Alesis IO2 Express Audio Interface

I bought the iO4 in a hurry. I woke up one day to discover my old but lovely E-Mu audio interface had entered digital dementia and given up on me. Meh, as they say. I needed to finish a project, and I needed a decent 24bit card with four analogue ins, four outs, USB, and at least two XLR connections with phantom power. Oh yeah, I also needed to keep the bank manager from shouting at me again.After a while of perusing several spec sheets, the iO4 suddenly leaped out at me. I bought it early in January 2012, the unit only having been released in the UK a week or two before. Without much in the way of reviews out there, it was a bit of a leap of faith for me, in as much I could have been buying a donkey rather that a workhorse.But, in its favour was the name Alesis, a company of goodly repute. The other big plus was the asking price. £120 for a unit boasting 24bit analogue recording, four mic XLRs, four 2.5 inch instument ins, 48v phantom power, pre amps, four analogue outs, midi jacks, LED clip monitoring and the capacity to insert external FX in to the audio chain. Surely there must be some kind of mistake here. That seems a little too good in the whole pound per spec game. What's the catch?Well, after using the unit for a couple of projects, there isn't one. It just works, simply efficiently and without fuss. To me, that's the salient feature in a piece of musical gear. It gets the job done without being a demanding little brat.It is the very essence of simplicity. Class compliant, no drivers to install, just plug it in and it's there. Alesis recommend using the ASIO4All drivers for ASIO compatability, and I was able to achieve perfectly good latency figures for VST instruments in Cubase, hitting that line between lag and crackle with the accuracy of a Federer forehand. I was achieving 10ms latency with a 256 buffer size, which is good.There are no software issues to worry about, no virtual patchbay or complication. After using the powerful but overly complicated E-Mu routing software for a while, I filed a sigh of relief and got on with the job of making music.The mic pres are transparent, no colouring or hiss to these ears. Pretty much everything that needs tweaking and inputting on the unit is on the top panel which makes things simple and effective, and as such, this little unit is quite the space saver. The rear panel houses the midi jacks, analogue outs, headphone jacks, 16/24bit selection switch and power switch.The unit is lightweight, good if you're on the road with a laptop, not so good if you're hamfisted, accident prone and have a history of running over kit in your car. The chassis is plastic, so those looking for a unit solid enough to play table tennis with may want to look elsewhere. I don't have a problem with the lightweight plasticity of this unit, as I'm good at looking after my kit properly, with love and affection etc etc.For all the pros, there are one or two cons. The instructions are rather shallow, but to be perfectly honest, everything is so simple and obvious, instructions aren't really needed. It would have been nice if the unit could have been powered by USB alone without the need for an external power supply as this detracts slightly from the portable aspect of the iO4. That said though, I guess it is potentially handling eight channels of audio down the USB lead, so I'll forgive it on that one. Also, it isn't possible to record four tracks of similtaneous audio at 24bit as you have to switch to 16bit to make use of this, which is a very small shame. And you don't get S/PDIF ins or outs.One minor point I was pleased about was that you can use the unit without the computer being on, so if you want to use the pre-amps to jam, or patch an MP3 player through there, as long as your monitor speakers are powered, then you can.In all, I'm happy with this unit. It just gets the job done in a silently efficient kind of way. No hassle, no fuss, just decent audio. It takes the headache of setting up your soundcard out of the equation, and lets you get on with things. And at this price, I can't grumble. Five stars it is.

I bought this interface because I needed more inputs (To handle 3 outputs from a Modular synth system at the same time as my Korg MS-20. And, at the moment, my son's Korg Minilogue too - where is where it gets really interesting.)I've used various USB audio interfaces - Mackie Spike, Focusrite Sapphire and, most recently, a Mackie Onyx Blackjack. The first impression of the iO4 is that's comparatively simple to get it up and running (particularly if you already have a DAW you like and can happily ignore the included-but-not-really-cos-you-got-to-download-it-create-accounts-etc Cubase LE). The sound quality's just fine, clear and uncoloured and the panel layout makes it straightforward to use. It also has phantom power for my condensor mic, which can be on for all channels or just 1 & 2 (or 3 & 4). Which I like, finally I should be able to record acoustic guitar with a powered condensor mic AND a passive dynamic mic. I've seen the headphone output being criticised for being on the quiet side, but it's fine for me - I might struggle to hear a backing track while recording an electric guitar amp via a mic, but I always do. MIDI? I can't see me, personally, having any use for it but who knows...It's worth mentioning the 16-bit/24-bit modes - basically, you have two channels available in 24-bit mode, all four in 16-bit mode. Now, for recording more than two channels, Alesis recommend the (freeware) ASIOForAll. I've used it in the past so I downloaded it, switched to 16-bit, and tried everything out. Not only does it work fine but using it also allows me to use my old Mackie Onyx Blackjack at the same time and I now have six input channels feeding into my DAW. Unfortunately, in 24-bit I've only managed to get the two channels from this device OR two channels from the Mackie unit, rather than all 4 simultaneously. When you take this along with the fact that you only get a four page Quickstart manual, which is absolutely fine IF you already kinda know what you're doing, it's probably not the best unit for someone new to home recording who might struggle to get the best out of the unit. (Mildly ironic since that's the only kind of user who's likely to have a use for Cubase LE...)However even though I have one or two very minor gripes it still represents great value - a lot of functionality for a relatively low price.

surprisingly, I'm going to review the PRODUCT, not the dumb freebies it comes with...its amazing! great sound quality, easy to use controls and top-notch functionality, while the casing is only plastic, it feels like a high-grade, durable plastic, whether or not it was metal casikng i would take care of it because obviously digital appliances are sensitive no matter what housing they have.the installation was quick and painless, i plugged it in, and my PC registered and installed its drivers almost instantly! I'm currently running a pair of M-Audio AV40s out of the main outputs and everything works great, there's obviously latency in the recording, but none for monitoring (as the signal will come through the main outs before hitting the PC) but as long as you know what you're doing, you will be able to configure your DAW to compensate for it, i usually put on a metronome and record it with a mic, and compare it, that way you can be exact with the latency correction.ANYWAY! all in all it's a great device for the price and i don't think i'll be needing a new one any time soon! a great buy!

Does the job nicely, but after a while the, volume knobs develops sound distortion. Mercifully this does not seep into the recordings'

its really great product... works excellent with Reaper... very handy and easy to use with superb quality material and functions.... value for money... better than any other gadget of its kind and even better than expensive gadgets in this category.... you can also include ASIO which is provided on its website for professional recording.... the USB cable is used to connect with laptop or PC which takes and even sends sound simultaneously.

Great for price and Cubase LX is included

This sweet little interface has everything you've been looking for from ages... I definitely recommend this product.. using it with my Rode nt 1a.. It's amazing ... No latency and very good preamps inside... Go for it!!! Build quality Is not that great. But overall it's very good...

Soddisfatto del prodotto. Ottimo rapporto qualità prezzo. Fornitore eccellente sia per il tempo di consegna che per la completa disponibilità dimostrata nei miei confronti, risolvendomi in brevissimo tempo alcuni problemi con l'installazione del software. Soddisfatto completamente.

Carte Son 4 entrées Mono / 2 sorties stéréos (2x2 Monos) + 1 sortie casque, prise MIDI, Alim fantôme 48 V pour les micros. Prix attractif pour 4 entrées.Penser à prévoir des adaptateurs divers 6.35 mm Mono --> Jack 3,5, RCA, etcQualité "correcte", excellent rapport Qualité/Prix,Fourni avec le logiciel Cubase LE 5.ALIM SÉPARÉE UK --> PRÉVOIR UN ADAPTATEUR SECTEUR UK --> FR comme celui-ci .........http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B008CRZZU8/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_0 ........Peu-être utilisée en table de mixage (sans PC) OK pour guitares électro-acoustiques et électriques. Test avec micro RODE M3 OK