Alesis Fusion 8HD 88-Note Keyboard Workstation 

Had 2 8HD's I had to return because of keyboard problems...black keys struck with higher velocity than the white keys. Replaced with 6HD and MAN is it awesome. Can't match the programmability for the money on any other hardware keyboard. That's the good news. The bad news is the keyboard has a terrible history of bugs. Most have been fixed, and mine works great, but be cautious. Unmatched sound pallet with Analog, Phys Modeling, FM, and sample playback. If it works, it's worth the price tag investment times 5.

First glance at this keyboard is that its wounderful. It has everything anyone coulod want at price that everyone can have. I purchased this keyboard over a year ago, and I'll admit, I loved it to death. The thing was great. But the software was buggy. It eventually started failing. The software lost random parts of its programs and sounds, causing me to have to reformat and reinstall the software numerous times. Customer service is what kill the keyboard though. They are unable to fix many problems without leading you through the same time consuming step by step guide everytime anything goes wrong. I've had to deal with customer service about 10 times to get my keyboard working, even now its still buggy from unknown errors. When I sent it to them, they claim to find nothing wrong and can not explain the errors. I just recommend being careful when buying something of this value. It can appear wounderful, but usually theres a down side.

I got this keyboard back in december and have loved it since. The features are amazing, you can do anything with it; recording, playback, making your own programs (sounds), sampling, anything you can think of. The sound quality is amazing on the recording, its perfectly clear and there are over 800 factory programs, you can download more from the internet. You can customize many things on the Fusion. You can even change the sensitivity the keys to fit your playing style. There are 8 inputs for all of your other instruments. However, to put them to use, you need some form of a pre-amp, such as an amp or a mixer. My only complaint is that the synth can be confusing to use when it comes to the more complex functions. Also the bottom is rounded making the placement onto a stand awkward. The synth is sturdy as can be and built like a tank. The fully-weighted keys feel very close to hammer action. All and all, this is a great keyboard and well worth the money. i recomend it for any serious musician.

Wow! What can i say about this amazing workstation. It has so many diverse features, and audio enhancements its' competlely amazing. i can't believe the quality of this, it's truely amazing. it's an ultimate recording package in any studio. I mean this workstation by it'self could get u a nicceee record, it's phenomenal, truely phenomenal. Believe me, once u get into it you will say WOW!

The Fusion may not have the ?whistles and bells? of the other famous maker workstations, but this river is DEEP. I admit, the start was a little rocky, but the OS updates came on fast and furious. Considering the amount of creative flexibility and sound design potential in one low cost board this is the best deal out there. The sounds you can pull out of combining virtual analog, FM, physical modeling, and sampling are truly amazing. Even if you?re not yet into programming, Hollow Sun has created a smorgasbord of awe inspiring sounds, ready to load (free) into this baby. Sure, if you have the money to blow, and want to sound like everyone else, get one of the ?Big Three?. If you want to dive into a unique and bottomless well of sound exploration, do some Fusion.

Hey, this board is great! The sound quality is to die for. I've been a faithful Alesis owner for year. I've owned the QS 6.1 and 8.2 and the both sound so good. The only problem I had with those boards was neither had a built in sequencer. Then came the monster Fusion which blew me away! You can not beat the 32 trk sequencer and 8 trk hd feature. The board is simple to use and learn. I mainly use it for recording projects in my studio. Man, I was impressed my fusion that I exactually when out and bought a Fusion HD6 to take on the road when traveling in my RV. Fusion will not disappoint you. TRY it! TRY it! Then, buy it!

For several years, I have played an Alesis QS8. Using the keyboard on live performances as well as sessions has been wonderful. After owning Yamaha, Korg, and several other brands, I found the Alesis QS8 to be unmatched in quality. Then, I had the opportunity to work with the Fusion 8HD. This is absolutely the worst keyboard I have played. The volume, effects, and eq have a mind of their own. This unit can be great one minute and horrible the next. Alesis should have worked out the bugs before marketing this one.

This board is amazing, incredible, and limitless. Alesis messed up by releasing it before all the bugs were out. Because of this the board has a bad rap. All the bug have since been fixed! The first benefit to the Fusion are the sounds. All the Triton, Fantom, and Motif sounds are all wore out because they are all over the radio all the time. You will not believe how fresh the Fusion sounds. It's amazing that this thing has a sampler, a sequencer, drum machine, 4 synthesis types (analog, FM, physical modeling, qs synthesis) 24 bit 8 track hard disk recorder. If you aren't much of a programmer you can take the preprogrammed drum patterns and send them to your own song. Your music will sound like someone from LA programmed your drums. One weakness is there is not a pattern sequencer. For drums the sequencer simply records what you tap in. The manual also is not that great. Incredible unit. Complete 24 bit recording studio that is easy to learn.

I'm in a black metal band, and to make it sound almost like a paradox (church music like sound with blasphemy), I got the Sanctuary chip. I also got a bunch of asian sounding chips in it. Let me say this is the most versatile workstation I have ever owned. The 3000 dollar Kurzweil I had did not cut it. It was so analog and couldn't be upgraded much. The Nord I had didn't cut it really either. So I sold both of them when our bassist told me about this keyboard. When I went down to a local store to try it out, I was highly suprised. The next four months were spent earning the money for this thing and three expansion chips, and it was worth it. Hands down the Alesis Fusion is the best keyboard I have ever had, and it can be used by anyone. I taught my four year old cousin who is just learning to play keyboard how to use this thing, and she got it down in five minutes. It's easy to use, great sound and everything about it is great.

I was going to drop 3k on a Kurzweil 2600 (I've used them before and know them) but opted to give this board a try. I've been constantly suprised by the power of this board! The display is fantastic and fine so you can easilly see what you're doing. Using soft buttons (The buttons are progamable) you aren't limited to what the engineers at Alesis think you might find useful, YOU program it yourself. A highly complex and intricate board, fortunatly there are now communities out there for hints / suggestions.My only beef is while the display is very good and displays a lot some of the menus are a pain to go through and backtracking is hard (There is no back button)... Other than that I can't stress enough how much I love this synth board!