Alesis IO 26

I also had to write a review about this product. I did a LOT of research before buying one of these units, using it with OS X Lion. I had pretty ok results with it at the time, but never actually used it enough before upgrading to Mountain Lion, so I can't say if the drivers were ok there or not. After upgrading however, I have been unable to use this device whatsoever with any regularity or stability. It often just drops firewire connection and resets itself to blaring volume levels.At some point I bought another one because it was conveniently priced, and my problems only got worse. At this point, this product is basically discontinued and I cannot by any measure recommend anyone buy one as the driver support is absolutely terrible. Customer service basically blew me off and I've sworn off any Alesis products at this point, 100%.

OK, I'm not going to say that this is all true for every interface out there, but when I received my IO, and tried to use it:Firstly, I had major difficulties with the drivers on both PC, and Mac. The manual doesnt go into much detail about any installation problems, mainly covering stuff that common sense would tell you. Not very helpful if this is your first interface.The software it comes bundled with (Cubase Le) will only allow you to record 8 tracks simultaneously, even though it can take 24 inputs. Not so bad if you already have your own software, but its something to think about if you are looking at it as a problem solver.And finally, after about four hours of trying to get the thing to work, the interface seemed to pack up, and only half of its inputs will work. Emailed Alesis about it, and got a reply, but no message boards to help, just a FAQ.Checked out message boards, and whilst other people didnt seem to be having the same problems as myself, there were a lot of people for whom the communication with Alesis was an issue. Basically, I spent $400 on a paperweight. Shame really. It looked like such a good idea.*** Update - Took it apart myself, as am an electrical engineer, and found a cable was loose inside (No genius work taken to troubleshoot that one) Reconnected it, and hey presto! All inputs now work, and it even connects to my ADAT. Drivers now work on my pc, but still problems with the mac setup. Would now give the box 5 stars, but the other issues still detract from the buy overall

Before I bought this, I read the previous review in which the user had to open up the unit and reconnect a disconnected cable. I figured that was just a random occurrence. Well, amazingly enough, I had to do the same thing. In my case, it was the headphone outputs that weren't working. After driving myself crazy trying to get some sound in my headphones, I remembered reading the other review and figured it was worth a try. I had to unscrew about 20 little screws and then when I opened it up, there it was - a disconnected cable. I think Alesis really needs to get their act together on this. I'm giving the product 3 stars because I like the features and it's priced well, but these quality issues are really unacceptable. I think it will probably work out OK for me, but be aware of what you may be getting yourself into.

The Alesis iO26 is a great Firewire Interface. But this unit I bought came in not working.After many hours work on it I got it to working properly. I am a Certified Electronics Technician.Had to dissasemble the unit and go over bad connections. Cleaned all the Ribbon Connectors and Pots.It is working as it should now. But needless to say, I won't be buying anything else.Dale

Pros: Neutral, clean, quiet, great-sounding preamps and conversion, ADAT lightpipe I/O! Functional design. Great sound. Low latency. Excellent sound quality, smoothness, depth, imaging and detail! Looks way cool. Portable.Cons: Firewire glitches if used with the wrong 1394a/Firewire interfaceI bought the IO26 when it first came out. Mine does not seem to suffer from the quality control issues some other reviewers have mentioned. However, not all 1394a cards are created equal. I have multiple 1394a PCI cards with various chipsets, as well as an ExpressCard 1394a card for my laptop. I have several PC's, and have used the IO26 with other folks' PC's too. The IO26 has a hard time with some 1394a cards and either fails to be recognized or disconnects. With some cards the computer needs to be restarted if you hot plug/unplug. Some cards work in some computers (with the IO26) but not others. For example, on one desktop I own, if I install a particular PCI card with an NEC chipset, not only will the IO26 not work, but other Firewire cards in the same motherboard will not work with the IO26 until I pull the card with the NEC chipset. Oddly, I can put that same NEC chipset card into another computer I have and it works flawlessly with the IO26. This is actually pretty typical of 1394a chipset based audio interfaces, rather than being Alesis' fault or necessarily a product defect. Be prepared for some struggling, swapping and research until you find the right PCI Firewire card. Once you get the Firewire issues cleared up though, this is a great product! Like similar products from Presonus, I suspect the IO26 has gotten a bad rap for issues that are related to Firewire/1394a, rather than the unit itself. If you hunt around for reviews on the internet, you'll notice that those who have bought one and got it working right LOVE it. Just make sure you really understand Firewire and try different chipsets: Firewire is great for audio, but it is not USB. It is not as easy and idiot-proof as USB; you have to be prepared to deal with chipset compatibility issues.