Jump to content

Why didn't the Alesis Fusion succeed?


Recommended Posts

  • Members

This thread
has some good information on that.


Bret Victor, the guy who designed the Micron and also designed the sound engine for the Fusion (genius!! it's the Fusion's best part), went on to design the initial interface for the iPad, iPod Nano, and a bunch of Apple products that never came to light.
:eek:

 

 

 

That misinformation was corrected in the thread you liked to in this post: http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?2543008-Alesis-Ion-Micron-Fusion-genius&p=38483173&viewfull=1#post38483173

 

I've still got my Fusion. Even though some people don't like it's PM, I do like the physical modelling section of it. Then again, I don't use it to make realistic sounds. :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I am a bit late to this party but here goes:

 

The people that said they would buy it did not

Bugs

Looks (lack thereof)

IF

Claimed features not working

Bad press

Expensive memory type for any upgrade

Memory not user upgradable (although some did after dismembering the synth)

The price was dropped relatively soon after launch which would annoy early adopters

So much to do in so little an IF

It's kind of weird overall

Some claimed it was an OASYS killer when it and the big O came out at NAMM... that idea became a laughing stock.

Seems to take the fun out of synthesis if user reports are anything to go by

 

I get the impression if you can get by all it's shortcomings it's still a synth capable of great sounds which ultimately is what matters. It can be made to deliver but do you really want to try...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I had one for awhile. I thought that it sounded good, and I especially thought that the synth engines sounded good. I hated the interface of the thing. Way too menu driven, and I found the particular menu systems to be rather obnoxious. This was just my reaction....ultimately I find that the overall experience of an instrument drives my decisions about it, and I just wound up not liking to turn the damn thing on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

because it has the name Alesis on it.

 

 

As unlikely as it seems, that's probably the main reason. If it had the Korg name on it instead, it would have sold much better. Second reason would be its Studebaker look.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

I've seen it live, and had to turn my head off. That's how bad it appeared like, while the build quality looked like a joke. I know it's not a convincing factor for everyone, but i can't imagine working on that.

 

 

Nothing wrong with the build quality that I've noticed, although not gigged it to be fair. It's also a lot easier to get a great sound from it than some people would think.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I'd say the Fusion resides somewhere near the EX-5 in the league of great ideas poorly (or marginally) implemented. That said, it still looks like a fun extra synth to have around. I wouldn't rely on it as a main board, though. It does sonic weirdness pretty well as I recall, but I wasn't really impressed with a lot of the real world acoustic sounds when I sat down to play one.

 

But I still like the idea of a workstation with its own hard drive and built-in DAW, and I give Alesis a lot of credit for attempting it. Another bold act of vision from the company that brought us affordable digital effects in the 80s, the ADAT in the early 90s, and the A6.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

I'd say the Fusion resides somewhere near the EX-5 in the league of great ideas poorly (or marginally) implemented. That said, it still looks like a fun extra synth to have around. I wouldn't rely on it as a main board, though. It does sonic weirdness pretty well as I recall, but I wasn't really impressed with a lot of the real world acoustic sounds when I sat down to play one.


But I still like the idea of a workstation with its own hard drive and built-in DAW, and I give Alesis a lot of credit for attempting it. Another bold act of vision from the company that brought us affordable digital effects in the 80s, the ADAT in the early 90s, and the A6.

 

 

It's my understanding throwing the hard drive and the audio tracks at the last second started the mess ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

It's my understanding throwing the hard drive and the audio tracks at the last second started the mess ...

 

 

 

It still kicked ass as a VA / FM / PM Hybrid IMHO - and the mod matrix got great use out of aftertouch and the like on many patches ( I do miss mine I must confess) the VA was superb and the FM was none to shabby either. Did killer drum synthesis and even Sample based FM also.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

Did killer drum synthesis and even Sample based FM also.

 

 

Really? The Fusion can Freq Modulate a sample, or use a sample as a source? Is this within the whole six operator configuration too?

 

(Dang, I swear I asked about that in a thread at some point and I was told it wasn't possible....and the manual was totally useless.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

 

The online manual is password protected for copying, but it's on page 48. In the sample playback section, 'You can have the filter or an oscillator's waveform modulate the frequency of the current oscillator'.

I've gotten some very interesting, usable sounds doing this.

 

No - you can't do it in the 6 op FM section. But I'd imagine that would get quite messy very quickly. :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 years later...
  • Members
On paper it looks like a damn fine synth. And it wasn't that expensive



"On paper" was the problem. It shipped with many bugs affecting the sequencer and hard disk recording features' date=' the factory presets were lame and there were manufacturing QC issues while the original price was within spitting distance of Motif, Fantom and Triton models that were already well established in the marketplace. Alesis cut the price a few months after release to try to spur sales but it didn't help. A lot of units ended being sold in blowout deals at 25% of the original price. People can forgive more at $500 than at $2000 :cop:[/quote']​And there's at least ONE f*cker who's trying to get all the blood he can out of a rock for HIS Fusion 61HD on ebay.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...