KVR Audio

yul · Post by **yul** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 2:54 am

hi,

maybe looking into buying an Ion for standaone composition.

Any owners would like to share their opinions when comparing the overall sound to the above VSTI's ?

Thanks

maximilians1 · Post by **maximilians1** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 3:03 am

yul wrote:hi,

maybe looking into buying an Ion for standaone composition.

Any owners would like to share their opinions when comparing the overall sound to the above VSTI's ?

Thanks

The Alesis website has a pile of demo tunes for the Ion, the micron got a great review in SOS.

yul · Post by **yul** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 3:11 am

The demos do not sound "that" great but I feel its mainly due to poor patch programming rather than sonic capabilities...

I also heard that the demos were doctored.

Rabid · Post by **Rabid** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 3:15 am

I've played an Ion for a while and it does not sound like Oddity. I've not used the other two VSTi's you mention. I think Ion is stronger on stage than in the studio. It is a cheap VA with a large variety of filters so it can cover a lot of sounds, but the polyphony is too low to cover a lot of parts at once and the structure is pretty simple. You may cover two parts at a time with it which is fine on stage, but not stand alone composition. For that you need to at least move up to a Virus Classic.

JMHO

Robert

kuniklo · Post by **kuniklo** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 3:52 am

I recorded a bunch of short Micron demos and put them up here:

http://www.caddr.com/music/micron/

IMO the Micron doesn't sound "better" in any absolute sense than the better VST VAs, but it's more flexible than most of them. For instance, the mod matrix has a lot more destinations than most VSTs do, and it can emulate a bunch of very different filter types.

The low polyphony is a bit of a bummer though. You won't be doing a whole tune with it unless you render out individual tracks. I kind of wish they would put this engine in a VST.

yul · Post by **yul** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 4:17 am

thanks, that was helpful.
It sure does sound analogue !

I thought I heard much meaner patches when auditionning it at the store...guess ill have to go again and test it meself.

Man-Machine · Post by **Man-Machine** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 5:46 am

Better in what aspect? You have to be more specific...

The Ion/Micron is one of the best virtual analogue hardware synthesizers out there. Just check out online reviews everywhere. Even the picky guys from analogue heaven liked this thing. It does interpolation on the knobs so no zipper noise while tweaking knobs like you do with most VSTis. Also, no parameter value jumps because the knobs are endless turning. Very versatile soundwise. Lots of different filters. Lots of modulation. It does have mild aliasing in some patches. Because of its polyphony, it's definitely not a workstation so don't think of writing complex compositions only with it.

FaX · Post by **FaX** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 5:59 am

My advice would be get a Nord Modular G2 Rack and sequnce it from your PC instead for what it's worth .....

Warmonger · Post by **Warmonger** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 6:06 am

And why exactly would you recommend the G2 Rack instead of the ION, considering one costs about half as much, has a keyboard, and is not modular? They're intended for very different purposes.

olafmol · Post by **olafmol** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 10:03 am

the Ion/micron sound REALLY nice, we compared them in the studio to ao a Korg MS10, Macbeth M3x, Oberheim M1000 and Waldorf Pulse, it can stand up just fine with all of those...of course you have to do some programming/editing, and that's a bad point for the micron, and a plus for the Ion

Olaf

yul · Post by **yul** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 4:49 am

Thanks for your replies.

i want the ion for its simplicity in which one can relate to the instrument. I love making patches but it has to be made simple, like the ion(lots of knobs)

It also needs to be more reliable than older analog gear.

i just want to make sure that the sound is really good compared to other stuff out there. VSTI's are getting really top notch and I expect to have exceptionnal sounds from a unit with such a price.

I think Pc is great but it doesnt match the flow of having a real instrument in front of you for composing.

So if anyone else would like to comment on the sound, please do.

Thank

sluggo · Post by **sluggo** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 6:04 am

Olafmol,
Can you compare the ion/micron to a microQ (have you played with a microQ)? I can't demo a microQ in stores anymore. I'm interested in house and tech house. I like the extra power of the microQ.

cheers

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 6:16 am

I will be getting a Micron soonish for live work. I spent a bit of time putting an Ion through it paces in a store recently and I was very impressed. Given its features and sound I think I may end up using it for recording as well as for live work, although I will need to hear it in my studio before I can get a really good guage of its possibilities. The micron is supposed to have a better keyboard action than the Ion I think and it's about one-quarter the size and one-third of the weight.

olafmol · Post by **olafmol** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 10:29 am

sluggo wrote:Olafmol,
Can you compare the ion/micron to a microQ (have you played with a microQ)? I can't demo a microQ in stores anymore. I'm interested in house and tech house. I like the extra power of the microQ.

cheers

nope, sorry..... although i think the ion/micron are soundwise aimed at the big american analogue synths (think oberheim, moog) and the microQ is ofcourse not really a "virtual analogue" designed synth

Does ion/micron sound better than MMV , Asynth or Oddity ?