anyone here used and Alesis Ion?

[professor]

tell me what you think.
the reviews seem to big up the sound and interface, but diss the keyboard quality.
I'm looking to buy another synth keyboard...if not an Ion then what other suggestions might you all have? Looking for something with good range, and lots of knobs to fiddle with live.
The only other hardware synth i've got is a Korg MS2000r. It's good for distortion and thinner leads/percs, but really doesn't growl the low end. need something to fill in where the Korg lacks.

[hiroprotagonist]

i dont have one but ive been comparing it to a K station from novation. from what ive been able to hear the ION is a little more on the reedy end. its sounds are more buzzy to me. im not sure if this is totally accurate but im really impressed with the warmth novation is able to put in their sounds. anyways good luck.

[professor]

cheers for the words. I'll look at novation

[xfive]

i dont have one but ive been comparing it to a K station from novation. from what ive been able to hear the ION is a little more on the reedy end. its sounds are more buzzy to me. im not sure if this is totally accurate but im really impressed with the warmth novation is able to put in their sounds. anyways good luck.

Hmm not sure where you heard that from....
I own one.. and while I was never into the older synths it is trying to emulate, die hard analog junkies say that the Ion is the most accurate VA representation of analog gear they have heard.
It has a very faaaaaat sound. This is the reason they give you only 8 voices and virtually no fx, while things like the novation have 16 voices and loads of fx. The Ion uses a LOT of cpu power. Personally I haven't used mine all that much but that's more due to me wanting to spend more time with my Monomachine.
I think having Live4 will let me jump into it a bit more with my workflow.

Oh and you can't beat the price of the Ion for the features and sound... soo cheap ;)

-Chris

[DJZeMigL]

Also check the Evolver by Dave Smith!!

Z