Ion-editor

The description here says the editor is for Alesis Ion, but the current versions actually have a switch to change the software to Alesis Micron mode if needed (so it should work with Akai Miniak too, as Miniak = Micron internally).

As a Micron owner, I had tested all the available editors I could find but was not really happy with any of them. The ion-editor seemed pretty slick though, and when an updated version with Micron support was released, I jumped the gun. After a couple of more updates I'm very happy I did, as most of the wrinkles have now been ironed out. All my support requests have been duly noted, errors fixed and features added, so full marks for the developer here.

The editor allows easy access to all Micron program parameters, with live update into the synth's memory, so the auditioning is a breeze. The workflow is easy: you can read a patch into editor from sysex file, from the editor's own preset manager or request the current patch from Micron.
Second, you make the edits on the two screens of the editor (one for the main parameters and other for modulation matrix and tracking generator). The edits are sent live to Micron, so the only hardware button you need to use on Micron is the "store" button if you want to save the edit buffer permanently into synth's memory. You can also save the patch from the editor to a file (ion-editor uses text-format files, so they are easy to read and edit offline too if needed).

As a side note, there are bank and program knobs to send program change messages to synth, but this is more usable on an Ion I guess (Micron has a little different approach to preset memory, with dynamic preset name-based arrangement and no fixed memory slots). The program changes work, but as the bank/program numbers are not shown on Micron, it is easier to use Micron's own knob and category keys to find the presets to edit.

All in all, I'm impressed how well the editor handles both Ion and Micron in one package. It is very easy to use and has all the features one expects from a software editor. It is unfortunate that Alesis has not released specifications or sysex for the other performace modes - it would be great to be able to edit the multi-program setups on Ion/Micron, and the rhythms and patterns on Micron (actually, I understand that Alesis has not released the program specs either, and a lot of the work on the various editors has been by trial-and-error - one more reason to be thankful for the makers of these software editors).

NOTE: I rated the sound and presets as 10 - these ratings are not really applicable to an editor, so I rated the Micron sound and presets :)