Alesis io26 and io14 Interfaces

[jimnorman]

Hi guys,

I am just back from Germany and playing catch up with your issues. If you are contacting our support guys that's really helpful for us in engineering. They pass on your information to us so that we can test and verify your issues. We want to address all your issues as soon as possible. We are waiting on a driver update that I think will help with the various Mac issues. I don't have an ETA yet, but it is a high priority with our developers.

FYI, using the Mac with OS 10.4 is essential for addressing dropouts and glitches. We don't support 10.3 with this product. The DICE driver doesn't appear to work with that version. Sorry for any inconvience that you may have had with this. What happens sometimes that the manual is written ahead of the products release so the latest information isn't always shipped with the product. We try to make sure that the web page has the latest information.

We are doing everything we can to address your issues. Thanks for your patience.

Jim Norman
Alesis

[BDMSB]

I am just back from Germany and playing catch up with your issues. We are doing everything we can to address your issues. Thanks for your patience. Jim Norman Alesis

 

 

Jim-

 

Very good. That's all I ask. I just worry that the front line in tech support may not be passing on our common problems to engineering if their universal answer on a Mac is to reset the PRAM.

[dr_bell]

I didn't get the impression that tech support took my issues seriously. It took two to three days to get a response to each email, and my contact seemed to be ignorant of the mac problems that have been discussed here and on other discussion boards. I did not have the luxury of contacting phone support, which is only available during EST business hours, during which I happen to be busy working.

It looks like I will have to wait to see what Alesis can do, though, as the store where I purchased the io14 claimed that it was not their responsibility to refund or exchange a product that is not performing as expected. Every part of the system seems to have broken down here. I am very disappointed at the time I have lost to these problems. I purchased the io on February 28 and have not recorded a single lick with it. I apologize if it seems like I am monopolizing this thread with my complaints, but too bad. There are real people who spend real money on these products, and their lives are affected in real ways when they don't work when they're supposed to.

[ViLo]

Thanks Jim your participation and help are greatly appreciated :thu: :thu:

[Vibroluxman]

I didn't get the impression that tech support took my issues seriously. It took two to three days to get a response to each email, and my contact seemed to be ignorant of the mac problems that have been discussed here and on other discussion boards. I did not have the luxury of contacting phone support, which is only available during EST business hours, during which I happen to be busy working. It looks like I will have to wait to see what Alesis can do, though, as the store where I purchased the io14 claimed that it was not their responsibility to refund or exchange a product that is not performing as expected. Every part of the system seems to have broken down here. I am very disappointed at the time I have lost to these problems. I purchased the io on February 28 and have not recorded a single lick with it. I apologize if it seems like I am monopolizing this thread with my complaints, but too bad. There are real people who spend real money on these products, and their lives are affected in real ways when they don't work when they're supposed to.

 

 

I don't think you're monopolizing the thread. I think that's pretty {censored}ty that the store wouldn't let you return the defective unit. Hope all works out for you.

[Anderton]

Hmmmm, I was really interested in buying this thing but considering his thread and others on other forums, this product is probably a piece of junk. Its not your fathers Alesis. Its became a low rent company bought out by another low rent bargain basement manufacturer. Don't ever expect software or product support like more "serious" companies.

 

 

I understand what you're saying but it doesn't seem like Windows people are experiencing the same types of problems, and for whatever reason, my dual G5 Mac running 10.4.9 with the new Alesis drivers has been working fine. This brings up perhaps a more serious point, because in previous Pro Reviews concerning interfaces, most of the problems seem to relate to Macs, and what's worse, they're not consistent: It seems there are variables among the Mac OS revision, the drivers you use, and the Mac hardware itself.

 

Basically what I'm saying is that Alesis isn't the only company having problems with drivers and Macs; all the other interfaces I've tested here (Mackie Onyx 400F, PreSonus Inspire, and TC Konnekt 24D) have had similar issues (as well as additional problems in some case, like the "Sonar speed up issue" with the K24D). So I wouldn't jump to any conclusions that any other product will give perfect results if the Alesis isn't. It may relate to the DICE II chip for all I know, so anything with that chip might have similar problems.

 

I'm sure this will all get sorted out at some point, but it's very frustrating if you've laid down a bunch of bucks for something that doesn't work. I strongly suggest that whatever interface you buy, you buy it from a company that allows returning it in case it doesn't work with your system.

 

Okay, on with the Windows testing...

[Anderton]

Now that I'm back from Frankfurt (albeit with a cold - ugh), it’s time to pick up where I left off and install the Windows drivers to check Windows performance. But first, a side note: At Frankfurt, I met Fred Morgenstern, the person who wrote the documentation. He was pretty pleased that I had mentioned that the documentation was really good, so…credit where credit is due.

 

Anyway, I went to the Alesis web site to check for updated drivers but they were the same ones that were up there before I left. I followed the instructions, and everything installed as expected. In fact, the installation process for Windows and Mac was pretty much identical except for the “Continue Anyway” dialog boxes that show up in Windows during the installation process.

 

I booted up Sonar, as it would let me test with WDM and ASIO. It asked me to select MIDI I/O, so I checked the boxes for Alesis 1394 MIDI In and Alesis 1394 MIDI Out. So far so good.

 

To check as many inputs as possible, I called up my template for the Les Paul Digital Guitar. If you’re not familiar with this baby, it’s a Les Paul with outputs for each string, as well as mixed outputs from strings 1-3 and 4-6 (although these can't be used at the same time as the six individual outs; they come from the string 1 and 2 outs when nothing is plugged into outs 3-6) and a mono mixed “classic” output, which is always available. This is ideal for testing the interface, as the io26 accommodates each individual string as well as the mixed string combinations.

 

Next up: Selecting the audio device in Sonar. I was a bit surprised that even though I have other interfaces connected, Sonar “knew” that I wanted the io26 and selected that automatically. I unchecked the ADAT and SPDIF drivers as I won't be using those until I test the analog ins.

 

The ASIO FireWire control panel (see the attached image) is pretty obvious. I started off with the buffers set to 512 samples, which is usually reliable with any interface I used. However, I normally don’t stress out the program and interface by recording 6 channels at once, so we’ll see what happen. I also disabled WDM audio as I figured I’d start with ASIO (I’ll test WDM later). This control panel is also where you set the sample rate (up to 192kHz), clock source, etc.

[simple]

Hmmmm, I was really interested in buying this thing but considering his thread and others on other forums, this product is probably a piece of junk. Its not your fathers Alesis. Its became a low rent company bought out by another low rent bargain basement manufacturer. Don't ever expect software or product support like more "serious" companies.

 

 

It appears that many companies are not testing thoroughly with Macs. I can kind of understand the increased focus on Windows since in general it has a greater user base. However, I believe with audio – as well as video and print – the difference in the user base is smaller (Macs are often used by professionals in these industries). With this in mind I find it kind of crazy that these audo interface companies are not doing more testing with Mac.

 

One company that I have found seems to recognize the significance of the Mac user base more than others is Focusrite (and it would be nice to see their products put to the test in a Pro Review).

[simpsongb]

Good news and bad news. Good news for the folks who see the io 26 as a crappy product...bad for those who really want one. It is largely unavailable in North America at this point. No reliable estimate from what I can gather on when the new shipments will arrive.....

[Anderton]

Well, well, well...

I tried 256 samples, then 192, then 128, and Sonar continued to work just fine recording six simultaneously tracks, with CPU under about 10%. Perhaps one reason why is that the io26 seems to handle multiprocessor support well (I'm using a dual core Athlon). Now, I wouldn't expect to be able to run at those latencies if I had lots of tracks, plug-ins, etc., but still...

So I tried 64 samples. At first I thought it could even handle that: CPU1 was about 22% and CPU2, 8%. I did detect some faint crackling sometimes, but it wasn't constant. I wouldn't actually use 64 samples, but I'm surprised it held up as well as it did.

Also note that with all these tests, Sonar's 64-bit double precision engine was enabled as well. To me, this is all very, very impressive. I also opened a few other programs, some non-audio (Paint Shop Pro) and some things like Windows Media Player. WMP didn't produce any ouput, but there was no glitching in Sonar when I opened and closed other programs.

One other thing worth mentioning: I always closed and re-opened Sonar after changing the latency. Programs in general seem to like that.

Time to try WDM!

[Vibroluxman]

Good news and bad news. Good news for the folks who see the io 26 as a crappy product...bad for those who really want one. It is largely unavailable in North America at this point. No reliable estimate from what I can gather on when the new shipments will arrive.....

That's the reason why I'm using the Alesis IO14. My boss will probably buy the IO 26 once its available and I'll use the smaller unit with my laptop for mobile recording.

[Vibroluxman]

 

Well, well, well... I tried 256 samples, then 192, then 128, and Sonar continued to work just fine recording six simultaneously tracks, with CPU under about 10%. Perhaps one reason why is that the io26 seems to handle multiprocessor support well (I'm using a dual core Athlon). Now, I wouldn't expect to be able to run at those latencies if I had lots of tracks, plug-ins, etc., but still... So I tried 64 samples. At first I thought it could even handle that: CPU1 was about 22% and CPU2, 8%. I did detect some faint crackling sometimes, but it wasn't constant. I wouldn't actually use 64 samples, but I'm surprised it held up as well as it did. Also note that with all these tests, Sonar's 64-bit double precision engine was enabled as well. To me, this is all very, very impressive. I also opened a few other programs, some non-audio (Paint Shop Pro) and some things like Windows Media Player. WMP didn't produce any ouput, but there was no glitching in Sonar when I opened and closed other programs. One other thing worth mentioning: I always closed and re-opened Sonar after changing the latency. Programs in general seem to like that. Time to try WDM!

 

 

Hey Craig,

Could you also try recording with Cubase LE that comes with the package? I'm having some trouble with it. After a little work I got the program to recognize Alesis, and I was able to record with it, but it wouldn't export it. I'm assuming I probably screwed something up, but if you could just record something quick in Cubase to check that would be great. My settings were 24 bit 48 KHz on the Alesis, and I tried mixing down with the same settings for an AIFF file and it told me there was an error in export. Again, probably user error, but I'd just like to see if someone else had the same problem with cubase. I was able to record using Soundtrack live (program associated with Final Cut Pro), but I'd like to use Cubase.

 

Thanks,

 

Eric

[Anderton]

This didn't work as well; I couldn't go lower than 256 samples without having what sounded like a ring modulation effect added to the audio. However, the "open up other programs and see what happens" test worked fine.

[simpsongb]

Hey Taylor guy...
You could try Reaper........
Have you heard any word on io 26 availability??

[Anderton]

I've gone back to ASIO to determine the difference between "possible" and "useable." 128 samples doesn't work all the time; I've experienced various burps and freezes. Also, I may just be imagining things, but it seems ASIO performance was better if I disabled WDM audio in the Alesis control panel.

192 samples works consistently, but not if I start adding a bunch of extra stuff to the project. If I was using a program for live performance, like Guitar Rig or a soft synth, that didn't involve lots of other tracks or processors I think it would work fine.

Overall, what works 100% of the time so far is 256 samples, so I'll leave it there for the rest of any testing with Windows.

[dr_bell]

It appears that many companies are not testing thoroughly with Macs. I can kind of understand the increased focus on Windows since in general it has a greater user base. However, I believe with audio – as well as video and print – the difference in the user base is smaller (Macs are often used by professionals in these industries). With this in mind I find it kind of crazy that these audo interface companies are not doing more testing with Mac.

 

 

Agreed. No matter what the share of the marketplace is, the manufacturer's responsibility is to be sure that the thing works as they say it will. The "revised" system requirements really get my goat. According to the manual, the io14 will work under 10.3 but I have not heard a single 10.3 user verify this, only horror stories. This makes me skeptical of the rigors with which the product/drivers were tested.

[Anderton]

I think I mentioned it before, but there's no x64 or Vista driver support yet.

I never even looked at the CD because I downloaded all the drivers and stuff, but in addition to Cubase LE (which I'm installing so I can test out the export function, as requested), there are demos of Arturia, Native Instruments, and Applied Acoustics programs.

Also, I think someone said there was only one headphone jack; that's not true. Both the io26 and io14 have two headphone jacks, with individual volume controls.

[Anderton]

Agreed. No matter what the share of the marketplace is, the manufacturer's responsibility is to be sure that the thing works as they say it will. The "revised" system requirements really get my goat. According to the manual, the io14 will work under 10.3 but I have not heard a single 10.3 user verify this, only horror stories. This makes me skeptical of the rigors with which the product/drivers were tested.

 

 

I think you will see this situation start to improve as the Intel Macs take over, and companies drop their support for older Macs. A plug-in developer at NAMM told me that it's vastly more difficult to make sure a plug-in works with all the various Mac permutations and combinations compared to getting things to work with Windows XP, and it took him the better part of a year to update his product line to work across the line of various Macs. I agree that companies should be more rigorous with their testing, but it would be nice if Apple made life a little easier for developers, too.

[instred]

What IO buffer setting did you use to get the IO26 to work at 256 samples?
My is back at Alesis because of a bad firewire connection in the unit.
Hope they sort it out and I hope I don't have to wait much longer they have it now for 4 weeks.
Also Craig, what Athlon are you using?

Ed

[Anderton]

Hey Craig, Could you also try recording with Cubase LE that comes with the package? I'm having some trouble with it.

 

 

I tried it, and it worked fine. Are you remembering to set the Left and Right locators to encompass the section you want to export?

[Anderton]

I'm always pleasantly surprised by Cubase LE, it's such a full-featured program given that it's distributed for free. But I was even more surprised when it worked fabulously at 64 samples, even when recording all six strings from the Les Paul Digital. Very impressive, especially given that Sonar's limit was pretty much 192 samples for reliable operation.

I'm going to try Cubase 4 now and see if I can get similar results. Back in a minute.

[Anderton]

 

What IO buffer setting did you use to get the IO26 to work at 256 samples? Also Craig, what Athlon are you using?

 

 

I just used the default i/o buffer setting in Sonar -- 64. The CPU is an AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor, 4400+ 2.21GHz, 2 GB of RAM.

 

BTW I seem to get better performance if I close all the other driver applets that load automatically on startup (e.g., E-Mu patchmix DSP, SCOPE system, etc.). Don't know if it's cause and effect, but maybe.

[Anderton]

Well, I couldn't get things to work at all with Cubase 4 -- lots of weird dropouts and stuff -- but there's a new version that I'm downloading now.

Meanwhile, I tried Cubase SX 3.1 and was again able to get reliable results down to 64 samples. So it seems like maybe the people who invented ASIO know a thing or two about how to get their programs to work well with ASIO drivers

[Anderton]

I installed V4.02 of Cubase 4, and here we go again -- 64 samples, clean and clear. Very impressive, and I might add, very fun for playing guitar!

Anyway, that's enough for today. There's still the question of whether it's possible to jam the MIDI ports, I'll check that out next. Anyone else have any remaining questions?

[Anderton]

I've been working more with Sonar, and have weird problems where the sound gets horrible and ugly, even with 256 samples. It will seem like everything's okay, but then something happens. If I close Sonar and open it again to the same place in the same project, then the problem goes away, again for a while only to come back -- sometimes sooner, sometimes later.

It seems to relate to the audio engine, as the metronome "speeds up" when used during record.

These problems are very similar to what I've experienced with the Konnekt 24D, which leads me to believe that either a) there's a problem with Sonar when dealing with FireWire interfaces, or b) there's a problem with something the interfaces have in common...the DICE II chip, maybe?

More to come...