Alesis AcousticLink User manual

AcousticLink
QUICKSTART GUIDE

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QUICKSTART GUIDE (ENGLISH)
1. Make sure all items listed in the Box Contents are
included.
2. READ SAFETY INSTRUCTION BOOKLET BEFORE
USING THE PRODUCT.
3. Place the product in an appropriate location for operation.
PICKUP INSTALLATION
To install the pickup to your
guitar’s soundhole:
1. Carefully loosen the pickup
clamps clockwise with a
screwdriver.
2. Position the pickup in the
soundhole, near the end of the
fretboard.
3. Re-tighten the pickup clamps
counter-clockwise.
BOX CONTENTS
Single coil acoustic guitar
pickup
GuitarLink USB guitar
cable
Quickstart Guide
Safety Instructions &
Warranty Information
Booklet
Cubase LE DVD

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CONNECTION DIAGRAM
Before beginning, make sure your computer meets these system requirements:
• Windows: Microsoft Windows XP (SP2) / Vista (32- or 64-bit) / 7 (32- or 64-bit) with Pentium-IV or
Athlon XP, 1.6GHz or higher (recommended)
• Mac: Apple Mac OSX 10.5 above
• 1 GB RAM or above (recommended)
• Sound card (AC97-compatible sound card)
• 1GB free hard drive space
• DVD-ROM drive (for software installation)
• One available USB 2.0 port (preferably on the rear panel of your computer)

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ABOUT AUDIO LATENCY
“Latency” is the time it takes for your computer’s soundcard to process incoming data and output a
sound. The lower your latency is, the faster your computer will respond to commands and output
sound.
If you experience significant delay between the time you play and the time that the computer outputs
audio, we recommend going into your software’s “Preferences” settings to make sure that your
soundcard’s latency (or buffer) is set to a low number – ideally lower than 15-20ms.
1. ASIO INSTALLATION (WINDOWS)
IVER INSTALLATION (WINDOWS USERS)
1. Download and Install the free ASIO4ALL driver from This will allow for low
latency performance.
2. Double click the installer file (.exe). Follow the on-screen prompts to install the included low latency
ASIO4ALL driver.
2. AUDIO SETUP (WINDOWS AND MAC)
In most cases (especially if you are using Windows) AcousticLink will be automatically selected as your
computer’s default recording device. If you find you are unable to record any audio with AcousticLink,
follow the instructions below for your operating system.
You can use AcousticLink with any digital audio workstation or recording software that supports USB
audio devices. Be sure your audio software program is set up to receive audio via AcousticLink. Please
consult your software program’s manual for more information.

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WINDOWS 7
1. Go to Start Menu fControl Panel fHardware and Sound fSound.
2. Select the “Recording” tab.
3. Make sure Microphone – USB PnP Sound Device is set as the default device, then click “OK.”
4. Make sure your internal soundcard (ie. SoundMax, Conexant, etc.) is set as the default playback
device, then click “OK.”
WINDOWS VISTA
1. Go to Start Menu fControl Panel fSound. (If you don’t see Sound, select “Switch to Classic
View,” and the Sound Control Panel should become available.)
2. Select the “Recording” tab.
3. Make sure USB PnP Sound Device is set as the default recording device.
4. Make sure your internal soundcard (ie. SoundMax, Conexant, etc.) is set as the default playback
device, then click “OK.”
WINDOWS XP
1. Go to Start Menu fControl Panel fSounds and Audio Devices.
2. Click the “Audio” tab.
3. Under “Sound Recording,” make sure USB PnP Sound Device is selected as the default
recording device.
4. Under “Sound Recording,” make sure your internal soundcard (ie. SoundMax, Conexant, etc.) is
selected as the default playback device, then click “OK.”

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MAC (OSX 10.5)
1. Click on the Mac desktop so that Finder is
displayed in the upper-left of the screen.
2. Select the Go menu from the top of the
screen and choose Utilities.
3. In the window that opens, double click
Audio MIDI Setup.
4. In the Audio menu, select Open Aggregate
Device Editor.
5. Click on the +sign to create an Aggregate
Device.
6. Put a check mark in the boxes for USB PnP
Sound Device and Built-in Output and click
Done.
7. In the “Audio Devices” tab under “System
Settings,” select Aggregate Device as your
Default Input.
8. For the Default Output, select Built-in
Output then close the window.

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MAC (OSX 10.6)
Set Acousticlink as your default recording device:
1. Click on the Mac desktop so that Finder is
displayed in the upper-left of the screen.
2. Select the Go menu from the top of the screen
and choose Utilities.
3. In the window that opens, double click Audio
MIDI Setup.
4. Once the Audio MIDI Setup utility is open,
select the Window menu at the top of the screen
and select ’Show Audio Window’.
5. In the window that opens, click the + button to
create an aggregate device.
6. Highlight the Aggregate Device in the left panel
and then put a check mark in the box on
the right side panel for USB PnP Sound Device
as well as Built-in Output.
7. Make sure Aggregate Device is highlighted in
the left panel and then click on the cog wheel.
Select ‘Use this device for sound input’.
8. Highlight the Built-In output option in the left
panel, click the cog wheel and select ‘Use this
device for sound output’.
9. Close out of the Audio Setup window.

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3. SETTING UP THE SOFTWARE (WINDOWS AND MAC)
ACTIVATING CUBASE LE 5
1. Install Cubase LE 5.
2. Make sure that your computer has a working Internet connection to activate the license because
the eLicenser Control Center (eLCC) needs to register with the Steinberg license server.
3. Make sure that you have the latest version of the eLCC installed from www.elicenser.net.
4. Open the eLicense Control Center (eLCC) software and make a note of your Soft-eLicenser
number. If you do not see your number, click the "Support" menu and select "Update eLicenser
License Database."
5. Create a user account in the MySteinberg area at www.steinberg.net. If you already have one,
please go to Step 7.
6. Check your email and activate your user account by clicking the link in the confirmation email. If
the link does not work, copy and paste the link into your browser's address bar.
7. Log in to your MySteinberg account, and click on "Activation & Reactivation", choose "Cubase
LE 5" and select "Permanent Activation". Enter your Soft-eLicenser and choose your hardware
manufacturer.
8. You will receive an email containing the activation code.
9. Launch the eLicenser Control Center software. Click the "Enter Activation Code" button to
download the license for your Steinberg product to the Soft-eLicenser. Enter the required
activation code into the corresponding field. Follow the instructions on screen.
10. After activating your software, open Cubase to begin using it.
Attention, Windows Users: If you see a "permissions" error message when trying to open the
software, follow these steps:
1. Right-click the Cubase icon on your Desktop.
2. Select Properties.
3. Select the Compatibility tab.
4. Under "Privilege Level," check the box that says "Run this program as an administrator."
5. Click "Apply" then "OK."

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WINDOWS SETUP
Once Cubase LE 5 is installed and activated,
follow the steps below to configure the software
to record with the AcousticLink.
1. Open Cubase LE 5. If prompted to open a
project, cancel for now.
2. From the menus select DevicesfDevice
Setup.
3. In Device Setup click on VST Audio System.
4. In the ASIO driver dropdown box, select
ASIO4ALL. When asked to switch the driver,
select ‘Yes’. Then select ASIO4ALL from the
left panel and click on the Control Panel
button at the top right of the window.
5. Click on the image of the wrench in the
bottom right corner and ensure that USB PnP
Sound Device is selected for the
input device and your internal
soundcard is selected as the output
device. Uncheck any other devices
listed here.
6. Click OK for the two windows that
are open, and then close and reopen
Cubase for the changes to take
effect.
7. In Cubase, click on FilefNew
Project and select Empty, and
choose where you would like to save
your project.

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8. Click on the Device menu at the top of the screen and
select VST Connections. Click on Inputs at the top of the
window. Click on the input titled under the Bus Name
column and press the delete key on your keyboard to
delete the Stereo In bus. The VST connections window
should now be empty. Create a Mono input bus by clicking
on the Add Bus button and selecting the Mono
configuration. Name the preset, and click OK.
9. Under the Audio Device column, select ASIO4ALL.
10. In the Device port column, select ‘Sound Device 1’ (Mono
in).
11. Click on the Outputs tab, select ‘ASIO4ALL’ as the
Audio Device.
12. In the Device port column, select your internal
soundcard as the output device. Close the VST
Connections window.
13. Right click in the main project window and choose Add
Audio Track.
14. In the Audio Track Configuration window, select ‘1 –
Mono’ and click OK.
15. Activate the Track Monitor button on the Mono
track, found next to the Record Enable button.
Click the Record button at the top of the Cubase
window, do a quick test, and stop the recording.
16. Rewind to the beginning of the track and press
the play button at the top of the Cubase window
to hear what you just recorded.
Note: To avoid having to set the VST Audio System and
VST Connections each time you open Cubase, you can
save a your settings as a template by going to File> Save
as Template. Then when you reopen Cubase your template
will appear in the Project Templates list.

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MAC SETUP
Once Cubase LE is installed and activated, follow
the steps below to configure the software to
record with the AcousticLink.
1. Open Cubase LE. If prompted to open a
project, cancel for now.
2. From the menus select Devices> Device
Setup.
3. In Device Setup click on VST Audio
System.
4. In the ASIO driver list on the right side of
the Device Setup, select Aggregate
Device. Click OK.
5. In Cubase, click on FilefNew Project and
select Empty, and choose where you
would like to save your project.
6. Click on the Device menu at the top of the
screen and select VST Connections. Click
on Inputs at the top of the window. Click on
the input titled under the
Bus Name column and
press the delete key on
your keyboard to delete
it. The VST connections
window should now be
empty. Next, you will
create a Mono input bus.
Click on the Add Input
Bus button. Name the
preset, and click OK.
Close the VST
Connections window.

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7. Right click in the dark blue area of the main project and choose Add Audio Track.
8. In the Audio Track Configuration window, select 1 – Mono and click OK.
9. Activate the Track Monitor button on the Mono track, found next to the Record Enable button.
Click the Record button at the top of the Cubase window, do a quick test, and stop the recording.
10. Rewind to the beginning of the track, disable the track monitor button and then press the play
button at the top of the Cubase window to hear what you just recorded.
Note: To avoid having to set the VST Audio System and VST Connections each time you open
Cubase, you can save a your settings as a template by going to File> Save as Template. Then when
you reopen Cubase your template will appear in the Project Templates list.