pros:

- beautiful filter sound. the filters are quite bright, and have an extremely warm mid range when dialed down. this makes for great bass sounds, but it is a bit harder to get smooth pad sounds (I also own a matrix 12, which is the exact opposite in this regard). having 2 filters and the ability to route them in serial or parallel provides for endless possibilities.

- envelopes. definitely one of the high points of the synth in my opinion. each stage can have its own curve type (linear, exponential, logarithmic, ec.), which can greatly alter the character of the sound. there are many options for triggering and looping.

mostly pros:

- user interface. all the knobs are in all the right places, but menu editing can be a pain. the main problem is the smaller knobs are not very precise for parameters with large ranges.

- modulation routing. all of the typical modulation settings are there, and even some interesting and odd ones, but every once in a while I find myself wanting to do something that is not possible. there is a relatively small limit to modulation slots for each destination (either 3 or 1), and I find myself running out sometimes. there is also a matrix that can help save slots but it is limited to affecting existing modulations.

cons:

- envelope release. there is a noticeable step to 0 in the release tail as the envelope cuts off. it isn't bad in a mix, but can sometimes be bothersome when playing.

- FM. for some reason the FM is not as usable as the FM on my matrix 12. not bad for slight color, but I can't seem to do more extreme things with it and not lose the desired base frequency of the sound.

- tuning. it's not too bad after it warms up, but it does take a while. I usually have to go through the slow tuning process several times over the course of an hour or so before it's good enough.

- presets. they are awful. I don't really care now that I own the synth, but it caused me to have a poor opinion of the synth the first time I played it in the store.

- voice retriggering. I still haven't figured out what the issue is here, but with long releases, the voice retriggering is very noticeable compared to my matrix 12, which has 4 less voices. there is an "analog" setting for the envelopes which is supposed to start a voice's envelope from where it left off last on the next retrigger (ie. no jump to 0), but it doesn't seem to help much.

Thumbs Up (Sound/Interface)

Having used the Andromeda for about 5 years now and having owned the likes of Prophets, Jupiters and Junos I am very impressed by the A6's tone. I know exactly why some dislike its sound, its because they were/are under the impression that analog should sound vintage. There are an aweful lot of people out there who judge/dismiss the A6 purely on the premise that it doesnt sound as fat or warm as a vintage board. In my view this is not true - The A6 is a bit warmer and bigger sounding than a P5 rev 3.3 and it can get silkier than a JP8. I have coaxed massive basses which give Pro-Ones and MonoPoly's a run for their money. The A6 sounds cleaner and less compressed than old vintage boards. The ASIC design creates high dynamic range whereas old vintage chips outputted compressed/clipped/distorted audio. What I am saying is that the pure audio from the A6 is technically superior to that of old boards. If this form of analog sounds too clinical for you (to me it doesnt) then all you need to do is turn off background tuning and use some vintage analog outboard. Not that hard is it? Now quit your bitching because your naiivity bores me.

The A6 can sound vintage - The A6 can sound fresh and modern. As a working producer I *have* to have access to quality analog sounds which arent always retro. Fresh analog tones are very interesting to me....and they sound so much more convincing than virtual analog. If you want 80's bliss then the A6 will deliver that too....but you wont be cutting many modern records with those type of sounds (reality check).

To conclude then, cuppled with great sound and amazing sound shaping posiblities the A6 is a real winner. I am totally confident that 5-10 yrs from now people will see the A6 for what it is/was.....a true analog polyphonic beast.

Thumbs Down (Marketing/Alesis QC)

Some people have documented some minor bugs of the incomplete OS...none of these bother me. None of them are show stoppers. I feel more confident with the A6's functionality than I ever did with the Virus KC's and TI's (two synths I quickly returned).

My biggest gripe is actually with Alesis lack of marketing. The A6 could have been so big...a new analog revolution had it not been for sloppy (non existant) marketing strategy. If it were me, they'd be teaching lessons at school about how cool analog synths can be.

Conclusion

The A6 sounds amazing. Its one of the most high quality sounding synths on the market today - and yes, contrary to bullshit internet rumours on the net...Alesis are still producing the A6 - production was held up when they were looking into the tuning issue that affected a large batch Q4 2006.

Long live A6...

Its a poly but putting it in mono mode allows you to perform monosynth duties. At bass and leads, it is awesome (the bass through the second filter is awesome). Pads and strings and FX and other similar sounds however are obviously its forte. The envelopes can be amazingly punchy. The analog distortion is very nice too.

Essentially, this synth is analog with genuinely modern features. Its extremely versatile. Its sound is a little 'cooler' than vintage, but thats because it is made of integrated circuits the tuning is very stable. Its still warmer than any VA though.

It can be used as an analog filterbank and FX unit too. Really, this synth integrates very well into your setup. Its the flagship of my studio, Studio deKadent, and it fills that role very well.

In the end, the A6 does almost everything, sounds full and thick, and gives analog a modern twist. What it does not do well is digital sounds like wavetable synthesis (no digital samples in the oscs), FM synthesis (oscillator drift makes this unusable at high levels), but I have FM in my Nord and when I get the Virus TI, wavetable will be covered. Also, the A6 filters can be used on digital synths to produce great results... so in many ways this will not replace a good digital but will complement it and enhance it.

I honestly would recommend this to any setup that wants an analog synth. It integrates well, it sounds unique, it sounds modern but analog at the same time, it is incredibly flexible and it complements existing setups. The only drawback I can think of is the price... but in the end, the A6 is worth it. This synth is in the same league as the immortal analog classics.

There is a lot of venom for the A6. Ignore the vitriol. They wanted a vintage synth, they did not want the A6: analog V2.0