Is Alesis Micron worth it?

I'm lookin good synth to produce some nice analog vintage sounds. I'm usually using presets sounds (i don't have time to twek sounds) So now I'm asking is this good synt or should I pay more to get some other synt like Nord lead 3, Andromeda...I need some good warm padsounds, some good moog lead sounds and maybe some prophet brass sounds.

Best regards

Jyrki

well, if you're going to do presets only, and you don't mind the small keyboard, then sure I guess its worth it. although the price of a micron is vastly different than a Nord 3 or an Andromeda.

I got one last month for my B-day (my first as a guitarist) and I find the presets pretty usable for a baseline. Plenty of good Rush tones and just about anything else you could want.

You really need to experiment to create your own custom sounds.

The sequencer is pretty limited, but I can still record the Gary Neuman cars bassline phase and jam over it.

Im hooked though. I just got an AKAI ax-60 to complement it.

I recomend it just for the preset sounds.

I've been using mine more - rather than less -- lately.

I like it a lot ... sometimes knobs only get in the way and cause distractment from what really matters ...

the keys ... you have three octaves and two transpose buttons ... use them wisely.

There are a lot of great vintage synth sounds on this board ...

Of course, I have mine hooked up to a Koass Pad III -- so that increases the entertainment factor quite a bit.

get a butt load of sample cds, seriously. Youll save a lot of money.

The Micron isn't THAT expensive. If you can live with three octaves, it's rather a steal, IMO.

Get the micron. Its good.

read the manual, then read it again so you will be 100% certain that its what you want before you commit.

interface is uh..... the worst ever at best imho

The interface isn't that bad. Once you know the layout of the menu (which is pretty diver-friendly), you can tweak out sounds like crazy. Also, having two easily assigned sliders on board is really handy in a small package like the Micron.

Thanks for your answers, I ordered mine yesterday, i can't wait to get my hands on it...=)

get the microkorg instead...

OPEN, would you care to elaborate? I'm on the fence about these two models.

I've tried the Microkorg in a store and feel the mini keys may be an issue. I may also dig deeper for the MicroX -

the Micron's reputed user-unfriendliness may be a real turn off.

In either case, I haven't found a Micron in a store to try out.

The Micron is the best bang-for-the buck synth out there.

Don't forget--this is primarily a performance synth.

The combis and the drum machine are a terrific bonus. They are a blast to play with. I don't believe that the Korgs have anything comparable.

It sounds fantastic. You have realtime control on the three assignable knobs + 2 sliders + the expression pedal. This gives you six programmable controls per patch. How many patches do you perform where you are tweaking more than six paramaters during a song or solo.

The one downside is the keyboard action. If this is a problem, midi it to something else.

I used to think not-so-kindly about the Micron keybed, but actually, I very much gotten used to it. Not really an issue any more.

The Micron v. MicroKorg comparison isn't as direct as it may seem when it comes to sound ... the MicroKorg is grittier and way less vintage sounding and a little more lo-fi, IMO ... it's an interesting sound, but like the tiny keys, a little junkier ... but it is fun to noodle with ...

I don't think the MicroX really compares directly either since it's soundset is quite different ... samples of world-y type pads, acoustic instruments, dance stuff, and Korg's combis. It really didn't grab me in the flesh.

If anyone looks at a Micron and then ends up with a Micro X ... I don't think they were really looking for a VA or perhaps understand what the Micron is really about: excellent reproductions of vintage synth sounds in a small package with nice synth drums and a useful mini-sequencer/arpeggiator(s).

Of course, I'm making generalizations about all three boards: they all can be pushed in other directions, but because of the limited interfaces, you'd probably be best off if you find the soundsets useful more or less as they are. (yes, you can tweak the Micron, for instance, but that's about as far as I'd want to go as far as sound creation goes).

If anyone is looking at the MicroKorg, keep in mind Korg is coming out with a (sort-of) replacement product, the R3. Which should make the MicroKorg even more attainable or halt your purchase.

The R3 (Radias derived) looks to be a more direct competitor to the Micron ... but keep in mind it will be at least $650 ... $250-$350 more than a Micron (which obviously, you could find used) ...

I tried the keys on a Micron, and the keys felt too loose to me. Another thing that turned me off was a patch called "WTF Neighbors?". The Microkorg has better feeling keys although they are small, and a vocoder, but...ehh. They both sound a bit too digital for me. After playing Micromoog and JX-8P I can't say I'm happy with these VAs. Real analog sounds are just beautiful.

I've played both the microkorg and the micron, and the micron was the only one i wanted to buy right there on the spot.

"Another thing that turned me off was a patch called "WTF Neighbors?". "

why would that turn you off ? you can allways delete the presets if you don't like it, and I've never known anyone to take moral offense with a preset name..

was there something about that sound that you didn't like when you considered the synth as a whole ?

Get the micron and check out the "files" section in the Alesis ION yahoo group for some good presets. Out of the box, you'll get okay pads, really good classic moog leads, and average brass presets. You'll really want to learn how to tweak the sounds yourself to get the most out of it, but even so the presets will get you close I think...I love mine.

I bet your post is going to make him glad he already ordered one

Digital, really? I don't hear that at all. It does have a bit of low frequency rollof which is I think to avoid any aliasing.

Are you sure you know how to testdrive it? It does have FM capabilities which can by their nature sound "digital".

Worse, most patches have assigned FM amount to knob 1, even when the patch would not benefit from FM. SO if someone had turned that knob, you'll get some really nasty metallic overtones. But that is the nature of the 2 op FM; which by the way can be harnessed quite effectively for bell like timbres.

The microns strong point is the 4 pole moog filter - crank up a 2 osc patch with saw waves, route all output to filter 1 in pre mix section, apply a little filter envelope.

It also does PWM by way of the mod matrix - I've got a gorgeous PWM string sound out of it that sounds like vintage Greg Hawkes.

["Another thing that turned me off was a patch called "WTF Neighbors?". "

why would that turn you off ? you can allways delete the presets if you don't like it, and I've never known anyone to take moral offense with a preset name]

Really I found the whole package to be just cheesy, not just a preset name. If Alesis really cared they would've made more the keys a little more stiffer, a few more, or a lot more knobs, and used just one color for box. To me it looks like a child's toy.

Okay - I won't argue that.

But it's not like that things gonna be front and center in your rig, right?

Like I said, demo that moog filter with the saw waves.

It'll do oberheim 2 pole stuff pretty well too - hit the mod matrix properly with pwm, use some detuning and the analog drift parameter at about 7 or 9 percent and you're in Ob-x pad territory.

It won't bite your head off like an arp but for moog and some jupiter emulations its damn good.

Yeah, soundwise it could get the job done. Note that I didn't have a whole lot of time to really dig in when I tried one at my GC, so I really can't say I'm qualified to comment from a long-time user perspective; just a 5-10 minute first impression. One thing's for sure, it's the most out there for the money!

I do wish it would have more knobs, but then again there's the Ion for that purpose. Also, I wish the keys were stiffer.

Maybe your fingers need to be spongier!

"Waterfall Neighbours"? Sounds nice to me!!