Alesis Product Support Sucks

[RRuskin]

I needed an A/D converter IC for an HD24 (Part # AL1101 to be exact.) The Alesis parts dept. not only doesn't have them but doesn't acknowledge individual components in their parts database or at least not this part. They will only sell an entire A/D board assembly which I do not need.

One technical support person I talked to didn't even know the terms "IC" or "A/D converter.

BTW - Wavefront Technologies makes the part but has no inventory of any kind in the US. I might be able to get it from Taiwan but that is yet to be determined.

So be advised that if you have anything with the Alesis brand on it, you are on your own if anything goes wrong.

 

[jmorris]

I have 2 hd24 and finally one has been giving me issues promting me to call Alesis. They gave me addresses for Alesis service centers. Both that I spoke with were great,one is cal. and one in ny. The both say they have lots of parts in stock. Maybe call Alesis and get same. The service centers are not affiliated with Alesis,maybe thats why I had a good experience.

 

[RRuskin]

I have 2 hd24 and finally one has been giving me issues promting me to call Alesis. They gave me addresses for Alesis service centers. Both that I spoke with were great,one is cal. and one in ny. The both say they have lots of parts in stock. Maybe call Alesis and get same. The service centers are not affiliated with Alesis,maybe thats why I had a good experience.

I asked repeatedly for this kind of info and got nowhere. All the service centers I called either had no parts or had them but refused to sell any. Which ones did you call?

 

[jmorris]

RRuskin, Im at work but I will post both phone numbers tonight.One was California the other New Jersey.
Jim

 

[Terry Wetzel]

Alesis support ?

I can't say I agree with the numerous complaint posts about the Alesis/Numark thing. I e-mailed support with a problem I'm having with my HD24,( I.E.) loud static on powerup, message readout, "file corrupted", scan disk and recover. I push yes and the disk scan happens but the drive files are wiped out! I e-mailed Alesis support and recieved a very detailed resonse from Dan Gonzales offering several possible causes and several possible fixes. The probable cause would be, buy a new hard drive. As yet I have not tried any of the fixes so I don't know how good Dan's info is. I'm just saying I think their trying. Has any one on the forum had similar problems? What was the fix? What is the best place to purchase good I.D.E. drives for the HD24 that don't break the bank. Thanks. doiturself

 

[RRuskin]

I can't say I agree with the numerous complaint posts about the Alesis/Numark thing. I e-mailed support with a problem I'm having with my HD24,( I.E.) loud static on powerup, message readout, "file corrupted", scan disk and recover. I push yes and the disk scan happens but the drive files are wiped out! I e-mailed Alesis support and recieved a very detailed resonse from Dan Gonzales offering several possible causes and several possible fixes. The probable cause would be, buy a new hard drive. As yet I have not tried any of the fixes so I don't know how good Dan's info is. I'm just saying I think their trying. Has any one on the forum had similar problems? What was the fix? What is the best place to purchase good I.D.E. drives for the HD24 that don't break the bank. Thanks. doiturself

As a precaution, I transfer everything from an HD24 session to my computer right away. PATA drive sources are out there but it's a guessing game as to how long since the industry has moved over to SATA. Right now, the HD24 doesn't support SATA drives and Alesis has no plans to change that.

My problems with Alesis stemmed from them:
1. admitting to having a needed part for one malady but refusing to sell it to me.
2. Giving me totally false info about the reason and cure for another problem.

My experience has been that they don't care squat about their customers or user base. They will gladly sell you a $300 assembly when all you need is a $2 part, though.

The current info is that they have laid off a lot of staff, including those with the most experience concerning the HD24. That alone should tell you something.

 

[Terry Wetzel]

Rick,
I'm sure that most of you guys are more up on these problems than I with my limited education in computer recording. I wasn't aware that Alesis did not support the SATA drive. I am requesting that either Sweetwater sales, who I purchased the HD24 and the Masterlink from or Alesis , supply me with a new, free of charge hard drive since the guy at Alesis says that a bad drive is the likely cause of the problem. (this problem started way back when, but I was dumb enough to follow on the phone trouble shooting advice rather than demand warrantee service the first time it happened! Q. can you tell me the difference in SATA and PATA drives? I recently purchased a hard drive from Sweetwater since the HD24 shipped with only one drive, A 20gig. Sweetwater sold me an 80gig drive which I'm sure costs more than a 20 saying that they,Sweetwater, did not handle the 20gig drives any longer. Their catalog boasts that they only sell SATA drives but I've experienced no problems at all with that drive(?). Q. Where is the best and most economical supply source for IDE drives that are compatible with the HD24? I keep reading here and there that they are common and cheap. I don't know about you but I personally don't consider $100.00 + cheap. Thanks for your web site and forums. I've learned most of what I knw(which isn't that much) from participating. Thanks. doiturself

 

[RRuskin]

Rick,
I'm sure that most of you guys are more up on these problems than I with my limited education in computer recording. I wasn't aware that Alesis did not support the SATA drive. I am requesting that either Sweetwater sales, who I purchased the HD24 and the Masterlink from or Alesis , supply me with a new, free of charge hard drive since the guy at Alesis says that a bad drive is the likely cause of the problem. (this problem started way back when, but I was dumb enough to follow on the phone trouble shooting advice rather than demand warrantee service the first time it happened! Q. can you tell me the difference in SATA and PATA drives? I recently purchased a hard drive from Sweetwater since the HD24 shipped with only one drive, A 20gig. Sweetwater sold me an 80gig drive which I'm sure costs more than a 20 saying that they,Sweetwater, did not handle the 20gig drives any longer. Their catalog boasts that they only sell SATA drives but I've experienced no problems at all with that drive(?). Q. Where is the best and most economical supply source for IDE drives that are compatible with the HD24? I keep reading here and there that they are common and cheap. I don't know about you but I personally don't consider $100.00 + cheap. Thanks for your web site and forums. I've learned most of what I knw(which isn't that much) from participating. Thanks. doiturself

There should be something on the drive label that states what type it is.

Do you have any drives that work with your unit now? If nothing is working then it's doubtful that you have a drive problem. I was told much the same thing when one of my drive bays wouldn't mount any drives. Even after explaining that bay 1 worked fine with any and all my drives, the tech support person I dealt with said things like "check jumper setting" and "try a different drive." Pointing out that a bad or mis-jumpered drive wouldn't work in either bay did not compute with him. He did admit that if the problem was actually in the bay itself, they wouldn't/couldn't repair it but would sell me a new one. That's not support in my book. It's shoe selling. BTW - 15 minutes on a good tech's bench found and fixed the problem @ a fraction of the cost what Alesis would have charged me.

I bought discs via Tiger Direct. If I were you, I'd get a couple of 80 gig drives. That gives you something like 16 hrs of 24-track time per disc. Back up everything you do. If you can digitally shuttle to a computer and not be dependent on a single system, so much the better. Good luck.

 

[Terry Wetzel]

Hd24 drives

Rick, Thanks for the info. do you have an address for that hard drive supply source? The latest response from the helpful (?) Alesis person was, Out of the office, be back monday! I don't mean to be a cheap skate,(but I can't help it). is $100.00 + a good price? right now the problem seems to have gone away but,sure as hell, will probably return when i least expact it! Alesis did give me instructions on resetting the unit,(i.e.) press and hold play and record while powering up and press and hold #9 and #20 while powering up. should i be nervous about running the unit with both drives installed? all i need is to have all my songs disappear without a trace. again, thanks for your help and advice. Terry

 

[RRuskin]

Rick, Thanks for the info. do you have an address for that hard drive supply source? The latest response from the helpful (?) Alesis person was, Out of the office, be back monday! I don't mean to be a cheap skate,(but I can't help it). is $100.00 + a good price? right now the problem seems to have gone away but,sure as hell, will probably return when i least expact it! Alesis did give me instructions on resetting the unit,(i.e.) press and hold play and record while powering up and press and hold #9 and #20 while powering up. should i be nervous about running the unit with both drives installed? all i need is to have all my songs disappear without a trace. again, thanks for your help and advice. Terry

http://www.tigerdirect.com/
They have 80gig PATA drives for less than $50.00.

I would only mount the 2nd drive if backing up to or transferring from it. As much as I like the convenience/speed of digital, I'm still a bit paranoid.
As mentioned before, backing up to another system entirely is probably the safest thing to do. That being said, any backup is better than none.

 

[thane1200]

So be advised that if you have anything with the Alesis brand on it, you are on your own if anything goes wrong.

So true

 

[SonicX]

I agree, i bought one multimix 16 usb i send mails to alesis suport for tips to upgrade my cubase le for cubase le 4 they respond that would be impossible... it's unfair... that is one reason to change my mixer.. for other company's..

 

[oldmusicman]

Poor Alesis Support

Count me in for not being impressed by Alesis support. I was interested in purchasing Alesis studio monitors. Research indicated the original design had great sound but had a thermal problem with the circuit design. On a Thursday evening I e-mailed support asking if Alesis had made any design changes since the monitors were first marketed. I received the "out of the office until Monday" response, same as the disgruntled forum member above. The Alesis response e-mail went on to say they would answer within 72 hours beginning first come first serve Monday morning. Five days later (from Monday) still no response from Alesis to that simple question. At this point, it doesn't matter what the response is, because even with an improved circuit design, I'm not willing to take a chance in case I might need some support. I'm keeping the thread active to demonstrate the Alesis support problem has yet to improve. I don't care what their monitors sound like if I can't count on them for help if I need it.