Alesis is releasing new sound content for its Fusion 8HD and Fusion 6HD synths via the version 1.20 upgrade, which is free to registered owners. There are plenty of pianos, strings, brass, woodwind, percussion, and synth timbres, while Preset 5 includes hard drive-based sounds that take advantage of the instrument’s new synthesis features (the Ion’s RP low-pass filter and three formant filters have been added). In addition, two new process functions have been added to the Sampler Mode: “Quantize Region” and “Reverse Region.” Included in the update is a new software program called Fusion Converter that enables users to convert various sample format libraries into Fusion format. These include WAV, AIFF, and Akai S1000/S3000/S5000 (samples and program data), as well as SoundFonts. Data transfers to the Fusion are made via high-speed USB 2.0 from PCs. A Macintosh version of Fusion Converter is expected to be available shortly.