Alesis Micron or microKorg

Powelly · Post by **Powelly** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 7:07 am

Just a question, should i look into getting a Alesis Micron for ~$500 (im in australia) or should i get a microKorg for $350?
Im not sure if this should be in vs or buyers guide.

Post by **Stab Frenzy** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 3:09 pm

This topic has been covered probably more than any other on this forum, I'd suggest using the search function.

colorbars · Post by **colorbars** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 5:29 pm

Micron for sure, you can pick them up used for fairly cheap. I think i got mine for around $250. I'm sure most people on here will tell you the same.

Post by **breckjay** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 5:46 pm

have you looked into a akai miniak? its the same thing as the micron just a different housing with more features. plus there about the same price. i would recommend the miniak over all those other synths.

Jabberwalky · Post by **Jabberwalky** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 7:54 pm

You should probably get a Micronkorg

gordwiebe · Post by **gordwiebe** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 1:04 am

^^^
good lord he's done it!
you've solved the eternal micron/micro dilemma!

huzzah!

we shall never hear of this again!

however, any true synthesist wouldn't touch one - they'd go for the MSION...

Powelly · Post by **Powelly** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 6:05 am

I like really bitey bass sounds and sharp leads. I know the MicroKorg is more editable than the micron, but the micron comes with a lot of presets.
I'm also not much of an editing guy, but im looking for the long run too.

gordwiebe · Post by **gordwiebe** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 6:45 am

I'm not sure what you mean by "more editable". Both are fully editable from the front panel.
The micron does have a much deeper synth engine than the korg - which gives you a lot more editable sonic possibilities.
Also, the micron has an lcd screen (and a far more intuitive interface imo) which helps things.

The micron just kills the microkorg spec-wise... but, in the end it all comes down to sound of course - buy what you think sounds best.

Post by **Stab Frenzy** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 7:24 am

Powelly wrote:I like really bitey bass sounds and sharp leads.

Well you'll like the sound of the Microkorg more than the Micron then.

My advice is to look for a Korg R3 though. Sounds great, much easier to edit than either the Micron or Microkorg, has full-sized keys unlike the Microkorg. I've mixed quite a few bands who use an R3 and I'm always impressed by how it sounds.

It'll cost you a little more than a Micron, but it's worth the money. If you buy one from US ebay you can get one for about $550-600 including shipping. The power supply is a switchmode one so you just need to replace the figure 8 power cable (about $5) and it'll work in Australia.

gordwiebe wrote:I'm not sure what you mean by "more editable". Both are fully editable from the front panel.

I imagine he means "The Microkorg is annoying to program, but the Micron is a complete pain in the arse".

Powelly · Post by **Powelly** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 7:47 am

I already have a R3, check out my gear section.
hrmm, im getting good reports about both of them

Post by **Stab Frenzy** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 8:18 am

Yeah I just saw that.

Taking that into account I wouldn't get anything right now if I were you. You've got a good polyphonic VA, a vintage digital poly, a vintage analogue poly and a good drum sampler/sequencer. If you really need to spend money get a Doepfer Dark Energy which is at least something different to what you've already got.

Don't end up being one of those guys with a room full of cheap stuff that's a pain to integrate together and would have cost about the same as a well-selected few nice pieces.

gordwiebe · Post by **gordwiebe** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 8:40 am

oh, the micron is not that bad.

It's actually quite a good interface for its knob/space limitations. Far better, imo, than the unreadable matrix style of the microkorg (where when you go to edit the filter the knobs labeled cutoff and res no longer correspond to cutoff and res! ridiculous!).

One thing the micron screwed up on was only having 3 soft knobs - you really need 4 to edit envelopes, dual filters two lfo's etc... properly/efficiently - it just makes sense - a stupid design mistake imo. The access snow is like that too - such a fundamental thing to overlook.

Post by **Stab Frenzy** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 8:50 am

My bandmate has a Micron so I've used it quite a lot, it's a pain in the arse.

Instead of having an unreadable matrix it's got an unreadable list of shortcut keys printed on a surface which is barely visible if you play standing up. It's not impossible and you do get used to it, but it's as annoying as my old S2000 was.

Powelly · Post by **Powelly** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 9:36 am

Dark Energy looks interesting, certainly something I dont have.
Im not all that good at editing thinks from scratch, i prefer working with presets.

Post by **Stab Frenzy** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 10:12 am

Powelly wrote:Dark Energy looks interesting, certainly something I dont have.
Im not all that good at editing thinks from scratch, i prefer working with presets.

Dark Energy would be great then, its really simple architecture and WYSIWYG interface will have you mastering analogue subtractive synthesis in no time. Because there's no presets you'll learn exactly what each control does because you have to use it.

Alesis Micron or microKorg

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