Alesis Fusion is the dream machine for sound designers. This thing can sound as what you want. With the latest update it works very stable, i have mine 10 years and counting. Very underrated workstation/synth.
@DyReckProductions it does sound nice, but the build quality is a sore spot; the screws round off too easily. The design felt like an alien console and I love that.
This was a korg Karma before a Korg Karma, had 4 styles of synthesis, fm, sampling, pcm, and virtual analog. It was a synth version of a MPC 5000 and used the same ram. The sound quality of the sounds were superb. And there are some libraries for this unit that will mop the floor of alot of the newer synths available now. If you get that last os update available for this machine, it's fine. This keyboard and the MPC 5000 had a Alesis ion built in it basically. It's fm synthesis was extremely easy to program. If you can catch one of these for about $300, you can modify it with an internal SSD and install some sick ass sounds in it.
@@crazypainter56 I actually meant to say Kronos. I get those two mixed up because of the names. That was in regards to all the different synthesis functions of the Alesis like the Kronos but the Kronos has much more as I would expect it to being made 9 years later after the Fusion came out.
@@crazypainter56 I don't think you understood what I wrote, I clearly stated that the Kronos is above the fusion in terms of what I can do, but in terms of sound quality, I don't think it's $2000 better in that regards. Just like I don't think the Kronos sounds better than a Triton extreme or the trinity in that regards.
Now we're talking. This 40-pound Monster (88keys) is standing on my left. Even I upgraded it with a new silent fan (from an old graphic cart) and SSD: Never ever in my life have I seen so many good Ideas wasted on a maybe half-ready Instrument. If it was a software..it was still in early Beta ;-) But..I love it for the Look and the Keybed is a Dream to play ;-) Funfact: Florian from "Bad Gear" and I are talking for months, that I take the beast from cologne to Vienna and he makes an episode. This time you made the race. lol
Totally agree, the Fatar keybed is damn good, I play it every day. The Fusion is my go to piano, and it embeds tons of really good sounds. I think I have one of the latest, many bugs fixed, but the sequencer is still really a pain.
No-not 40 pounds, try 58, I have 2 and my back knows it. Maybe you meant the 6HD 61 key which i believe s around 40 pounds, and built like a brick sh**house.
Oh my gawd the Fusion! Literally the quickest board I bought and promptly returned. The initial release was a freakin nightmare, and the OS was dodgy as hell. Plus the velocity inconsistency between the black and white keys was pretty annoying too.
i sold my Fusion 8HD in 2009 to buy some other studio gears...regretted it ever since.!..The Fusion had sounds that dont exist on any other synths/workstations..also has one of the best keybed & aftertouch that I ever played on a keyboard....A very under rated keyboard indeed.
I had a 61key version when it came out…hated it and sold it. Bought the 8hd version a couple of years ago for $250 & I use it now. It’s a pretty decent workstation when you wrap your head around it. I mainly use it as a controller the keybed is lovely. The pads & atmospheres on this rock along with the great Hollow Sun (RIP) preset volumes. He really showed what that thing is capable of. With another update or new version that thing would’ve been a beast. Like Dyrek says the look of this thing does not do it justice… it’s bad ass. This along with a MPC Live 2 is a great Dawless setup. Too bad the 88 key version is like 50 lbs 🥴
Man, use sound fonts. The flutes, clarinets, strings, voices, etc I have found out there are amazing. When I discovered that, no reason for other keyboard
I used to have an Alesis fusion workstation 6hd that I lost due to complications in my earlier years. I produced many interesting tracks with it. Now I use Korg gadget and korg nanos when I want to record experimental music but for sure i miss the fusion immensely.
As already mentioned, this thing does generate some awesome sounds. Wasn't aware of them porting the VA engine over to the Akai, MPC5000, but why not? Though they weren't patch-compatible, the Fusion VA engine was based on the Alesis Ion, and both sounded great. And yeah, though they mostly fixed the OS, and heavily improved it, the final version was still buggy. Another shortfall? There was no "undo" for the sequencer. Despite that, as long as mine is working, it will be one of my last synths to go.
@@RebeccaTurner-ny1xx Yeah, would say with the bugs, it wasn't a keyboard for playing live, but it's still pretty nice for sound design, and I've since learned to appreciate the OS for navigating and programming. A few more modern synths could learn a thing or two from the Fusion.
In 2009 I wanted the Fusion so bad, just reading reviews and seeing all those features and how it was getting dumped on the used market, but I couldn't justify getting it, I was moving and starting a new job and other stuff was just way more important, so I forgot about it. Nowadays I don't want to deal with having more keyboards so I guess it'll never happen.
I feel you..The prices are not that bad on Ebay right now though..But as a gear junkie myself I know the rabbit hole you might get yourself into buying another synth keyboard lol.
To be fair, the Fusion was more in direct competition with the much more costly, Korg OAYSYS, that had just released at the same time. I was able to nab my 6HD at literally $600 totally new at the end of the Fusions life cycle. I was about to purchase a Roland SP-505 at the time as a simple sampler, ended up seeing I could nab a whole Fusion 6HD for about a $100 or so more, my jaw dropped. The Fusion was A-LOT more than I needed at the time, but at just a $100 more, I went for the total overkill and got the Fusion. It can be tedious to program (sound design wise), but the capabilities are extremely in depth (much more so than on the later MPC 4000 and in many ways exceed even current gen Akai MPCs/Force) and the real-time performance capabilties are actually more in depth and practical than immediately appears. One may easily argue that "the guts" of who were Alesis were ripped out of what had been the company post the aquisition.... Have always looked at The Fusion as the last final hoorah of what truly was the company..... They did the Andy (Andromeda 6) on the Analog side.... and on the side of things digital/DSP, they did The Fusion..... and then "peace...... were out" It really wasn't just Alesis and Akai as it had been known that went the way of aqusistion by Finance / Investment funds..... Roland, Yamaha/Steinberg, Alesis, Akai, DSI/Sequential, Native Instruments, and on and on the list goes... As I often like to put it, "It's like the Accounting Department took over Music Department.... a lot of musical sense went out the window and suddenly it was please click like and subscribe attached to re-occuring rents attached to promises one day the gear will really REALLY deliver." The Fusion stands out in this regard, other than Moog and arguably the returned (and now exited) Dave Smith Instruments, Alesis was basically the last of the old "American guard" of electronic music makers left standing at the time. Everything else had been aquired by Finance / Investment funds. The result was a synth and workstation that going the better part of 20 years later, still holds as competitively impressive even by todays standards. In these regards, I think it not only stands as a testament to the great work of Alesis as they had been prior to aquisition, but to just how much the Finance and Investment fund led musical instrument making age changed the entire face of the culture of what was/is being made..... Along with the rest of the Finance and Investment fund led musical world, Akai/InMusic never releases anything that matches up to the Fusion (the Akai MPC4000 was basically a CUT DOWN Fusion) and even in 2022 is (arguably) barely matching up to a 2005 Alesis now even after having aquired Alesis themselves. Things that make you go "hmmmmmmm"
The 5000 took alot from the fusion..The first os was buggy but on the 2.0 they really fixed alot of problems..I feel you about the fusion being the last of the old guard. Inmusic done some good things. But I have not seen anything special with the Alesis line nowadays.
good storry, i had a few alesis products in the early 2000a and my late homie RIP who schooled me on Alesis. Alesis had very affordable items to get you started. -even if you coulnt get the sounds from like other banging units in the day, you could use them as controllers. back than you had learn how to flip the hardware to get what you want. my only regret in the 90s was not buying analog synths when folks where going digital
I worked at guitar center when these came out. I told Allllll my homies about it. I still have and use mine. I recommend chicken systems translator to get all the Akai sample cds into it (as I did when it came out.). Still the most slept in keyboard ever imo
The biggest mistake they made was the way that it looked. If they would have gave the Fusion a more traditional look like the Motif and Triton it would have sold a lot more even with all the problems it had.
I Never looked at it that way... I think the design was very unique along with the lit up mod n pitch bend wheels... why made it look like a Triton or any other keyboard.... but to each his own.
@@shanny19891 Its an Airstream workstation/RV. And you know how people covet those now.......after black, blue, silver and gray music boxes all these years-ho-hum-but then some people think Jeeps look good right? I prefer the new Corvettes, but wouldn't mind a Sting-Ray or even 50s 'Vette. I bet some here would think those were ugly. I love the Fusion design, I also like broccoli. And the Munstermobile.
It's funny that you posted this video today. I just pulled out my Alesis Fusion 6HD yesterday from storage to check to make sure everything still works OK - Also, I have to mention that it's been said that the control surface of this keyboard reminded people of an old car fascia with the vents and controls for the air conditioning and radio. I think what ultimately led to it failing was that the team and management for this unit were inexperienced in terms of working on a product like this together. If management had taken this into account and allowed for more time to release a more finished product, things may have turned out differently. Unfortunately, if you released an unfinished and buggy product also along with the internet and word-of-mouth reputation spells for a bad combination that you will have a hard time trying to recover from which ultimately led to it's additional downfall. They also had to hired a 3rd-party (Hollow Sun) for additional sounds since the stock sound were somewhat lackluster compared to the established workstations of the day. I also found it interesting that you mentioned Alesis ADAT where they could be linked together for 128 audio tracks. As a side note, the Fantom G came out in 2008 where it is capable of 128-midi tracks and 24 audio tracks for a combined 152-tracks! As another side note, the expansion memory and power supply from the Alesis Fusion were also compatible with the MPC 5000. For I/O connectivity, Alesis did not skimp in this area though: - (eSATA) external HDD, but I don't think the last released OS supports this though - S/PDIF - ADAT Lightpipe - 8 1/4" audio inputs - USB, compact flash - midi in/out/thru - foot pedal input for expression, switch, sustain Man, times have changed. Loved the vid, looking forward to more. Peace
You found you niche fam. You need to cover hip hop history, classic albums from the 80s, clothing, and more. Your credentials on the culture is solid. Somebody needs to put cheese up and grow your operation to a podcast. Most of us would listen to your opinion on anything.
Thanks bro I really appreciate it!..I was actually thinking of doing something on clothing..Some of those brand name wars was a big deal back in the day Lol.
Ebayers need to be using your videos for their listings haha....I remember this one as well, you are totally right. The DAW take over was in full effect. I like listening to the old demos of these retro synths, like QCards too. My fav of all time is the Yamaha EX7 dnb track (EX Files?). It's funny to hear how different the musical thoughts were of the demo composers. BTW, was looking to hear the demos for this and accidentally typed alexis fusion and got a chair workout video. lol I hate when people make suggestions that drive me nuts but I happen to think maybe you could include the demo song links for these things somewhere in the mix. Great videos all around!! So much more info and drama going on, just like the turbulent sound design I suppose.
You rock man! This was so entertaining and informative! I have had a Fusion HD8 for over ten years. Hardly used. I want to sell it - i have smaller keyboards that work better for me as a newbie. BTW, you forgot to mention how heavy this thing is!!!
I wish Alesis got back into competitive workstations! I loved the sounds from the ion and micron. Daanja used the Andromeda on Britney Spears Blackout album.
@@DyReckProductions Only the name lives on -- the brain behind Alesis, Keith Barr (who you mentioned him numerous times in this vid), died in 2010 and took the innovation with him. The products subsequently marketed under the Alesis name have been 'Meh'.
@@YouzTube99 that's because after Keith Barr died, all of Alesis' gear started to be made in China, that's why the quality of their boards went downhill, they still make awesome drums though
over time the advances in audio tools has meant that a person with relatively limited resources could get a computer ,a DAW,a midi keyboard and a sampler etc and bingo home studio .From the 90s onwards more and more demos were being made in people basements, bedrooms, garages,and that trend continues.Tech has made music much more democratic.You have to crawl through more crap to find those gems but those gems are also more plentiful
Really looked past this workstation looked way too much like a toy, but hence Casio had the SK1 which sampled was a hot commodity amongst a lot of up and coming and established dj's heading towards producing. This unit is for some reason a sought after workstation for the antique hardware collector. And the price is so "reasonable" on the used gear websites. Though I still have no desire to purchase the Fusion. On another 📝 note the laundromat comparison is on point, I grew up in public housing so the laundromat in the building.... lol But for anyone out there, "The choice is yours" . I may do the pulling teeth with pliers or fish line string and may purchase just waiting for the price to be super low.
I have the Fusion since 2009. Nothing compares to it. Buggy? Yes. Hardware reliable? Probably not much. But it is going through its 5th record already. The sound fonts are a limitless source of sounds for the Fusion. Not quite sure you could just download sound fonts from the internet, convert them, and upload the programs to other synths. And it sounds really good. The drums programming lacks intersections between velocity layers? Yes. The Holy Grail piano sounds super saturated? Yes. Sound fonts makes the guy unique
Yes you can, I have many sf2's on both of my 8HD's including complete libraries/collections. limitation is the internal ram, if upgraded gives you 192 x2-the fusion uses 2 separate memory boards depending upon how much it needs at any given time. will use one or the other, or both.
Yo I hadn't realized the Fusion's significance to the MPC 5000.Makes total sense when you spell it out (for anyone who doesn't believe, the Alewsis Ion/Micron was re-birthed 'in parallel' as the Akai Miniak. If they'd had proper marketing professionals theyd have seen that Alesis didn't have the brand image to challenge the Roland, Yamaha, Korg flagships back then. Totally a steal now, especially if you convert the hard disks to SSDs. I've been wondering why Akai doesn't offer any MPC with an inbuilt keyboard. The InMusic corporate group is the smartest, most successful strategic entity out there - its only competitor being Behringer's MusicTribe group which is really another thing entirely because its SO much bigger. InMusic's success with Akai Professional has something that Behringer cannot do, despite owning the brands & IP which should allow them to do this. The InMusic brands - Stanton, Alesis, Akai, Neumark, couldn't have survived i this era alone, it's a real lesson in business/
@@DyReckProductions iirc the Miniak was a commercial failure - but it didn't bring the company down signifigantly cuz they didn't have to do R&D or much design, just drawing on the Ion/micron DSP & interface. I don't think most heads kno that the inMusic group bought 'Akai Professional' to spin-off; this is purely speculation as I don't have the will to look it up that I think the main Akai brand stayed in Japan w owners and perhaps would've had some patents or other licensing money streams as reasons to stay in business, I've also got the sense that Akai is a bit like Yamaha that they will make anything want ....idk.
@@DaveDaves Unfortunately Alesis has devolved into Numark. Some of the parts from the MPC5000 and Fusion are interchangeable-but InMusic...not many parts left for either. I know, I've had to scrape mainboards out of InMusic for the Fusions I restored, but I may have gotten the last in existence.
Im pretty sure rhe fusion led to the Ion and Micron later as well. Then rhose got turned into the Akai Mini AK. I totally dismissed it when it came out becaue of how it looked.
everytime i see the name stanton i think of those good old 500al cartridges. literally the bedrock of any dj set up back in the day. befure shure and before ortofon!
