Added: 3 years ago
From: Jexus
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  • I'm getting a Miniak next week -- used to own a Micron but it died a few years ago. This synth sounds unique and I figure will be desirable in the future.

  • 03:17... 05:17... 08:13.... 09:17~~~

  • Comment removed

  • 13 people hate dancing on plannet Ion... Probably on of the best V/a's ever made- ION,the son of A6. Jexus for president! :D cheers!

  • Would you be able to make the dance-synth sound used in the chorus of "motherlover" (search here on youtube) with Alesis Ion? I really need it for a sketchshow - any answers/suggestions would be much appreciated!

    Btw great video, some of it really reminds of Aphex Twin.

  • @FredeGF

    I had an Ion for a while and can already tell you no; that isn't really possible. I would use a Virus C or TI for that. The Ion doesn't seem to be a very good "dance" synth, which is fine though because it sets it apart from many other VA's.

  • "One of the worst Alesis products" Get your ears tested. Today. I'm serious.

  • I really like the Monkey, but the Spider scared me a bit.

  • Bought on of these based on these videos and his review on his site. Paid $500 and the thing is amazing! Opened my mind to all kinds of new ideas and has taken me to new places.. don't replicate..initiate.

  • 03:17 starts the best sound yet.

  • this reminds me of when that guy hijacked the tv station in chicago and showed that weird max headroom thing. the video quality is similar.

  • fap !!

    i need it !!!

  • they are great. build, not so great. they have many options and more on that. it can get confusing. plus an fm nob it can produce a nice flavor to destroying life in lovely noise. but the build. main outs and headphone jacks go out often. no effects as in chorus or flanger. buggy os even the latest which is really a pain and temperamental to install. but besides this a plethora of goodness if you have patience. and then it still probably can do more.

  • @666laughingtarget I own one, and I have to repair an output for the second time.. but still this synth kicks ass! The synth has a quite unique sound.

  • im dying for a synth i have $700 what will you buy a roland sh-201,a roland juno-2,a miniak, a micron,a microkorg,a juno d, xiosynth ?? some advice from the comunity or Jexus

  • @danielhl22 .. if this is your first synth i strongly recommend one with lots of controls.. menu diving is very tedious, particularly if you are not sure what you are doing.

    So a new Roland SH-01 or used Alesis Ion or Korg MS2000 would be best... if you have a keyboard controller then also a Korg MS2000R or Novation Nova or Supernova.. For $700 you can afford to buy a Supernova plus a 49/61 key controller.

  • @danielhl22 the miniak is basically an alesis micron but with the guts put in a different chassis , I'd go for it because the micron is basically a small Ion, with even more capabilities.

  • @MRVELUOFFICIAL got my hand on a micron and an ion, engines may be pretty close, but the micron is a pain in the ass to program and the modulation capabilieties don't compare to ion ones.

  • @danielhl22 Miniak/Micron = Same Synth engine as this. Did you end up buying a synth?

  • @skillzflux yeah the microkorg i get it second hand for about 300 dollars,its not bad to be my first synth but i should have waited to save more money and get the MS2000,

  • 1:13 !!!!!!!!!! awesome sound!

  • one of the worst alesis products

  • The Ion just sounds thin as fook to me. Where is the weight in them pads... where's the bite in the filters. The feeback patch is sweet and there is some lovely patching but this would sound much better on an analogue.... maybe look at one of the Jupiters.

  • @triggerbangfloat ... Yes, and a Hyundai will never be a Bentley either.. Good luck finding a Jupiter 8 for $400!

  • @mysticsailor9 yes but you could get a Jup 6 for about $1000. I didn't mention cost. This guy is a great patcher I was just thinking of the sound.

  • @triggerbangfloat you patch as best as you can i guess it will all fall short

  • @triggerbangfloat @triggerbangfloat You are absolutely right. They are fucking shit. I had one of these and I hated it. A glassy synth with no teeth or balls, just fucking nostrils.

  • Third time i've bought a synth after being obsessed with a Jexus video. Third time i've realised i pale in comparison to this inhuman beast of a synth programmer and died inside.

  • not scary enough. THis one didint make me crap my pants unitl about 2 minutes in.

  • Alesis should really come out with an Ion2. With all the features of the Micron and more (like wavetables, better effects and more voices). And they should add an Alesis MMT-8 style 16 track sequencer in it for full song creation, as well as the ability to use an alternate dedicated drum-synth engine on any channel. And then a master effects section with compression.

  • Damn, I can't watch this anymore, it's making me miss my ION

  • How do these compare to the nord leads? I know they are a little cheaper.

  • @theredreceivers the nords get limited real quick..but the ion has so much shit you can do on the damn thing! youll be there for months just twiddling away!lol that and jexus says the nord 2 is shit but the nord 3 is where they fix alot of things...for the money on the nord is not worth it..thats what i got out of it..but the ion is by far the best bang for your buck!!!

  • Once again, Jexus, thank for the great demo. We love you.

  • @KillKyleWeiss 1:43 - 2:06 of the Jexus philosophy: "I hear, I die. I hear, I die." (In a good way.)

  • "Why would you want to go for a 106 costing 2 to 3 times the price of an Ion?"on ebay the juno 106 goes for 400 to 700 usd...and the ion goes for 400 to 650 usd...

  • and me pick between an ion and a 106...who cares lol... ill get both ill just get them one at a time lol and if i dont like one of them ill get rid of it.. im not biased when it comes to analog and VA;]

  • yeah i do agree... im not saying the 60 is crap its nice and fat and idk why they would take the arpeggio off the 106 and yeah the dco keep the 106 in tune thats cool but it also looses its growl but dude...rock n' roll and rollin' and scratchin' is pretty cool to play...lol

  • but...you cant play rock 'n roll and and rollin' and scratchin' by daft punk on a juno 60...soooo juno 106 it is!

  • Holy shit I've used the very first melody before in one of my tracks!

    in... 2002. My fault for not releasing it, eh?

  • @neolojism OH SHUT UP THAT IS A SIMPLE PHRASE THAT EVERY PIANIST CAN PLAY AND DOES PLAY. YOU NEED TO STOP BEING SO FUCKING CONCIETED.

    YOU DONT SEE PEOPLE COPYING NIRVANA DO YOU? BECAUSE ITS UNIQUE.

    IF YOUR MUSIC WAS CREATIVE YOU WOULD NOT BE SO PARANOID.

    BUT YOU REALIZE THAT YOUR HOUSE OF MUSIC IS FLIMSY BECAUSE YOU CUT/COPY/PASTED IT FROM CHEESY MAGAZINE ARTICLES AND FORUM DORK ADVICE.

    YOU KNOW IT IS NOT SOLID. AND SO YOU ARE SCARED.

    SO SHUT THE FUCK UP :)

  • @xraydelta1 awww!!? is somebody frustrated with their music!?!?

  • I dont understand, it seems at 4:00 that he is using aftertouch. The Ion has no aftertouch, is there something that I'm missing?

  • @hdebbache2000 it's more likely that he's taking advantage of velon on/velo off by quickly pressing and releasing the keys

  • @hdebbache2000 obviously I meant "velo on" and "velo off" (velocity and release velocity)

  • the alien fingering herself makes me fap fap fap

  • @Senj1n humm.......... I'm really sorry for you, cause its pretty obvious that its a tranny

  • @hdebbache2000 alien...tranny... where is the difference? both of them are welcome in my bedroom :o)

  • i-i-ee-i-i-yee-i-i-yahh

  • I lost my instruction manual for my Alesis Ion when I moved to Charlotte last year.  Jexus or anyone else who has an Alesis Ion, do you know if you can import your own sounds and tones into the Ion? thats all I need to know.

  • @BatNuklier: You can get a .pdf manual from the Alesis website, you just have to give them your email, I got some sysexes from there and haven't gotten spam. The ION is a fantastic synth, way better than lots of VAs, no fx no problem thats what your studio is for. Jexus, your videos rock, the videos where you pick up the ION and the Blofeld, are so hilarious. I would love to see what you could do with a JD800. BTW I think many people don't get it, there is no "1 ubersynth" that can do everything

  • @VisceralVoids "BTW I think many people don't get it, there is no "1 ubersynth" that can do everything"...yea i use to think that.. lol i had to learn the hard way. i went thru three synths alpha juno 1/microkorgxl[i dont know what i was thinking when i got the mkxl, noobie mess up]and ensoniq sq80.. i kept the sq-80 bc it has a sequencer and does some crazy sounds like 8 bit and c 64 sounds..the juno i miss bc it had fat bass.. the mkxl i can do with out !way too thin!and the keys are too small

  • @lvrsnvy: SQ80 has an excellent sequencer, great board, good you kept it. I think Korg is doing the mini-keys format to save money & meet a price point. Not only do the mini-keys feel 'kiddy', they throw me off when I try playing them after a full-sized keybed. I went through 2 microKorgs (one was stolen) in the last decade, for studio and live use in my old band. Now I find similar/better kinds of sounds coming out of my ION. I originally wanted to get a MS2000b but have no regrets. Peace out

  • @VisceralVoids yeah my next synth is prob going to be an ion or a juno 106...but i heard the 106 is limited after awhile.. but its really fat and a lil bit over rated and the ion is just an under dog..like ppl think badly about it bc it doesnt have a sequencer and a delay but they said bad shit about the esq-1 and the sq-80 from ensoniq and those synths are bad ass!!!

  • @lvrsnvy the Roland Juno 60 is better than the 106

  • @LaugermanPROductions

    it has virtually the same synth engine as the JUNO-60, the 106 added extensive MIDI control making it one of Roland's first MIDI-equipped synthesizers. There was also increased patch memory storage, up to 128 patches instead of the 56 patches available in the JUNO-60. However, the JUNO-60 is often said to have a slight sonic edge over the more advanced 106. The 60 had the ability to modulate oscillator pulse from its envelope and has a "punchier" sound quality.

  • @lvrsnvy Midi indeed but whoever decided to leave the arpeggio away should have been shot. Never liked the 106.. The 6/60 and 106 can not be compared as the 106 uses a whole different circuit. DCO's are different and they do matter when it comes to making sound ;-) envelope modulation on PWM was not implemented on the 106, VCA was software controlled on the 106 etc...making it sound very different to the 6/60. Not worse but different. Nonetheless a capable machine.

  • Comment removed

  • @lvrsnvy Why would you want to go for a 106 costing 2 to 3 times the price of an Ion? They ask mind blowing amounts of money for "analog" stuff these days. Money that does not represent the capabilities of a true analog or the sound it produces for that matter. They detune now and then, break down (the 106 was notorious to go "offline' when you needed him). I'm not gonna argue pro-contra analog. Hardly the right place (I know). choosing between a 106 and an Ion is like comparing cows and horses

  • i really like the lizard part

  • Jexus, I own an Alesis ion. what number tones and color menu are those sounds on?

  • @BatNuklier Sorry man Jexus programs all his own sounds from scratch

  • zajeżdża Polskimi filmami z lat 70

  • this shit is dope

  • I just fail to see why so many people bash the ION/Micron/Miniak etc. They have to be one of the few synths that have have so much flexibility that the sounds they make literally bend. Nice :)

  • @ajantred I love that they have a legit sample and hold function too, where you can set the source and speed of it. Tempo synced S&H with an LFO as a source is AWESOME.

  • would this work great with a sh 101? or what would you suggest for one of those? i got a tr 606 and i now need a poly va synth if posible, please respond :)

  • 1:26..... WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?! o.O

  • I love how the videos cut to look like some mad scientist experiment! I'm looking to buy a synth, I don't know too much but I've been looking around following all these leads in the posts. This one looks pretty cool, not too complicated or simple

  • Probably one of the best VA's ever made. And it will probably stay that way. Intense modulation possibilities, pretty straightforward interface, incredible filter section and powerful envelopes. The double back-lit mod wheels look awesome. The demo is awesome. I like the patches at 2:54; 3:34; 4:37; 6:05; 7:55.

  • jesus this guy is good!

  • Too bad alesis stopped making these a few years ago..Great synth.. here in sold new for under $1000 in us..These are a great buy if you can find a good used one.

    They blow the rip off priced current Moog Voyagers ($3K!!) and Moog Little Phatty ($1200) away..Fools are paying the $3k just for the Moog name..the voyager is severly limiited compared to an Ion..44 notes monophonic ..only 2 envelops just the 2 moog low pass filters, .Layer 2 patches on an ion and you still have four note polyphony

  • @tripacer66 Well, the moog is still true analog and voltage controlled, that's what you're really paying for. Other analog synths from other makers (like DSI) use digitally controlled oscillators, but Moog still uses VCOs.

    But given that, if you're not crazy about true analog then virtual analogs like this one is definetly the better option. And to be honest, very few people wound notice the difference.

  • @tripacer66 agreed but the voyager does have an amazing sound and the build quality if fantastic. though i agree if i could pick up a voyager for about $1000-$1500 it would be far more appealing to me. I owned a micron and loved it's sounds and flexibility.

  • You're nuts, and I love it ahahaha. Amazing skills.. creepy video editing, LOVE IT!

  • hey jex

    how did you get the mod wheels blinking with the lfo? did you mod it to do that or is that something from an older or a custom OS? me want blinky help please :L

  • hi man, i have a little question for you, the song in the first block of the video is a song or is just improve???

  • thank you for not fruiting-it-up with MGMT covers...

  • hell yeah :D nice one

  • Wow, at 01:30 you made the thing speak. Truly amazing! :D

  • I have to say i find your videos to be an inspiration to me.They are byfar the most interesting videos in this vast box(computer).Everything about them.Anyways ihad to comment after I saw you "wiggle" your fingers on the keyboard for vibrato effect which of course dosnt usually work.I do the same thing cant help it.For that reason i cant wait to get my wiggly fingers on a French Connection(im sure you know what im talking of).I really do love your playing.Thank You for the art.

  • There are some sweet sounds there. I want the Ion actually. I only have a micron but it doesn't live up to the expectations of the Ion.

  • @omnipitantlyoriginal Hook it up to your computer and use a VST or AU editor. If you have a knob controller and assign those knobs to the editor in your DAW, you pretty much have an Ion.

  • Got one have 40-50 hardware synths digital and analogue - modern classic sounds awesome - great demo (show the softsynth people what there missing)

  • Where the sounds built in or did you make some your self? Or download from a site? Great vid this synth is crazy!

  • I used to be bashing this one, can't believe I've been so ignorant.. I got myself an Ion and gosh is it programming galore! It's pretty poorly built regrettably, my pitchwheel has died and the 2nd modwheel is about to throw in the towel, some buttons can require a few pressings as well.. That said, it is very cheap, and it makes up for it soundwise, the synth engine is incredibly deep and begs to be tweaked, hook it up to an external effect and you're set for hours of programming fun!

  • sounds like a X1 almost, too bad the korg doesn't have such strait forward modulating.

  • yeah there a bit hard to get now without paying a pretty penny.

    there out of production.

    WOOOH i still got one!

  • Great demo a lot of the darker patches remind me of early "Geography" era Front 242

  • @aikighost Yeah exactly that's why I bought one! Good for the "U-MEN" and "Operating Tracks" type sounds Apparently Boris Blank of Yello likes it to

  • Damn i need one oth these.

  • Sounds like Aeon Flux at 1:03

  • if only i was you

  • this thing sounds like heaven

  • Getting ready to move into a place where I will actually have the room to be able to Midi a Casio CTK~651, a Yamaha CS1x and an Alesis Micron together. The possibilities may end up being very interesting. Yeah I know...I am a cheap bastard.

  • just bought one for $500 mint condition.

  • 5:56 Perfect. i will be buying the first one i can find used

  • 4:05, (video) Kigurumi? Great patch on that scene

  • nice sounds..please what is the name of the song? 2:19 and the song 2:25 ?

    thanks

  • 5.04...Soundtrack of pi...great

  • this is even better than the minimoog :O

  • would you say its better than the microKORG?

  • yes, hands down

  • Love the trippy ass video!

  • The BEST va on the planet...especially for the money!!!

    It's krazy that people still go nuts over the juno-106, when the ION can be had for less money, and has much more firepower than the juno's single DCO.

  • It isnt all about the amount of oscillators you have though,

    its how good they sound.

    One good DCO can sound so much better than multiple crappy sounding DCO's in some VA's.

  • true...but the ION is the one VA that captures the magic and personality of the old analog synths, much better than it's more expensive competitiors--Access, Clavia, Waldorf, etc.

    it's truly the best value in a digital VA synth ever to hit the market....and perhaps the warmest sounding.

  • @MARANTZamp

    I've yet to touch one,

    but i agree fully with what you say from the sounds ive heard online, it does have huge character, im not too much into the character of my KS4, so i think ill have to trade it for one.

  • VA's don't have DCO's....

  • Well technically they are "digitally controlled oscillators", since they are digital and software based. ;)

  • DCO's refer to digitally controlled ANALOG oscillators. Look it up.

  • I dont need to, i already knew. Lighten up and learn to spot a ";)" when you see one. ;)

  • hey, what do you think about the alesis micron? i want the ion but the micron is so much cheaper and easier to find. please help!

  • Thank you very much for the demos. They help a lot before purchase!!! You are the F Master! Nice Soundssss!

  • I wish thy would re-release this with the new features from the micron. Love the sound, but I absolutely hate the interface on the micron...

  • 5:04 Torchwood?

  • christ I wish I had this guy's patch building skills - I love my ION but I'm a long way from making sounds this good

  • ciekaw jestem jak się do Iona ma nowy Micron

  • 1:25 kicks ass.

  • I said it before: Thanks for sharing, this is awesome. The reptile is brilliant haha :)

  • so are the sounds that he's playing actual sounds from the ion? or is something midi-ing into the keyboard?

  • I loved the intro. WHY DID YOU STOP.

  • hello! this is ace! I've a Micron.. would it be honestly worth me upgrading to an Ion? Am I missing out on a lot?

  • With the Ion, you lose sequencing and some of the effects, but it's still totally worth it as the editing on the Ion is superb.

  • If you want more Live-Control ... YES. If you need the internal Delay-FX ... NO. The rest is the same in both instruments...

  • Reverb not delay.. Oh yes delay more than 340ms

  • his vids are good and fun to watch... but then again you can say the guy is "Demonstrating" the synth cuz in all his vids it says....

    "showing you not what a synthesizer can do, but what a man can do with a synthesizer."

    a bit of a big headed statement...

  • It never fails to amaze me that even a guy that just plays a synthesizer to demonstrate its capabilities can attract haters.

    Personally i would like to say thanks for all the great demos and never forget that most of these idiotic commenter's are merely angry and confused teenagers.

    Please keep them coming ;)

  • This synth is so uncool, its almost cool. But not quite. It's a piece of shit. I sold mine.

  • djcondra, the ion sounds more analog than any piece of shit virus or nord overpriced euro crap. go figure.

  • LOL

  • I know...it's amazing that a $600 synth can sound better than a nord costing 3 times as much.

    The ION is the best value i've ever seen in a keyboard.

  • I own a Nord 2 and an Ion. They are different animals.

  • 3 time as much? more like 2

  • amen!

  • too bad...it's a fantastic synth. You missed out on a great instrument.

  • this synth makes some of the most beautiful sounds i've heard so far in a demo O_O

  • I think ivikas only listened to the first few seconds of the demo and then immediately declared it as crap. LOL.

    Anyway, I'm not really fond of virtual analogs, but I think the Ion is probably the best one I've ever come across.

  • this synth sounds almost disgusting...

    amazing,I've never heard such an ugly sound...

  • Your bitter attitude will make you ugly.

  • shit,I don't like lies.I can lie to you if you want,but...

    ...this sounds ugly and I can't tell anything else.

  • Your grammer isn't good which explains your inability to comment on this video with any experience. Moron....synth sounds very good, and the guy playing it knows a hell of alot more than you do!

  • Im not in english speaking country.

    this synth sounds like shit.I've played juno 6,60,106;mc 505;nord lead 2 and more.compared to them,this is complete crap.useless sounds.I know everything about subtractive synthesis.I think Im right about this.

  • Hahaha Mc505?

    Oooh subtractive synthesis, ermm mate i think anyone who uses synthesis knows the principles of subtractive.

    Get a grip who do you think you are Jean Michel Jarre

  • you are saying this isn't a subtractive synthesis we are listening to on ION?

  • I know what I like to hear from any subtractive synth,even if it is just a shitty emulation like mc 505 which suck bad unless you use it as a drum machine.

    I just wanted to say I enjoy good synth sound and this is not something I would like to listen to.

    you probably know that most of the synths are based on subtractive synthesis.

  • oh man! your comment nearly made me fall off my chair! Excellent!

    You cheered me up

    cheers

    jn

  • dont be so conservative in that matter..

    now Jean Michel Jarre is nothing special really ( rather boring for me )

    he was in early years of electronic music.

  • Those who profess complete knowledge suffer from one common thing....The inability to learn anything new, and i for one, would rather be a novice all my life,and have fun finding out, than be a self professed all knowing guru, who has no fun.

    That would leave nothing to the imagination.

    That would bring no joy in my pursuit of such knowledge.

    For it isn't knowledge we enjoy, but the pursuit of it.(btw, your country of origin has no bearing on your lack of taste).

  • its not country of origin,its country where I still live.

    if we put all philosophy aside,I can tell that I don't like the sounds I've heard on this vid at all but if you want more fun I can lie to you. >:D

  • sorry....you are wrong. The ION is miles more phat and warm than all of those synths you just mentioned.

  • It's just a diff type of synth sounds than you are used to.I don't like the sounds either,but he can play well and it's good audio.

  • Haha I love those weird parts in your videos

    6:03

  • when i hear this, i often wonder what's so great about access virus. the ION's analog emulation blows the virus' cheesy digital/VST sounds out of this planet!

  • yep..and costs about 1/3.

  • this is true..

  • Your patches are incredible.......especially 4:05. Sounds like something from A Clockwork Orange.

  • I wonder how long it takes you to create one of those patches? And especially HOW you make them. Simply awesome, never stop.

  • 5:50 to 6:09 YESSS!!!

  • the lizard was my favorite. :)

  • i can do better.

  • aha...

  • what?!

  • who cares ?!

  • i care!

  • you played the Pi theme song! awesome :)

  • Are any of these in the standard program banks?

  • Oh no...

    If you're unfamiliar with the works of Jexus, there's something you have to keep in mind: this guy is a MASTER programmer who can do things with synths that mere mortals only wish they could do. He can make ANY synth sound good and what you hear in his videos WILL be different from what you encounter with the actual machine. Just look at what he did for the OB12: arguably the worst synth in existence, but this man can make it sound fucking brilliant.

  • I wish I was Jexus.

  • And I wish I was Papa Smurf so I could get all that Slutty Smurf tail. *drools*

  • hahahahahaha

  • how much is this synth cost?

    is it worth it or should i buy the virus ti?

  • buy the ti first, then the ion if you still want it. you can never have too many synths.

  • Dont think its right to put animal testing clips up.... those creatures go through a terrible time for only 7% medical data..... very sick... just money making.

    Great demo though, you certainly have some skill, Ally

  • What do you suggest instead, iraqi testing? We could use those people your country has made prisonners

  • Um... how about no testing you crazy typical male! The fact is we need 0 testing on beings when we have much more advanced data analysis tools these days. As for my country, I do believe every country around the world has crazy, crypt, elitist leaders and Im not claiming to be proud of my country, but I doubt yours is any better. Have a nice day... try not to make a war.

  • Here are the facts:

    Only 0.3 percent of animals used by humans are used for research. In fact, 50 times more animals die every year in humane societies than in research labs. Animal research is vital and has given us Antibiotics, the Polio Vaccine (and countless other Vaccines), Lifesaving Insulin for diabetics, general anesthetics (of which without, complex surgical procedures would be impossible), and so much more.

    You owe your quality of life to animals used for research.

    Peace. : )

  • Pharmaceutical industries have gone very far in the art of un-ethical decision making. Tests were made on children in africa, and expired drugs were sold to people too poor to afford safe drugs. My point is that in this field, there are things far worse. I just can't understand people like you for who animals are more important than human beings. As long as children are dying as a consequence of bad decisions, animals are the least of my concern. Sorry for my english, I'm from war-making country