评论:爱丽斯VI49键盘

The new Alesis VI49 looks lovely, of that there is no doubt. But, how does it perform, both as a keyboard and a controller? G. W. Childs gets hands on in our review.  

它是一个很长的时间,因为我把我的手指在键盘上与爱丽斯标志着某处它的侧面。而且,即使从爱丽斯新VI49控制器心不是一个新的合成器,它仍然有一个不错的组键。但是,这将是不仅仅是一个掉电记忆车道之旅,还是我们实际上有一个竞争者,我们工作室的东西真棒。让她开起来看看看...

Pic 1

它的所有回来现在...

哦,它确实感觉,甚至看起来像爱丽斯线的物理继承。关键的作用,特别是,确实提醒一些老的经典爱丽斯合成器的我。它有那种笨重,半配重,这是非常受欢迎的一些键盘手,早在一天。嵌在控制器众多的LED,但确实增加一个新的面貌的经典外观,黑色,Alesis的底盘。因此,在视觉上迎来的爱丽斯硬件看似新时代。 ID是冷静与。

不幸的是,我有点沮丧地发现,在初始安装会有有完全映射到任何装置最初的满足。有没有Ableton公司远程脚本。好奇的,考虑到爱丽斯VI49是另一个控制器附带Ableton现场精简版。

编者按 :爱丽斯已通知我们,

值得庆幸的是,有一个卡给我指针转到Alesis的网站上下载额外的软件。然而,可悲的是,只有一个编辑器。这是很酷,不要误会我的意思。但是,那里有甚至没有理性远程文件。所以,有很多非常甜蜜按钮和旋钮和一些疯狂的,很酷的按钮和垫......他们arent映射。准备做一些工作,如网络社区不介入...或者,Alesis的继续支持硬件的发展,航运后......嘿,它确实发生。

说起额外的软件。空气音乐技术​​的展开!2,这是以前只提供给的Avid Pro Tools的用户多音色工作站。有品质的声音嘉豪在这里找到。

Pic 2

在混合

键盘控制器,我再说一遍,我真的很喜欢这些键。 49键一本很厚的黑色机箱内仔细封闭。而且,蓝色背光,调制轮和弯音觉得不可思议,有粉状的完成,是非常不错的触感。

脚垫是非常好的。 LED的改变基于速度的颜色和具有相同的粉末状光洁度。 IM也很高兴地报告,焊盘的响应都非常优秀。虽然,我希望MIDI的反馈消息是传回,让你几乎看片照亮了扮演一个角色之后。我想看到一些闪烁的灯光闪烁在舞台上,你知道吗?

编者按 :爱丽斯告诉我们,这个功能实际上将在未来的更新中的Q2,2015年!

Pic 3

我做了一些映射到旋钮,这是多不胜数。我真的很喜欢平稳的旋转并且不可能帮助,但注意到旋钮多么坚固的。尽管世界上没有初始映射,应该你觉得未来与东西你自己,你不会失望。

结论

所有我能说的是,发生了什么事?这是一个非常好的一块硬件的心不是得到一大堆的软件支持。请记住,爱丽斯总是可以转身,给我们一些更新,其中包括远程脚本和映射所有您最喜爱的DAW。目前,身份证可能针对此控制器注意如果您选择新本。有软件的编辑,但除非你有编辑的一些经验,它不是真的要你多好。如果你有这种编程控制器的时候,我认为你会真的很喜欢它,从长远来看。

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Sound Designer, Musician, Author... G.W. Childs has worn many hats. Beginning in the U.S. Army back in 1991, at the age of 18, G.W. began learning electronics, communications and then ultimately audio and video editing from the Department of Defense. Upon leaving the military G.W. went on to work for many exciting companies like Lu... Read More

Discussion

Jeremy Lim
Urgh! Such a beautiful keyboard and a great price point! It's a shame it doesn't map too well. Something to watch for in the future ...
Justin
Wait a minute...

"Alesis have informed us that Ableton remote scripts for the V and VI series will be included in the next version of Ableton Live Lite which will be released sometime this quarter."

Do you mean that Ableton 10 is coming in Q1/Q2?
Ittai A
I tried to find out if the update for MIDI feedback was a firmware or 2nd generation production. They took about 5 days to say....
"We do not know when or how any of these updates are going to be made od [SIC] shipped out"

So it is still just a rumor.
GreaterThanZero
A bit of follow-up:
The Q2 2015 update included no pad LED support, and there hasn't been another since then.

Likewise, the Live Remote script did ship, but it has no LED feedback either.
though...

The box art shows an array of colors simultaneously illuminated. As does the art on their website.
https://www.alesis.com/products/view/vi25
https://www.alesis.com/products/view2/vi49
https://www.alesis.com/products/view/vi61

Their videos show the LEDs clearly controlled externally:
https://youtu.be/KwE_vhTH8xY
https://youtu.be/Y8hPvlwtPc0
https://youtu.be/Px7djmtPI_U

And their help site has nearly five years of "I understand why you'd *think* it would have that feature, but it's not that kind of keyboard. This might change in the next firmware release."

The insinuation that we're unreasonable to have expected that feature is gaslighting. That feature was heavily implied, if not plainly demonstrated and advertised, by Alesis. We're not unreasonable to expect it, and our patience in waiting for a firmware update was essentially spat on.

(Current answer is "you should buy the VX instead", except of course, there's no upgrade path except to have thrown away hundreds of dollars. So, I don't think buying another Alesis product is a viable solution, because I don't plan to ever give them another cent after being screwed over this hard, and I wouldn't expect other VI owners to, either.)

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I should have gotten a refund the moment I brought it home and the editor wasn't online yet. That was my bad -- I knew better.

Out of the box, the pads were on Channel 1, same as the keys, so the controller was essentially useless. And it took several months for them to fix that, by which time I could no longer return it.

I let that slide, figuring "this is the life of an early adopter."

Also worth mentioning, the mac version has never once connected to the hardware, so I have to dig up an old PC every time I need to change anything. I figured there'd be a software update to fix it by now. Or that they'd maybe answer my support message about it. (5 years, still waiting)

Really, there's no support. And it's an imperfect product, in need of support. And that's infuriating.

The LEDs are just stupid. I hate this keyboard so much, and it's otherwise fantastic. But I want to destroy it.

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