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How to use the Alesis IO26 with Logic Pro 7 without getting distortion, dropouts, and ultimately having the thing die on you

By Jaems • Aug 20th, 2009 • Category: Tutorials

After two months of problems, I’ve finally figured out why my Alesis IO26 would die after 10 minutes of use with Logic Pro. It turns out that the device is very fussy – no surprise there. A call to a very helpful “Andy” at customer service got me going in the right direction. Thanks, Andy. Turns out I needed to increase the I/O buffer size. He said that I could do that from the Alesis control panel located in System Preferences, but in reality, you have to do it from your DAW. The problem is that a DAW such as Logic will send the buffer size and other parameters to the IO26, and if you then have problems, it won’t help to “test” it with the included Cubase or any other DAWs that you have.  You’ll need to send the correct buffer size to the device from Logic in order to get it working again.  So here is a screenshot of the correct settings from Logic Pro 7. You can fire up Logic with the IO26 connected, set the settings, save a session, quit Logic, then start Logic again and confirm the settings.  Keep in mind that this is a last ditch effort, if everything else has failed. There will be times when other things go wrong, and Alesis support should be able to help you.  If you need to record more than 16 tracks, you can set the slider to more, but if you are doing 16 or fewer, it should remain as shown below.

Logic Pro 7 control panel with correct settings for Alesis IO26

Logic Pro 7 control panel with correct settings for Alesis IO26

Note: You will need to check Universal Track Mode if you want to create stereo audio tracks.

In addition, you should always do the following:

  • Plug the IO26 into power. Don’t run it only off of Firewire
  • Run the IO26 directly from your Firewire port, don’t use hubs
  • Plug your laptop into power, don’t run off battery
  • Quit other applications when recording
  • Don’t use the IO26 for system sound while using Logic
  • Turn Airport (wireless) off when recording

There are lots of people complaining that they get dropouts because of running multiple tasks that use the IO26.  Ultimately, the IO26 should only be used with one application at a time.  It’s not meant to act as a DAW and an audio interface for system sound at the same time.  On the other hand, if it’s used properly, it will provide pristine sound with up to 26 simultaneous inputs, for less than $400.  You won’t find another device of this quality for this price – especially not with 8 XLR ins with separate gains and meters in a portable package.  Patience can be required at times, but the payoff is worth it.

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24 Responses »

steve Said,
September 2nd, 2009 @12:02 am  

thanks a ton for this info. have you tested the io26 with snow leopard yet? i’m trying to figure out if i can upgrade or if i need to wait.

[Reply]

James Howard Young Replied,
September 2nd, 2009 @6:57 pm  

Thanks steve. I'm going to try Snow Leopard with IO26 tomorrow or the next day and I'll post a result somewhere.

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James Replied,
September 4th, 2009 @7:20 am  

Hi again, Steve. Just for your information, the IO26 seems to work great with Snow Leopard. Dare I say: better than Leopard? The terrible drop-out problem seems to be gone, most likely due to the clean install of the operating system. I'm hoping that it lasts…

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Bingo Said,
September 5th, 2009 @3:20 am  

Hi James, thanks for this. For what it's worth, I have had none of the dropout and/or die issues with Logic 8 under Tiger. However, I always have to do this workflow:

make sure io26 is disconnected from firewire port
power up Mac
power up io26 via AC
connect io26 to Mac
launch Logic and notice that Logic can "see" the io26 but can't get sound to or from it
quit Logic, relaunch Logic
everything is fine

Go figure :) Please keep us posted on your Snow Leopard experience!

kind regards,
Sam

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James Replied,
September 5th, 2009 @7:13 am  

Thanks for that Bingo. I think that may be what is needed also in our case. Because sometimes, even with the correct 1024 buffer settings, I still would get dropouts and dying, especially if I had just used Logic with built-in audio and had switched back to IO26. I have not yet powered up the Mac though, and have been holding off on doing so, but I think the start and restart Logic is a good idea for all users.

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James Howard Young Said,
September 9th, 2009 @4:59 am  

Thanks steve. I'm going to try Snow Leopard with IO26 tomorrow or the next day and I'll post a result somewhere.

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Buddy Green Said,
December 24th, 2009 @10:35 pm  

Hey, my new logic 9 runs fine with my Alesis, except for one problem: I can’t get it to make any sound when I play back anything I have recorded. I’ve checked my headphones, downloaded every new software I can find, but I still can’t make it play back my recorded material. Can you help?

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Jaems Replied,
December 28th, 2009 @7:21 pm  

Hmm sounds like the output settings of your audio device may be incorrect. I’d check to see if I get sound out for other applications then I would duplicate those settings in Logic. First I’d check the overview of your recorded audio file (the waveshape – to make sure the recorded portion isn’t just dead air) and make sure the meters move on the output side. Also check that you don’t have a master fader track that is turned down all the way. Or any plugins that are defeating output gain.

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Buddy Green Replied,
December 29th, 2009 @11:09 pm  

you’re right, I’m not getting any sound when i record into garageband either. Its definitely not dead air, the waveshape shows up, and the masterfader’s even move in logic when i play it back. There’s just no sound through the headphones. Could it be that the Alesis just doesn’t work with OS 10.6? I uploaded the new drivers, though…

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Buddy Green Replied,
December 29th, 2009 @11:28 pm  

oh, wait sorry. Now it works on garageband! i reinstalled the newest driver and it seems to work fine. logic still is unresponsive though.

[Reply]

Jaems Replied,
December 29th, 2009 @11:31 pm  

Hmm I’d check Logic Pro with built-in speaker output and see if you get sound out. If no then the problem is somewhere in Logic’s output chain. If yes, then the problem is with your Core Audio settings in Logic, since you have confirmed that the IO 26 works.

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Rasmus Andersen Said,
January 21st, 2010 @11:11 pm  

Hi, and thanks for the great review. I had those nasty issues that we’v all heart about – but I just downloaded the update that support Leopard. Now it works terrific!

Well, thats not my problem. Here we go:
When I’m using a particular channel, and turns the knob ALL the way down, there is still sound running through the channel? I can’t figure out why, and since the metering in the interface is pre-fader, this doesn’t affect the sound.

So I’m getting audio through the channels, even though they are turned all the way down!
I’m using several mics at a time; by the way.

Kindly,
Rasmus A.

[Reply]

James Replied,
January 22nd, 2010 @7:58 am  

Hi Rasmus, thanks for your comments. Sounds like you might be getting direct sound from the device. The IO26 can route in put to your heeadphones without any computer connected. There is a mix knob to adjust how much direct feedback you get. It’s kind of an annoying endless fader so you got to twiddle it a bit to one side until the direct feedback goes away. The docs should specify which side because I can’t remember off the top of my head. Best, J

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Rasmus Andersen Replied,
January 22nd, 2010 @2:26 pm  

I’ll try this later today, and post if this is fixes my problem. :-)
Thanks for the reply.

Kindly
Rasmus A.

[Reply]

Rasmus Andersen Replied,
January 26th, 2010 @10:09 pm  

Unfortunately, I don’t think this fixes my problem. When I run Alesis HDM software, and run a mic through the first channel when recording a snare, for example, then eventhough I’v turned the gain knob all the way down, it is still detecting some audio. Actually so much audio that it sometimes clips.

I don’t know what to do with this problem, and in this weekend I tried to turn “direct monitoring” all the way down, like you said, but it didn’t help.

I hope you get what I’m saying, as I’m from Denmark and my english isn’t superior :-)

Kindly,
Rasmus A.

[Reply]

James Replied,
January 28th, 2010 @10:41 am  

Det går fint! Jeg kan ikke se nogen problemer i det du skriver! Ellers er dansk altid en mulighed… ;)

But seriously…I think the problem is not through the HDM software, and when I referred to direct monitoring, I was talking more about the actual hardware – the knob on the Alesis device that can switch between hardware output (the sound that you get from the device itself, even if no computer is connected) and software output (sound that is coming out of your computer). The Alesis will give sound in both modes, and this knob will mix between both modes. The knob is called “Mix Belnd” and is located to the lower left. However, I don’t think even that is the problem. I think that you might be sending phantom power to a line level device, or vice versa. Unless your mics have XLR cable and require phantom power, you should change the switch to “Guitar” and turn the phantom power off. That’s the only thing that I think would give the overcooked result you describe.

[Reply]

Lewis Said,
February 13th, 2010 @9:42 pm  

Hi, I’m using the IO 26 with Snow Leopard (recently upgraded from leopard) and on both operating systems I have am am still having regular firewire drop outs (the firewire light will blink out for two or three seconds approx every 15 – 30 minutes and will hence loose contact with whatever application is using the audio). The firewire dropouts happen whether or not the interface is in use with an audio-based application. This is my second IO 26 as I, after a long troubleshooting conversation with alesis support figured the unit was faulty, I have had the mac itself serviced and the firewire card tested but they found no problems at all. I have all the latest drivers and have tried reinstalling these in numerous combinations. Has anyone experienced this problem? Any suggestions or help would be great as I’m running dry on ideas on how to sort this out. Thanks!

[Reply]

James Replied,
March 4th, 2010 @12:03 pm  

Hi Lewis,

Whoa, I would want to test the IO 26 in a completely new environment. That is: different computer, different firewire cable, with a clean install system if possible, hell I’d even change the lighting in your studio. It sounds like it may be a software conflict located in some strange unheard of place that no tech support can access or has heard of. I’d try to change as many variables as possible to force the IO 26 to work, then begin reverse engineering your system to find the problem.
Good luck!
-J

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Herbie van Tetering Said,
March 9th, 2010 @6:24 pm  

The Alesis iO24 is a good machine for the price. There is some cold-noise on the upper registration end that you need to get into balance with using the right microphones. One usually figures that out after releasing a number of recordings with the Alesis. I used M-audio before and could get a better sound quality for even a lower price, with simple overhead mikes, and the registration-projection of the sound is also nice and warm. Especially for trumpet players like myself, who already have enough work to put into re-creating a good sound; compression and dynamic balancing from the XLR phantom-power and volume-control could be of great assistance to create the tracks you want.

[Reply]

Thomas Said,
March 25th, 2010 @9:27 am  

Hi James,
Firstly, thank you for all of your tips and tutorials, they’re always helpful.I have a question for you. In a different tutorial you helped to fix Core MIDI problems on OSX. I have IO26 too, but can’t get the MIDI working on my brand new Mac Pro OSX 10.6.2 with the latest Alesis drivers. Your fix Core MIDI problem tutorial helped a lot to use my IO26 with Logic – no more long freeze with alert: “Logic Pro has detected a MIDI timeout. Please restart…” Also Audio MIDI Setup is working now without The MIDI Server can’t be opened alert. But the trouble is – I want to use MIDI on my IO26 and the problems are back after every clean install. Alesis support is unable to help and you’ve been a great help here. Are you having the same problems with your IO26? Do you know how to fix this?
Thank you very much for any help.

[Reply]

James Replied,
March 30th, 2010 @7:49 am  

Hi Thomas, thanks for your comments. Are you running any other Midi devices? If you are, you could try manually removing them from the directory that is in the photo above, but keep the IO26 driver. Actually, I think the driver that runs Midi on the IO26 is a generic Alesis Fireweire driver, the same that is used for all Alesis Firewire devices, so you could even install it separately (without clean installing the IO 26 audio drivers, firmware, and other stuff). You could also drag the AlesisFirewire driver to desktop, clean the directory, then drag it back. Sounds like you might have a conflict with another driver or device.

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Torch Said,
April 25th, 2010 @12:28 am  

I’ve had The I/O 26 for almost three years now and it’s great, when it works.For some reason when I turn my Mac on some times my firewire light doesn’t come on.I have to keep experimenting with different things until it wants to work again.Sux. :(

[Reply]

IO26/Logic8 MACsound solution! Said,
August 3rd, 2010 @4:17 pm  

I found a SOLUTION for the mac10.6/Alesis io26 / Logic 8 problem! Find the driver for the IO26-io4 for OS 10.6… download the SERVICE pack ..not just the driver..and READ the instructions on how to install.. you have to READ the README PDF and it explains exactly WHAT order to install things… once installed … THEN connect your IO26 , THEN open logic and to to Logic/ prefernces/audio/ sound care and SELECT the one that says ALESIS FIREWIRE…. NOT the Alesis 13… it worked like a charm and I can record AND listen… so far so good! I hope this helps! PLease pass this on as there are a LOT of people having this problem. Woohooo!!

TJ

[Reply]

James Replied,
August 3rd, 2010 @6:18 pm  

Thanks, TJ, that is good advice. Those instructions need to be followed to the word, since they involve cleaning out old drivers and installing the new elements in the correct order. It’s also important not to plug the device in before prompted to do so. Glad you got things working, J

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