Originally posted by Alone&Forsaken:
"In many ways, the Alesis sounds similar to the Yamaha Motif except the Motif does thing like virtual sound modeling or FM synthesis through the addition of plug-in cards. That's going to be a problem for the Fusion: it has to trump the competition, not just match it."
lol so eight tracks of recording through 1/4 inputs at 24bit doesn't alone trump the competition...hell thats a feature beyond the 9000$ board from Korg.
The mLAN16e transforms the Motif ES into a 16 channel output, 8 channel input computer audio interface that allows you, simultaneously, to record 14 individual output channels plus the stereo mix to your computer and use insert effects as you record. During playback you can bring 4 stereo busses from your DAW back into the ES to be monitored at the Motif ES's stereo analog output while applying additional Motif ES system and master effects to these busses.
The Fusion has an eight-track hard-disk audio recorder built into it... sorta like the $550 Zoom MRS-802B? I guess if you want that built into your synth then you'll like the Fusion but my computer is still my recorder of choice and the Motif offers a lot of options in that regard.
" The Motifs are very well established in the market so if the Fusion doesn't offer more in terms of sound quality and/or feature-set then people won't buy it, especially if they already have a workstation of some sort."
You know...if you honestly tried out some stuff from Alesis, you wouldn't make silly statements like this. We already know the VA of the fusion at the very least will be on par with the Ion ( main contrast being Ion has 16 filer types Vs the 13 types of the fusion )...lol does Yamaha even have a VA on the market? Past that how many filter types does the Motif have? Anyhow...back to things we know. From the namm footage we know the fusion has the "holygrail" piano...so think its safe to say piano should be covered. An electric piano was in the demo that was nice. We also know that the sample set for the fusion is ALL NEW...so thinking about Q synths in relation to the fusion is pointless. Hah plus when you have "unlimited" sample space...its really pointless.
I've tried the Alesis QS 6.1 and 8.2. They were not very good sounding synths - I've been trying to help a freind sell his QS 6.1 with two of the so-called "dance cards" installed for $300 for two years with no takers (you want it?). I also remember the Alesis Nanopiano... that didn't last long either and it sure wasn't popular. I didn't just suddenly decide to not like Alesis - they earned their reputation for less-than-stellar synths all on their own.
Since you asked, Yamaha makes the PLG150-AN analog modeling synth plug-in card for the Motif, and they also make the AN200 analog modeling synth. It's actually easier to do a Google search for Yamaha's product lines than to make bad assumptions.
But to be fair I wasn't crazy about the lack of a hands-on interface for the PLG150-AN and I shopped around for a new VA. I tried out the Alesis Ion, but for my money I liked the Novation X-Station 49 better and I bought one. Makes a nice companion to my Motif ES 8.
If the new samples suck, if the VA is somehow a train wreck, if its OS is just crap and so on...ill be the first ( relative ) to admit or point it out.
The Fusion may be the greatest synth Alesis ever made but if it is then it'll be a departure from some of their failed synths of the past. I'm hoping the Fusion turns out better than it's predecessors, that's all.
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