HUGE price increase

[Carvin man]

I received my new Musicians Friend and Same Day Music catalogs the Alesis Firewire 8 jumped from $249.00 to $399.00. What the hells up with that? AMS still has them for $249.00. Must be do to the gas price increases. More shipping cost

[warble]

Buy it from AMS?

[flat1ine]

yeah, it's insane - pretty much everyone except zzounds and AMS has them for $399 - and i'm ripped about it - $250's a perfectly affordable price - $400 places it in a whole different catagory.

uncool guys, uncool.

[stinkfish]

I just ordred the firewire 16 and paid $500 plus 2nd day air to alaska. Hope its worth it. Looks like a nice board. It will allow me to record several mics at once and keep them all seperate right. Im using cakewalk and im getting cubase with the mixer. Kinda spendy but good gear is worth good $. Crap gear is about worthless.....

[ssscientist]

Originally Posted by stinkfish

It will allow me to record several mics at once and keep them all seperate right.

Nope.

True multichannel FW interfaces are being kept off the market while boards like the FW 16 are being sold to put some 2005 revenue on the manufacturers books with a guaranteed re-buy in 2006 when they bring the REAL multichannel FW boards to the marketplace.

What you've got on the way is just like Mackie's Onyx and the Mackie FW version of the Alesis board --- the FW interface contains the stereo mix only. If you don't have a full band to mix and are just doing one or two parts at a time my advice would be to return it in favor of a dedicated higher-quality FW interface like the Presonus Firebox or the MAudio 410.

[stinkfish]

Really? Can this be true? I read everything they offered in the way of info and i was just about sure i was getting what I needed. If this is the case then I ve been mislead and IM pissed! Well crap! Off to re-read all that stuff. Maybe I should call Alesis or zzounds. This is crap! I have a group of young thrashers who want to start recording next week. Wont be able to do decent drums without this board.DAMN IIIIIIIIIIIITTTTT!!!!!!

[stinkfish]

The Alesis MultiMix FireWire 16 Mixer is part of the new line of MultiMix mixers featuring FireWire data connectivity. The MultiMix FireWire Series includes 3 different tabletop mixers, all featuring exclusive DICE II FireWire technology. Allowing for transfer of multiple audio data streams from mixer to PC using a standard IEEE-1394 interface, these mixers provide lightening fast connectivity to a wide range of PC-based audio production applications.


_ Compact, affordable 8, 12 and 16-channel analog mixers and Multi-channel FireWire audio computer interface
_ MultiMix 8 and 12 have 4 high-gain mic/line (XLR and 1/4" balanced) inputs with phantom power, 2 stereo balanced 1/4" line inputs, aux send (can sent to onboard or external effects), stereo aux return. MultiMix 16 has 8 high-gain mic/line
_ 100 28-bit onboard preset effects including reverbs, delays, chorus, flanging, pitch, and multieffects
_ 3-band EQ per channel with high/low shelving and mid bandpass/reject
_ Separate 1/4" balanced main and monitor outs, headphone out
_ Integrated FireWire audio interface using next-generation Dice II FireWire chip_ Record every individual channel plus the MAIN outputs. Up to 18 simultaneous channels (with the MultiMix FireWire 16)_ Chain multiple MultiMix FireWire mixers together for expanded computer inputs
_ 24-bit, 44.1/48 kHz Firewire audio path with high-end A/D and D/A conversion throughout
_ Compatible with Mac OSX and Windows XP
_ Steinberg Cubase LE included
_ Easy to attach rackmount available


NOBODY has this mixer in stock! Could it be that I am getting the new version? Or am I getting jacked. I really need to know!

[teetopkram]

For what it's worth, I sent an email to Alesis SEVERAL days ago asking them this very question, and have yet to hear back...until they confirm its more than just a stereo mix, I am staying away as their write-up/advertising may be definitely misleading.

[Chris Shaeffer]

Really?!

I have a Digi 002 and it does 18 seperate I/O. It seems *crazy* to me that the high bandwidth FW interfaces would be crippled so that they were only recording a stereo mix- you could do that with USB 1.

That would be evil, indeed. I find it very difficult to believe.

-C

[xstatic]

The problem it seems with stuff like the Onyx is not in the tracking department so much as getting the signals back into the board.

[stinkfish]

I plan on calling Alesis in the morning to get the final word on all this. I will post it here for anyone whos interested. The board is supposed to arrive on about wednesday. Ill do a review of sorts as well after ive had a chance to use it a little.

[flat1ine]

stinkfish -

don't worry - i've spoken with people at alesis and sweetwater, and they've ALL told me that the firewire multi mix 16, 12, and 8 will be able to send each track on the mixer to each track in your software - as well as the stereo mix ... i really think ssscientist is mistaken here, and that these boards CAN do what you want. i asked alesis about how they could keep prices this far down for an interface of this caliber, and they told me it's because the own the company that makes the Dice II firewire chip.

I'm sure this unit will be fine for you, but best of luck regardless.

A review of sorts would be fantastic, anything you can post would be GREAT - as i know there are a lot of people here (myself very much included) who are very curious about these boards.

Thanks,
Erik

[teetopkram]

Here is the email I sent a few days ago...

"I am looking into purchasing the Alesis Multimix 8 Firewire when it becomes
available. I do have one question.

If I am playing on and recording, say 4 channels, simultaneously, will this
unit mix down to 2 channels on my computer, or will it record onto 4
separate channels in my computer's software (e.g., Cubase, Garageband,
etc.)?"

Here was the reply I got today...

"Hi Mark,
The Firewire mixers will be able to export separate tracks to the
computer's software."

So, it DOES sound like this unit can record more than two tracks at a time...I will be purchasing as soon as a few reviews come back.

Mark

[flat1ine]

i'm glad a lot of us are hearing the same things - that's a good sign at least ...

[stinkfish]

Yup, just got off the phone with Alesis and "Steve" assured me this board would do what I need. He said the usb boards only give stereo mixes. What a relief. The board should arrive by the end of the week. Ill post my reveiw here as soon as I get a few hours i on it! Thanks guys!

[flat1ine]

stinkfish,

glad this is going to work out for you! can't wait for a review!

Thanks!
-erik

[applejax]

Mackie Onyx's DONT just have the stero mix sent to the PC... That'd be STUPID....

From mackie.com:

"FIREWIRE I/O OPTION CARD
In the category of "Why didn't someone think of this sooner?", we gave the Onyx 1620 an optional FireWire I/O card, which bridges the analog-to-digital gap by providing up to 18 independent channels of high-quality 24-bit/96kHz audio that you can plug right into your FireWire-equipped Mac or PC. And bring a stereo mix back from your computer for monitoring purposes"

Meaning 18 channels To your PC via FireWire...and the MAIN MIX from your PC out to your ONYX for monitoring. I think ssscientist needs to read up more on the products . I wish my Roland Vs2480 had this sort of feature though... like the 2000 has USB...but thats one channel/one track at a time. All we have now is SCSI and a bunch of guys at the VSPlanet are trying to plug SCSI directly into the PC and use an emulator to act as a CD burner.... But still...it's NOTHING compared to FireWire...

[flat1ine]

where did you order the 16 from? i'm wondering if anyone around has them in stock ...

[stinkfish]

I looked all over and no one had them in stock. I think samash.com and zzounds were the first in line to get them. Musicians friend wasnt scheduled to get any until oct.1. 8-31-05 was the due date for zzounds wich is where I ordered mine.

Well I just sat on hold for five min. with Alesis and couldnt get anyone on the line to confirm zzounds will get the boards tommorow like it says on the site. We'll see....

[flat1ine]

thanks! i think i'm gonna order mine from AMS today or tomorrow before they kick the price up too ...

[stinkfish]

I think suggested retail price is $799.00. If you can get it for five now, probably worth it.
Just to le you know though, Zzounds said they were supposed to get twelve on the 31st, and had 13 on backorder. The eight and twelve channel were already on backorder. Might take awhile to actually get one......hope its worth the wait.

[flat1ine]

thanks man ... i'm alright with a backorder just as long as i can get the 8 for $250 ...

[flat1ine]

just to let you all know, i've been researching prices and found that http://www.djmart.com has a feature where you can negotiate your price - i won't post it here in fairness to them, but it was lower than i've seen it elsewhere ...

anyone have any experiece with this seller? seems like it's good to me ...

[flat1ine]

this: http://www.phonic.com/partner/module...roduct_id=140#

also looks enticing ... and the literature for it is availible, AND they say they'll be in stores really really soon ...

[warble]

I'd buy an Alesis product before a Phonic product, but if it really came down to it, I'd buy neither. When I think Phonic I think "entry level" and some of their mixers looks strikingly familiar to the Beh... stuff. Maybe these new Firewire thingy-magigies ( ) won't perform too bad, but I wouldn't transport it around too much.

Remember one thing about literature - any manufacturer can make a product look absolutely smashing spectacular on paper, it's the real world use that counts. That's why I like hang here and other places and see how that real world use comes about.