Released in 200 the Micron uses the same Alesis proprietary DSP analog modelling sound engine as the acclaimed Alesis Ion & it can in fact share & load programmes from the Ion (but not Patterns, Rhythms or Setups), and itself holds over 1,000 programs and multitimbral setups in memory.
The Micron offers the exact same super high resolution engine as the Ion - including the Vocoder - but it is 32-part multitimbral & includes a programmable step sequencer, plus a rhythm sequencer for drum kits, and dynamic realtime phrase sequencer all of which sync to MIDI clock & these features allow the Micron to behave as a ballpark Groovebox instrument, albeit lacking a decent & traditional selection of controller pots to make real-time adjustments of parameters.
The Micron also adds an additional effects processor with delays and reverbs & has only stereo audio out.
At the time of its release in 2004 the RRP was just £349 which was very cheap for such a powerful modelling instrument. In 2023 you can pick these up for al little as £150 - Ok it doesn't offer much ability to easily edit or create sounds with almost no physical edit controls, but at that price you get what is still seriously high quality analog modelling and instant access to a gigantic library of classic synth sounds & more in a very bedroom friendly sized unit.
Specifications
ALESIS MICRON - Analog Modeling Synthesizer, 37-key synth-action keyboard with velocity sensitivity, Industry-leading ION analog-modeling sound engine in a compact package, eight voices, each with three oscillators, two multimode filters, three envelope generators, two LFOs, sample and hold, and tracking generator.
Four multitimbral parts, programmable step sequencer and arpeggiator, programmable rhythm sequencer for drum kits, dynamic realtime phrase sequencer, stereo buss effects, including reverb and 40-band vocoder, 1/4" balanced stereo analog outputs and inputs with 24-bit conversion.
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