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Alesis ION vs JD-990 + Vintage Expansion


Awake77

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For adding some vintage goodness to the sonic pallette - what do you think is a better choice? Ive listened to samples of each, and while both sound great - at least to my ears I almost think the 990 sounds nicer. The pads definitely sound thicker/bigger - but then again I havent had a chance to hear everything the ION can do and Im biased, already owning a JD800.

 

The ION aint no joke though, thats for sure.

 

This isnt an impending GAS purchase or anything, just wondering what you thought. - (seriously, Im all GASsed out):)

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Depends on if you want analog synth tweakness or more versatility... I have both and for the plain old VA stuff I'd definitly go for the Ion just because of the ease of sound design - knobs and sliders do help for more interactivity and feedback on making sounds - especially when you are trying to duplicate something from an analog. I've tried to use the Ion side by side with my MKS-80 or Matrix6R to duplicate sounds and those knobs really make a difference.

 

The JD is the pad/otherworldly/ethereal/etc monster. Sounds amazing, does some really wild things and is just quality through and through. It's a rack, but you can always use that JD-800 to control that JD-990 :) Or maybe the ReMOTE SL. It's one of the better rackmount synths from a programming perspective, but it *is* still a rack...

 

 

That said, I'm running out of room and something (a board) probably has to go soon. Since I have enough other stuff to cover VA, the Ion is probably moving to the basement for a while. The JD can do much more than that and I would agree that it probably sounds better than the Ion, so she's not going anywhere.

 

Hope that helps...thanks!

bax

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You don't need another pad monster if you have a Z1 and a JD-800. After using Roland & Yamaha romplers a totally new world opened to me after purchasing an NL2x. Think Ion has roughly same capabilities but much less voices (only 8 I believe) whereas NL2x has 20. Needless to say a rompler stacked with a VA = :love:

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