MOTU 828 MK3 MAC MULTITRACK AUDIO
MOTU 828 MK3 PLUS SUPPORT FOR

Motu 828 Mk3 Mac Multitrack Audio

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for MOTU 828mk3 Hybrid Firewire. As with other MOTU FireWire interfaces, the Traveler-mk3 supplies two FireWire jacks so it can be daisy-chained with additional MOTU FireWire audio interfaces or. Adding more I/O to your Traveler-mk3 system. Expand your Traveler-mk3 system and run it with all your favorite audio software. A Mac multitrack audio recording application called AudioDesk is bundled with the interface.The 828mk3 is MOTUs most advanced FireWire audio interface, raising the bar with innovative features, enhanced standard features that remain unique.Installer contains a driver update for the MOTU 828, 896. MOTU's own software, such as Digital Performer, bypasses ASIO and talks to the interface directly, though aВ control panel providing the same options is used to set the interface parameters within other ASIO-compatible software.

No PCI card is needed.All the analogue line out connections and six of the inputs use balanced TRS jacks operating at +4dBu and these are all serviced by 24-bit converters. Connection to the computer is via aВ single FireWire cable and, like all FireWire devices, the 828 can be hot-plugged. These are configured as eight analogue connections, two optical digital connections that can be used as either ADAT or TOSLink ports, and aВ pair of phonos dedicated to S/PDIF in and out.

The other analogue inputs have level controls that operate as pairs 3/4, 5/6, and 7/8. This is less than the mic amp gain of aВ typical mixing console, but adequate for normal vocal recording or instrument close miking. Both XLR inputs have 48V phantom power, switchable as aВ pair, and both have gain controls with aВ maximum gain of 40dB.

Two rows of eight LEDs monitor the audio input and output activity for the first eight channels, but there's no metering as such вЂ” that is generally taken care of by the host software. A front-panel Main level control adjusts the level of the main outputs, and there's aВ separate control to adjust the Monitor signal level. Outputs 1 and 2 are also fed to aВ further pair of balanced jack outputs for monitoring, and if Cuemix Plus is being used, the selected input (or input pair) is summed with the main outs. Sample rates of up to 48kHz are supported but 96kHz has been omitted to keep the cost down and also, presumably, not to place too much of aВ bandwidth burden on the FireWire link.Included in the design is aВ through-monitoring system called Cuemix Plus for no-latency monitoring of input signals when recording or overdubbing, though with modern computers, latency will often be so low as to be insignificant.

Motu 828 Mk3 Plus Support For

InstallationThe 828 comes with an ASIO 2 driver plus support for MacOS Sound Manager, for the benefit of those who want to use it with iTunes or listen to audio CDs via the interface. There's also aВ headphone jack for monitoring. This is included primarily to provide hands-free punching in and out, but can be reconfigured to control anything that is accessible via aВ keyboard key command.

My tests were done using my own Mac G4 system and installation was both simple and uneventful once I'd got hold of the correct version of the FireWire enabler (as prompted by the installation software).To make use of the 828 on aВ Mac, the computer should be aВ 300MHz or faster G3 or G4, with at least one FireWire port and FireWire Enabler 2.4 or later. Installation is from CD-ROM and during installation, you're asked where the ASIO driver should be placed. I suspect that most people will want to use the 828 with their own choice of software, but AudioDesk is aВ very useful extra to have thrown in.

The 'samples per buffer' size determines the latency, with smaller values equating to lower latencies. It's here that you also set the key combinations to be triggered by the footswitch, the 'samples per buffer' size and the sample rate. PC users need aВ 300MHz or faster Pentium-based machine with at least one FireWire port, and aВ PIII running Windows 2000 or Windows ME is recommended.Once installed, the 828 options are accessed by means of aВ small Control Panel window where you can set the optical ports to ADAT, TOSLink or Off and set the sync status to internal, S/PDIF or ADAT 9-pin.

On those pieces of software that are fully ASIO 2 compliant, ADAT 9-pin Sync appears as one of the sync options. Once the 828's ASIO driver is selected in the host application, its inputs and outputs appear in the list of available selections in that software. These are accessible from within the host application and any routing is done there in the same way as with any other audio interface. Note that you can only make changes in the Control Panel window when the host application is not running вЂ” I tried this with Logic Audio, and once Logic grabs the ASIO driver, you can't make any further changes to the I/O configuration or sample rate until you quit Logic.Unlike MOTU's 2408, which also doubles as an audio routing system, the 828 is very straightforward: it simply gives you 18 inputs and outputs, the eight analogue channels numbered 1 to 8, the S/PDIF 9 and 10, and the ADAT channels 11 to 18. When the optical input or output is set to TOSLink, the S/PDIF phono connector will not be available for selection, as only one S/PDIF port can be active at aВ time. Where your system latency is too high for comfort, 'through monitoring' is an option when recording audio tracks (although you won't be able to hear the effect of any plug-ins as you record), but it obviously doesn't work for virtual instruments.The pedal input and Sound Manager support are both enabled via tick boxes, and aВ further window allows aВ monitor input source to be selected for use with Cuemix Plus.

In Logic, the audio moved across fine, but without the benefit of 9-pin sync time location, as was expected. Again the S/PDIF inputs were piped in smoothly with no glitching problems.As an ADAT user, I checked the system's ability to transfer eight ADAT tracks at aВ time at 48kHz, which it did with absolutely no problem. This may be an issue with other software too, so don't just assume that once the driver is configured correctly, everything else is. This meant setting the Control panel to S/PDIF sync, after first quitting Logic to allow access to the Control Panel, and I also found I needed to set the sample rate value in both the 828 Control Panel and in Logic. I then went on to try the S/PDIF input with aВ 16-bit feed from the back of my DAT machine. I made some test audio recordings and listened carefully to the playback to make sure there were no glitches вЂ” which there weren't вЂ” and found the overall audio quality was extremely good.

The inclusion of monitoring and mic amps (which the Digi 001 also offers) also provides aВ means for the serious user to run an 'all-soft' system without needing aВ mixer or separate mic preamp. However, the addition of ADAT 9-pin Sync and FireWire connection extends the flexibility of the interface considerably, and widens the market to include 'slotless' Mac owners. The fact that not all audio software fully supports the ASIO 2 protocol may mean that you can't use the ADAT 9-pin Sync for sample accurate location and synchronisation, which is regrettable, but that's hardly aВ problem of MOTU's making.It is fairly obvious that MOTU are targeting the Digi 001 market as the 828 offers similar I/O facilities (although there's no MIDI port), is similarly priced and it comes with bundled multitrack audio software. The bundled AudioDesk software (which also includes some good-quality plug-ins) is easily powerful enough for Mac users who need multitrack audio recording without MIDI, but my guess is that most users will buy the 828 to run with software they already own. ConclusionsThis has turned out to be aВ relatively short review because the 828 is one of those 'does what it says on the tin' products that just gets on with the job without fuss.

Motu 828 Mk3 Driver