What about windows 7 64bit? Will this not work as well for the Multimix 8 USB 2.0?
64 bit drivers
- Thread starter Zbach
- Start date
I believe Windows 64bit will support your 2 channel USB 1.0 Alesis mixer out of the box with no additional software required.
If you want ASIO driver, check asio4all.com.
You only need Alesis specific drivers for the USB 2.0 devices that support recording more than 2 channels at the same time.
Hey guys,
I have been searching all night to find some kind of answer about 64 bit drivers to use my alesis with windows 7. I just bought a new computer and I host a sports talk show using this Alesis MultiMix 8 2.0 USB. If anyone can help me out with the drivers by pointing me to the right person to speak to or if you can send me the drivers at truthhollywood@hotmail.com it would be appreciated.
Thanks
I have been searching all night to find some kind of answer about 64 bit drivers to use my alesis with windows 7. I just bought a new computer and I host a sports talk show using this Alesis MultiMix 8 2.0 USB. If anyone can help me out with the drivers by pointing me to the right person to speak to or if you can send me the drivers at truthhollywood@hotmail.com it would be appreciated.
Thanks
No intentions to perform at Alesis
The final response from Alesis with the Multimix Firewire series was to pull it all off the market starting last December, and they recently moved all of it into the legacy [things we no longer make] section on their web site. Clearly showing us that they have no intentions of ever writing new drivers for 64 bit machines, never mind it's the only kind of computer you can buy since last fall. I started looking last December, out of desperation, for a 32 bit XP computer so I could finally use my Multimix 8 firewire mixer and found that they are not being sold anywhere. I considering building one but Micro bucks still wants about 200 for the XP disc, and that's way too much for a discontinued version. The world has moved on up and Alesis is refusing to budge; their position seems to be screw the customer; we got your money so suck it up and live with the loss. Our only option now seems to be starting a class action law suit. For some reason they seem to think they can't afford to write new working drivers, and yet they are still bringing out new products. They must think they will never need any new customers that have new computers.
If you are one of the hundreds if not thousands stuck with things they sold you that you can't use you might be interested in fighting back.
The final response from Alesis with the Multimix Firewire series was to pull it all off the market starting last December, and they recently moved all of it into the legacy [things we no longer make] section on their web site. Clearly showing us that they have no intentions of ever writing new drivers for 64 bit machines, never mind it's the only kind of computer you can buy since last fall. I started looking last December, out of desperation, for a 32 bit XP computer so I could finally use my Multimix 8 firewire mixer and found that they are not being sold anywhere. I considering building one but Micro bucks still wants about 200 for the XP disc, and that's way too much for a discontinued version. The world has moved on up and Alesis is refusing to budge; their position seems to be screw the customer; we got your money so suck it up and live with the loss. Our only option now seems to be starting a class action law suit. For some reason they seem to think they can't afford to write new working drivers, and yet they are still bringing out new products. They must think they will never need any new customers that have new computers.
If you are one of the hundreds if not thousands stuck with things they sold you that you can't use you might be interested in fighting back.
64 bit drivers cont'd
I e-mailed Alesis with no reply yet. Anyone who has the Win 7 64-bit drivers, can you share them please? frankshaw@entradastudios.com
Many thanks!
-Frank
I e-mailed Alesis with no reply yet. Anyone who has the Win 7 64-bit drivers, can you share them please? frankshaw@entradastudios.com
Many thanks!
-Frank
None yet
Sad to say that there are no 64 bit drivers for anything Win 7 from Alesis. They didn't even have good ones for vista, those were hit and miss depending on what computer you had. And from what most people who have written to Alesis have reported back they may or may not get around to creating any for another year, if ever. That is what they have been telling me since last September, for Firewire drivers, with their emphasis on probably never.
A lot of people are not so happy with that position and lots of posts online are now talking about the possibility of starting a class action suit. For some unknown reason Alesis seems to think that nobody should buy a new computer.
From my own experiences if you don't get a reply from Alesis in 24 hours you probably won't be getting one.
I did read a couple of posts, forget where at the moment, a while back saying that someone had written working 64 bit drivers for Linux, and I know there is a linux version specifically for recording music.
If true it may end up being the only option we have for 64 bit systems.
I've been thinking lately what if everyone that needs 64 bit software/drivers etc started writing to Alesis, sending an email a day, there are probably a few thousand of us now, if we flooded their email boxes maybe they would get the hint to finish the job.
But if you happen to find any let us all know.
Sad to say that there are no 64 bit drivers for anything Win 7 from Alesis. They didn't even have good ones for vista, those were hit and miss depending on what computer you had. And from what most people who have written to Alesis have reported back they may or may not get around to creating any for another year, if ever. That is what they have been telling me since last September, for Firewire drivers, with their emphasis on probably never.
A lot of people are not so happy with that position and lots of posts online are now talking about the possibility of starting a class action suit. For some unknown reason Alesis seems to think that nobody should buy a new computer.
From my own experiences if you don't get a reply from Alesis in 24 hours you probably won't be getting one.
I did read a couple of posts, forget where at the moment, a while back saying that someone had written working 64 bit drivers for Linux, and I know there is a linux version specifically for recording music.
If true it may end up being the only option we have for 64 bit systems.
I've been thinking lately what if everyone that needs 64 bit software/drivers etc started writing to Alesis, sending an email a day, there are probably a few thousand of us now, if we flooded their email boxes maybe they would get the hint to finish the job.
But if you happen to find any let us all know.
nialldoran
New member
yeah i had to go through hell and high water to get a 32 bit win7 computer there a week or two ago because alesis will not make 64 bit drivers, although they have done a 32 win7 beta driver on the site now, its so frustrating how behind the times they are,
they eventually started ignoring my emails because i pulled an andy dufrane and mailed them like every two days, but no response had to get a new computer and it had to 32 bit,
nightmare
they eventually started ignoring my emails because i pulled an andy dufrane and mailed them like every two days, but no response had to get a new computer and it had to 32 bit,
nightmare
johnunplugged
New member
I just mailed Alesis support as well, querying this - but also querying their 'recommended spec' for a PC - mainly because I thought it looks a bit low. The guy simply said it should be fine, although he did say "With multitrack recording its always a good idea to add RAM" -- which made me laugh - and reply to them asking HOW I could add more RAM than I have without a 64bit O/S.
I also suggested they release some of the driver info to the open source community - I've done a lot of recording on Linux using Ardour (and Ice 1010 asio 10 channel card) which is getting to be quite a good multichannel DAW (also works on OSX) -- Because I'm sure the open source community will be able to have a drive available sooner than these guys!
I would soo like to get a Multimix USB2 but am hesitant to do so if they're not going to come to the party
I'll post any replies I get.
Their reply :
---- start quote ----
Hello John,
Thanks for your email.
Windows 7 is a yet-to-be-supported OS for the Multimix USB 2.0 mixers.
As far as new updates, we do not hear of what’s coming in advance but only once they become available on our website.
Your request is important to us, and I have logged your comments as an official request.
If waiting is not a viable option for you, we recommend you use a supported OS like XP or Vista (32-Bit).
As far as system specs, the faster the better is always a good idea when processing multi-channel audio.
Many stores and online sites can custom build computers that are geared to ‘gaming’ which would also be good for audio processing.
Tips for All Systems
1. Don’t let your computer’s boot drive get too full. Make sure to leave about 20% of your computer’s main hard disk free for system tasks and virtual memory operations. This is crucial to maintain system speed. If your main hard disk gets more than 80% full, its time to go out and buy a second hard disk, or either get rid of some files. External USB and FireWire drives are more affordable than ever. For example, a Seagate 1TB External USB 2.0 drive is now less than $150!! Internal drives are even less expensive! While you’re at it, buy an extra drive just for backing up!
2. Get more RAM. Your operating system can use up to 1GB of RAM all by itself. On a recording computer, you’ll want to have more than that so your power-hungry applications have all the resources they need. 2GB is a great place to start. If you’ll be using lots of virtual-instruments, samplers etc, you’ll want to get even more…think 3 or 4GB. Is there such thing as overkill? At this point, yes, there is. While many of today’s’ computers can accommodate 8GB or more of RAM, even in virtual-instrument and sample-heavy projects, it’s almost impossible to use up that much RAM. For the most part, the only time you’ll need 8GB of ram is in the Video and 3D modeling fields.
3. If possible, record to a second hard disk. While even the 5400 RPM drives in most laptops can handle recording 8 or even 16 simultaneous tracks, you can really improve system performance by dedicating a 7200 RPM (or even 10,000 RPM drive to your recording projects. Certain files on your computer change all the time, like your email, internet search history, bookmarks, etc. Other files once they’re stored, stay more-or-less the same like music and photo libraries, large audio files etc. Your system will perform better, and won’t have to work as hard if you get a second drive to record on. This will result in less fragmented drive space, and faster loading and writing of large files. This is also makes things easier when it comes to backing up.
Best Regards,
Justin Baro
Technical Support Specialist
----- end quote -----
So still no light at the end of the tunnel
I also suggested they release some of the driver info to the open source community - I've done a lot of recording on Linux using Ardour (and Ice 1010 asio 10 channel card) which is getting to be quite a good multichannel DAW (also works on OSX) -- Because I'm sure the open source community will be able to have a drive available sooner than these guys!
I would soo like to get a Multimix USB2 but am hesitant to do so if they're not going to come to the party
I'll post any replies I get.
Their reply :
---- start quote ----
Hello John,
Thanks for your email.
Windows 7 is a yet-to-be-supported OS for the Multimix USB 2.0 mixers.
As far as new updates, we do not hear of what’s coming in advance but only once they become available on our website.
Your request is important to us, and I have logged your comments as an official request.
If waiting is not a viable option for you, we recommend you use a supported OS like XP or Vista (32-Bit).
As far as system specs, the faster the better is always a good idea when processing multi-channel audio.
Many stores and online sites can custom build computers that are geared to ‘gaming’ which would also be good for audio processing.
Tips for All Systems
1. Don’t let your computer’s boot drive get too full. Make sure to leave about 20% of your computer’s main hard disk free for system tasks and virtual memory operations. This is crucial to maintain system speed. If your main hard disk gets more than 80% full, its time to go out and buy a second hard disk, or either get rid of some files. External USB and FireWire drives are more affordable than ever. For example, a Seagate 1TB External USB 2.0 drive is now less than $150!! Internal drives are even less expensive! While you’re at it, buy an extra drive just for backing up!
2. Get more RAM. Your operating system can use up to 1GB of RAM all by itself. On a recording computer, you’ll want to have more than that so your power-hungry applications have all the resources they need. 2GB is a great place to start. If you’ll be using lots of virtual-instruments, samplers etc, you’ll want to get even more…think 3 or 4GB. Is there such thing as overkill? At this point, yes, there is. While many of today’s’ computers can accommodate 8GB or more of RAM, even in virtual-instrument and sample-heavy projects, it’s almost impossible to use up that much RAM. For the most part, the only time you’ll need 8GB of ram is in the Video and 3D modeling fields.
3. If possible, record to a second hard disk. While even the 5400 RPM drives in most laptops can handle recording 8 or even 16 simultaneous tracks, you can really improve system performance by dedicating a 7200 RPM (or even 10,000 RPM drive to your recording projects. Certain files on your computer change all the time, like your email, internet search history, bookmarks, etc. Other files once they’re stored, stay more-or-less the same like music and photo libraries, large audio files etc. Your system will perform better, and won’t have to work as hard if you get a second drive to record on. This will result in less fragmented drive space, and faster loading and writing of large files. This is also makes things easier when it comes to backing up.
Best Regards,
Justin Baro
Technical Support Specialist
----- end quote -----
So still no light at the end of the tunnel
Last edited:
nialldoran
New member
oh my
, this really is disturbing, i love my alesis multimix, but i hate alesis, what a bunch of brainless goons,
J
jokerone
Guest
Alesis is committing suicide. Can I short sell their stock?
I’m in the same boat. I own (for now) a Multimix 16 USB 2.0. Alesis is selling this as a current product, and in my opinion should support the major operating systems of the day which I would consider Windows to be one of them.
Adobe CS5 only runs on 64bit forcing me to upgrade.
I don’t really care how many bits it takes to get the product to function, just tell me how to install a working driver for this product on a 64 bit machine.
If this isn’t possible, then I’ll leave you (alesis) this advice. If you pick up a Sweetwater, BH Photo, etc. Catalog you will see the world is filled with pro audio products, each product has dozens of competitors in the same price range. Nobody I know is married to Alesis products, and if your best advise is to find a different OS because either you don’t have the desire or financial resources to support you current product line, then please direct me to your investor relations dept, because I want to short sell your common stock if you are a public company.
To me, your answer of Find another supported OS, translates to “Sell your Mulitmix on ebay and buy supported mixer from a large company with the resources to pay a programmer to write 64 bit drivers like Yamaha.”
I’ll leave you with the words of Clint Eastwood from Kelly’s Heroes. “We (the pro audio community) aren’t waiting around for you to catch up, now if you can’t keep up that’s your problem, now we are pulling out and we are pushing forward, OVER!”
I’m in the same boat. I own (for now) a Multimix 16 USB 2.0. Alesis is selling this as a current product, and in my opinion should support the major operating systems of the day which I would consider Windows to be one of them.
Adobe CS5 only runs on 64bit forcing me to upgrade.
I don’t really care how many bits it takes to get the product to function, just tell me how to install a working driver for this product on a 64 bit machine.
If this isn’t possible, then I’ll leave you (alesis) this advice. If you pick up a Sweetwater, BH Photo, etc. Catalog you will see the world is filled with pro audio products, each product has dozens of competitors in the same price range. Nobody I know is married to Alesis products, and if your best advise is to find a different OS because either you don’t have the desire or financial resources to support you current product line, then please direct me to your investor relations dept, because I want to short sell your common stock if you are a public company.
To me, your answer of Find another supported OS, translates to “Sell your Mulitmix on ebay and buy supported mixer from a large company with the resources to pay a programmer to write 64 bit drivers like Yamaha.”
I’ll leave you with the words of Clint Eastwood from Kelly’s Heroes. “We (the pro audio community) aren’t waiting around for you to catch up, now if you can’t keep up that’s your problem, now we are pulling out and we are pushing forward, OVER!”
Alesis 64 bit W7 Firewire drivers arrive with a fatal flaw for some
Thought I would add to my last post, quoted at the bottom.
Alesis, out of the blue after months of hinting that it may never happen, finally released 64 bit drivers for Win 7, for the Firewire mixers. I was so excited, for a couple of hours.
But I couldn't get them to work even after weeks of trying. And that's when I found out that all Firewire circuits are not equal, do not deal with everything moving down the wire.
Seems the Alesis drivers require a specific TI chipset, and a lot of PC's as well as lots of the add-on PCI cards have something different. Manufacturers started buying cheaper chip sets which work for things like hard drives and cameras but not audio for some weird reason, and no one ever tells the consumer upfront; could you imagine the fiasco if the same thing applied to USB?
Their only solution is to buy an add on Firewire card, they list just three as being proven to work, of course that is from long ago and for 32 bits, and one card has long since been discontinued and the other two made by Belkin have no 64 bit drivers and when I called them I was told that they have no plans to be writing one, they called Firewire a dead thing. So I went back to Alesis for suggestions, they wrote back to me that one of their techs installed one, didn't say which one, and that it works just fine for them. I am still waiting to hear back what he used for a driver, been a week now which probably means there is no answer is coming anytime soon, if ever. I am not going to gamble on buying a PCI card unless I know it will actually install and work.
The only solution left may be to buy a used 32 bit computer and just live with the 3 gigs of RAM limitation. Or go back to USB and the old one stereo track at a time limit.
If anyone out there has gotten a PCI card to install and work in W7 64 bit please let me know which card and how you dealt with the driver issue.
Thought I would add to my last post, quoted at the bottom.
Alesis, out of the blue after months of hinting that it may never happen, finally released 64 bit drivers for Win 7, for the Firewire mixers. I was so excited, for a couple of hours.
But I couldn't get them to work even after weeks of trying. And that's when I found out that all Firewire circuits are not equal, do not deal with everything moving down the wire.
Seems the Alesis drivers require a specific TI chipset, and a lot of PC's as well as lots of the add-on PCI cards have something different. Manufacturers started buying cheaper chip sets which work for things like hard drives and cameras but not audio for some weird reason, and no one ever tells the consumer upfront; could you imagine the fiasco if the same thing applied to USB?
Their only solution is to buy an add on Firewire card, they list just three as being proven to work, of course that is from long ago and for 32 bits, and one card has long since been discontinued and the other two made by Belkin have no 64 bit drivers and when I called them I was told that they have no plans to be writing one, they called Firewire a dead thing. So I went back to Alesis for suggestions, they wrote back to me that one of their techs installed one, didn't say which one, and that it works just fine for them. I am still waiting to hear back what he used for a driver, been a week now which probably means there is no answer is coming anytime soon, if ever. I am not going to gamble on buying a PCI card unless I know it will actually install and work.
The only solution left may be to buy a used 32 bit computer and just live with the 3 gigs of RAM limitation. Or go back to USB and the old one stereo track at a time limit.
If anyone out there has gotten a PCI card to install and work in W7 64 bit please let me know which card and how you dealt with the driver issue.
arcadeko
Illuminatius Overlordious
Beta Drivers
The Alesis 64 bit Beta Drivers can be downloaded here:
https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=305184#18
I think these are only for the USB 2.0 not sure about firewire.
[edit: if the drivers work for you show some love and add to my rep ]
The Alesis 64 bit Beta Drivers can be downloaded here:
https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=305184#18
I think these are only for the USB 2.0 not sure about firewire.
[edit: if the drivers work for you show some love and add to my rep
]The latest and maybe last chapter in this fiasco. I finally found a 64 bit PCI Firewire card, from www.ADStech.com the PYRO PCI 64R2, it has the latest TI chip set which seems to be the prime requirement for audio. I read a few reviews that said it was proven to work for Audio, well for M-Audio products anyway. So I ordered one, and of course it doesn't solve the problem, thank you again Mr. Murphy.
I finally did get an answer out of Alesis on how their guy got his to work, he installed it, a 32 bit card, in Win 7 under the, added on available only in the Pro version of W7, retro XP section function area. Meaning he did not get it to install or run in Win 7. Like 99% of us I only have the low end Home ?Premium? version that doesn't allow the XP add on. M$ wants $200 or more for the full version, before I could get the XP add on from them.
I can get the supposed 64 bit driver to install, but it installs in both the 64 bit and 32 bit areas of Win 7, it is also shows in one place as being for Vista for some reason, when I load Reaper it see's all 10 possible channels but lists the mixer as being closed, unusable as nothing comes through. I can't get an answer out of Alesis on how to open it, or anything else now. The last word I got from them was we wrote a driver for W7 and that's the last thing we will ever do for this, meaning it's pretty much a dead thing as far as they are concerned.
But I was also told, for the first time ever by the way, that the newer UBS 2.0 multi-mix is capable of multi-channel streaming just like Firewire version, but of course the are no 64 bit W7 drivers for that either.. That kinda irked me a bit because I had looked at that version more than once, mostly trying to figure out why they wanted $100 more than the old USB 1.0 version, and never once saw even a mention of that ability. Or I probably would have bought one and saved myself all these troubles for more than a year now. One would think that would be in the first sentence ever written about the USB 2.0 version and the main point in all their advertising. I mean that is a huge breakthrough thing for especially home recording studios. Alesis will always remain to me a huge disappointment, and a never again will I trust them, or buy anything they have to sell.
So I have to make a decision, seek out and buy an old 32 bit XP machine, another PCI Firewire card, and live with the outdated limitations it has for RAM and more, or buy a new mixer that actually works, in a 64 bit environment, but either way I'm out a ton of money and this mixer I have now becomes/remains just a very expensive paperweight/ornament irritation.
I am still hoping someone out there will discover a solution, like how do I just get the thing to open for starters.
I finally did get an answer out of Alesis on how their guy got his to work, he installed it, a 32 bit card, in Win 7 under the, added on available only in the Pro version of W7, retro XP section function area. Meaning he did not get it to install or run in Win 7. Like 99% of us I only have the low end Home ?Premium? version that doesn't allow the XP add on. M$ wants $200 or more for the full version, before I could get the XP add on from them.
I can get the supposed 64 bit driver to install, but it installs in both the 64 bit and 32 bit areas of Win 7, it is also shows in one place as being for Vista for some reason, when I load Reaper it see's all 10 possible channels but lists the mixer as being closed, unusable as nothing comes through. I can't get an answer out of Alesis on how to open it, or anything else now. The last word I got from them was we wrote a driver for W7 and that's the last thing we will ever do for this, meaning it's pretty much a dead thing as far as they are concerned.
But I was also told, for the first time ever by the way, that the newer UBS 2.0 multi-mix is capable of multi-channel streaming just like Firewire version, but of course the are no 64 bit W7 drivers for that either.. That kinda irked me a bit because I had looked at that version more than once, mostly trying to figure out why they wanted $100 more than the old USB 1.0 version, and never once saw even a mention of that ability. Or I probably would have bought one and saved myself all these troubles for more than a year now. One would think that would be in the first sentence ever written about the USB 2.0 version and the main point in all their advertising. I mean that is a huge breakthrough thing for especially home recording studios. Alesis will always remain to me a huge disappointment, and a never again will I trust them, or buy anything they have to sell.
So I have to make a decision, seek out and buy an old 32 bit XP machine, another PCI Firewire card, and live with the outdated limitations it has for RAM and more, or buy a new mixer that actually works, in a 64 bit environment, but either way I'm out a ton of money and this mixer I have now becomes/remains just a very expensive paperweight/ornament irritation.
I am still hoping someone out there will discover a solution, like how do I just get the thing to open for starters.
What one needs to do is as mentioned in later post, is purchase the WIN 7 PRO, which does allow "retro/32 bit-bridge", items to run. HOWEVER, you need to start over on ALL your recording hard and software by one of two ways: 1) you can delete all those drivers and reinstall AFTER loading WIN 7 PRO if the second way does not work but still will need to try step two regardless, 2) WIN 7 PRO has a special "PROGRAM COMPATABILITY FUNCTION" for ANY driver that you wish to be able to run on the brifged 32 bit and you NEED to tweek that under 'Properties" or "Device Manager", and only after you have done this for all your hardware/software drivers, THEN restart computer after making sure you clicked APPLY to each compatability tweek WITH sai devices cnnected via USB, Serial, etc..
What I ended-up doing was keeping my Alesis Fusion, QS8, and Ion, then purchased a brand new interface that's out: M-Audio Fast Track C600 USB Audio Interface AND Pro Tools MP9 then just midi hardware instruments into set-up and had no problems as far as using Alesis' synth's/Workstation Sampler--but when I DO buy a mixer, it will be digital with treating audio as both midi and audio, all zeros and ones and midi CC which is not dependant on 32 or 64 anything. Sadly, there comes a time you either decide to keep an older operating system PC to run all these and many do such as Trent Reznor, to name one--and simply updating your hardware one by one by selling on ebay--there's never a lack of people wanting what you no longer can use. What bothers me is when a company is bedfellows such as Akai (also owned by Numark with Alesis) and Ableton with their new MPC40--it is proprietary to Ableton and then only comes with a very "light" version of that software, short of a teaser demo, again making one drop price of new racing tires on a program. They even "claim" you can run other DAW's on that controller but it has been 'rooted' with Ableton and is just a marketing scheme! Off topic a bit but same applies to Microsoft and the 64 bit thing--it IS very expensive for any company to get licensing just to get an updated driver for items that QUICKLY become "LEGACY" items thesedays...just look what happened with Alesis and the Fusion and how quickly they washed their hands of that...and now the korg kronos is basically all the Fusion would have evolved into. Another example of bastardly marketing isI have a bud that bought roland's new gaia, another of the 'sh' series...they HAVE a very good PC Editing program for it but THAT costs an extra $99. and lastly, because alot of hardware is 'bus powered' these days, it is becoming not uncommon to have to purchase a frack'n power cord extra--yamaha is notorious for this but others are catching on...I actually miss the days of all analog and it's warm simplicity. perhaps one day our sun will cause electromagnetically, somehow, electricity will no longer work...acoustic piano and guitar's would become the next big hot ticket!! Thanks for taking a walk in my mind and hope the aforementioned tried things work for you. When you call Alesis, ask to speak to "Dan" in repair/technical support...he is musician friendly!
What I ended-up doing was keeping my Alesis Fusion, QS8, and Ion, then purchased a brand new interface that's out: M-Audio Fast Track C600 USB Audio Interface AND Pro Tools MP9 then just midi hardware instruments into set-up and had no problems as far as using Alesis' synth's/Workstation Sampler--but when I DO buy a mixer, it will be digital with treating audio as both midi and audio, all zeros and ones and midi CC which is not dependant on 32 or 64 anything. Sadly, there comes a time you either decide to keep an older operating system PC to run all these and many do such as Trent Reznor, to name one--and simply updating your hardware one by one by selling on ebay--there's never a lack of people wanting what you no longer can use. What bothers me is when a company is bedfellows such as Akai (also owned by Numark with Alesis) and Ableton with their new MPC40--it is proprietary to Ableton and then only comes with a very "light" version of that software, short of a teaser demo, again making one drop price of new racing tires on a program. They even "claim" you can run other DAW's on that controller but it has been 'rooted' with Ableton and is just a marketing scheme! Off topic a bit but same applies to Microsoft and the 64 bit thing--it IS very expensive for any company to get licensing just to get an updated driver for items that QUICKLY become "LEGACY" items thesedays...just look what happened with Alesis and the Fusion and how quickly they washed their hands of that...and now the korg kronos is basically all the Fusion would have evolved into. Another example of bastardly marketing isI have a bud that bought roland's new gaia, another of the 'sh' series...they HAVE a very good PC Editing program for it but THAT costs an extra $99. and lastly, because alot of hardware is 'bus powered' these days, it is becoming not uncommon to have to purchase a frack'n power cord extra--yamaha is notorious for this but others are catching on...I actually miss the days of all analog and it's warm simplicity. perhaps one day our sun will cause electromagnetically, somehow, electricity will no longer work...acoustic piano and guitar's would become the next big hot ticket!! Thanks for taking a walk in my mind and hope the aforementioned tried things work for you. When you call Alesis, ask to speak to "Dan" in repair/technical support...he is musician friendly!
J
jokerone
Guest
I’m in the same boat. I own (for now) a Multimix 16 USB 2.0. Alesis is selling this as a current product, and in my opinion should support the major operating systems of the day which I would consider Windows to be one of them.
Adobe CS5 only runs on 64bit forcing me to upgrade.
I don’t really care how many bits it takes to get the product to function, just tell me how to install a working driver for this product on a 64 bit machine.
If this isn’t possible, then I’ll leave you (alesis) this advice. If you pick up a Sweetwater, BH Photo, etc. Catalog you will see the world is filled with pro audio products, each product has dozens of competitors in the same price range. Nobody I know is married to Alesis products, and if your best advise is to find a different OS because either you don’t have the desire or financial resources to support you current product line, then please direct me to your investor relations dept, because I want to short sell your common stock if you are a public company.
To me, your answer of Find another supported OS, translates to “Sell your Mulitmix on ebay and buy supported mixer from a large company with the resources to pay a programmer to write 64 bit drivers like Yamaha.”
I’ll leave you with the words of Clint Eastwood from Kelly’s Heroes. “We (the pro audio community) aren’t waiting around for you to catch up, now if you can’t keep up that’s your problem, now we are pulling out and we are pushing forward, OVER!”
I ended up buying a EMU-1212M PCIe card and dumping the Alesis USB / Driver issue.
I still use it as a mixer I just unplugged the USB part so now no more pops crackles due to crappy driver issues.
The EMU PCIe card works great. no Latency issues.
Even Alesis seemed to know the product had a major flaw. the newest mixers from alesis claim to use native USB support from Windows.
I would have tried them but once burned twice shy.
I can't speak to the USB drivers, but getting the Firewire drivers to work with CuBase was a nightmare.
It boiled down to the Firmware on my Multimix8 Firewire -- It MUST be 2.0, and the nasty thing is that the firmware update utility Alesis put out will not run on Windows 7. Heh.... talk about a nasty catch-22...
Luckily for me, I have an older Dell laptop sitting here that has a Firewire port and runs Vista. Installed the driver (that comes with the firmware update), plugged in the mixer, ran the firmware update utility. All good. Plug the mixer back into my Win7-64bit machine, and BAM... I am running again!
It boiled down to the Firmware on my Multimix8 Firewire -- It MUST be 2.0, and the nasty thing is that the firmware update utility Alesis put out will not run on Windows 7. Heh.... talk about a nasty catch-22...
Luckily for me, I have an older Dell laptop sitting here that has a Firewire port and runs Vista. Installed the driver (that comes with the firmware update), plugged in the mixer, ran the firmware update utility. All good. Plug the mixer back into my Win7-64bit machine, and BAM... I am running again!