Alesis AIRFX

The Alesis AirFX is the first product from Alesis to incorporate patent-pending Axyz (pronounced ax-is) technology. Developed by co-founder and CEO of Alesis, Keith Barr, Axyz technology consists of an infrared beam that can be manipulated in three dimensions, along the X, Y, and Z axis. Using triangulation, up to 5 different parameters can be controlled in each preset program.

Designed to draw more people into the world of making music, airFX is easy to operate because 'playing' it is largely based on human intuition. According to Barr, "The exciting thing about airFX is that anyone can play it - from the avid music buff who has never touched or played an instrument to the club DJ who's looking for a new sound to set him apart.

Virtually anyone who wants to be part of the musical process now has the power to make music themselves and they'll find out how truly fun it is. Kids can simply hook it up to a stereo in their bedrooms, wave their hands and they've made new music. airFX makes the process seem almost magical."

airFX eliminates the learning curve associated with playing a traditional instrument or learning a piece of audio gear and provides immediate gratification. The simple interface consists of a single knob, which is used to select, engage, by-pass, freeze, and release a given effect, and an LCD that indicates the current program. 'Playing' airFX involves pressing the knob to engage the effect and then moving a hand through the invisible infrared sphere to create sounds or to alter the incoming audio signal.

The 50 preset programs include effects like panning, flanging, pitch shifting, and resonance filtering. airFX offers a host of other esoteric digital signal processing effects that include programs like Vinylizer(tm) a scratchy vinyl simulator, and a scratching effect that emulates the sound of 'rocking' a vinyl record as it plays on a turn-table. airFX also features real Sub-harmonic synthesis (which creates low frequency harmonics for very low bass sounds), vocoding, synthesizer, and percussion/effect sounds. airFX program names include: Haunted Landscape, Gender Bender, Decimator, SunSpot, Tokyo Phase, Percolator, Overdrive, Psychofase, Ghost Flange, Phasors on Stun, Pitch Transporter, Snake Bite, and Bow Wow.

One of the first Alesis products to feature the company's new industrial design, the unit also features stereo RCA inputs and outputs, a frequency range of 20Hz-20kHz, 24-bit converters, and ships with a 9-volt DC external power supply. Alesis Corporation manufactures a full line of professional audio and musical instrument products capitalizing on its strengths in digital, analog, vacuum tube, and transducer technologies.


Included Effects

1. Pitch Out
2. Lord of the Flies
3. Vinylizer
4. Percolator
5. Frankenstein's Lab
6. Overdrive
7. Kenneth's Frequency
8. Horror Show
9. Decimator
10. SunSpot
11. Telephone
12. Big Bottom
13. Snake Bite
14. Bow Wow
15. Smoke
16. AutoWah
17. Formented
18. Orlyfilter
19. Streetsweeper
20. Killswitch
21. Tokyo Phase
22. Phasors on Stun
23. Liquid Metal
24. Spin Cycle
25. Psychofaze
26. AutoFaze
27. Ghost Flange
28. Satellite
29. Fazed Out
30. Forever Flange
31. Strobe Gate
32. Nervous
33. Psychic Pan
34. Kung-Fu Panner
35. Stop it!
36. Freq It!
37. Pitch Transporter
38. Gender Bender
39. Waterbed
40. Spin the Bottle
41. Centrifuge
42. Bottom Feeder
43. Skratch!
44. Haunted Landscape
45. Headhunter
46. Beatbox
47. Slap Synth
48. Jungle Rip
49. War!
50. Sci-Fi Theatre

(effects are numbered from 0 to 49, so subtract 1 for correct setting)

Specifications
In- and Outputs: Stereo RCA in and out
Nominal Input Voltage: -10dBu
Max Input Voltage: 11.96dBu (4.34Vpp)
Dynamic Range: 102.8 dB (A-weighted)
Signal to Noise Ratio: -102.4dB (A-weighted)
THD+N: 0.0065%
Frequency Response: 20-20000Hz +0/-2.0 dB
Sampling Frequency: 44.1KHz
Converter Resolution: 24-bit (ADC and DAC)
Processor Resolution: 28-bit