Alesis HD24 ADAT to SONAR

I have been using one for almost 2 years now (I think I got in April 2001) and it works beautifully. Alesis has done a great job updating the system OS for these to take care of a few quirks and problems that it had early on.

One thing that I would highly recommend is to get the FirePort firewire device for transferring tracks to your computer (and back again). YOu can do the transfers work fine with the built in ethernet system, but these are quite slow in comparison to the FirePort optin -- plus the FirePort software allows you to do some file management on the disk when it's hooked up to your computer (like naming projects/songs, deleting files etc.) that is a lot easier than it is on the HD24 unit itself.

You should probably also invest in a second drive for the other caddy, and I'd suggest a 40 or 60 Gig. You can get a 5400 rpm that works just fine, but I've tended to go with the 7200 disks anyway in case I may want to take one at some time to reformat and use as an additional HDD in my computer.

I'm a big fan of the HD24, so if you have any more questions, post here and I'll answer if I can.

Twin Paradox
Go fast, stay young

Any type of stand along device will be good for live (remote) where you don't want a computer. the Mackie SDR is another one. The Mackie requires no extra converter since it uses FAT32 drives but I think I would go with the Alesis based on what I have read on the Mackie Forum. I think the Alesis has better sound quality at 48K and may be more stable. However, you WILL want to get the Firewire port. FTP is not fun at all and was not designed for big files like that or even error checking.

Conley -

Yes, I really enjoy recording live performances, and this is one of the reasons I got the HD24. See, for example, a 22 piece jazz band with vocalist that I recorded live with it at www.thejazzband.com (we are currenlty working on a second live CD together as well).

(And by the way that was April 2002 when I got my HD24, not 2001 as I erroneously typed in my first response).

I find that the HD24 is utterly reliable, and extremely easy to set up and use. I have never missed a recording because of a problem with the machine or its operating system. Nothing is ever failsafe, of course, but I would never trust setting up a computer to do a 'one chance only' live recording as I trust this little gizmo. I've also found it to be easier to use back at the ranch for recording as well. I personally find it less distracting to all parties involved to record to this thing that to a computer. I try to limit the time I spend at the computer to mixing and mastering.

There is one thing to be mindful of if you are doing a long non-stop recording with a lot of tracks. You can end up with some pretty big files. While the Firewire transfers are pretty quick, you still have those big files to contend with on your computer once you move them over. It is possible to split them up on the HD24 itself before moving them, and just move the parts you want. That can get a bit time consuming because of the steps involved (not hard, just a little tedious). So I usually move them over to my computer and then use WaveLab and some batch processing capabilities it has to split them up into the various pieces I want to work with and toss the rest.

It's also, by the way, really comforting to know that in case something happens on the computer, those original 24 bit files are still sitting back there on an HD24 disk. They can be "locked" from editing on the disk as well to avoid silly human error.

By the way, I don't believe the HD24 yet has a built in Firewire port -- I think there are a lot of places that currently include the Fireport along with the HD24 for one price, but it is a separate item.

Twin Paradox

There was a promotion last month where you could get the fireport for free with the unit. Ask them if you can get the same deal.

ORIGINAL: Guitarmech111
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I am going to think about htis for a couple days to see if the excitement is still there. if it is, then I am getting one. I am gonna check out the price for the firewire interface too. I have heard nothing bad about this yet, even on the web. The only problem I may have with the large files is that I am not using NTFS. I have a total .7T worth of storage on my computer. 70% of that is free.
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Two things to think about. Yes FAT32 is limited to 4gig files and SHOULD be limited to 32gig per partition. Yes, you can make the larger but it's not a good idea. For your computer give NTFS some thought it's the way of the future.

Second. The HD24 does not use a format you can read on the PC. If you use one of your drives in the HD24 it can ONLY be used on the HD24 till you delete the partition and reformat it. Same way going back, the HD24 will need to reformat the drive. That's why you need the fireport.

Stick to your guns, make them GIVE you the Firedock with it or no deal. It's getting close to end of month any sales person will be willing to deal if they can.

Woo Hoo ! Not only will that thing be great for tracking but you could also use it as 24 external converters for ADAT lightpipe ! And if that were not enough you can upgrade the conveters to 96K later. What soundcard do you run ?

The upgrade is more than half the cost of the hd24 by itself. I can spend $500 more and get the XR, but I don't have a need for 24/96 right now. i will have to think about that for a little to see which option I can do or not.

I use the Delta1010.

ORIGINAL: Guitarmech111
I use the Delta1010.

I was just thinking if you got a card with lightpipe you could use the converters in the HD24, how cool is that. Let's say RME hammerfall for 24 channels !

Conley -

Keep in mind too that operating the HD24 at 24/96 (and at 24/88.2 as well) you only have 12 tracks, not 24.

Twin Paradox

ohhey
I believe you can switch it by channel yes but I have not had a reason to do that myself so you might want to ask at the HD forum to be sure:)

Keep in mind too that operating the HD24 at 24/96 (and at 24/88.2 as well) you only have 12 tracks, not 24.

Yes, That was what I read. I don't do any work at 24/96 yet. From the other XR suggestion, Now I have to see what I can get the XR for.. My wife is gonna kill me.

Wow, that is very good news. That makes the unit a perfect match for a digital sound card. I like the idea of getting a hard driver recorder built in when I buy outboard converters Kinda' adds some value don't you think ? I can deal with pairs, after all the ones I want to switch to digital will be stereo pairs anyway.

The Sonar track is not the problem, it's the digital interface. ADAT lightpipe is 48K max in native mode. However, most lightpipe cards can do bitsplit (I forget the exact term) and use two lightpipes to get 8 channels. If the sound card driver will do that and the HD24 will accept a digital signal like that no changes are needed to Sonar. There is also a special setup for AES/EBU to get around this. This is where the new Firewire interfaces have the advantage. Unlike digital audio interfaces where protocols are set, firewire gives the developer full control over how things get from one end to the other and control information too. I think if I did high sample rate that's what I would want. It's silly to have two cables for every 8 tracks when you can have one for all 24.

ORIGINAL: BrianSzep

Ok, so let me see if I understand this then. With the firewire option and tracks that are recorded on the HD24xr the HD24xr would transfer the 88.2 and/or 96 Khz (2) tracks as one track to the computer. If it does, that's great.

I still don't quite understand how you can use the HD 24 as a real time converter using the lightpipe interface to the computer at 88.2 and 96Khz.

OK, let me take a run at this. I may not get it 100% correct because I haven't work in high sample rates on my HD24 up to this point.

The 24 tracks of the HD24 are set up in 3 banks of 8 tracks each when used in standard sample rates of 44.1 or 48. Each bank has its own pair of optical i/o connectors.

When you use the HD24 in 88.1 or 96 sample rate modes, you are reduced to 12 tracks in 3 banks of 4 tracks each. So the lightpipe digital output of these high sample rate tracks from the HD24 would have tracks 1-4 on the cable for Bank 1, 5-8 on the cable for Bank 2, and 9-12 on the cable for Bank 3. What you send them into (i.e., a mixer or DAW interface) would also have to be capable of receiving these ADAT "double channel mode" format audio tracks to be useful. It's not two separate tracks or files going out, but the protocol is changed from regular ADAT such that the odd number samples go down one of the two track and the even number smaples down the other track.

Now, just so we are clear on one point about the regulat HD24 and its 88.1/96 K capabilities. The regular HD24 version (that is, not the HD24XR), also allows you to operate in 88.1 and 96K modes. However, this only works via the optical i/o, not the analog i/o. So, if you had another device that converts analog to digital at these high sample rates with an ADAT i/o that operates in this "double channel mode" (say an 01v96, for example) then you can send that to the current HD24 and record it there at the high sample rate.

The HD24XR is a modification of the analog i/o that allows it to be used both to record and play files at the 88.1 or 96 K sample rates.

So, if you want to use the HD24XR as a high sample rate A/D converter to get something into your DAW, you would also need to have an interface on your computer that handles these double channel mode, high sample rate ADAT streams (the RME digital interface stuff does this, I'm sure others do too).

Now, if you record stuff on the HD24 or HD24XR in these high sample rates by whatever means, you can transfer those files using the Fireport connector to your DAW for mixing etc. (assuming you have the soft/hardware there to handle those files). But this is not an "audio stream" procedure, this is a straightforawrd file copy as though you were copying something to / from a floppy (ok, a really big floppy) onto your computer.

Hope this helps.

Twin Paradox