Moon,
I agree that the 61 key Access Virus is the way to go,as I like having a keybed with my sounds myself,but being that I already have two keyboards & no room to spare,I decided to save up for the Virus TI Snow..it's perfect for me...for one,I don't have to worry about it being discontinued like the Nord Lead-because it was just recently released
and secondly,it the perfect space-saver,user friendly and best of all,there is no other way to buy these kind of unique,high quality sounds for the price(outside of pc software).
Also,the polyphony is more than double of the Nord Lead-so it's sequencer friendly,which is what I'm really after.
Most everywhere I looked,it's going for $1420(USD),but I found a retailer that carries it for $1250(USD)!
As for the Alesis Ion that you were considering,it's been completely off of the market for several weeks now,as NO ONE has any leftovers in stock(at least not in the U.S.).I've also seen the Ion listed on the
www.vintagesynth.com site,which is never a good sign(for finding one new,anyway)
As for Clavia,well...I've boycotted that company altogether,as thier farewell marketing scheme with the Nord Lead 2X really made me sick & terribly angry.
I've actually considered contacting Clavia to protest thier outrageous price hike & limited production of thier anniversary edition Lead 2X,but I knew that would be a wasted effort and I figured it's just better to forget about Clavia once & for all.
If you get your Virus before I do,I'll be looking forward to your reviews!
Cheers,
Thom