Motu 828MkII? Bonus - How is it on a PC???

[Jay Kahrs]

Before I go and plop down my cash, is anyone running a Motu interface on a PC and not a Mac? Are there any problems?

And, how is the 828MkII in general? The features all seem right but how is it really? Are there any real "gotchas" about it? FWIW, the other option is a 002 on a PC but the Motu has the edge with built in SMPTE and more channels of I/O. Plus, it's cheaper.

And yes, I'm gonna stick with a PC. Why? Because I already have a bunch of software that's totally current, works and most importantly is paid for.

[tINY]

In PC land - there are incompatibility issues with 1394. I had to buy a new PCMCIA card with a different Firewire chipset before my laptop would play nice with my 896HD


-tINY

[faeflora]

Originally posted by Jay Kahrs
Before I go and plop down my cash, is anyone running a Motu interface on a PC and not a Mac? Are there any problems?

And, how is the 828MkII in general? The features all seem right but how is it really? Are there any real "gotchas" about it? FWIW, the other option is a 002 on a PC but the Motu has the edge with built in SMPTE and more channels of I/O. Plus, it's cheaper.

And yes, I'm gonna stick with a PC. Why? Because I already have a bunch of software that's totally current, works and most importantly is paid for.

If you're already with the enemy, why not use gear that's made (ahem) by the enemy for the enemy?

Get RME. They love PC.

[everybody's x]

the only problem I've had so far is dealing with the mac-snobbery of the motu people. "Motu recommends using a mac" is a standard customer service response


as far as what Tiny said, I believe it is the NEC chipset you can't use. Texas Intruments chips are recommended

[Jay Kahrs]

Originally posted by faeflora
If you're already with the enemy, why not use gear that's made (ahem) by the enemy for the enemy?

Get RME. They love PC.

What's the equivilent RME box? Either that or a box with at least 16 analog I/O and SPDIF or AES/EBU. Their website is a bit confusing...

[faeflora]

You'd have to get two Multifaces.

Or you could get a digital mixer which could be more useful.

[Jay Kahrs]

Originally posted by faeflora
You'd have to get two Multifaces.

Or you could get a digital mixer which could be more useful.

Why would I need a digital mixer? I have a mixer, I need an interface.

[hourglass]

Jay,

Let me try to return the favor since you've dealt me some decent info in the past...

Our main room is running on a PC with a MOTU 324 card in it.

Hanging off the 324 is a MOTU 1224 and a MOTU 2408.

From day 1, we've had ZERO problems with this set up.

From what I've read, I certainly didn't expect it to be that way, cuz everybody says how much MOTU (especially the 324) stuff is skoogy on PC.

Until yesterday we were dealing with 16 in and 16 out -- that's when we decided to drop the $175 and get a Behringer ADA-8000 just to see what it would do.

For that kind of money it might as well be free is the way I went into it.

We wired up a few channels on the Behringer and did a tone test - that being we sent 1K tones out of the DAW thru three random channels on the board - one for each converter.

All the tones from all three converters sounded just like tones -- we used these tones from the software to set each console channel to the same output level, then we tossed an actual project up and did the same comparison.

We copied an object to 3 tracks. Set the output for each of those tracks to hit a different converter.

The 1224 sounded bigger on the bottom than either the 2408 or the Behringer.

To my ears, the Behringer and the 2408 sounded identical. Chad sez the Behringer might lack a bit on the bottom but has a bit MORE clarity than the 2408.

The only snag we ran into was when we put two converters up against each other at the same time - the 1224 and the 2408 summed and boosted the signal. Either MOTU with the Behringer sounded perfectly out of phase.

So we checked our wiring. On both ends.

Tried another channel.

Still sounded out of phase.

So we flipped the phase on the DAW output going to the Behringer.

Perfect.

Our guess is that the Behringer is being a bit slower than the MOTU since it's converting then sending down lightpipe to the MOTU... maybe somebody designed it to end up perfectly out of phase, maybe it's just a happy accident.

Anyhow, we went back and wired all the Behringer outputs to be out of phase from what the manual sez. Since we're not using the inputs, I don't anticipate any problems.

As for your 828 - I'm actually planning to set one up in the B-Studio today and test it with the Behringer converters as well.

I'll report back on that later.

ryan

[orange]

I'm running two 828mkii on a PC with a cheap $15 TI chipset firewire card Works flawlessly with one proviso. With latest driver it doesn't like hotpluging the units - (reboots the machine !!!!). Didn't happen with earlier driver and not too much of a problem to work around.

Bought one when they first came out (last november I think) - and recently bought the other to give more analog outputs (after checking that the PC driver would support two). Works a breeze and drivers give pretty low latency on recording.

Used the device on my laptop too - good to have phantom powered mic inputs for this application.

I also have an RME PCI soundcard (HDSP 9652) on another PC and on balance think I prefer the sound of the MOTU. Great for the money - I say go for it.

[futur2]

the motu 828ii works perfectly with my toshiba notebook!

cheers
istvan

[faeflora]

Originally posted by Jay Kahrs
Why would I need a digital mixer? I have a mixer, I need an interface.

Akk, let me explain.

You may want to check out the Tascam DM24. It has 16 channels of I/O and has a firewire card you can use to get audio into your computer. You can also get ADAT cards for it and plug it up to an RME Hammerfall 9652.

It's pretty cheap ($1300 used) and the converters are ok.

[Mr. Uli]

oops - too many bong hits...


fuuck dfegad

[hourglass]

Alrighty...

I just downloaded the latest 828 drivers from MOTU & installed them in my B-Studio computer.

Then I plugged in the 828mkII.

The computer found it and did all the crap it's supposed to do.

I wired up 8 ins and 8 outs. All tested perfectly fine.

I hung the Behringer ADA-8000 offa the ADAT out joint.

I plugged the first two outs into two channels on my board.

I performed the same test as we did with the other MOTU stuff.

This time, there was nothing out of phase. I suppose the issue with the other setup is the PCI-324 card.

The converters in the 828mkII seem a bit nicer overall than any of the other ones I mentioned. They're not as "fat" on the low-end as the 1224 converters, but where the 1224 sacrifices clarity for low end, this thing sounds decent all around.

The Behringers compared to the 828 are a still seem more focused in the upper midrange. Not as beefy as any of the other converters but certainly not bad. And definitely not bad for the money they cost to get a full set of gusintas and gusouttas.


So - to answer yer original question Jay - I don't see any reason to expect any problems with the 828.

I myself was comparing my options today at Banjo Depot (this particular 828 is on loan, so I need to get me something...) To get the same functionality with Hammerfall stuff, I'd need either a Fireface, or a Multiface and the HDSP PCI card for it.

Either way is quite a bit more than the 828 and I can't speak for the HDSP converters cuz I've never heard them...

ryan

[Jay Kahrs]

Originally posted by Mr. Uli
oops - too many bong hits...


fuuck dfegad

Uh huh...

You sure the bong didn't have anything to do with it Mr. Uli?

[oneass]

I'm using a Motu 828 (not mk II) from time to time to do live recordings, with a Fostex AD-convertor for ADAT, and I use whatever's left (mostly bypassed FX) to convert two channels to S/PDIF. That way I have a total of 18 analog in.

I've used this with several desktop and laptop PC's, and never had a problem. I even used it with a cheap Firewire card with the NEC chipset in it! Worked flawlessly.. According to MOTU's website, the only problem with this chipset is the functionality of the footswitch (punch in/out). Although I don't use that function, I gave it a try, and it behaved properly...

stike I DID have difficulties when combining the 828 with an external firewire HD. When I switched to USB2.0, all problems were solved. But I suppose that has nothing to do with the 828, I think it's more of an issue with this cheap HD...

[woods]

Hi,

I just turned mine on for the first time last night.

I noticed it has a subtle hum. But a little louder than some other gear of that type that I have.

Does yours make much noise?

Thanks,

Woods

[oneass]

Originally posted by woods
Hi,

I just turned mine on for the first time last night.

I noticed it has a subtle hum. But a little louder than some other gear of that type that I have.

Does yours make much noise?

Thanks,

Woods

Yes, mine does (828 mk1), but I believe it just recently started doing that. I wouldn't call it 'subtle' though, it's actually quite annoying.

Or maybe it has always done that, but I just didn't notice it because I used to have a noisier pc.

wannes