[A6] Possible A6/OS Update and FX

[Jeff Laity]

Based on the people I spoke to at Alesis, an A6 update doesn't sound 
likely. Brian Shim was the software programmer for the A6, and he's now 
at Numark. They'll probably fix 'bugs', but don't expect any new 
features.

I did ask them specifically about FM tracking. It sounds like 
calibrating them closer just isn't possible with the hardware they 
have. They're aware that you can save a program and then recall it 
later and it will sound different because of drift. They recommended 
leaving background tuning off when using FM, because the oscillators 
might "correct" themselves and change the sound. I didn't ask about 
poly aftertouch or anything else, but see the above paragraph. As Peake 
used to say, "It's a miracle that this thing even exists."

They showed the Ion, but it is still under development. They only had 
35 programs for the unit so far, and many features weren't working. To 
me, it sounded, well, virtual. Cold, sterile, digital. I'm trying to 
reserve judgment until the unit actually ships with final sounds. Many 
of the sounds were "hey, look at me" NAMM crowd pleasers. Spacey 
videogame sounds, instead of usable fat analog sounds, IMO. But it's 
beta. As you know, NAMM stands for "Not Available, Maybe March".

-jl

On Monday, January 20, 2003, at 11:19 AM, Geoff Moehrke wrote:

> Well - I know it's only 1 day after NAMM but - any updates?  Did Alesis
> show the ION at NAMM - I haven't heard anything.  Any word from Alesis
> at NAMM on any of these topics?  Rumor has it that A6 sales are pretty
> strong - that would bode well for an OS update sometime in the 
> future...
>
> Geoff Moehrke