Over the years I tried or checked many synthesizers, but I never got tired or weary of the Micron, its sumptuous sounds, the features abundance (filters, exp/lin FM, envelopes, 2 FX banks, mod matrix, sequencer, percussions, etc.) and its compactness.

Of course I took the time to learn this instrument, read, re-read the manual, memorized the shortcuts, etc.
So I don't even use it with a BCR2000 or an editor, but the old fashioned way: parameter by parameter ....

But it is the satin-like and luminous pads that every time dazzle me. I can't help but wonder there is some magic included in this synth.

And so I want here to salute the Micron (and Ion) designer: Mr. Bret Victor, (Caltech, UC Berkeley),
and express my gratefulness for his work !

Awesome post. It’s an awesome synth.

When I read the Micron manual, it was amazing. The synth had everything. Except ease of use. Still it's incredible that you can actually do everything in that compact package. I should dedicate a knob box to it, as it's got the depth to be worth it.

Definitely 'hats off' to the designer.

Isn't it basically a repacked Ion? Also ISTR it actually aliases quite a lot more than the Ion... yes?

Features - 100%

Sound Quality - 75%

Ease of Use - 50%

Very few things come close to having the features and capabilities of the series.
I wish they, or someone else, would make something similar again.

I think the only minus for me was some controls used NPRN which forced knob box users (eg Kenton Control Freak) to split controls across two knobs.

Alesis/Numark would do very well to repackage the nearly-perfect Micron engine with both nice controls and a nice keyboard with aftertouch (hell, make it look like a Korg Radias). People still seek out Ions for just this purpose. The MiniAK just didn' cut it.

Compared to the Ion, there are more features on the Micron: better arpeggiator, 8 part multi-timbral with OS1.1.0 (Ion only 4), drums sequencing, pattern and phrase sequencers and more filter types & effects. Some people also say the Micron sounds better than the Ion.

But then the UI on the Ion is more developed and the keyboard has one more octave compared to the Micron.

As far as the Micron aliasing more than the Ion, so far I have not had any aliasing problem on the Micron, and anyway I couldn't compare since I don't have an Ion.

5 pens in his front shirt pocket and no visible pocket protector — the dude is freakin nuts.

Most synths focus on sound. I focused on music -- Making it easy and fun to create musical phrases and drum beats, mash them together, and play around. - Bret Victor on the Micron

(Secret hint: While turning it on, hold down (Octave +) and (Programs) )

One thing that always stood out to me about the Micron is the clever interface, with its various shortcuts, horizontal control, the way it handles arps and sequences. Anyone interested in UI should definitely take a look at Bret's website, Bret Victor, beast of burden, it's his area of focus and there are a lot of great reads there.

He also did the dsp for the ion and the fusion
Bret Victor's electronics projects

Bet you 10-to-1 Bob Moog didn't use a pocket protector -- It's a sign of a true out of the box thinker.

A quick google image search confirms your hypothesis. He is a 2 pens and calculator in front shirt pocket no-protector guy.

Guy die or something?

Looks like the dude made quite an impact to the music world with the Ion, Micron, and the Fusion. I still think the Micron looks like a Fisher-Price bathtub toy. It's ugly, simple, but bold.

Too bad about the Fusion. What a honkin' beast of a machine with an ungodly amount of blank/dead space. I think it would be pretty bad ass to take out the guts of a Fusion and turn it into a 4U rackmount.

Also some people say that (though I can't confirm) the effects on the Micron are taken from the sought-after Alesis Midiverb II.

I wrote Alesis (around the time of the buyout but I’m not sure if before or after) and they couldn’t confirm what unit it came from, only that it had “DNA” from past reverbs.

The way this guy presents himself is... intriguing:

Bret Victor, beast of burden

I would say "no" to the Micron FX coming from the MVII. The MVII's internal circuitry and code are quite old (1988), and Alesis made improvements since its release. Around the time the Micron was released, the Quadraverb 2, the Midiverb 4, and the Wedge were all well-established. Between all three of those, the lines of differentiation are quite blurred. Furthermore, the A6 Andromeda's FX section is most like the Wedge/Midiverb 4. Therefore, IMO, the FX of the Micron would most likely be based on circuitry and code from the A6 Andy.

The Ion and Micron run on a general-purpose DSP architecture, the AL3101 by Alesis's semiconductor arm Wavefront. They contain 9 of these chips, one for each voice and one for effects. It might share some code with some contemporary products, but nothing as old as the MVII. The datasheet is public, dated 2003. These chips are not made any more and the DSP code is entirely specific to them, which also means reissues are unlikely.

Hmmm, recollecting now, I think I may have meant Akai Miniak. Was supposed to be the same as Micron, but it's not, it aliases way more.

But I also remember @ zerocrossing saying that Micron could alias like a mofo.

Yep, the Miniak and Micron are basically the same platform.

Yup. At the time I was moving to a one bedroom with my wife so we could save for a house and I had to go ITB, so I started looking askance at my hardware and putting it head to head with other synths, including ITB solutions. I found the aliasing on the Micron was pretty noticeable, especially on the higher registers and when using osc sync. Still, it was an interesting synth and there was definitely a reason I bought it, but in terms of someone who’s trying to do as much ITB as possible to make room for analog stuff, I’d say it was a pretty easy decision to cut it loose. Now, an Ion might be fun, just because of the knobs... but the Micron? Nah.

I still keep my Micron + BCF/BCR combo around for nostalgia when I want to hear those 19 types of filter sweeps. Awesome little machine with tons of features and a sound I still dig.

Jexus responds to complaints about aliasing “on the higher registers and when using osc sync” in the Alesis Miniak:

“Not that I care much about this aliasing, because as you can well imagine I quite rarely play "Laser Harp" patches or sounds as high as C9 on the keyboard, but you know...it'll be good to keep up the appearances of this site being a comprehensive and serious resource, haha :P”

Syntezatory.net.pl | Akai Miniak - synthesizer demo.

Well he might not play the laser harp but somebody else would want that

He's had a very colourful career. Several, actually. Interesiting that he only spent a few years in DSP programming at Alesis but produced some amazing products. He's got some very interesting phiulosophies on UI and human interaction with technology -- not just for synths but for.... well... everything.

Sounds like someone I'd love to shoot the **** with over a beer.

Yes, I had mine crash once and it had "alesis micron" stuck on the screen!

Plus if you compare the board layouts they are 99% identical just that the miniak has a microphone input, and different boards for the controls.

So how come Miniak aliases more than Micron then? Apparently it's not exactly the same firmware in there in that case.

There was probably some extra firmware development done on the sound engine (dsp code) but left the control software the same.

Y'all tripping. I don't trust anyone who defaults one of only THREE knobs on a synth to L/R pan. And don't even get me started on the pens...