MOTU 828mk3

[ipressrecord]

MOTU.com - 828mk3 Overview

Onboard DSP, double the ADAT, lots of other cool features.

Jeff

[Confusionator]

Wow! Looks great! What's the street price going to be?

[packagebear]

too cool. Glad I held off getting a mark II.

kris

[akindy]

I've been looking for a new firewire interface, everything from a 003 to an 8pre. Looks like I found it!

[The MPCist]

Anyone know of how powerful its onboard DSP is?

[ThetaAlpha970]

Rad...Anybody notice this thing has a fake LA-2A? Who knows, right?

[bobx]

i wonder if they've improved the converters. the converters in the MKII that i had left something to be desired. however, if it's at the same price point, you can't really complain.

[zul_nalury]

When it will be available in the market?

[mr jkn]

Fits like a glow for my needs! I´m turning thirty in April - anyone care for giving this to me as b-day gift?

[supaheef]

It's finally been announced! I had word of this a week or two ago, I have been bursting!

The word I have (I work for the Australian MOTU distributor) is that it will be shipping in March, at the same price as the mkII. It's been over 3 years (maybe 4) since the mkII came out, and the MOTU interfaces that followed it (Ultralite, 8Pre) have had considerable improvement to the audio quality. Here's hoping they've improved it again.

heath.

[noiseflaw]

Excellent. Seems very well spec'd.

I bet it is an affordable piece of kit too. They are going to sell SHEDLOADS of this tidy piece of studio workhorse.

[Tantrum The Cat]

I'm surprised that MOTU don't get more love here on the 'slutz - excellent drivers* &
sound quality for the price point. MOTU'll sell a boatload of these.










* speaking as a Mac user, I have heard about driver issues on Windows.

[6strings]

At the very least the converters are the same as from the 896HD which seems to be ranked much better over the 828 around these parts.

If there was a marked improvement on the pres, I think we'd have heard more marketing hype about this.

[astronmr20]

Hopefully they improved the converters.

[idrinkalot]

Originally Posted by 6strings

If there was a marked improvement on the pres, I think we'd have heard more marketing hype about this.

hm like an entire page on their website dedicated to it?

[opium89]

I don't remember where I saw it but release was listed as Feb. 2008 at a price of about $750 or so. I'll post the link if I can find it.

[akindy]

I too remember googling around and finding an article that said early February, with a price point of $795 USD.
Sign me up!

[Pandemonium]

This is what the the Digi 003 should have been. Double ADAT, onboard DSP, etc, etc

[jba]

looks like a great compliment to my (BLA modified) Traveler. according to their pr, they paid more attention to the clock this time around. hopefully it is a noticable improvement. the dsp effects look nice, and i appreciate that it has many more line inputs than mic pres. what i really want to know is how long until before Black Lion offers an upgrade!

[vixapphire]

if it's in the under $800 club, i'm really impressed.

question: why buy a tc konnekt48 studio, or rme fireface800 for >$1400 when this thing is basically half the price? is it just the additional pre's?

[mohthom]

Even as just a stable set of converters that's going to be worth the cash. However, I'd put money on it being a helluva lot more than £450 in the UK!

I reckon this might be the answer to my firewire interface stability issues. Wooo!! I've used MOTU interfaces before and hated the preamps - but loved the stability. 8 channels of SMUX is a deal-maker in my book.

MohThoM

[audiothings]

i wish these guys would pay a little more attention to preamp gain... 53 dB of gain on the preamps ... they could have beefed it up like the ensemble/duet (75 dB) or the metric halo (72 dB)... other than this, at the projected price, the features seem great. Been running the 2408 Mk3 on a PC here for the last four years, can't complain about stability...

[cold c]

Originally Posted by bobx

i wonder if they've improved the converters. the converters in the MKII that i had left something to be desired. however, if it's at the same price point, you can't really complain.

Given that MOTU almost never publish the converter specifications (for some reason ) (noise, THD, SNR etc. ) it will be difficult to know if they've done anything until someone gets a mk3 and tests it.

http://www.dv247.com/invt/48858

UK price is is available, see link above.

[unsilpauly]

Originally Posted by cold c

Given that MOTU almost never publish the converter specifications (for some reason ) (noise, THD, SNR etc. ) it will be difficult to know if they've done anything until someone gets a mk3 and tests it.

http://www.dv247.com/invt/48858

UK price is is available, see link above.

i talked to motu today and found out the converter is an upgrade from the mk11.
he said the mk11 has 108db of dynamic range and the mk111 has 112db. the are specs he mentioned were better as well(i didn't have a pad and pen handy unfortunately and i don't want to misquote). he said since this converter goes to 192 it is a totally different converter along with a totally new clock. i am interested to hear these. the mk11 has been super stable for me for over three years but i alway thought the sound left just alittle to be desired. he said should be in stores in february $750.00 street price.

[6strings]

i talked to motu today and found out the converter is an upgrade from the mk11.

Of course it is! The mkII could only sample up to 96khz.

Either:

1. It's the same converter and clock as the 896HD (which itself will be a marked improvement over the current 828mkII)

- or-

2. It's a whole new converter and clock and the 896HD will be similarly revised in the Spring. (which could protentially improve both units)

- or -

3. In light of the upgraded 828mkIII and the new 8-pre unit, MOTU will discontinue the 896HD. The 828mkIII is simply receiving the chips from the 896 to fill it's shoes in the product line as a 192-capable unit.

I'll put my money on #3 as the firewire interface market has gotten increasingly crowded since the 828mkII and 896HD were first introduced...

At any rate, any of these scenarios is good news for home studios looking for a sub-$1000 firewire interface!

[F5D]

Lucky me, I just sold my mk2 a week before this announcement.

One thing I don't understand with this mk3 and some other audio interfaces is that why does the audio interface have built in fx? Who is going to use them?

I wish MOTU announced a 192kHz converter for $600-$700. Just a mk3 without the mic pre's and other front panel stuff. The 8 inputs are not enough for me and I don't want to buy an 8pre because it doesn't have as good converters and I don't need any mic pre's but inputs. An RME adi8 is too expensive. I guess I could stack 2 mk3's to get 20 analog inputs. Does the motu driver see that I have two mk3's and use them as one bigger audio interface?

[6strings]

Originally Posted by F5D

One thing I don't understand with this mk3 and some other audio interfaces is that why does the audio interface have built in fx? Who is going to use them?

I would imagine mainly for providing reverb and EQ to monitors during tracking.

[supaheef]

Originally Posted by F5D

Does the motu driver see that I have two mk3's and use them as one bigger audio interface?

The Cuemix software allows you to control up to 3 MOTU units as if they were one large interface. For example, you could connect an 828mkII and two 8Pre's and Cuemix would show you all 40+ inputs and 20+ outputs (sorry, I couldn't be bothered counting how many actual I/O you would have..!)

Heath.

[supaheef]

Originally Posted by 6strings

Of course it is! The mkII could only sample up to 96khz.

Either:

1. It's the same converter and clock as the 896HD (which itself will be a marked improvement over the current 828mkII)

- or-

2. It's a whole new converter and clock and the 896HD will be similarly revised in the Spring. (which could protentially improve both units)

- or -

3. In light of the upgraded 828mkIII and the new 8-pre unit, MOTU will discontinue the 896HD. The 828mkIII is simply receiving the chips from the 896 to fill it's shoes in the product line as a 192-capable unit.

I'll put my money on #3 as the firewire interface market has gotten increasingly crowded since the 828mkII and 896HD were first introduced...

At any rate, any of these scenarios is good news for home studios looking for a sub-$1000 firewire interface!

What we have heard is that this is an entirely new unit internally - only the external appearances are similar. Each 'board inside is a brand new design, so from those options, number 2 would be closest. However, I have not heard about the 896HD being discontinued, but seeing as it is about the same age as the 828mkII it wouldn't surprise. As for when (Spring, as you suggest) it may see an update? Well, MOTU are a company that keeps all cards very close to it's chest.

Heath.

[rodreb]

I find myself in the position that I WANT to update to a new interface but don't absolutely NEED to.

I really wanted a Presonus Firestudio as it has all the right features for my tastes and the price is right but....... It is not compatible with SONAR so I've been waiting (A really long time) for them to issue a new driver to remedy the SONAR conflict but, Presonus has completely disappointed me.

This new MOTU unit may just be the answer! Can't wait to start reading the reviews!