Ableton Forum

I would like to have an hardware synth...
this is quiet cheap?
is it good? my only problem is that has not a software for PC compatibility....any thoughts on this?
Thanks!

It dosen't have keys but the Korg Emx1 has produced so much great soundng stuff for me! I really love working with it and it's just plain fun to mess with.

You can come up with some very interesting, nice sounds with it just by accident. Very nice for improv.

I've heard only good things about the ION/Micron sound engine. If you can bare with the minimum of physical controls - I think that the Micron is a good buy in that price range.

Regards,
Mikael

Weird, I was gonna post a similar question!

is it better than a Microkorg? as I was thinking of getting a Microkorg till I saw this the other day!?

Anyone tried both out?

I used to own a MicroKorg and I've played with the ION in a music store. It's kinda frustrating, in my opinion, to not have access to more physical knobs. That's based on the MicroKorg. I think I liked the sound of the ION (same engine a Micron) better - but that is highly subjective. Also it's 8 note polyphonic (MicroKorg 4) and 4 part multitimbral (MicroKorg 2). I think the Alesis has rotary encoders which ensures jump free operation when switching presets.

Check out these reviews...

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan05/a ... micron.htm

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Jan03/a ... rokorg.asp

Regards,
Mikael

I have one for sale. PM me and maybe we can work something out.

Mitch

Micron sounds great, the interface sucks, get a BCR 2000 though and download the setups for it from the Micron users group and you should be pretty good.

LJ Martin wrote:Micron sounds great, the interface sucks, get a BCR 2000 though and download the setups for it from the Micron users group and you should be pretty good.

Is there one? Does the BCR work with NRPNs or is it the Micron that handles ordinary CCs?

Regards,
Mikael

The BCR works with NRPN's

here are links to the BCR setups and overlays + a list of NRPN's for the Micron, you may have to join the yahoo users group to access them.

If you are in the users group they can be found in the files section under Godric

http://f3.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/oJ8SRPR2ri ... 20list.xls
http://f2.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/oJ8SRCPgYl ... plates.zip
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/oJ8SROZbC4 ... micron.zip

The Yahoo Users Group Address

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alesis-ion/

Hope this helps

Cool - thanks!

Maybe I should start browsing for used ones. I've been tempted but haven't been able to justify it...

Regards,
Mikael

ive heard nothing but good about the ion/micron engine, and i know that the micron iasnt just a cut-down ion, because it has drum and sequencing options that the ion doesnt have.

my brother has the microkorg. i own a virus A, and honestly i think the korg sounds better. if alot of controls isnt important, you really cant go wrong with either the ion or microkorg.

also, i think having a hardware synth is really a good idea in a virtual setup, because you can handle the basic synth sounds without worrying about CPU usage. of course, youll need audio and MIDI I/O, but its till worth it for me - for standard synth sounds, i almost always use my virus as it sounds great and is jus so much better CPU wise than loading up one of my Reaktor softsynths for every synthbass sound i need.

I fucking love my Ion to death, and will probably purchase a Micron for gigging in the future.
The only thing I'd ever sell my Ion for is a Virus TI... And even then I'd be sad to see it go.

If you want, here are short sections of tracks I've written using the Ion and an old drum machine:
http://www.fakecomputermusic.com/static ... s_demo.mp3
http://www.fakecomputermusic.com/static ... w_demo.mp3
http://www.fakecomputermusic.com/static ... s_demo.mp3

the keys on the microKorg are too small for my big hands

that's why I got a Micron and I love it

SimonPHC wrote:the keys on the microKorg are too small for my big hands

that's why I got a Micron and I love it

Aren't they also minikeys?

Lo-Fi Massahkah wrote:

SimonPHC wrote:the keys on the microKorg are too small for my big hands
that's why I got a Micron and I love it

Aren't they also minikeys?

The keys on the Micron are slightly smaller than regular-sized keys. They are, however, much larger than the stupid baby-keys on the Microkorg.