Hello! And a quick Alesis IO|26 question...

  • Thread starter Thread starter ldinsdale
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ldinsdale

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Hello - first post on this forum!

I have an Alesis IO|26 and it has worked flawlessly from the day I got it (back in April this year) with my Macbook via firmware and the included Cubase LE4. I know lots of people have had major headaches with this device, so why am I asking a question?

Well, I recently wanted to use the device as a kind of submixer for my band during a rehearsal, as our PA only has a limiting 6 channels with only the first 4 having enough gain for the vocal mics. So I hooked the IO|26 up to the mains power adapter and plugged all 8 mics in, and used the headphone 1 output to send audio to the PA. All mic channels were live and receiving input as the LED bars were lighting up, although there was no sound being output. I tried rotating the Main and Blend controls several times, but no joy. I swapped cables in case that was the issue. Still nothing. I used a pair of working headphones and still nothing!

Now the crazy thing is, when I connect via firewire I can use the device and it works perfectly. Audio out through the headphones 1 & 2 and the outs can be selected and used too. I believe I should be able to use the device without the firewire cable connected - is this true? I would really appreciate it if other IO|26 users could let me know if their devices work like this, as it would be really useful for my band both in rehearsal and live situations. Obviously, I could use the laptop too, but seems like overkill if I can get away with leaving it at home!

Sorry for the ramble - many thanks!

Lewis
 
I don't have an IO 26 so my reply is based solely on looking through the manual. Someone else who has experience with the IO 26 may know better.

It appears that IO 26 has to be connected to a computer to send sound to the outputs as the direct monitoring features can only be configured through the Alesis HDM control applet. My guess is that the unit doesn't have the capability to store the HDM configuration internally so it defaults to an all channels off (or similar) state when no computer is attached.
 
Erich,

Many thanks - you are spot on with your assumptions. I have been told this by Alesis tech support - so the IO|26 does need the computer in order to pass audio.

Regards,

Lewis
 
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