Has anyone used the Alesis Masterlink?

[Nocturn]

It is a 2-track recorder...has 5Gb Hard Disk an CD burner and matering tools..and FX processor...I used it sometime and I thought it was very good and practical but I dont know if Alesis still makes it...or if it is a good choise to record a Live mix and get the CD burned that same night

[Lt. Bob]

I have one ..... I like it ...... I think they still make it or at least you can still get one at Musicians Friend.

Ummmm for a live recording, personally, I'd want something with multiple tracks to do the live recording so I would have some mixing capabilities. I would think of the Masterlink as more of a mixdown unit.
I thought it had more like 30G

[skod]

I do exactly this fairly often- print the 2-bus of a live mix to the Masterlink and provide a CD of the show to the performer at the end of the night. I have 2 Masterlinks: the one in the studio I use as a normal 2-track recorder, and the one in the road rack I use to record live with. I use them both extensively, and would have no problem recommending the unit to anybody else.

Both of mine were early enough units to have come with 4.9Gb drives, which I upgraded to 40 Gb drives to get more recording time (34 hours at 24/44.2kHz, the maximum that their firmware can handle is 32Gb). They are dead simple inside and easy to work with. I detailed the upgrade here: http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=38484&highlight=masterlink .

[Spaceman Spliff]

I thought the latest model had 40 gigs.

[Lt. Bob]

yeah ..... that's what I think I have in mine.
I have a weird glitch in mine though. usually when I turn it on and play anything ..... the output is muted. I can see the meters moving .... but there is no sound at the output or the headphones. I can switchmbetween CD and HD a few times and usually that gets it going but sometimes I have to perform a recording or 2 or 3 to get it to work. Seems I read that's a common glitch.