http://www.sonicstate.com/news/shownews.cfm?newsid=1924#

Note the price thats less then a forth of Korgs new board...

Also if you check out the booth demo...let me know how you like the EP, reminded me of Steely Dan briefly

waw!!!! This Alesis Fusion looks very interesting. The price makes it more appealing than the new Korg. I wonder if it is a heavy keyboard.

I saw and heard the Fusion 8HD today at Summer NAMM in Anaheim. It really is very impressive especially at the price quoted $1999 for the Fusion 8 with 88 weighted keys and and $1699 for the 61 synth key version. The synth models sounded very good and with sample playback as well and streaming sampled audio off the HD made this look like a great new addition to the Alesis line. I think I would very definately consider it a contender against current Korg products in the similar price range.

Why wonder....

Weight
Fusion 8HD: 58.4 lb, 25.6 kg
Fusion 6HD: 30.4 lb, 13.8 kg


http://www.fusionsynth.com/specs.html

The price makes it looks within reality next to the Korg, and from the light demos/ booth footage/ random features...the Korg and Alesis seem just as capable. Not something that should be given the price gap.

Nigel cool you got to see the board.

IM just happy to see Alesis come out with a workstation in any form

As for the rompler side of the Fusion...any general feelings on that? As Alesis dint just port the Q stuff over, I REALLY want to know what the new sound banks are like.

"The synth models sounded very good and with sample playback as well and streaming sampled audio off the HD"

Fusion...

"I think I would very definately consider it a contender against current Korg products in the similar price range."

Agree. The Fusion costs HALF what I expected it to ( blame the 8000$ Korg for that one ).

To finish...any random thoughts you have on the Fusion are welcome to me

It's hard to really judge audio critically because of all the background noise from nearby booths at NAMM. But the analog modeling and modulation control sounded very natural. Alesis have done a great job on it. Also the FM and physical modeling sounded very convincing as well. I have always been a big fan of FM so that is a big plus for me. And all the synth engines can be combined so some serious patches can be created on this machine.

Just a question,

I am interested for a second keyboard, only sound engine, to go with the Pa80.
Do you think there are also good conventional sounds in this machine (organs, pianos, guitars, accordeons...) ?

Stam

"It's hard to really judge audio critically because of all the background noise from nearby booths at NAMM."

No worries and completely understandable.

"But the analog modeling and modulation control sounded very natural. Alesis have done a great job on it."

Yeah have an Ion so was hopeful the VA was gonna be nice on the Fusion.

" Also the FM and physical modeling sounded very convincing as well. I have always been a big fan of FM so that is a big plus for me. And all the synth engines can be combined so some serious patches can be created on this machine."

Hahahah Fusion.

Although I didn't get a chance to evaluate the conventional sounds I'd say yes because that is why Alesis provide sample playback in addition to the modeling.

With the ability to tweak the sounds whether Sample or User Playback or FM Synthesis, etc. as Nigel said, the Fusion should really be a winner. Even out of the Box the acoustic sounds were pretty good but with the ability to tweak those sounds to your hearts content is great. It has a 32 track Sequencer, USB "2.0" connectivity, it comes with a 40 Gibabyte Hard Drive, it is able to stream Audio from the Hard Drive, it has a totally new Sound Set with the "Q Up Arts" Holy Grail Piano included, Analog Modeling, Physical Modeling for Acoustic instruments, it is able to 'record' and 'playback' "8" tracks of '24' bit Audio, plus Compact Flash support. The Polyphony is up to 180 notes. It has S/PDIF Outputs (Optical AND Coaxial), Midi connectivity, up to 192 MB of Sample RAM, 120 MB of WAV ROM, plus many others features and bonuses with the biggest bonus being the price in my opinion. The 88 Key version can be had for under 2 Grand!! Wow!!!

Also the 61 Key version only weighs 30.4 lbs!

Best regards,
Mike

[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 01-24-2005).]

I think this new Fusion synth is going to be a hit! Especially at the price the 61 key is going for. Wasn't the price for the 61 key version $1,699???? That's less than the Motif ES-6. I think the ability to record 8 audio tracks into the board is awsome! Plus the synth editing is HUGE. Very pleased to see FM synthesis on it too.

Squeak

"I think this new Fusion synth is going to be a hit!"

Something has to be good with it...we all like what we see, even for different reasons.

Fusion...

"Especially at the price the 61 key is going for. Wasn't the price for the 61 key version $1,699???? That's less than the Motif ES-6."

Yup thats what the price looks like.

"I think the ability to record 8 audio tracks into the board is awsome!"

Eight at once tracks, at a higher sample rate then the new Korg ( if I recall random numbers right :P ). Just all 1/4 on the Fusion where the Korg has two phantom XLRs and two 1/4s.

" Plus the synth editing is HUGE. Very pleased to see FM synthesis on it too. "

You should check out the Ion on the Alesis site. The Fusions VA looks to be nice, only it does lack a few filters the Ion has ( Fusions 13 Vs the Ions 16 filters ) and the amount of real time control the Ion has. Im not being negative as the Fusion is capable of things the Ion can't do outside those off the cusp observations.

That does look pretty sweet. Remember the price is only the retail, it only gets cheaper! In a few years when used ones are for sale i might upgrade to one of them.

Phil

[This message has been edited by Pennywizz6 (edited 01-24-2005).]

I tried out the new Alesis at NAMM and my first impression, through headphones was that it sounded like the QS6 I've sold for many years. I'll have to hear it when my rep brings one bye .
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

I think the QS series was nice. Very warm sounds. The Fusion is supposed to be updated on the sounds, so a more polished QS based sound set would be great in my opinion. Alesis is really heading in the right direction here. They're releasing a complete powerhouse of a synth and workstation for an affordable price. Granted I'm a supporter of the Motif ES, but I think the Alesis is offering more for less money (again my opinion)

Squeak

"I think the QS series was nice. Very warm sounds. The Fusion is supposed to be updated on the sounds, so a more polished QS based sound set would be great in my opinion."

Don't think your alone with that opinion.

" Alesis is really heading in the right direction here. They're releasing a complete powerhouse of a synth and workstation for an affordable price. Granted I'm a supporter of the Motif ES, but I think the Alesis is offering more for less money (again my opinion)"

Hahahah yeah the price really shocked me, first pictures I was hopeful it would be in the 3k to 4k range. Thing looks like the enterprise after all ( or the dash of a classic auto as some have pointed out ).

Nothing wrong with being a Motif supporter Only want to know...are you gonna hold off on the Motif pending some Fusion demo time? or just go with the Motif ?

Ahhh pointless story. In Jr. High had some thuglet that called himself "gansta motif ", so now whenever I see the Yamaha Motif I get a flashback :P Then the Yamaha Motif keys all meld into a fake gold grill.

Gansta Fusion...

Actually I was all set to buy the Motif ES. I went online ready to order, and I checked out a few of my regular sites first. Then I saw Korg had a new board released in a few days, then shortly after that I saw Alesis was coiming out with one too. I decided to hold off until I can check out the Alesis. I didn't expect the price I saw on the Korg, and expected the Alesis to be much higher, and not cheaper than the Motif I'm looking forward to the demos to be released on the Fusion next month.

Squeak

Hahah IM waiting on those demos to...go figure :P

New keyboards did start to rain on ya a bit right when you were about to buy.

It seems this is very good! good price too but it seems more for Dance than acoustic- definite cool new design

I think the acoustic instruments on this unit are going to be good. The sounds are supposed to be complete overhaul based on the QS series, and the QS series has great sounds.

Squeak

"It seems this is very good! good price too but it seems more for Dance than acoustic- definite cool new design"

Not to be an ass, just it seems almost anything thats not defined as an arranger around here gets the "only good for dance and or hip-hop" treatment. Kinda odd given we have artists that have transposed classical work with modular synth's.

"I think the acoustic instruments on this unit are going to be good. The sounds are supposed to be complete overhaul based on the QS series, and the QS series has great sounds."

Exactly I tried to express the Fusion wasn't just the QS series ported right off. Plus this was stated in the namm demo and on the official site from day one.

Can someone help me here, because I haven't read anything about it yet - does this board have "Arranger" features or not?

Jerry
Amsterdam

It is not an Arranger but it does have looped based tracks that can be used as an accompaniment along with the user's lead playing. You are able to use up to [eight] 8 tracks of Audio using the onboard Sampler and recording tracks one by one. You would create the accompaniment by playing the Sampled parts yourself using different instruments on the Keyboard e.g. Grand Piano, Bass, Drum, Synth, etc. (up to 8 instruments/parts) and after each instrument part is recorded all of it would be looped, i.e. playing over and over. You could then play on top of the 'arrangement' to play along with your looped samples. It is similar to other Workstations in that regard. E.g. Triton Extreme, Fantom X, etc. I think the ease of it is what may separate the Fusion from the others.

So no Arranger but it has the ability to use instruments as accompaniment but not as we think of an Arranger using Styles, etc. I'm not sure either if the Arpeggiator on the Fusion has Chord recognition like the Motif ES does.

And these are 'Audio' (not Midi) loops/recordings and can be recorded AND played back at 24bit resulting in very lush sounds.

Digital I/O's to play back the 24bit audio and USB 2.0 connectivity to transfer to and from a PC make the Fusion all the more enticing not to mention Compact Flash support plus a host of other cutting edge features. The Fusion may finally be my 'keeper' Workstation. And at such an attractive price, Alesis is sure to sell a boat load of them, if indeed the Fusion turns out to be all they're touting it to be.

Best regards,
Mike