Compatibility
The Alesis ADAT HD24 offers good out-of-the-box compatibility, both with existing ADAT systems and PC-based solutions.
The HD24 has MIDI in and out and can transmit MTC (MIDI Time Code), which allows for easy synchronization to other hardware, however it cannot synchronize to incoming MTC. The HD24 supports MMC (Midi Machine Control) in two directions. It also features three Alesis Lightpipe ins and outs (tape based had one of each), which each can transfer eight tracks of digital audio at once.
The HD24 also has 9 pin synchronization ports, dedicated to sync with other ADAT machines. An HD24 can easily be integrated into an existing tape based ADAT system, although there are a few issues with compatibility between the two; for instance, by default HD24s start each song from zero (although the zero-offset can be moved), whereas the tape based ADATs continue to the end of the tape no matter how many songs are recorded.
The built-in FTP server permits transferring files to and from computer-based Audio Workstations.
The connector-side of the original Alesis HD24 drive caddies reveals that they were designed by a company called ViPowER. Users on the HD24 Yahoo forums have confirmed that the Alesis HD24 caddies are interchangeable with ViPowER caddies, as well as with some no-name brands.
Alesis' FST/Connect fireport software only supports drives that are connected via FireWire and will therefore not work with USB drive bays. Even firewire versions of alternative drivebays have yet to be confirmed to work with the original FST/Connect software. Alesis has not released any updates to FST/Connect for several years. As such, no native 64-bit versions of FST/Connect exist. On 64-bit operating systems, this means the transfer software needs to be run in 32-bit compatibility mode. Yahoo group users have determined that FST/Connect no longer works on Windows 7 nor MacOS 10.6. Audio transfers are still possible using third-party software and using the FTP server of the HD24.
The HD24 was originally designed to work with IDE (PATA) drives. As of the second half of 2012, Alesis branded SATA-to-IDE converting caddies have become available, permitting the use of SATA drives with the HD24 recorder. Prior to this, the HD24 community on Yahoo groups have worked around this issue by fitting caddies with a SATA-to-PATA converting board, with varying degrees of success. The first stable SATA-to-IDE converting caddy was developed by the US-based company Magicsound, who based their caddy design on a chipset from an industrial application.
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