Alesis HD 24XR

[reddirt]

Guys, I need some advice.
The recorder I had (Akai DPS24) has died and I have no means of fixing it here in Aust so have to move on.
I also have SX3 on a Pentium 3.2 which I used for hosting Altiverb / in depth editing / back up storage through light pipe all the while using the DPS as the main machine.

I'm now looking at a new set up on a macbook pro which would requiire a convertor interface e.g. 003 /LE 8 or ensemble /logic 8. however in saying that, it occured to me that I could do the same thing more cheaply using the HD 24XR as front end / storage for the SX3 I already own as well as be a remote recorder when required and do it possibly more reliably.

End of financial year prices could see it being round $3750 as opposed to $6,000 plus for Macbook/ensemble set-up.

My questions are ; in your experiences can this machine genuinely cut it conversion/sound-wise and in your opinions am I maybe putting good money into outdated technology (or not) ; also will it be reliable?

I asked similar questions on G/S and they were mainly very supportive but i'm wary now of devices that have a potential to be unsupported by the manufacturer.

Any thoughts,
Cheers, Ross

[Milo]

Ross;

The HD24 is a pretty reiable machine, with the hard drive of course being the most vulnerable, but as this can be substituted with a generic, you don't need to worry about manufacturer issues. I myself actually use its competitor, the Fostex DV24LV, mainly because I like and use the great idea of the remote front panel. It has also been rock solid. The conversion quality of these machines doesn't worry me: I go digital in-digital out, so its not a factor, though from what I've read, the Alesis converters aren't half bad. What analogue monitoring I've heard on both machines is also up to a good quality standard. As you prpobably know, the main gripe is with file transfer speed, but the Alesis Firepod gets around this.

[Thirteen]

Guys, I need some advice.
The recorder I had (Akai DPS24) has died and I have no means of fixing it here in Aust so have to move on.
I also have SX3 on a Pentium 3.2 which I used for hosting Altiverb / in depth editing / back up storage through light pipe all the while using the DPS as the main machine.

I'm now looking at a new set up on a macbook pro which would requiire a convertor interface e.g. 003 /LE 8 or ensemble /logic 8. however in saying that, it occured to me that I could do the same thing more cheaply using the HD 24XR as front end / storage for the SX3 I already own as well as be a remote recorder when required and do it possibly more reliably.

End of financial year prices could see it being round $3750 as opposed to $6,000 plus for Macbook/ensemble set-up.

My questions are ; in your experiences can this machine genuinely cut it conversion/sound-wise and in your opinions am I maybe putting good money into outdated technology (or not) ; also will it be reliable?

I asked similar questions on G/S and they were mainly very supportive but i'm wary now of devices that have a potential to be unsupported by the manufacturer.

Any thoughts,
Cheers, Ross

What's happened to the Akai? Is it just too expensive to repair?

[reddirt]

Yep, repair is too hit and miss; might be this board or that one @ "$750 or $1600 if we can get tjhe boards" was the prognosis with no guarantees.

As this was the 2nd time in 4 years it had had a major fit (1st under Australis warranty), I decided to opt out and sold off really cheaply.
Pity, because it had many great features.

Still looking at the Alesis.

Cheers, Ross

[Kurt]

Like Milo, I have a Fostex D2424 (mine is not the LV version) Mine too has been rock solid, though if it loses power during recording you lose the lot. It's only happened to me once but it was bloody annoying. No idea how they compare price/feature wise to the Alesis units but certainly worth looking into.

[rick]

hey Ross
a mate of mine has the mackie system (as new ) that he doesnt use, after seeing this post i asked he he would sell it
he said yeah sure make me an offer (it will be cheap) , again (2nd time this week ) with the if you are interested call me and i will join the dots :)