Alesis io26 and io14 Interfaces

[Vibroluxman]

nice. I just bought the io14 because the io26 was out of stock and I need something ASAP. Hope it lives up to the hype you guys are putting out.

[Anderton]

Well if you find any problems with it, this is the place to post about them!

[JurpoJim]

Hi guys,

One important issue to be solved: what about the system requirements? Manufacturer claims that minimum is pentium 4 or a 2 gHz AMD and 1 Gb of memory. Has anyone experience on a system that´s just a little below that? For my laptop has a 1,6 gHz AMD + 512 Ram and I'm wondering should I try Alesis IO26.

 

I did a small research and found two different information on the subject. The website says 1 gig of RAM needed and the products "quick installation guide" says 256 Mb of RAM (512 recommended).. a bit confusing. I don´t know if this is relevant to any other person on this forum, but any clarification is welcome.

 

The installation guide can be found here (see page 2):

http://www.alesis.com/downloads/manuals/7-51-0211-A.pdf

[HKSblade1]

sys requirement minimums are just that. I go way above in Ram for anything audio. Could be lower than most since it's an interface.

[Hyperborea]

How does the io14 compare against the Konnekt 8? They are both roughly the same street price, $300, but the io14 has somewhat better input support. Are the pre-amps and converters of comparable quality? How about the drivers (particularly on the Mac)? What would make you choose one over the other?

 

Thanks

[Anderton]

Before we install the drivers, mixer applet, and the latest firmware, let’s check out the back panel.

 

Going from left to right on the first picture, there are the two headphone jacks, then 8 output jacks. These are balanced types, but you can use unbalanced lines. Again, these have lockwashers and locknuts, so I don’t think they’re going anywhere.

 

Moving over to the second picture, there are the two phono inputs; note the grounding post for turntables. Next up are the two ADAT optical inputs, which as mentioned previously, are useful for expanding beyond the existing eight inputs.

 

To the right are the coaxial SPDIF in and out; note that you can’t use the optical ADAT ports as optical SPDIF.

 

In picture 3, you can see the MIDI in and out jacks, the two FireWire ports, and the jack for the external AC adapter. With my Power Mac dual G5 FireWire provided enough power for the io26, but if your computer doesn’t, there’s an included AC adapter.

[Anderton]

I must say that finding the updates on the Alesis web site was simple (not always the case with some manufacturers). Also, the READ ME is a crystal-clear PDF that makes installation and updating easy. If you have older files, you’re not asked to remove them by hand or whatever; there’s a program to take care of that.

 

I’ve posted the READ ME as an attachment so you can see what I’m talking about. I wish all updating instructions were this straightforward. The manual itself is also clear, concise, and useful. Whoever does the documentation deserves some props (if it's the same person who did the documentation for the Podcasting kit, double props).

 

Anyway, after a few minutes the drivers were installed, the firmware installed, and the mixer applications ready to go. The little yellow “firewire active” light came on, so things were off to a promising start.

[Anderton]

I should mention that all my initial testing is occurring with a Mac. Why? Because FireWire on G5 Macs is problematic. In the Pro Reviews I've done of various interfaces (Mackie Onyx 400F, Mackie Satellite, PreSonus Inspire, and Konnekt 24D), many users have reported issues with Mac Firewire connections. So I figured if the io26 could beat this problem, that would be important to know.

 

So far, though, there's no "FireWire whine" and I don't have processor sleep turned off. Good.

[Anderton]

All right! I loaded up a file in Peak, played it back through the io26, and all was well. I was a little confused at first because I assumed the io26 clock should be set to Internal, but Peak kept defaulting to SPDIF. I went into the Mac's Audio and MIDI Setup, set the clock source to Internal, and Peak went along with that. The headphone delivered plenty of output.

 

So then I figured it was time to do a recording test, and set up a mic. I could drive the mic input into distortion with a good ol' SM58. The gain isn't enough for if you're whispering and want to drive it to full scale, but that's what the insert jacks are for. On playback, I got back what I put in.

[Anderton]

The HDM application shown in the picture provides a mixer for the various inputs and outputs, lets you save and load setups, and do various types of housekeeping. The picture shows it in action, recording the mic and monitoring it through the output.

 

But unfortunately, just as it's starting to get exciting, I have to sign off for a few days...I'll be visiting my mother who just got out of the hospital, and will be helping her out for the rest of the week. I can throw some comments in here and talk a bit more about the HDM, but as I can't take my studio with me, comparative tests with other preamps and such are going to have to wait until I get back. I apologize for the interruption, and I will be monitoring this thread if there are questions on what's happened so far.

[ViLo]

Thanks Craig, I hope your mom gets well very soon!

[ViLo]

I got my iO26 an hour ago..... :phil:

[Vibroluxman]

Hope all works out for the best

 

Quick question for y'all -

The firewire ports - are those there for connecting things to the interface or for connecting the interface out? I have a firewire device that would be nice to connect through the interface.

 

Also, can you use this as a sort of live sound PA board? I.E. Plug in, adjust the mixers on the screen and out to monitors? I'm assuming so, but I'd love clarification. I'll have mine by friday hopefully.

 

Thanks,

Eric

[ViLo]

Hope all works out for the best Quick question for y'all - The firewire ports - are those there for connecting things to the interface or for connecting the interface out? I have a firewire device that would be nice to connect through the interface. Also, can you use this as a sort of live sound PA board? I.E. Plug in, adjust the mixers on the screen and out to monitors? I'm assuming so, but I'd love clarification. I'll have mine by friday hopefully. Thanks, Eric

 

One FW port connects to the computer, the other one you can use to connect an external Drive.

 

I don't see why not, after all is a mixer too, but you'll have to use a computer to take advantage of the efx...etc..

[jamesgitch]

i was wondering if the alesis io 26 works with pro tools because im trying to find a audio interface that has more than two mic inputs. currentlly i have a mbox 2 and im now needing to upgrade so i can track drums and such. if its not do any of you have any suggestions for a audio interface with more than 4 inputs and works with pro tools le

[Anderton]

ViLo, let us know what you think!! Do you find the documentation as helpful as I do?

[ViLo]

 

ViLo, let us know what you think!! Do you find the documentation as helpful as I do?

 

Yes! very easy to understand and a breeze install.....10:thu: I'm not going to be able to fully tested until this weekend.

[ViLo]

 

i was wondering if the alesis io 26 works with pro tools because im trying to find a audio interface that has more than two mic inputs. currentlly i have a mbox 2 and im now needing to upgrade so i can track drums and such. if its not do any of you have any suggestions for a audio interface with more than 4 inputs and works with pro tools le

 

 

Only ProTools interfaces work with ProTools software, that's the way is designed.

Unless something changed in the last few months,,,,?

[Edge100]

Can anyone with an io26 and a Mac discuss the problems documented in this thread?

[ViLo]

Can anyone with an io26 and a Mac discuss the problems documented in this thread?

 

This problems?

____________________________________________________________________

"So I never listen to iTunes through it or open e-mail programs or surf the web when the thing is hooked up.

 

That said, I went ahead and checked mine out, just to see if I could increase your sample size on this. And yes, when I'm listening to something in iTunes, then open Mail or Safari, there is a quick little "blurp" (only when I open the program, not at any point after this or when I close it). One time out of about twenty times doing this, opening Safari made the sound start cutting in and out. But I just closed iTunes and reopened it, and everything was cool again.

 

So, for me, this is a total nonissue. If you're constantly opening up and closing Mail and Safari while you're listening to iTunes through your nice FireWire audio interface for some reason, I can see how it might be a minor annoyance. But, IMHO, that's about it. Even if I were to use the iO/26 in a way that did make this occur for me, it wouldn't be nearly half as annoying as something as simple as remembering the proper order to opening Logic and Reason for ReWire, and making sure that you click on the Reason song, not the icon on the dock (so that you don't change your Logic song's tempo) -- and I deal with this every day, and it doesn't bother me."

___________________________________________________________

 

A recording interface is for recording, and you supposed to have a dedicated computer just for that...I don't care about glitches when I open mail, and browsers, those things don't have nothing to do with recording.

 

So is not an issue for me @ all, if somebody wants to play iTunes, that somebody needs to buy an mp3 player, the iO/26 is not desigened for that...But I fAlesis fixes that I guess it'll be a good thing;)

 

That's mi opinion only, and I'm sticking to it!

[NorthSider]

Bought myself an IO|26 today, will be recording with it this weekend -- I'll follow up with any issues or comments.

[bOing]

A recording interface is for recording, and you supposed to have a dedicated computer just for that...I don't care about glitches when I open mail, and browsers, those things don't have nothing to do with recording.

 

I agree. Save your money and use core audio and that mini jack for recreational musical purposes. If you are serious about recording, then the main concern should be whether this unit malfunctions while tracking or mixing, not while surfing for porn.

 

My interest, if anyone can address it, is whether these preamps are as good or better than those in the TC Konnekt 24D. I want to buy one of the many glitchy units available and I prefer more i/o.

 

Anyone?

[Edge100]

I agree. Save your money and use core audio and that mini jack for recreational musical purposes. If you are serious about recording, then the main concern should be whether this unit malfunctions while tracking or mixing, not while surfing for porn. My interest, if anyone can address it, is whether these preamps are as good or better than those in the TC Konnekt 24D. I want to buy one of the many glitchy units available and I prefer more i/o. Anyone?

 

Sorry, but I really don't buy this. You're making excuses for the interface. Every other established FW interface can be used in this manner, and can deal with switching between apps without any glitches. Alesis' comments, which are along the lines of "this is normal", are even more frightening.

 

I want to io26 to be my next interface. It has everything I need, at the right price. But I'm not going to purchase an audio interface that doesn't allow me to properly use iTunes when I want to listen to some tunes in between making music.

 

I'm not judging the interface yet. But, I did want to know if anyone else could replicate (and not make excuses for) this documented issue.

[rogerramjet]

I have an IO26 that I use with my Powerbook G4 and this doesn't happen. Perhaps this is a MacIntel issue? Anyways I'm sure Alesis will address this. After all it's new interface and the Mac Intel is relatively new. I'm pretty happy with my IO26 and it works great with Logic. Where else can you get up to 24 inputs similtaneous for $400 bucks?

 

 

 

Sorry, but I really don't buy this. You're making excuses for the interface. Every other established FW interface can be used in this manner, and can deal with switching between apps without any glitches. Alesis' comments, which are along the lines of "this is normal", are even more frightening. I want to io26 to be my next interface. It has everything I need, at the right price. But I'm not going to purchase an audio interface that doesn't allow me to properly use iTunes when I want to listen to some tunes in between making music. I'm not judging the interface yet. But, I did want to know if anyone else could replicate (and not make excuses for) this documented issue.

 

[sumpm1]

Thanks for the review Anderton, can't wait to see the rest of it. Best wishes to your mother. Just to get this straight, the io26 has 8 preamps correct? If so, that is an outstanding deal for $400, even if the preamps are mixer quality, you don't need a cheap mixer to do this job now.