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Post by mcreem on Jun 19, 2008 18:46:18 GMT
Hello all, I am looking for a master keyboard with a synth inside to have quick, no fuss immediate access. I am a hardware designer and I tried to do my homework before buying (i live in Belgium). All pointed to this synth. I missed a better DAW integration. Midi is somehow ... limited, but it can be overcomed. I was not impressed by the looks but by the architecture and the enthousiast community trying to make it the better synth. Also I listened to some of those magnificent sound ameliorations. Quality work. There is a challenge in this synth, and that's what I like. So I fell in love with it's features and supporting community. I know very well which internals generate sound and they should rock. So done deal. I phoned some dealers and they told me it is the end of the story. Discontinued.  However, one still has a 8HD (the one I prefer) on sold (1500 €).  Now against better judgement, should I go for it? I am a little bit afraid of support for defective units. Apperently there seems to be a (recurring) problem with it's power supply. I am posing a very subjective question, I know. But perhaps I need that little push of more experienced people to decide. |
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Post by guydenruyter on Jun 20, 2008 15:00:48 GMT
Hi Mcreem, dag Mcreem, bonjour,
The number of Benelux-people owning a Fusion continues to grow, so I hope you will join the club. Despite the fact that we are paying twice the price of those lucky US bastards, I still recommend the Fusion since you've done your homework. You know it's midi implementation is incomplete and you do know that some units are faulty, but you also do know that in Belgium we have quite good legal warranty etc. So, I would go for it, upgrade to OS 1.24, exploit your HD for a couple of weeks, and if no (real) errors: keep it!
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picaja
Junior Member
http://www.vstream.be
Posts: 156
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Post by picaja on Jun 23, 2008 20:57:04 GMT
Hi Mcreen, Why not buy a discontinued keyboard? It is a great keyboard. I own several keyboards and modules but the fusion is one of my favorites. You could buy at musicstore too.(1015 Euro) 3 year Musicstore warranty and no shipping costs and quick delivery. I bought at musicstore.de and musik-schmidt.de serveral times and I'm very satisfied with the service. Joeri |
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Post by electrique on Jun 24, 2008 15:30:25 GMT
You could buy a Korg Triton classic ProX, Fantom S88 or Yamaha MOTIF 8 (without ES) instead, which are also discontinued. It's the same price range.
But all 3 are older and don't have that capabilities, also think of the pretty good and free HollowSun and VStream sounds... I don't wanna miss them any more!
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Post by mcreem on Jul 2, 2008 23:16:54 GMT
Hello All,
besides my reservations ... this forum is sparkling of enthousiast people, seeing beyond the boundaries. It made me weak. And with the knowledge I have about it's core processing the balance ....
Well, I am a proud owner of a Fusion 8HD.
And what a machine it is. It has it's deficiencies but what it does well = SOUND. Yes, in capitals. It took some time to master the fundamentals (a lot of info in this forum ... thank you guys) but then off you go. The synthesis posibilities and it's modulation makes it for me "THE" underdog. I can not believe Alesis abondonned this route.
Anyhow, this forum and the fine people behind drove me into a descision which is one of the best I did take.
The keyboard feels so nice, not too heavy. The machine looks a little bit ... outdated, but the man-machine interface is ok but then a little bit limited in editing sounds on a small LCD. A connection to one of the major DAWS (VST) would have been nice but a FORMULA 1 Car does also not have all the luxuries, but performance mostly comes in sleek packages ... Well this synth performs.
I said to myself, I will buy one synth and it must be a reasonable priced powerhouse.
Now it is sitting right next to me and I am proud and it sounds (with all those fantastic programs like hollow sun, kpr, vstream) like the dream machine I ever wanted to posess.
Thank you forum
Personal experience from a DSP synth designer.
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Post by Hollow Sun on Jul 3, 2008 2:18:16 GMT
Welcome to The Club!
Fusion's a bitch and she'll keep you satisfied for a long time to come. That's my experience anyway - she never ceases to amaze me.
Good choice - enjoy! Glad you like the Hollow Sun sounds - thank you for your kind words.
Cheers
Steve
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Post by electrique on Jul 3, 2008 9:33:59 GMT
I'm glad you're happy with your descision to get this monster. I have mine for over a year now and still find new amazing features in it... I guess you'll have a lot of fun with not only for some months but for years!
And welcome to the club!
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christianrock
Junior Member
Banned at User's own request
Posts: 282
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Post by christianrock on Jul 3, 2008 15:06:18 GMT
I like the 6HD so much I'm thinking about getting an 8HD in addition to it...
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Post by psionic11 on Jul 3, 2008 18:29:11 GMT
I like the 6HD so much I'm thinking about getting an 8HD in addition to it... I was a member of the 2 Fusion forums 2 weeks before I bought my 6HD (never even saw/played one in person before I dived back into music from a 5 year break). Then 2 weeks later, I ran across a new 8HD still in the box in another local music store, put a down payment on it, and 2 weeks later happily walked out of the music store with it. I play the 8HD much more than I do my 6HD... it's the first 88-key I've ever owned, and loving it. The 8HD has a couple clunky black keys, and I've already made arrangements with an authorized repair center, but I can't bear to part with it yet... Will wait a few more months to see if anything else goes wrong so I can get them all taken care of at the same time. 6HD works flawlessly so far (I don't count occasional "Veng err" messages as problems). The depth of the Fusion goes far beyond any other keyboard I've ever had. True, the only workstation I ever had was a Roland Fantom Xa, but I'm one who tends to really get obsessively into details of a new project I get into.... like studying the manuals deeply before and after acquiring new gear. The Mod Matrix alone is deep enough for great flexibility -- 32 Mod routes, each with its own curves, amounts, and tables: 37 sources x 260+ destinations This is not even counting the multiple sources and destination outside of the Matrix that LFOs and ENVs also have -- retrigger, legato, tempo sync, ramp, other LFO's and ENVs. This ain't your grandma's (tri/sine/pulse) LFO and ADSR ENV that other VA synths "emulate"... And then... Mod Matrix'ing the onboard SAMPLER (aka a custom wavetable holy grail) is a league of its own as well, esp coupled with a GB HD. Hollow Sun's specialty and contributions are very largely in this realm. We've yet to develop the part of the community that exploits the one-shot and Drum Sample instruments/engine. That leaves several unexplored worlds yet -- FM, ARPS, MIXES, sequencing. And all of our shared manhours of exploration we can easily download, upload, and transfer via USB to HD... A year from now I'll probably still be exploring my 2 Fusions' potential... I wonder if my average post will be shorter in length?.... nahhh ;D |
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Post by mcreem on Jul 3, 2008 20:32:41 GMT
Since I uploaded all the free stuff I allmost do not sleep anymore.
All these magnificent sound scapes are a testimonial to the fusion's architecture and to the skill of those creative people (hs, kpr, vstream ....).
Now enough played around. Seen that it was OK. Now time to master it. The real fun part.
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Post by dmanley on Jul 4, 2008 0:36:39 GMT
I like the 6HD so much I'm thinking about getting an 8HD in addition to it... Ditto. |
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