Fusion $500 at GC?

[Tusks]

Originally posted by mate_stubb They won't stock Nord

I mean, really.

Glad you have a store that works for you.

Jerry

[bushido]

would you guys recommend the fusion over a nord lead 2x? i had my heart set on the nord but the sound samples on the alesis website sound pretty nice.

[bushido]

yeah, i'm a bit overwhelmed with the choices right now, but the nord seems to beat alot of other synths on sound quality, which is what is most important to me.

[Crawling Wind]

So new Fusion owners - let's hear some opinions!

[sizzlemeister]

Originally posted by SaltyDogg Btw - any way to get better piano sounds in the Fusion?

 

 

What's wrong with the Holy Grail piano?

[keyman_sam v2.0]

Originally posted by Crawling Wind So new Fusion owners - let's hear some opinions!

Just sat down with the Fusion for an hour, just trying out the sounds and stuff.

The Holy grail piano sounds fantastic through my AKG204 Headphones. But ofcourse, ANYTHING sounds fantastic through the headphones. The strings are weak. The put the Harps under the string category. Fine, but it wouldnt have hurt to put them in the PLUCKED category. Whatever.

I'm yet to figure out how to hook up both the Kawai K5K and the Fantom S to the Fusion and monitor those while playing the Fusion, that is, basically using the Fusion as a mixer. I'm BEGINNING to explore the Kawai. I learnt all the menus on the left, now gotta look at the additive side.

Keyboard action is okay. Not as good as the Fantom S or the Kawai, but very playable. Alesis has drenched EVERY single patch with effects (reverb and delays being the dominant ones). Yeah, Korg got away with it because it sounded decent with the effects, but Alesis has put TOO much effects on each patch that it sounds very artificial. I might have a LOT of editing to do. I mean, comeon, a delay on a harp? And a guitar? Oh please. rolleyes:


Mine comes with a 80 gig harddrive, but the OS aint the latest. I'm going to upload the latest, but I dont know whether I need a CF for that. Gotta look into that.


I tried to look into the basic editing menu, and so far it looks very good. There's a compare function incase you want to do A/B comparision. The Physical Modelled clarinets sound good. Most of the patches are sample based.


Overall, I'm very satisfied. I dont know if i can get the free monitors. Its alrady too late, i think. Now, I just need Battery 3 to go along with the Kawai and the Fusion.

[SaltyDogg]

Originally posted by sizzlemeister What's wrong with the Holy Grail piano?

 

 

I didn't hate it, but it was the ONLY sound I really liked of the pianos. I liked a few of them actually, but, I must say, the holy grail sounded almost like it had funky distortion (I specifically pounded out C2 i think) Now, I used a pair of their headphones so maybe they were partially to blame. I am currently using the Kurz ME1. I dont suppose that's the best piano sounds out there, but I do like them and if I got the Fusion I would want to sell the ME1 and I am not sure if the quality would be a wise trade off.

 

PS What is the price differential for the 80 or 40 gb drives? (If I do decide to get one soon and need to haggle)

 

PPS Keyman, I think you need to buy it by 12/31 and make sure it gets to Alesis within the first week of Jan for those monitors!

[jbrannon7]

Originally posted by keyman_sam v2.0 Just sat down with the Fusion for an hour, just trying out the sounds and stuff. Mine comes with a 80 gig harddrive, but the OS aint the latest. I'm going to upload the latest, but I dont know whether I need a CF for that. Gotta look into that. Overall, I'm very satisfied. I dont know if i can get the free monitors. Its alrady too late, i think. Now, I just need Battery 3 to go along with the Kawai and the Fusion.

Yes, you need compact flash card to update OS.

Alesis must recieve your paperwork for speakers by 1/7/07. So you have about a week to get it in the mail.

Joe

[mate_stubb]

 

Originally posted by keyman_sam v2.0 I dont know if i can get the free monitors. Its alrady too late, i think.

 

 

The rebate form on the Alesis site says it must be postmarked by Jan 7th. So go for it!

[sizzlemeister]

Originally posted by SaltyDogg I didn't hate it, but it was the ONLY sound I really liked of the pianos. I liked a few of them actually, but, I must say, the holy grail sounded almost like it had funky distortion (I specifically pounded out C2 i think) Now, I used a pair of their headphones so maybe they were partially to blame. I am currently using the Kurz ME1. I dont suppose that's the best piano sounds out there, but I do like them and if I got the Fusion I would want to sell the ME1 and I am not sure if the quality would be a wise trade off. PS What is the price differential for the 80 or 40 gb drives? (If I do decide to get one soon and need to haggle) PPS Keyman, I think you need to buy it by 12/31 and make sure it gets to Alesis within the first week of Jan for those monitors!

 

 

Distortion? You have to be nuts, because if there were distortion in any of the piano patches that'd be all over the internet like gambling website banner ads. The pianos on the Fusion are VERY good. I like the fact they they, as well as all of the other samples, are clean, deep and clear. Makes production work a lot easier after you have your track, and the results, I have learned especially recently, are far superior to anything I've worked with before. Throw a little compression on those tracks and they jump out of the speakers in a most pleasing manner.

[SaltyDogg]

Must be the DJ headphones they gave me to use.

I wouldn't say it was pure distortion but the tone of it sounded really off. Again, maybe just the headphones. I might try it out AGAIN. Thank you for the GAS!

[keyman_sam v2.0]

There was no distortion in any patch (including the holy grail) in my fusion. I'd say try it with a better pair of headphones.




P.S. THanks for the headsup folks. The problem is, I cant find the serial number. There are two barcodes stuck to the underside of the fusion. One of them starts with a 6 and ends with a 6. And the other one is just a really long number with one alphabet. I dont know which one is the serial number!

[keyman_sam v2.0]

Not to get off topic, but anyone know what the FASTEST postal service is, regardless of cost? If only i can find my serial number, i'd mail this darn thing right now.

[keyman_sam v2.0]

Thanks. I just PMd Diametro and asked him where the number is. If i dont know where it is by tommorow, i'll just mail in both the numbers.

[jbrannon7]

Originally posted by keyman_sam v2.0 There was no distortion in any patch (including the holy grail) in my fusion. I'd say try it with a better pair of headphones. P.S. THanks for the headsup folks. The problem is, I cant find the serial number. There are two barcodes stuck to the underside of the fusion. One of them starts with a 6 and ends with a 6. And the other one is just a really long number with one alphabet. I dont know which one is the serial number!

The serial number is the one that starts with (21)

Joe

[keyman_sam v2.0]

Thanks!

[carbon111]

For those of you that don't want to have to get under your Fusion, the serial number is also available in the global menu.

Anyone interested should check out my fun-filled adventures with the Fusion...earliest posts are on the bottom:

http://www.carbon111.com/fusion.html

[SaltyDogg]

Hey, I don't think this has been answered in the thread:

How do you easily check the harddrive and ram capacity of the Fusion you may be buying (if a floor model etc).

What is the price differential for the different memory, because I want to haggle the lowest price possible if I go for it.

Lastly... I am told you need to buy a flash card. No clue what that truly is... do you need to then buy some sort of Flash reader for your PC on top of it all or you just need a card and that somehow enables the Fusion?

Many thanks
SD

[FatBaron]

Originally posted by dabowsa Thats a killer deal while the M1 MKII offer is still going on.

 

 

Yeah, I just though of that. You could dump the speakers on eBay and still have a nice synth...

[sizzlemeister]

Originally posted by SaltyDogg Hey, I don't think this has been answered in the thread: How do you easily check the harddrive and ram capacity of the Fusion you may be buying (if a floor model etc). What is the price differential for the different memory, because I want to haggle the lowest price possible if I go for it. Lastly... I am told you need to buy a flash card. No clue what that truly is... do you need to then buy some sort of Flash reader for your PC on top of it all or you just need a card and that somehow enables the Fusion? Many thanks SD

 

 

I don't have my Fusion on at the moment (we were making rather merry today), but IIRC it's under global/info or something like that. It's like two button presses to find the memory size and HD size. Just look under the global menu and use common-sense.

 

There is no price differential between the two HD sizes as Alesis quietly upgraded that part. The difference between 40gb and 80gb HDs in the computer world is like $10.

 

The flash card is simply for updating the OS. If you buy a new one odds are you may not have to update. If you do, flash cards are among the common memory cards used in digital cameras and the like. $10-$50 for one depending on the size. I have a 512mb that cost me $12 and even though I only intended to use it for the OS update, I accidentally stored some samples on it a few times. The 512 goes a long way.

 

The Fusion will actually act as a flash card reader for your computer so no need for extra hardware. Indeed, you could look at the Fusion as including a BONUS accessory for your computer.

[XorAxAx]

The Fusion does make a neat CompactFlash reader. The mod wheel lights up when the computer is accessing the CompactFlash card in the Fusion.

[Mook]

Originally posted by XorAxAx The Fusion does make a neat CompactFlash reader. The mod wheel lights up when the computer is accessing the CompactFlash card in the Fusion.

 

 

I'm sold!

[keyman_sam v2.0]

Well i'm going to mail the rebate offer today. To get the RAM info, press SAMPLE button, and look under free space for recording.

Mine came with 64 MB RAm. Is it hard to upgrade to 192 MB without sending the unit to alesis? What type of RAM is it?

Check to see if your OS is the latest. Its under Global, OS info. Mine is 1.24 teh latest one ofcourse. You should be able to see 80 gig hdd as the standard. If its 40 gig, then its quite old.

sorry, just checked. mine's 1.24

[Diametro]

v1.24 is the latest.

Personally, I'd take the time to install the update.



Here's the link ... you can also read the release notes and see the changes the update brings.

[SaltyDogg]

Hey everyone,

My GAS forced me to check some Fusions. I ALMOST bought one.... I would like some advice if you don't mind!

First off... I went to a GC and SA both near each other. GC has a floor unit and one in stock. I find out quickly the floor unit's audio outs are fried for some reason and it has been repaired a few times on it! Then I am told the other is factory refurbished, because the power supplies on the Fusion were faulty. I was told the earliest Fusions actually could get static shock from your fingers and the display would burn out.

Well, that was a total GAS killer right there! These were both 8HD btw.

SA has a 6 and two 8HDs. All the memory drives were 40GB, including those at GC. They didn't have any in stock and the Floor models looked beat up.

My dream was to come in, see a nice functioning model and snap it up. But the dream crashed.

Anyone have an opinion on this? Is refurbished reliable? Whats up with the static shock - power supply issue? Never heard of it and I've been reading these boards.

Many thanks!
SD