Hello all!

I am "new" to digital recording as all my stuff is analog.

I am slowly buying digital gear to transfer my multi-track tapes on digital equipement.

I bought an ALESIS HD24 to use as converters and someone would give me two A1186 ECM No.2113

Is it still useable in 2025? I don't plan on using it for web purposes

Thanks!

The Alesis HD24 converters are old but quite decent, if you have the HD24XR they are even better.

An old Mac should be fine unless you are planning on eventually mixing these multitracks with it and using a lot of plugins.

If you dont have the HD24 Fireport adapter to get the tracks over to the computer things get a bit tricky.

The ethernet connection from the HD24 is a disaster, it's crazy slow and often fails in the middle of a transfer wasting your time and frustrating the hell out of you.

The other route is to get a program called HD24 Tools which allows you to connect the hard drive of the HD24 (after removing it from the caddy) to the computer by way of a IDE to USB adapter. This is still a little clunky but a hell of a lot better than the HD24's ethernet.

The old Mac tower is fine, if you know it runs what you want to run. I have a 12 core one, and the issue I have with it is more that it bakes a room…technically it’s fine, but not exactly efficient computing. If you are setting out to buy a cheap system, I’d probably just get a m series Mac mini and call it a day.

I also used to run an HD24XR as converters, but I moved on from that as I didn’t have a need for that much I/O anymore. I used an m audio lightbridge (for sale if you want it..) to connect via adat. Again, technically this setup works (if you’re in the right OS, software versions, etc) but not real efficient or the best way to go about doing things. All this stuff is getting pretty old, in any case I wouldn’t recommend investing a lot in it or trying to run a business off it, but if you find this old stuff fun go ahead.

I'm a PC guy...so I'd way rather have something that can run a current up to date OS....such as Windows 10/11. Windows 10 is gonna be supported into the future as well with the extended update program....and any up to date DAW is gonna be able to run on it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/26642137832...3ABFBMvvyny7pl

Even ancient Mac's seem to be going for upwards of 5-600US. No thanks. But then I was always no thanks to apple.

Ok thanks for your “input”. I’d also have the opportunity to work with a 2012 MacBook Air, and maybe a Pro of the same year. Wouldn’t bother with an old tower if the MacBook would be an improvement. Thanks for your help!

My 2012 MacBook Pro still gets used for different things, and I can track on it if I so choose. I can do a mix on it for sure but I’ll be freezing tracks and choosing really efficient plugins.