I really dislike the thought of being a curmudgeon in the face of potentially good news, but I must face facts. However, as a good skeptic and critical thinker I'm willing and able to change my beliefs based on better physical evidence.
I still see the familiar (and detestable) "RealHat" pedal. If Alesis frequents these forums and takes its pulse on occasion, they would likely be mindful of the universal disdain for this particular foot controller and all its flaws. So it's unlikely an evolved rendition of it came to market without a single cosmetic differentiation.
Red shells?... A paint can negates that wonderment.
Can I volunteer to be their in-house R&D drummer? Alesis occasionally makes some great equipment, but to repackage previously proven lame components and expect them to play nicely together is wishful thinking. Granted everyone here is on a tight budget or we'd be playing Rolands and wouldn't be reading this. And that is all the more reason Alesis should be capitalizing on coupling existing building blocks with excellent programming. Anyone can repackage and re-brand, but to re-think takes a little work. It does pay off though.
How many threads, forums and energies are dedicated to reworking and fixing things that were immediately obvious to even a new user? Pretty Photoshops and slick marketing are used by all, but a happy user base can't be replicated by artificial means in this day and age. I own a DM10 Studio kit and, though I'm going the re-engineering route to correct for its inadequacies, I'm glad to have it. I do regret buying it though. When I calculate the hours spent doing Alesis' job engineering (and it's still not adequate) I could have bought a Roland for minimum wage.
Please don't get me wrong. I'm not here to knock or promote any manufacturer. But there is a demarcation line between those who listen to their users and those who don't. And I can't help but wonder why a company plagued with bad reviews doesn't see the need to get their act together. As a product engineer myself the first thing I would do is SERIOUSLY LISTEN and address the complaints way-before re-issuing the same stuff with a cool new color.
Sadly, I used to like Alesis products but now skip over them whenever I see the Alesis brand. I don't like feeling that way and really hope they put a little more energy into design integration at some point. But all evidence points to the contrary, and a good skeptic looks at the evidence.
Respectfully,
Brian Jackson