KVR Audio

rushwanabee · Post by **rushwanabee** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 2:31 am

Greetings,

I'm hoping someone can enlighten about the Micron. I have checked the website, but I still have questions. Does it have a patch editor for your computer? Is it true, that in a certain mode, you access the parameters by the keyboard, and then use the data entry slider for input?

I went to Guitar Centar and no one in the keyboard dept, could answer my questions either way. I'm interested in it. It would have to have one of the two above mentioned methods for programming, for it to be worthwhile for me. I can't afford the Ion right now. Any insight would be appreciated, thanks.

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 4:36 pm

rushwanabee wrote:Greetings,

I'm hoping someone can enlighten about the Micron. I have checked the website, but I still have questions. Does it have a patch editor for your computer? Is it true, that in a certain mode, you access the parameters by the keyboard, and then use the data entry slider for input?

I went to Guitar Centar and no one in the keyboard dept, could answer my questions either way. I'm interested in it. It would have to have one of the two above mentioned methods for programming, for it to be worthwhile for me. I can't afford the Ion right now. Any insight would be appreciated, thanks.

Oh man...thanx dude a chance to get down on the worst commercial compainies in music...first of course GC employees knew what they were talking about, or atleast they should, their (like all stores) product knowledge is well trained, if they weren't properly trained as much as I hate GC I can't blame them. I'm sure the salesman was well trained on Korg, Roland, and Yamaha..(we were). But Alesis was aquired several years ago by Numark, I remember one Alesis traing session. Numark has the worst customer service in the industry IMO. Sadly July of 04 Numark aquired Akai...so expect Akai to be crap soon.

I'd buy something else, a lot of Alesis products a re pretty well made (but my QSR was not one of them, nice tones when it's working) however as I learned in retail then lived for myself, if something happens to your Alesis product you can expect them to jump through hoops and use any tactic (their favorite is stalling until past the warranty date) to avoid warranty repair.

Sorry I can't tell you anything about that piece, it's since I retired. However I have many connections in music (and a standing job offer with GC and about 5 other stores here) so if you get stuck I can get the bottom line...

jones-y · Post by **jones-y** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 4:55 pm

I'll answer your questions, since you stirred some old emotions up in hink

First, there is currently no editor, AFAIK, but there are an enterprising group of chaps over at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alesis-ion/ that are working on one.

And the'd probably be more knowledgeable about the Micron than us bunch of software junkies...

Secondly, the keys are incorporated into the navigation system of the OS. So the answer to your second question is yes. The process is described in detail in the manual. And the manual is available at Alesis' website. I played with a micron at a local GC (and like you, they couldn't tell me shite either...) and its actually an ingenious system. It makes the Micron very east to navigate.

Based on customer feedback, Alesis has been very proactive with ION customers with respect to warranty repairs and replacements. As for the Micron, word is that the main knob is suspect and liable to break off, and Alesis doesn't have any replacement knobs in stock, therefore are helpless to fix that problem at the moment. You can follow ongoing developments at the link above.

gmstudio · Post by **gmstudio** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 5:42 pm

hink wrote: however as I learned in retail then lived for myself, if something happens to your Alesis product you can expect them to jump through hoops and use any tactic (their favorite is stalling until past the warranty date) to avoid warranty repair.

I'd just like to say that Alesis recently repaired, at no charge to me, an old Studio 32 mixing board that is not only many years out of warranty, but long gone from their product line. Not only did they pay for shipping both ways, they arranged for Saturday delivery for me, even though I was in no rush to get the unit back.

All because, while discussing another matter with them, I casually mentioned that I had this dead Studio 32 board that I was getting ready to throw in the trash.

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 8:06 pm

gmstudio wrote:
hink wrote: however as I learned in retail then lived for myself, if something happens to your Alesis product you can expect them to jump through hoops and use any tactic (their favorite is stalling until past the warranty date) to avoid warranty repair.
I'd just like to say that Alesis recently repaired, at no charge to me, an old Studio 32 mixing board that is not only many years out of warranty, but long gone from their product line. Not only did they pay for shipping both ways, they arranged for Saturday delivery for me, even though I was in no rush to get the unit back.

All because, while discussing another matter with them, I casually mentioned that I had this dead Studio 32 board that I was getting ready to throw in the trash.

that's amazing..really...you're lucky. I could start a support group for people screwed over by Alesis or more accuratley Numark...they were great before they went to Numark...I don't feel like typing the whole thing out again, but after agreeing to repair my qsr for the second time for the same problem they notified me that the second time it was broken it was less then a month over the warranty...the first time it took a little over 5 mos to break the first repair laste almost exactly the same length of time, adding the time it was in for repair and shipping time all you gotta do is the math...I'll tell you after the promise I was made from Alesis in cali, a gentleman from Numark customer service (the manager) with the initials (I wont say his name) BW in RI said no...

rushwanabee · Post by **rushwanabee** » Fri Jan 28, 2005 12:35 am

Greetings again,

Hink said:I'd buy something else, a lot of Alesis products a re pretty well made (but my QSR was not one of them, nice tones when it's working) however as I learned in retail then lived for myself, if something happens to your Alesis product you can expect them to jump through hoops and use any tactic (their favorite is stalling until past the warranty date) to avoid warranty repair.

Thanks for responding. I too have a QSR but have had no problems with mine. I have tired of it though and was planning on using it for some trade in value. I have never needed Alesis support, but have taken your warning into account.

mjones4th said:I'll answer your questions, since you stirred some old emotions up in hink

First, there is currently no editor, AFAIK, but there are an enterprising group of chaps over at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alesis-ion/ that are working on one.

And the'd probably be more knowledgeable about the Micron than us bunch of software junkies...

Thanks my man:) Also, thanks for confirming about the kybd for navigation. this helps my decision.

Thanks everyone, for your input! I have a fair collection soft synths, mainly MMV,z3ta+, Pentagon 1, and Linplug Alpha. I would just love to grab a knob and turn it. I know, before you suggest it:), I do have a U-16 along with my Oxygen 8, but it's not quite the same for me. I need something with some kind of face, notating the cc assigmments. Ultimately, I would like a Virus, but price wise, I can't manage that right now.

Nord lead is out of my means for now too. The Micron suits my range, but I will check it out further before I buy. Nice to hear from you all, thanks.

seamonkey · Post by **seamonkey** » Fri Jan 28, 2005 12:36 am

rushguy, I purchased an Alesis Micron for Christmas and I love the little thing.The filters in this thing are amazing to my humble ears.
It's strong points to me are basses, leads and screechy, scratchy noises enough to awaken any sleeping cat.Pads don't do it for me tho.
I'm pretty certain there is no software editor..yet.

Everything on the keyboard feels strong to me,in fact the keys feel much better to me than the ION did.

The large knob feels sturdy to me, I'm not certain whether your'e referring to the actual knob itself or the whole mechanism.The knob itself can easily be replaced if that's the issue since it appears the shaft is a standard size.

Here's a thread where we discussed the Micron last month.
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... sc&start=0
Any other questions please feel free to pm me.
Good luck,
rick

rushwanabee · Post by **rushwanabee** » Fri Jan 28, 2005 12:42 am

Ah Seamonkey, I just saw your post right after I posted mine:) Thanks, and I may well pm you some questions later, thankks for your help

I am very intrigued by it. For the price range, I think it would be better than the Korg unit. I'm not a road warrior, so I don't think the physical build issues, would be an issue for me. I don't hammner my kybds at all. I'm more of a programmer than an actual kybd player, though I can play some. Cheers

jones-y · Post by **jones-y** » Fri Jan 28, 2005 12:49 am

seamonkey wrote:The large knob feels sturdy to me, I'm not certain whether your'e referring to the actual knob itself or the whole mechanism.The knob itself can easily be replaced if that's the issue since it appears the shaft is a standard size.

Don't quote me, but I think it is an issue with the shaft assembly, somehow. I wouldn't know either way, but that was the discussion a while back on the Yahoo group.

And rush, if you're planning to buy it, go to your local Mom-n-Pop music store. Get the best quote you can. Then call GC and tell them the Mom-Nn-Pop offered it to you for $25 less than they said...

I managed to get them to quote me a price of $300 no tax by doing that.

And, while the key-navigation thing definitely gives it a leg up against other synths with spartan interfaces, the ION's interface easily bests it, hands down. I find that the ION raises my patch programming creativity to a level that the Micron doesn't. OTOH, most synth interfaces absolutely kill my inspiration, so take that with a grain of salt

seamonkey · Post by **seamonkey** » Fri Jan 28, 2005 12:52 am

you may have already read these but here's some user reviews from Harmony Central.
http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/Da ... on-01.html
the ability to record riffs, patterns,etc and synthetic drums is an unbelieveable bang for the buck.

I was a bit surprised when I got the box and it said made in Taiwan cause I always believed they were made here in the States but hey what's not made in China, Singapore or Taiwan anymore?

rushwanabee · Post by **rushwanabee** » Fri Jan 28, 2005 1:00 am

I would much prefer the Ion for programming sakes. In the mean time, the kyvd navigation would do. I figured it would only be a matter of time, before someone came up with a patch editor, that would help a lot.

Perhaps my tax refund will allow me to pursue the Ion after all. If not, I'm feeling good about the Micron. I have to stay within my means.

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Fri Jan 28, 2005 3:53 am

You should also remember that the Micron has several excellent features that the Ion does not, like reverb, proper delay and a pattern sequencer. I have also read in several places that the Micron's keyboard feels much better than the Ion's.

As to programming, whilst the Ion may have a bunch o' knobs on the front panel, they are continous jobbies and won't give you any idea of where the parameters are for any patch so, like most digital synths, you still need to look at the display all the time. If the Micron's key shortcuts go to the same functions as the dedicated knobs on the Ion, the process would be so similar that I wouldn't see any advantage in paying extra for a lesser machine.

plunge · Post by **plunge** » Sat Jan 29, 2005 9:25 pm

Just wanted to weigh in here and say that I got a Micron last night at GC. It's quite sweet. Great pads, excellent synth emulation, nice little drum machine thing too. I think that's what sold me. I do stuff with live bands all the time and it's a pain to try to do loops via my iPod or CD or something. Since I don't have a Laptop, taking my computer rig is out of the question. This has a great rhythm / setups feature that can crank some serious beats from glowsticks to NIN / Depeche Mode type stuff. I'll use it live this week.

Re: Alesis, I'm going to stick up for them here, too. I actually ordered the Micron online from Musicians Friend. It came in the mail defective, so I had to ship it back. MF was great. Alesis was great. No trouble getting to tech support via email or phone. And they were helpful.

Mighty_Hero · Post by **Mighty_Hero** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 5:10 pm

As Rick said, it's sweet!
I played with one on sat. and also sun. I will be buying one in about 10 days. Damn, that's a long time

seamonkey · Post by **seamonkey** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 9:21 pm

Mighty_Hero wrote:As Rick said, it's sweet!
I played with one on sat. and also sun. I will be buying one in about 10 days. Damn, that's a long time

Hey Brice!that's

Info for Alesis Micron