Akai MINIAK

[balma]

This thing will do the job. Euphonix can handle such big amount of data easily. But buying a $900 device to control a £500 synth sounds weird.....

[Stab Frenzy]

Add to it the fact the Micron/Miniak doesn't have an ethernet port and that it only adds 9 knobs and 4 faders and it sounds like an even dumber idea, especially when there are dedicated synth controllers that can use NRPNs like the Novations.

[Joey]

anyone else realize the name sounds like 'maniac' ?

or am I seriously late to that party

[Stab Frenzy]

or am I seriously late to that party

Yep.

[balma]

Can I say f**k? No ethernet on the MaNIAK?

I don't understand this instrument honestly.

Where are the to exploit all that potential???

[Zarith]

Anyone got one?

I know already how it sounds, but I would like to read comments about its build quality. Is it solid? heavy? Are the knobs firm? And what about the mod and pitch wheels?

Thanks!

[Ashe37]

Build quality is the same as the mpk25

[KLAXON]

Now if only they would reissue those old ModFX boxes...

That'll never happen. Those things bombed horribly when they were put onto the market. I'd guess it was one of, if not the worst, bomb in their product history. They were closing these things out at like 80-90% off everywhere they were sold just to get rid of them. I remember Alesis was having such a hard time selling these that they even sent out teams of reps to schools and music stores to try hard sell and push people into buying them.

Its wasn't until a couple years after they were discontinued that they found their little niche market in the used gear world. They might have done slightly better if they had not been specifically marketed as DJ effects, ignoring every other market.

[redchapterjubilee]

I think the ModFX line found its niche when they closed them out for next to nothing. $35 to try out some weird effect like a Bitrman...well, sure! It's not a lot of money to gamble. And at the time when I bought mine there were a lot of complaints about them even at closeout $$. The noise floor, the build quality, etc. You could footswitch them but you couldn't really put them on a pedal board, so that kept guitarists out (though my Bitrman rests comfortably on my amp and just about any old cheap guitar footswitch will turn it on and off). It wasn't as obvious a DJ effect as the Electrix stuff (which I think Alesis modeled the ModFX line on). It was an in-between line of products that bombed at MSRP and found new life at closeout costs, and now select models sell for more than MSRP used!

[KLAXON]

Yeah, I picked up the Bitrman units new for about $25 each. I grabbed 5 of them!

I ended up keep two and giving the others to friends. Its funny seeing them go for $200 used now.

[redchapterjubilee]

I think another thing compounding the price issue for the Bitrman is that Frostwave is out of business for the time-being and you can't get a Sonic Alienator right now unless you pay $400 or so used. The bit crusher is a popular effect these days.

[madrasputin]

Alright, here's my take on the whole subject.

#1: Yes the Miniak does sound like they want you to pronounce it as maniac.

#2: I tried the Miniak out about two weeks ago and honestly, it's not that great a machine.

#3: Joey, huge points to you because when I did try the Miniak I also tried out the R3 and guess what, I bought the R3! So you saying the R3 blows the Miniak and the Micron out is pretty on point!

#4: More on the R3, it has AMAZING sounds, some of their old poly leads really do sound very, very close to the original poly leads they're sampling. Especially the Jupiter leads! And if you're really in it for the vocoder, the R3 doesn't require you to use (what I've always considered crappy) the tiny, bad sounding mic that comes with most keyboard/vocoders. You can take an XLR hook up and plug your mic of choice into the R3. A big plus. Add on to that the Mutli-Modeling Technology, Advanced Formant Motion vocoding (you can capture the changing formants, including words you spoke and reproduce them later as you play the keyboard without a mic present!), Modulation Sequencing, and the Editor/Library software well, you have one serious machine on your hands!

#5: I also agree with the fact that Akai stuff doesn't usually break (at least something serious) but Korg is really good about the sturdiness and quality of their gear.

#6: The R3 uses the Radias engine for all of its sound!

All in all, the Miniak sounded to me like just a beat machine in keyboard form that you could use vocording over. Not that impressive and yeah, it's kind of like (except for having a vocoder) the Micron.

So in my opinion, if you want something solid that blows the Miniak away and isn't priced more expensive than the Miniak, go for the R3 folks! You'll be glad you did!

[masstronaut]

All in all, the Miniak sounded to me like just a beat machine in keyboard form that you could use vocording over. Not that impressive and yeah, it's kind of like (except for having a vocoder) the Micron.

Micron has the vocoder. The Miniak is a Micron for all intents and purposes, AFAIK.

I wouldn't call it a beat machine though, although it does have a drum map mode. It's not a bad little VA you know, and the step sequencer is surprisingly flexible.

[loungedumore]

I have to say I have alway been interested in the ion as I thought it had a great warm ( for VA ) sound to it .
+ All the different filter types especially the 303 18db , Ob , JP8 and combs , however it never came out in a rack form and at the time I was out of space for keyboards ( had 9 at the time ) .
Flash forward today the miniAK with it's 3 sequencer types and drum maps looks like quite a good choice for live performances regardless of weather or not it's a rebranded Micron or not .

I totally agree that it did start it's life as an ion/micron engine .... no doubt about that , however it has 3 additions that make it a better solution than a used version of it's birth right : 8 part multi , MPK keyboard keys , and the keyboard short cuts .

My take on why have they done this ? The Ion engine was a real contender in the VA market I remember keyboard magazine ( back when they did actual reviews ) saying it was the one VA for guys that hate VA's and I having owned a nord lead 2 , Q , Virus B would have to agree it's sound was rounder and less glossy and edgy ... anyway getting into a rant here . I think Alesis are going to go get away from the MI market so it only makes sense that they would move the intellectual property to the brand that is staying in the MI market .

Side note
I wonder if you could send the miniaks os in to a micron hmmm ?

[Ashe37]

um...

*looks at Micron*

This one has shortcuts too...

has sequencer types and drum maps too...

Only 4 way multitimbral, but not like the miniAK has any more voices to actually *use* those extra timbres.