HD24 questions

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bileshake

bileshake

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I'm considering one of these machines but I'm used to using a radar 24. I can't afford a radar of my own but the grapfic editing is very handy. I know mackie makes a machine like that but I'm still interested in the alesis. IS there a way you swap the bay full of audio and plug it into a bay and edit the file on your Mac or PC. If not there should be.

Help me out here.
 
yes. the alesis fireport lets you hook up one of the caddy's to your computer via firewire. you can't edit right on the drive, but you can transfer to your computer, edit, and transfer back. i actually like this method better, because you have an automatic backup on your drive if you mess up in editing. you can also transfer files with the built in ethernet connection which is really really easy to do, but slow.
 
Plus, FWIW... I got two Alesis adat HD24's when they first hit the market (a few years ago) and I haven't had any problems... both Alesis HD24's are still working perfect.
 
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. I know Bruce swears by the Fireport.
 
Got HD24 and absolutely love it. Would be one of the very first things I'd buy again if my studio burned down to the ground. I transfer through the ethernet which is slow as fuck, but I usually spend that time putting all the instrument cables back on the walls etc. Theres always something to do, and stress have no place in a studio.

Although I would like the firewire caddy sometime in the future.
 
I've had mine for a year with no real problems. I just had do quick format 3 months ago to clean the hard-drive up.
 
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Ive had mine for less than 2 weeks and have had a boatload of issues including lockups, red pinning/noises, scratching sounds, error codes, etc. Just thought Id share my experience.
 
Have you tried it with more than one hard drive?
 
I used a freinds a couple times

and I was hooked. Got my own this last summer. I bounced it down a set of stairs in a regular skb 4-place case (busted the case) and all I had to do was wiggle the ribbons between the circuit boards to get it fired up again. It's been running great. All of my recording revolves around this unit.
 
Track Rat said:
Have you tried it with more than one hard drive?
Click to expand...

No, I have only used the one that came with the ADAT. If I had to guess, thats where the problem lies (as this problem happens in both bays). However, for all I know, it might not be. As such, I will wait for Alesis technical support to actually give me an answer as to what they think.
Only reason I dont know if its the hard drive is because I dont hear any odd noises coming from it and it works most of the time. I scanned the disk for errors and found none. Thanks for the suggestion though. Have you had the same experience?
 
Mine has never so much as burped. I even had a moron reach over and pull out a drive while the unit was on ("what's this handle here for?" :eek: ). I powered down and back on with no ill effects.
 
Am I missing something? I have been using one of these quite a bit recently and I can't see any advantages over using a PC, especially when it comes to editing.

I am very ignorant though, please enlighten me.
 
Well, for me, it is nice to not have to use a mouse clicking on things and battling sound card issues, great conversion (noticably beter than my soundcard), portable if need be, and very simple to operate. I am much more effecient as far as recording goes now. It does have downsides, but I am much happier recording with this than I was with Cubase and the like. Plus, you dont have to deal with computer issues and noise (post fan mod on the HD24). And as far as editing, I find the punch in and out better and quicker than what I was able to do with Cubase.

If need be, you can then send those tracks to the computer (Firewire, Ethernet, etc.) and edit from there. My only complaint is not being able to use VST with it on the fly. Thats the only area where I preferred the computer. All in all, minus the technical problems, I am very happy I got it.
 
Fair enough! It's like having a big digital reel, I guess, no bells and whistles but solid at what it does. I would miss all those free plugins I use though ... but having a big rack full of gear does look pretty awesome ... er, I mean, is sometimes preferable.
 
I use my HD recorder as a glorified AD/DA converter. To me it's the most affordable way to get 24 channels of decent conversion. Plus, I send the analog outs to the Console while the digital outs go straight into Nuendo where the recording actually happens. This way I never have to worry about latency. I love the Alesis HD24, but I fail to see how it would be faster and better than Cubase. I can certainly see how much better it would be though than trying to use a sequencer that was poorly setup, and a badly tuned system. When computers have problems they can be very frustrating.
 
Tell me about it. I'm unable to record at the moment cos of my PC.

I can see the advantages of the HD24...we have an Nuendo interface at uni but for some reason it's not connected via the adat ports.
 
Everyone works in their own way. I started using tape decks, and the HD24 brings me back to that manner. Using a computer program to record seems sterile to me...
In addition, after a fan mod, the HD24 is quieter than my computer. I also do not miss staring at a computer monitor for everything.
 
I'm the same way. I used a Tascam 38 1/2" 8-track for years and years. Never had an interest in computer based stuff, but wanted more tracks and didn't want to deal with 2" tape (and the cost). So with a bigger mixer and the HD24XR, there wasn't much of a learning curve.

Of course, now that I've figured out how to take the tracks from the HD24 and edit them in my cheapy cakewalk and put them back, it's opened up a whole new arena for my recordings.

I've also recently purchased Fruity Loops and can now compose some pretty good drum parts on the PC and put them onto the HD24 and track the piano, guitar, bass, vocals etc.

I'm currently using the Fireport but would love to "hard wire" the HD24 to my computer...how slow is the ethernet connection really? Say for 8 tracks of a 5 minute song, how long would it take?
 
Nate74 said:
I'm currently using the Fireport but would love to "hard wire" the HD24 to my computer...how slow is the ethernet connection really? Say for 8 tracks of a 5 minute song, how long would it take?
Click to expand...
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.......
 
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Blue Bear Sound said:
It's slow to the point of being unusable.... 8-tracks of 5 minutes would be at least an hour.
Click to expand...

Ouch! At that point I think you use the ADAT which takes 5 minutes . . . wait, was that one song with eight tracks, or eight songs of 24 tracks?
 
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