Any Motu Ultralite mk4 owners here? I'm looking to get one but need some clarifications before making the decision. I have a Dell XPS 15 9560 running windows 10.

1. I'm hearing reports of people on the unstability of the drivers on windows, i saw that there's a new update earlier this march. Hows that driver doing now? Has it solved all if not most of the issues?

2. If not the mk4, what interface in that range would you guys recommend as an alternative? Im gonna be using it for live on stage usage. So stability of the drivers and latency is the number 1 priority.

I'm curious myself.

My Ultralite Mk4 experience:

I took a chance, because there's not too much info on this one, but I figured it would be more or less like the AVB, and that one gets some decent reviews on Windows 10.

My system is an older PC, 64 bit with 12 gigs of ram. Win 10

The problem was that the sound would simply shut off at random times for both the ASIO driver, and the multimedia driver (Youtube, etc..). It would pop back on if I changed the latency settings, or if I restarted the unit.

I had the newest drivers and firmware, and went through endless troubleshooting, but nothing fixed the problem.

So, on the horn with Motu (he was VERY responsive btw), I tried installing on my laptop running Windows 7: BSOD. Every time. I tried a different, older and less capable usb interface on my Desktop and it worked flawlessly from the get go. So, it's probably a busted unit rather than a system conflict, but I've changed my mind and will try out a Focusrite instead...

TLDR: it didn't work out.

On my second unit from MOTU. Sorry. This one is beginning to have the same issues the first one had. Random disconnect and sometimes a high frequency noise at the time of said disconnect. Still shows up in Audio/MIDI utility, but lost on Logic. Requires a reboot of device. Then good for an hour, or a day, or a week, or 5 minutes. Infuriating. Going Focusrite next time.

I`ve been using my Ultralite MK3 for over a decade now with zero problems. Rock solid system. It`s shocking to hear this about the MK4. What went wrong!!??

I think it's most likely a quality control issue. Mine was just totally jacked. I really wanted it to work.. Maybe it works better on a brand new system.

Sounds like an issue with the hardware itself to be honest. My first 828MK2 went for a good 12 years with no problems, but it finally died on me a couple years ago. Its replacement, also a used 828MK2, is still going like a champ though. I dont think MOTU has the issues with Windows they did in the past. Back when the 828's came out, their drivers were notoriously horrible on Windows, and your motherboard HAD to have a TI firewire chipset in it or it didn't work. Im assuming if Apple would have gone with another firewire vendor, we would have had the same issues on the Mac side of things. They seem to be alot more Windows friendly now, and they've obviously got the confidence in supporting it since they even ported Digital Performer to the PC after however many years of it being a Mac only thing.

You mean the hardware, as in interface? I agree with that. That's what I meant by quality control. Probably just a bunch of them that were not tested thoroughly enough. But, I was not in the mood to get a replacement, and waste more time testing it out.

It's definitely not my system, because I got an 18i8 mk2 instead, and it's been totally fine.

I noticed that on the tech specs page: MOTU.com - Tech Specs
the D/A Dynamic Range on the Ultralite MK4 is listed as 123dB A-weighted. Which falls inline with their 8A and 624
On all of MOTU's other promotional material, and in their own manual it is 117dB A-weighted. (which falls inline with the Ultralite AVB)

So which is it?

I could have sworn I was checking the page from the link above, the other day, and it was 117dB, now changed to 123dB.

Wow, I only checked the MOTU website a couple of days ago and the listed DAC specs were matching the manual.

On the overview page for the product on the MOTU website near the top where the microphone picture is they say, "New for 2018, the UltraLite-mk4 now includes renowned ESS Sabre32™ DAC technology, delivering 123dB dynamic range and the same proven, award-winning audio quality as MOTU's flagship 1248. Renowned drivers deliver rock-solid performance and industry-leading low latency."

So if you get an older mk4 it would have the manual specs whereas the ones sold this year should have the new DAC.

I bought this product not long ago and it came with a sticker on the front of the box advertising that it had the new ESS Saber32 Utra DAC and also a blurb about it on the side of the box.

I also opened the product casing to set the one of the jumper's and can confirm there are chips with ES9016 written on them inside.

Well my factory resealed MK4 arrives tomorrow, so fingers crossed mine will also have the ES9016.

Cheers for the info!

A guy from MOTU private messaged me about my issues and it seems I’m good. I turned off some menu items, and re-installed all MOTU stuff. So far so good. I’ve been using Premiere most of the last week or 2 with no issues. I should be back to my usual Logic centric workflow in a few more weeks. So far so good.

I have to say thank you MOTU for taking the initiative and getting in touch with me, as I was about to do something drastic and unhealthy to my pocketbook.

Thanks for all this info, again.

My MK4 arrived today and it is from the 2018 batch, confirmed with all the packaging you describe. This is wonderful! Will be shooting out the DAC against my Duet 2 very soon now.

Yeah every now and then MOTU quietly does this without really telling anyone unless you guy the new one.. The 828mk2 had two different versions of firmware and some came with 1.0, others came with 1.01, same with the boot software. My original one had boot 1.0 and firmware 1.01, my newer one has both at version 1.01. Unlike later interfaces, MOTU never made this user installable or publish a list of updates in it. Someone did find an updater for it and put it online eventually, but this was before the Intel Macs came out, so its PPC only. For whatever weird reason, my original one was one of the early batches that had the dying display backlight (went out about a month after I got it) and when I finally opened it up and replaced it a few years ago, when I rebooted it the firmware somehow reset itself to 1.01. No clue what the newer firmware changed or updated, but thankfully I was running Snow Leopard for the longest time back then and it still worked thanks to Rosetta. I think at some point some of the components inside the mk2 were changed out as well.

Wow, didn't see that ESS Sabre32 update coming! Wonder if they offer some kind of exchange program? Doesnt seem very fair to owners of MK4 first edition, which was on the market only for a year or so

I had an ultralite avb and liked it so much I upgraded to a used motu 1248. I leave it powered on all the time. I had usb powered focusrite interfaces and the mac I was using at the time kept losing them and needing to be hooked back up to them--as the interface was down while the computer was off.

I have had an Ultralite AVB pretty much since it was released and I am very happy with it. I use it under Windows 10 x64 and it's been rock solid with the last few driver updates. I do not use the AVB networking features though.

This makes me wonder if they had some problems with the dac in a lot of units from the first batch, and upgraded it for that reason. I can imagine that the problems I had could have been a faulty dac.

Just because someone else gets a better deal doesn't mean you got a bad deal--IHMO, you have a very nice device. And we know that with computer equipment, every year people get more value for the dollar due to improved technology.

Hi -

I just bought this unit and am trying to figure out how to send audio out of the Analog Outs to my outboard pedals (Strymon Blue Sky and Timeline). I can't seem to get audio out of the analog outs in Ableton. Is there something I'm missing? I've tried setting up the External Effects Instrument but I'm coming up empty.

Do I need to activate the Analog Outs in the Motu web interface?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you

i‘m new to the unit, too. you have to choose interface and mixer as the preset. then you have to go to the routing tab in the web app and connect the wanted out of the computer with the analog out you want to use of the motu.

I think I tried that but I am getting a feedback loop in Ableton. If I want to route analog-out 1-2 to analog-in 7-8, which "from computer" selection should I use? Any ideas on how to use it in conjunction with Ableton's External Hardware Effect Plugin? Thank you

I briefly had this unit and remember how the layout was a bit confusing. What output options from Motu show up in Ableton? And which input options show up? If you just do a default configuration with the Motu, then the feedback loop should be something going on with Ableton. Your "analog 1 and 2" Motu output channels should be something like "from computer 3 and 4" in a default configuration on the web interface. The Ableton channel that you're bringing your pedal signal back into should just be going to your master bus in Ableton.

jlevine711,

You should be able to do this without getting a feedback loop. If you don't need a special routing configuration, I'd recommend first setting the device to the Audio Interface preset to start. Now, choose which analog outputs and inputs on the device you want to connect the effect processor to. These can be any outputs that aren't also being used for your main out playback from Ableton. I'll use Analog 3 and 4 for output, since they're automatically assigned to Computer Channels 3-4 when the Audio Interface preset is chosen. For the return channels, I'll use Analog 3-4 as well to keep things organized. Keep in mind that the computer channels can be changed if you're using a custom routing on the interface.
Now, you can apply the External Effect plugin to a track in Ableton. Set the "Audio To" to 3-4 and the "Audio From" to 3-4 as well. (keep in mind that these inputs and outputs will need to be added in the Input/Output Configuration preference in Ableton if you haven't already.)
With this setup you won't get a feedback loop, since audio is snet out to analog output 3-4 and back in to analog input 3-4 before it gets sent to your Main Outs (1-2).

Assuming Live works like every other "normal" DAW, this is what I would do.. In Ableton's mixer, you set the output for the tracks you want to send to your pedals to Analog outputs 1,2. You plug analog out 1/2 into your pedals. You then plug your pedals into input 7/8, and make two new tracks in Ableton, and set the recording inputs for those tracks to inputs 7 and 8. The whole "external effect" and "external MIDI instrument" plugins are way new to me, Logic just recently added something like those. But I still do things "the old fashioned way" like I listed above. Sending audio out, and recording it coming back in, is already going to possibly have its own latency.. How much more is letting a plugin handle the routing and information passing on top of the DAW already doing work going to add?? Just go straight to the source and do it that way hehe. Ive done this in Logic plenty of times and never had any issues with feedback loops. When its done this way, the way routing in MOTU's CueMix works, you don't hear output 1/2, because all Ableton is playing is whats going out the Master outputs, you shouldn't be hearing the original tracks going to the pedals at all anymore. You should only be hearing whats coming in, mixed with the rest of the song thats going to the main outputs 1/2. Don't do any internal routing in CueMix. Just leave the first mix setting enabled, turn the rest off, and make sure the CueMix output is set to Main 1/2.

I doubt it.
More likely it's just economies of scale.
They're using this chip in most of their interfaces now, so once it came time to make a new batch of UL MK4s, the cost/benefit analysis to update it with the ESS Sabre 32 Ultra probably came out ahead.

Either way, I love this interface. The latency is ultra low and performance is stable at 64 samples and I have no complaints on the sound.
Last week's update of the Discovery app was a nice bonus, as well.

I have all these exact same problems. Changing the sample rate restores audio for me, but sometimes I have crackling and dropouts every 5 minutes. It occurs on multiple computers. I've tried just about every troubleshooting step under the sun.

I haven't been able to reach MOTU over the phone or email in weeks.

If there's anyone from MOTU checking this thread I would appreciate a follow up, thank you!

What OS(es) ?

I don't have these issues on Sierra, but did have some dropouts/muting on El Capitan which is on a very old Mac.

I have seen the issues occur on Yosemite and High Sierra.

I actually was able to reach MOTU on the phone just after making that last post. I'm sending the unit back to them. will update when I hear back from them.

Yeah, that's the problem that I had. Went through a ton of troubleshooting with Motu and they said it was a busted unit. I was running Win 10. I guess there's just some QC issues with some of the Ultralites. I ended up going with a different interface.

One thing I've been wondering is if it doesn't do so well on older machines. Both of my PCs are up to spec, but maybe it needs to be something (CPU, ram) within the past couple of years.