This is time to review the last keyboard I purchased, the Alesis Fusion 8 HD.
Well, the beast has a big pro, and a major cons. It sounds very great, the sonic palette is wide -- I haven't reviewed all the sounds so far --, ranging from mellow synth pads to agressive leads, tons of drum kits and basses, playable sampled instruments and very well crafted keyboards. Ok, you would say a good sampler would do the same, and you're right. However, take a good sampler, add a 88-lested-keys keyboard and disks of samples, and you probably already reach the three-zeroed bill. I paid the Fusion $ 1,000, and it comes with a sequencer (more on it below), a multi-track recorder and sound mixes (Alesis word for sound kits and arpeggio), all funny stuffs you won't find on a sampler.
Now, the cons. The sequencer is almost unusable because of terribly poorly designed user interface (UI). I've read somewhere sequencing on the Fusion is like crafting a boat in a bottle; the image could not be more adequate. I used the sequencer on Yamaha Motif, and despite a smaller screen, it is way more usable.
More generally, the UI really slows down all the processes, from designing sound - even the DX7 is far more simpler to design FM sounds - to using the sequencer.
In short, what is missing is a good editor that could overcome the poor UI to really have a powerfull workstation. Just think how the Korg OASYS is nice to use...
Well, the beast has a big pro, and a major cons. It sounds very great, the sonic palette is wide -- I haven't reviewed all the sounds so far --, ranging from mellow synth pads to agressive leads, tons of drum kits and basses, playable sampled instruments and very well crafted keyboards. Ok, you would say a good sampler would do the same, and you're right. However, take a good sampler, add a 88-lested-keys keyboard and disks of samples, and you probably already reach the three-zeroed bill. I paid the Fusion $ 1,000, and it comes with a sequencer (more on it below), a multi-track recorder and sound mixes (Alesis word for sound kits and arpeggio), all funny stuffs you won't find on a sampler.
Now, the cons. The sequencer is almost unusable because of terribly poorly designed user interface (UI). I've read somewhere sequencing on the Fusion is like crafting a boat in a bottle; the image could not be more adequate. I used the sequencer on Yamaha Motif, and despite a smaller screen, it is way more usable.
More generally, the UI really slows down all the processes, from designing sound - even the DX7 is far more simpler to design FM sounds - to using the sequencer.
In short, what is missing is a good editor that could overcome the poor UI to really have a powerfull workstation. Just think how the Korg OASYS is nice to use...
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