is buying a MASTERLINK a bit risky at this point??

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Cratinus

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dagnabbitt!! i've been saving my cash for several months for a Masterlink and now Alesis is tottering on the brink of electronic obscurity. i own SEVERAL Alesis products that i've been VERY happy with. the Masterlink has always appealed to me because i really DISLIKE involving my computer with my recording work. i just wonder if purchasing one NOW is a bad idea. perhaps the Alesis/Numark deal (or whatever it is) will go perfectly but i 'tremble' at the thought of dropping a grand (or more) on a piece of equipment that will have NO "tech-support" back-up and "uncertain" warranty coverage. any thoughts?:confused: :confused:
 
Alesis Guy

Purchase away!! :)

We are here and functioning: sales, tech support, service, warranty repairs, you name it.

thanks,

Mike
 
You will have so many more options available to you using a PC solution for mixing to and mastering. Mainly, you will have a GUI, which will speed up editing 10 fold!

Also, be aware that the Masterlink is proprietary, meaning, third party software will not ever work on it, unless the software company writes stuff specifically for the Masterlink. Why is this important? Mainly because you have NO options on using other eq's and limiters and compressors, enhancers. You can ONLY use what Alesis provides in their software on the machine.

When I master, I find myself using 2 different eq's (Steinbergs QMetric, and Waves C eq's) and 3 different limiters (Waves L1, Steinberg's ME compressor and Loudness Maximizer) and sometimes using some Maxx Bass by Waves, and Spetralizer by Steinberg. There are other plug in's that I use from time to time too. The point is, that depending on the sound that is needed, I have a variety of plugin's to use to find the one that works best, NOT what came with the software. I have the ability to try out new products when they comes out and see if they might work better for me. None of this is available with the Masterlink, and I think as you use it more, you will start to miss that kind of versatility.

For the same money, you can get the same thing in a PC solution, AND, you can ADD to it. With the Masterlink, you are at the mercy of Alesis to come up with new software to install.

Again, editing and applying fadeout's and fadein's is MUCH faster to do when you can see the wave form on a screen.

All in one, proprietary boxes always seem really cool, but almost without fail, people start to want to expand and try different things with it. The Masterlink is NOT going to allow you to do this. I don't say this just based on my own experience. In two years of posting on this BBS, I have seen it time and time again.

Masterlink = limited proprietary box that will be outdated in a year.

PC Solution = unlimited OPEN format that can be upgraded and expanded to suit future needs and wants.

buying something limited now = buying a whole new system in the future to fullfill your needs then.

buying basic open system now = same immediate features, but with unlimited upgrading in the future.

Think about it before consider the Masterlink. Something like a Lynx One audio card and Wavelab 3.0 software is just as good, and will allow to you expand in the future. You will pay about the same money, and your editing work will be much easier to do.

Ed
 
Just as a counterpoint- I have two of them now, and I find them to be very useful indeed. Hey, Ed- what I write here is just another data point for the original correspondent, and it is most assuredly not intended to piss you off. Might do it anyway, though- in which case, I apologize in advance.

If you really want to hook up other limiters, compressors, EQsm and so on at the inputs to the unit: you certainly can. Nothing prevents this, of course. The Masterlink will just print whatever is coming in either via analog, S/PDIF, or AES/EBU. Shoot, you could do that with computer DAW stuff, if you like. To read Ed's article above, you might believe that all you'll ever be able to do with the unit is use its internal processing. Not so. You can print to it, fly the data digitally onto a DAW, fly it _back_ to the Masterlink, burn with it.
_
All it really is is a standalone 2-track HDR with certain editing and processing capabilities, which you can use or bypass as you see fit. Ed is absolutely right in one respect: anything it can do in terms of processing, you can do equally well or better by buying computers and soundcards and recording software and plugins and screwing around for hours. Here's the catch: some people like that, others don't. I'm a "don't".

If, on the other hand, what you need is to be able to record 2 tracks, do reasonable amounts of processing on the tracks, assemble and burn CD-Rs, AND you don't want to spend the next 6 months dealing with the blue screen of death every time something unexpected crops up, it is actually a very good unit.

I was printing tracks and making money with mine in less time than it took to read the "getting started" manual for Cubase. I do use Cubase now, and Wavelab, and I now spend lots of time learning to do the forward-thinking, general-purpose, expandable, future-proof stuff that Ed mentions. I love my plugins. Hooray for DAW work!

However, having said that: Cubase also eats my tracks sometimes. Unfortunately, sometimes I work live where a second take is not an option, so that completely disqualifies computer recording for me right up front. The talent (and audience) will not wait while I sort out a driver conflict... My working style is such that sometimes I just want to record, and not worry about the blue screen, or Cubase deciding to drop out of record in mid-take, or any of the other various unpleasant and frustrating things that not-fully-sorted computer recording rigs are heir to. Someday I may change my mind on this topic, but I doubt it. I'm a dinosaur. I want to record, not type at the keyboard. So I use dedicated HDRs to get the tracks, and then play with them much later with the DAW.

Don't get me wrong: Ed and I probably agree on far more items than we disagree on, and I have a world of respect for his experience and chops. But where we clearly differ is in working styles. My personal style is such that a dedicated box that does only a few things, and does them stone-reliably, may offer serious advantages over the completely future-proof but fragile approach. Ed falls on the other side, and his working style is perfectly adapted to doing whatever he finds is necessary to get the job done. In short, he's not wrong. And neither am I: we just have radically different expectations and working styles, which means different hardware to get the same job done.

Which is why your mileage may vary. I'm not worried about my Masterlinks becoming obsolete: there are specific tasks for which they are perfectly well adapted. If in a year I load up external converters and megabuck outboard digital processing gear in front of it, that'll be amusing- but I know that what I want the most (for 2 tracks to get converted to bits that are then striped reliably onto a disk, and not sent into the bucket) will still happen. That's what I bought *mine* for.
 
Hey skippy, fair enough. I DO have to counter a few points though.

You insinuate about blue screens of death and what not. Not been my experience. I didn't have driver issues, burning issues, nothing when I bought, read here, QUALITY devices. My Lynx One card was one. Killer device driver that works on all Windows formats. Aside from having a DMA capable hard drive, and a stable Windows install (I have a dual boot and the 98 install didn't need any tweaking at all to work with Wavelab and the Lynx One card. Installed it all and started recording/editing/mastering right away.

So, a PC solution DOESN'T have to be hard to do. Just requires a modest computer and good soundcard and software.

Second, I probably should have stated of course that you can work with the Masterlink with other devices. But hey, price a Waves L2 hardware piece against their software version....:) Yes, you can use just about any hardware to increase to available DSP, or analog processing options on the Masterlink, and as you said you can do exactly the same thing with a PC solution. But really, that IS the point isn't it!? With the Masterlink though, you CAN'T use the any number of great, decently priced software DSP solutions for mastering, and a pretty good chance that most companies are NOT going to write new code for their stuff to work on the Masterlink.

So, to recap, I don't think the PC solution is going to be a pain in the ass anymore. 2 years ago, I would have JUMPED on a Masterlink over a PC solution! But a high quality PC is VERY easy to set up now, and offers a competitive price point in comparison, and again, is so much more versatile. For the same money, you get so much more. Most around here are looking for the best bang for the buck, and I don't think the limited Masterlink is that by a long shot!!! It is NO better than a PC solution, and shouldn't even for a second be confused as one. The whole "PC's are unstable to work on" thing is rubbish is you are only dealing with a stereo .wav file. Wavelab has never crashed on me and I have never had to do a whole bunch of tweaks to make it work. I was actually amazed that it offered so many features and ran so stable.

So, I repect what you are saying, I just don't think it fits into the what most around this BBS is really seeking in a mastering solution. People want the most versatility with the most expansion they can get for the least amount of money. I don't see the Masterlink being anything more than a way to burn a one-off CDR on the fly. Other than that, it is a very limiting box in a production environment, and I just don't feel it is a good bet for someone that is trying to do any serious work. I usually have to produce really good results in a very short amount of time, BECAUSE I am being paid. Hell, when I can take my time and have some fun, something like Wavelab gives me the versatility and options that really rock!

So, there is where I sit. I think anyone looking into a Masterlink should REALLY assess what they anticipate what they will need down the road, like a year from now, and ask themselves if a proprietary box is going to do that for them. If so, well, have at it! :)

Ed
 
>Masterlink = limited proprietary box that will be outdated in a year.
>PC Solution = unlimited OPEN format that can be upgraded and expanded to suit future needs and wants.

You have to throw in (if only for journalistic integrity) that while the Masterlink box may be "outdated" in a year, the PC will go the same route in 18 months. You'll be wanting to get a new MB. And all the crap that can be transferred from one PC to the next in such an upgrade probably won't be, because the components have aged to the same degree and need to be upgraded to avoid bogging down the faster platform.

Aside: what do we mean by outdated? You can buy the same power for less money or more power for the same money at the point in the future when the machine can be considered outdated.

So it's important (especially for purchasers of one box solutions) to focus on whether the machine does what you need it to do right now AND further into the future than the 12 or 18 months.

"Outdated" and "Useless" aren't synonymous.
 
sonusman said:
But a high quality PC is VERY easy to set up now, and offers a competitive price point in comparison, and again, is so much more versatile. For the same money, you get so much more. Most around here are looking for the best bang for the buck, and I don't think the limited Masterlink is that by a long shot!!!

Ed
Click to expand...

Great discussion guys...I needed to hear both sides on this topic, even though I sprung for a Masterlink a few months ago, and have been happy with it...

Ed, excuse my ignorance here (I haven't really sat down and priced this stuff out), but what kind of bucks are we looking at to set up a system similar to the one you're describing *including computer*? You say that a PC system offers a competitive price point, but is that including the PC, or does it assume one already owns a suitable computer?

What's a total package that will do two-track editing, etc. going for these days?
 
drstawl really touches on my main point, back there. The Masterlink does indeed do exactly what I need it to do, right out of the box, with no setup overhead or argument required. My needs are pretty simple, really, and I fall into the dying category of "tapeless-tape-machine-style" users. My needs have been simple from back in the days when my 2-track _was_ a tape machine, and they promise to keep on being simple: my working style evolved a long time ago. And the Masterlink threatens to keep on doing just what I need, despite the relentless march of technology. Which is why I'm well content.

As I said, your mileage may vary. But the original poster asked his question in the context of not wanting to involve his computer in his recording, and boy, can I understand that!
 
Hey Tonewoods. Slackmaster is the master on computer stuff concerning building a great system for cheap.

$600 is going to build you a machine with a everything (you provide the OS, which you already have because you are on a computer....:)) that will handle 2 tracks of 24 bit audio just fine and you could apply around 4 high quality plug's reliably, and would be able to burn CDR's with it. This includes 20GB of drive space too.

Wavelab is going for around $300, and already has some decent "built in" direct X plugin's.

Something like the Lynx One audio card is hovering around $400 right now.

That is $1300 total, and you have about the same quality DSP as a Masterlink with all the added benefits of visually manipulating the audio.

Add $300 bucks for something like the Waves Native Power Pack, and no you have world class digital limiting, compression, eq.

Yup, you will need to do a bit yourself to get it all going. But the power you gain is incredible in comparison.

A side note. If you are careful, you could purchase a computer used and get a better machine as a result for the same money. I would suggest reformatting the hard drive once you got it and starting over with installing the OS. I would also recommend that you don't install anything on this machine that is not essential to audio production. No Kill Slash 2 video games and what not....:)

If you already have a pretty good computer, well, of course you are only into the soundcard and software. Bonus....:)

Ed
 
A most excellent, informative thread!! I'm still gonna' get me 1 of those MasterLink thingy's! So far I have saved alomost $183.46 cents! I'm Almost there!!!
 
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