its a different machine that the mackie or tascam or radar. it allots space on the hard drive for record and playback in a "linear" fashion... works like a tape basically. it allows for more efficient use of seek time with a hard drive. you cant edit parts like the others in a non linear fashion.

too many beers later, just go to the site, im sure they talk about the method... as for the cost of the hardware... i dont know why they undercut the others so bad but as a user, you give up a LOT to get it at that price.

still, none of them beat a computer with a DAW [even if you dont use their mixing and automation, the routing thats capable along with a myrid of other features makes these machines kinda silly and overpriced... although i wouldnt mind a RADAR24 but thats in the converters from what i hear]

Coming from a DAW and ADAT perspective, I have to disagree with the statement:

>still, none of them beat a computer with a >DAW [even if you dont use their mixing and >automation, the routing thats capable along >with a myrid of other features makes these >machines kinda silly and overpriced

This kind of misses the point. Everyone knows that a computer is more powerful than a (insert product name here) but you have to remember that computers are frighteningly hard to deal with day in and day out compared to dedicated audio products. I would gladly take a Tascam 4 track over a DAW if I really cared about the results of what I record. The reason is, the computer is so twitchy and hard to use at times that it just kills the creative process, for me at least. Don't get me wrong, I think every digital studio should have a computer, but I would feel sorry for the guy that has to rely on just the DAW everyday for tracking. I have run into too many problems with these "pro-sumer" machines to be able to confidently track with them. They are great for post tho, when you can get away with a reboot every few hours.

all the mackie/tascam/alesis/et al are computers too.

and why on earth are you rebooting so much? my machine is so stable it only crashed ONCE in two years and that was simply because i put so many damn plugins in it the cpu couldnt keep up. you must not know how to set up a machine properly or use a PC.

now that im sober, the alesis suffers from the same problems of a tape deck with the way it writes to the HD. just not very useful in the studio, now as a live machine recording a show where there is no going back its a great idea. if i demanded a hardware device i would most certainly go with the RADAR24 over the mackie/tascam and certainly the alesis.

Here is a little info I snipped from a post on http://www.da7.com

Factor in the fact that the Alesis recorder operates exactly like a tape machine:

no virtual tracks

no non-destructive recording mode

you must transfer tracks to a DAW if you want to do DAW like editing--there is no editing built in.

space on the hard disk is "pre-assigned" for all 24 tracks... therefore, if you record less than 24 tracks, you get just as much recording time as you would if you recorded all 24 tracks.

So if you already have a DAW and don't mind waiting for xfers to do edits or record more than one take per track, the Alesis is a steal. If you don't already own a DAW, the Tascam and Mackie units are still contenders at twice the price.