Alesis Masterlink

[thomh]

Hello all!

I am considering getting an Alesis Masterlink. Can anybody comment on its performance both as a recorder and a player.

Thanks.
Thom

[Gerry]

Wonderful, highly recommended. Just realize that you won't be playing Masterlink-recorded discs on anything but a Masterlink (assuming you don't have a professional digital audio workstation).

[Jamie Tate]

These are the standard digital mix format here in town. If you're going to mix digitally all the mastering houses recommend Masterlinks at 24/88.2.

I have six of them. Bought my last one two weeks ago. Sounds like a raving review, eh? Well, truth be told, I have to keep buying new units every time one breaks. It takes so long for Alesis to fix them that I'm stuck having to buy another one while I wait.

One of the problems I have is they have difficulty playing CD-Rs from other recorders. I also own an HHB burner, and even though other players have trouble playing these HHB burned CDs the Masterlinks just refuse to play them.

Other problems are that they crash every three months and sometimes it'll stick the start ID of a song a second or two into the tune. When you skip ahead to the next track it'll play it from bar two or three.

But other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?:)

[LeeS]

I record with one - great sound quality and portability but be careful with the hard drive - some have had issues but our stuff has never failed.

One suggestion - get a Lucid GenX 96 masterclock and you will have much better sound as it lowers jitter from 200ps to approx. 20ps.

:)

[Burningfool]

Originally posted by Gerry
Wonderful, highly recommended. Just realize that you won't be playing Masterlink-recorded discs on anything but a Masterlink (assuming you don't have a professional digital audio workstation).

Can you explain this a bit? Why would the discs only play on the machine that recorded them? This doesn't make sense to me.

Chris

[Steve Hoffman]

Ours died after one month and I dumped the sucker.

[Gerry]

Originally posted by Burningfool


Can you explain this a bit? Why would the discs only play on the machine that recorded them? This doesn't make sense to me.

The advantage of the Masterlink is that it can archive higher-res recordings on CD-R. Discs recorded in this manner cannot be played back on consumer gear, they can be played on ANY Masterlink, however. Further, I'm not even sure how much pro gear is compatible; Alesis isn't the market player it once was, so I'm not sure anyone else has picked up the format for use in a standalone player. My reply was based on the assumption that this was for a consumer application and was based only on the subjective audio performance of the unit; I cannot speak to its long-term reliability.

Now I have a question. LeeS, you suggest using the Lucid; does this mean that Alesis has added a clock input? The unit I based my recommendation on (a fairly early example) did not include one; probably the main reason I didn't buy one myself. If it has since sprouted one, I might have to reconsider. Of course, I'd also have to take its reliability track record into account now that it has established one.

[Joe Schmengidy]

Originally posted by Gerry
Further, I'm not even sure how much pro gear is compatible

It records the high res discs in the AIFF format which can be read by a high res DAW.

[Gerry]

But still, no standalone players come to mind.

[LeeS]

"Now I have a question. LeeS, you suggest using the Lucid; does this mean that Alesis has added a clock input? The unit I based my recommendation on (a fairly early example) did not include one; probably the main reason I didn't buy one myself. If it has since sprouted one, I might have to reconsider. Of course, I'd also have to take its reliability track record into account now that it has established one."

Yes, you plug in a master clock and it automatically syncs the signal. :)

[Gerry]

Originally posted by LeeS
Yes, you plug in a master clock and it automatically syncs the signal. :)

Please explain.