HD24 questions

[Outlet7]

Ive heard that the HD 24 can be used with pro tools in order to get 24 tracks out into the mixing board. Im converting my studio over from adats to pro tools, and I am looking for a cheaper solution than getting pro tools HD to get as many tracks to my mixer as possible(dont want the mixer to lose its use, and would rather mix on it anyway). So can you actually transfer 24 tracks in real time back to it? For instance hit play in pro tools, and have the track outputs assigned, have them go through the HD 24 to the mixing board? Im sure I would need the firewire for this. If this doesnt work what can I do???

 

[Nate74]

It's slow to the point of being unusable.... a 5 minute song having 8 tracks would be at least an hour - before I got the Fireport, I simply did transfers in Real-time (sync'd to the DAW).... MUCH faster.......

Ouch... Thanks Blue Bear. I guess I'll be sticking with the Fireport.

 

[iflyinmymind]

Hello, I am about to buy a used Alesis HD24 and a fireport, but I dont own one so correct me if I am wrong!! I think can transfer the 24 tracks in real time via Firewire straigtht to Cubase/Nuendo. If i choose to track straight to Cubase, I think it is supposed to recognise the HD24 as ADAT's....I believe?
At the same time the Alesis is Mirroring output on the 24 Analog TRS jacks and the 24 Digital Optical jacks. It was stated on gearslutz.com about the Hd24's ability to only use the 24 analog outputs 1 way at a time. This would mean that if you want to monitor from the computer, you have many options!!! The cheapest way....and easiest way is all that is my concern as a musician. I will use 20 channels as input, and 2 channels set to output for DAW monitoring purposes. The other options do not interest me as to difficulty and such. I believe you can monitor from your mixing board, or buy a 2 channel D/A for monitoring. If I want to record to all 24 channels I can just use the machine and then transfer it...If you track to it first you have the advantage of avoiding the DAW at tracking stage...focus only on the music!! Then when you send it to your computer you already have a backup HD that never needs to be defragmented. Then you only start mixing when all the tracking is done..and save the DAW headaches for when everyone else is gone.

I have learned to hate computers as a way of recording my 'live' music.
Despite this I just bought a 1u rack space computer case for my portable DAW. Now if the computer does not work..I wont lose the recording because I will switch to the alesis in stand alone recorder mode!!! I can wait to get one!! I can now fit a 24 channel recording studio in a 4 space rack case. I will only need one short cable to my DAW which can fit in a 1 space rack case just above the alesis (3u) and use a short firewire cable to connect them directly to the F/W in the motherboard. Then I will have redundant disk recorders and unlimited record time (based on cheap Hd space..I have seen 200 gig hds for 50.00 or less). My AMD64 computer with a gig of ram, spdif, gigabit ethernet, and firewire is only 450.00. The alesis use is 1000.00 the fireport new is 200. I then need to buy 2 serial hds, in which I can run in RAID to back up whats coming in...and I have a dual monitor card.So this system in my mind seems cheap, fast, easy, and redundant. The total cost with out alll the other necessities of a studio is below 2000 for a 24 track studio with DAW computer.

 

[soundsarge]

HD owner here too. Never a problem going on two years. I get my tracks into a computer with a MOTU 2408 via the Lightpipe gozintas/gozoutas. It's a real time transfer but that's not an issue with me. It gives me a chance to criticly listen to the raw tracks going in while I make notes on what to fix.

This is exactly how I have been doin things for almost 2 years now. I like the reliability of the HD24 for our off-site tracking sessions and then flying it into Sonar 3 PE for mix and edit. I just wish I could get the FF and RW to work properly when sync'd w/ the Mackie D8B.

 

[nreece]

AIFF fireport transfers at 24/96k

Nate,

I'm Nate too. Just curious if you've tried exporting AIFF format files in 24/96k via Fireport and ADAT connect. I have been trying this with absolutely no luck. Sonar 4, which imports AIFF, can't recognize these files. When I fly them in from my Alesis Masterlink it works fine. Any ideas?

Nate R

 

[Nate74]

Nate R,
Sorry to just be getting back to the board. As for your question.... way over my head. I record at 44.1 and then send the files as .wav files into my Cakewalk Home Studio. I did once try some 88.2 recording then converted them to 44.1 and that worked fine. Never ever used AIFF though.... sorry.
Nate M

 

[deepwater]

Hello, I am about to buy a used Alesis HD24 and a fireport, but I dont own one so correct me if I am wrong!! I think can transfer the 24 tracks in real time via Firewire straigtht to Cubase/Nuendo. If i choose to track straight to Cubase, I think it is supposed to recognise the HD24 as ADAT's....I believe?

No you can't. You have to pull the drive out of the HD24 and dock it with the Fireport and traansfer the files. If you want to recording in realtime to your PC via fire wire you need to get the RME digiface and card that goes with it. That would allow you to record into your computer via 24 channels of ADAT.

You could also get a used DM24 for $1000.00 and add the $300.00 firewire card and record 24 channel in realtime via firewire. This would also give a Controller and you can use the on board effects of the DM24.