Alesis MultiMix 8 USB 2.0 Reviews

We recorded an album using the Alesis MultiMix 8 USB 2.0 and Cubase software. We connected the mics/acoustic guitars through a Behringer pre-amp then into the Alesis. The sound quality was amazing and clear. We recorded at 24 bit 48 kHz. If you have a hiss than it is probably interference that a mic has picked up or cheap XLR or 1/4 cables. The cable brand makes a difference. We recorded many different instruments acoustic and direct in over a four year period using the Alesis. The album of 11 songs was released on vinyl and digital formats.

We unfortunately had a bad storm and lightning took out the Alesis even though it was in a high end surge protector. Now this model is no longer available and it appears the FX model goes backwards in some features, such as USB 1.1 and only 16 bit capability? So I will look for a replacement or find this model for sale elsewhere.

This is a great product at this price point in my opinion. The USB version of the product enables you to record all 8 tracks mixed in a stereo LR pair in pristine quality. This was my first computer recording interface 4 yrs back when I migrated to USA. I did not have anything to record and I picked this up. Later I upgraded to digirack3, apogee and vintech gears but this was always a good satisfaction index for me.

Till date for small shows I use this unit to plug my PA50 keyboard, dual Sm86 vocal line with phantom power, my laptop thru USB for background tracks, and did I forgot, it was got really good effects. If you are a small band and looking to record, I'm sure this will satisfy you. I never had any driver issues unlike other user mentioned. I always thought of writing a review on this product, but nevr did. Today I was buying this unit online for a friend of mine who is going to start a home studio and I thought this is the best time to write a good review about this product.

I have been using this product since last 3.5 years, and travelled a lot within USA (I carry this in my cabin luggage), faced lot of rough use, the effect selector knob (its thin plastic) broke, back power supply connector half broke, took out for special screening at airport security, used at home for music sessions, used on stage, on road...still produces great sound. Noice is almost NOT noticable. I'm a happy user. I will not hesitate to buy another one if it breaks.

I would recommend this for traveling solo musicians/vocalist.

Excellent product for use with laptop or PC. I've used for both and been quite pleased with the results. A great alternative to Firewire.

I've been using this interface for 2 years and haven't had any trouble. It worked great for multitrack recording my drums. It's super easy to use and love how easy it is to setup and transport.

This is a great interface for the beginner to intermediate audiophile especially if you want to take it on the road - the possibilities are endless (well 8 channels worth at least).

As far as the bad review goes sounds like you didn't realize you need to use a powered preamp to record DI with this unit. As far as I know there is no built in pre amplification, just the handy phantom power! If you're going to use this to record guitar using direct input method I recommend grabbing the Presonus TubePRE, another great product.

Can't beat the quality at this price - see for yourself!

I've used Alesis products on/off for a few years now, most of which I can happily say were pleasant experiences. Having run the gamut from hobbyist to pro to just having a great time recording I can honestly say this is a terrific product. Installation was a snap, read the instructions, I loaded drivers on three platforms and they all worked just fine (XP32, W764 and Mac) the first time around.

You can actually get 10 channels into your recording software 8 discrete and L/R mix. I had no problems even using an outdated 7 year old duo core PC with this device.

The magic is really those 3 buttons located in the master section of the console, they add great flexibility. I also plugged my iPhone 4 into the RCA section and was able to access and play all my tunes via a port cable. I believe you can also record to the iPhone through the port cable with a couple of mods.

The chassis of this unit is predominantly metal, making it road worthy, the knobs are a bit more delicate when it comes to durability. Preamps are done well and the noise on this unit is minimal - for the price, this unit holds it value extremely well with the features it supplies.

The instructions are well written and straight forward, hookup is clean and usage is exactly as advertised. The FX are very useful and have a quality sound to them.

Why didn't I give it a 5 star rating? A MIDI sync port and gain control for the RCA jacks would have been nice, and the unit runs a bit warm.always room for improvement!

All in all a good buy, getting both a multi-channel interface to computer and a straight out decent mixer in one package for this price is hard to find. If you are looking for a good desktop device to send multiple channels downstream for remix/mastering this is a great mid-entry level piece of equipment.

I have been looking at the Multimix 8 & 12 Firewire mixers for almost 2 years. I finally had a chance to try the Multimix 16 Firewire (loved it). But since my laptop only has a small Firewire port, I was really hesitant to get the Firewire mixer - although it was the only one that met my needs.

The USB2.0 version of this mixer is awesome. I can record 8 channels simultaneously with Cubase SX. I have also used it's ASIO capabilities for live guitar effects with Guitar Rig. I also use the mixer for my Reason output. This is a fantastic piece of hardware. I bought it the day I found it.

- The downside -
No mute or solo buttons. But, for my purposes - I'm OK with that.

The manual says to get drivers off the web - but the USB2.0 drivers are not on the web yet. Don't lose that disk. BTW, I read on a site that the USB 2.0 mixer doesn't require drivers. That is not the case. To use the mixer's ASIO capabilities, you NEED the drivers.

It gets hot. I mean HOT, and quick. It has twice completely dropped sound to my laptop for about 1 sec. It happened at random while running my guitar --> guitar rig --> mix out. Maybe there was something else on my pc that caused the issue. I will be looking into that further. Other than that, which may be my laptop's issue - it's been great.

All in all, I'd say it's a good deal.

I have used this for about 3 weeks now and I have to say that I have found no problems at all with it yet. The only thing I would like to see is eight outputs also, in case you would like to hook it straight up to an Alesis ADAT 8 channel. Although not necessary, it would be a really good option.

I ranted on the Alesis Dm Pro ( original ) model years ago. What Alesis produced was just short of ( in my opinion ) fraud.... JUNK... ABSOLUTELY ...N...O...T........ usable as a drum module for live use.


The Alesis Multi Mix 8 USB 2.0 FX....... yet another ... ___________ ( insert naughty words there).....

VERY NOISY PRE-Amps.... I wear hearing aids and the hiss bothers ME.....
The aux send and return system is stupid as I...can...not..... use the "b" returns unless I am willing to deal with some tacky sound effect...WHICH I CAN NOT TURN OFF !!!

This thing is s9 bad... I use it DOWN stream from my Behringer 8 channel mixer.....

Live and learn... strike two... there won't be a chance to disappoint me again.

30 year pro drummer, jazz and classical percussionist..... I did my first New Years gig in 1969 as a guitarist....piano tuner... technically proficient.... zero tolerance for junk.... not interested in political correctness

Alesis.... never again

Do not spend your money on this product. If you read any good reviews they are fiction or the reviewer never used this product. It is darn near impossible to use to record to your computer. I bought it for computer recording and researched it for weeks and was VERY disappointed with the quality. MIC preamps are terrible, headphone out is SO noisy you CANNOT use it, gain has to be cranked up so it distorts. SHAME on the people at Alesis for prducing such an inferior product. Included Cubase LE4 is totally useless and trying to get the license is very frustrating trying time after time to download. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!! SHOULD RATE A ZERO