d8b Forum

Hi, new to the forum.
I Recently purchased a D8B for a ridiculously low price, and absolutely love it! (before this, I was running a Tascam DM24 with myriads of menus etc... hated it, navigating though the menus and sub-menus destroyed all my initial enthusiasm...)
I am using the D8B (OS 3) mixer with an Alesis HD24 (optical X3).
My question is: as it stands, the D8B transport controls seem to only function for "Stop" & "Play", nothing else.
I have been searching high & low for a definitive answer as to how to accomplish full control, but not getting solid feedback.
I am not concerned with controlling DAWs as I am strictly working with the HD24, so, only need the cheapest, easiest, straight-forward way to make the D8B communicate with the HD24, any ideas?
Thanks for any help & suggestions

Hi Gilcharron and welcome to the d8b Forum!

the d8b uses the serial port and a db9 to MIDI IN-OUT Din Connectors.

If your Alesis HD24 has MIDI capabilities using MMC (MIDI Machine Control), it SHOULD work. I am no expert by any means but others may be able to help you.

Check pages 68, 69, 70 of your Alesis manual for possible answers.

Cheers
Bruce

Unfortunately, play and stop is all that is available to control from the d8b to the Alesis. It's been known for a long time. It's Alesis' midi implementation that is not up to speed.

Peter

Thanks Peter.

It was worth a shot!

Cheers
Bruce

Thanks Bruce and Peter, that is what I thought... On another note, I am thinking of changing recorders to a Tascam X48 MKii. I know I can get playback for all 48 tracks by using channels 1 - 24 on the d8b, going in through line inputs, and tracks 25 -48 the regular way through channels 25 - 48. My question is: is there a way to configure the d8b to control the X48 track arming etc... across all 48 tracks? I assume when I would arm channel 25 on the d8b, that would arm track 1 on the Tascam? In other words, can the d8b send machine control for 48 tracks somehow? I am new to machine control, and don't know much about it, but I assume the software on the d8b should be configurable for 48-track control (hopefully).

Hi Gil;

I have no knowledge of making the d8b arm 48 tracks. I have never seen documentation regarding arming 48 tracks, even in a dual HDR 24/96 configuration.

The Track Arm button is the same button (signal path wise) on all four layers of the d8b, so I doubt it. It was designed for interfacing with the HDR 24/96.

Not sure if the Remote 24 could be used to arm the other 24 channels? It is a thought.

I looked on line and the "remote" 9 pin connector on the back uses the Sony RS422 protocal. I have a Tascam remote (I will have to check the model), but it controls 48 channels but I am unsure if it is RS422. If it is and you discover it will work for you we can talk about it. I do not use it any more.

Cheers and good luck.
Bruce

I'm Back;

The remote I have is a Tascam RC-848 and it is an RS422 device.

More to come.

Cheers
Bruce

Thanks Bruce, appreciate all your help. Actually, I am trying to configure the d8b so i can control the X48 remotely. Ideally I would like to be able to do all this from the d8b alone.

gilcharron wrote:Thanks Bruce, appreciate all your help. Actually, I am trying to configure the d8b so i can control the X48 remotely. Ideally I would like to be able to do all this from the d8b alone.

How do you like your X48?

Three words: absolutely love it! Very user-friendly, and, if I wanted to, could do everything right out of the box using the the built-in DAW, but i'm a hands-on, visual kinda guy