth what I paid, at an amazingly low price, GREAT BUY! It sounds warm but chunky too, looks clean, feels sturdy, not cheap.

I actually owned an Alesis ION, which some people say to be the older brother to the micron, but they are different. Although the same sound engine, the micron is nice and portable, and its overall sound is warmer.
I messed around with a microkorg, but it does not have as many presets to mess around with as the micron. If you are looking to just use presets, go with the microkorg, but if you like to play aorund with sounds, and create your own sounds with unlimited possibilities, go with the micron!
I love its full size keys, and its over all sound capabilities.
I dont think they could have made this keyboard any better for its price!
It def. helps me make music. Editing its sounds will keep me busy all day!
I have made a whole song JUST on the micron, amazing.
Its a perfect synth for entry level, but as well as XP players and music enthusiasts!
Keep in mind its an analog synthesizer! NOT A KEYBOARD!