Has anyone used the MOTU 828mkII?

mosc · Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2004 1:51 pm Post subject:

I received my MOTU 828 MKII yesterday and hooked it up. It was my 58th birthday. It was kinda like a present. Also, being that old has taught me something, I read the manual before hooking it up. Shocked

The install on my XP machine went pretty much flawlessly. The windows driver installed without any problems. There is both a WDM and ASIO driver. Sonar can use either mode. ASIO has one big problem, an application can't share the port with another one. This appears to be an ASIO feature, not a problem with the 828. I experience the same thing with the ASIO4ALL driver. It is mentioned in the ASIO4ALL driver's documentation.

I tested out both ASIO and WDM modes in Sonar. Certainly ASIO has less latency. Once I figured out the Sonar audio config process, I am able to switch back and forth pretty effortlessly.

All of the Windows programs, XP itself, WinAmp, QuickTime, etc. seem to work perfectly.

The sound quality is excellent as far as I can tell.

I couldn't get the SPDIF port to talk to my Pioneer amplifier, but I haven't been able to get any piece of gear work with it either, so that's not very significant.

The unit is pretty feature-rich with the ability to have 4 internal mixing busses that you can assign to Main Outs, SPDIF, ADAT, Analog Outs, Phones, etc. These are kept in memory when the box is turned off. You can set up these mixes with a little app they provide called CUEMIX, or you can set these up with the front panel. I don't have much use for this so I didn't dig in too deeply. It might be very useful in some circumstances.

The instructions say you can set it up either to do mixing in the computer, or do mixing with a mixer. They say don't try to do both at the same time or you'll get confused. I tend to agree. I use mine as just a good I/O device for my computer. I use my Mackie mixer as I was doing before. I'm sure there are applications to do all mixing in the computer, but for me it's easier to use the Mackie. When Xeroid Entity plays here in my studio, I'll switch over to computer mixing and use SONAR as a multi track recorder. I can switch from one mode to the other without repatching.

One nice feature is that there are front panel LEDs to indicate the levels on all of the I/Os. There are only 4 LEDs per signal, so the resolution is very poor, but it is a good easy check to see if the inputs are receiving signals and if they are too hot or too weak. Very handy.

One thing I don't like about it is that I can't set the sample rate from within Sonar. The 828's sample rate is set either via the front panel or via a little application they give you. So, if it is set it at 96K and you want to record at 44.1 K on Sonar, it won't work. I guess this is no big deal, but it is at least an inconvenience.

The MOTU people include a copy of Audio Desk for use with the Mac (OS9 or OSX). Audio Desk is a pretty complete multi-track recording program, but without VST plugins or much MIDI capability. Still, it might be useful to have. The is also a copy of the CUEMIX application (virtually identical to the PC version). There is also an ASIO driver for the Mac, as well as the Core Audio driver, as you would expect.

There are two manuals, one for the interface and CUEMIX, and one for Audio Desk. The one for the interface has information for Windows and Mac. The pages for each are printed upside down in relation to the other. You open the book from one end, and it's for Windows. Turn the book over and open from the other end and it's the Mac version. Very cool. The Audio Desk book is the same, but for OS9 on one hand, and OSX on the other.

I will install Audio Desk on my Mac, but that's for another post.

All in all, this is a very nice device. I like that I can always buy a second one for more tracks if needed. I can use it in the studio and on the road, with the Mac or with the PC, and with a laptop or a desk top. Wouldn't it be nice if people were as agreeable?

7 · Joined: Apr 04, 2004 Posts: 69

So, now that you've had time to play have you run into any issues?

mosc · Posted: Tue May 11, 2004 6:05 am Post subject:

No issues with the MOTU. I don't care for the ASIO drivers though as they hog the I/O device. I'm content to use the WMA drivers. I like to keep Sonar open with a project in progress, check the browser and perhaps listen to an mp3 file someone posts. Probably, it's stupid to keep your web browser even loaded while working on an audio project. These are things that have nothing to do with the MOTU though. It seems to be very solid.

elektro80 · Posted: Tue May 11, 2004 6:08 am Post subject:

Sound on Sound magazine is still referring to the original Motu 828 as "one of best". They should know.. Very Happy

7 · Joined: Apr 04, 2004 Posts: 69

Well, hot diggity dog.

Perhaps I'll zip over and pick one (or two) of these critters up next weekend.

DES · Posted: Tue May 11, 2004 4:37 pm Post subject:

7 · Joined: Apr 04, 2004 Posts: 69

I got mine today. I'm still messing with it. I'll let you know what I think later.

7 · Joined: Apr 04, 2004 Posts: 69

Ok, here's my take on the thing.

First the bummers in my system.

1) The new drivers from MOTU (3.30) didn't work on my recording computer. They would crash during the install. I decided to load the ones from the CD that came with the unit -version 3.01.. worked like a charm.

2) When I turn the 828mkii off, a driver crashes on my computer. I haven't worked this problem out yet. It isn't too much of a hassle because I can just kill the software manually. This might have something to do with installing the newer drivers first.

3) There are pictures in the manual showing the unit displaying incoming signals on both its displays. (the one in the middle is what I can't seem to get working) I've not figured out how to do this yet. It seems like a simple thing to switch on but I can't seem to find this info in the manual. Anyone know this trick?

Now the good.

THIS THING ROCKS!

One I got the driver issue worked out (which took me about 5 minutes) I opened Sonar and started recording. I patched my old Tascam 8 track reel to reel directly into the 828mkii and started dumping tracks. Not a single problem. In the matter of a few hours I had transfered 5 reels into the computer. On playback they sound just like the reel does.

I'm quite happy with it so far.

I would like to get the input monitoring thing figured out. the little 4 element display on the left side seems a bit weak to me. I'd like to take advantage of the slightly better middle display. But other then that, I'm pleased with the buy.

mosc · Posted: Thu May 20, 2004 10:30 am Post subject:

7, what OS are you using. I'm on XP Professional.

Don't know what you mean by the middle display. There are only two displays, or are you talking about the middle of the right hand display? Or, do you mean the middle of the left hand display?

7 · Joined: Apr 04, 2004 Posts: 69

Right in the middle is the main display. the one you look at when making changes to settings. This also doubles as an input monitor -at least from the pictures this is what it seems.

That is the one I'd like to have show incoming signals.

It can be done right?

the recording computer is a stripped down version of Windows 98se. I've not upgraded this OS because it works perfectly for all my other software -you know, the whole "if it ain't broke" thing.

the driver issue is really minimal. I'm sure I can sort it out.

mosc · Posted: Thu May 20, 2004 3:42 pm Post subject:

mosc · Posted: Thu May 20, 2004 10:22 pm Post subject:

The best way to monitor the levels is with the CUEMIX program. It's got very good meters and seems to place very little load on the PC.

DES · Posted: Fri May 21, 2004 4:58 pm Post subject:

Quick question guys - can you use the 828MKII as an audio patch bay? In other words - can you route any input to any output? I realize that in most software this could be done but I am looking at keeping some signals out of the software to minimize latency issues.

The idea is to plug two signal sources into the 828 and then route them out any of 4 outputs that will go to selected processors. The outputs of the signal processors could possibly be connected to other inputs.

Do you think this could do it?

Dave

mosc · Posted: Fri May 21, 2004 5:05 pm Post subject:

I think so. There are 4 mixers - built in. They have two channel outputs, but can have any or all inputs. You can, of course, run them simultaniously. The output pairs are sorta fixed. For example analog 1 and 2, 3 and 4, phones, main, SPDIF, etc. You can't have a mixer route to analog 1 and 7, for example.

7 · Joined: Apr 04, 2004 Posts: 69

DES: Yes. I haven't done it yet, but it can be done.

Here's the answer to my question about the display from MOTU

mosc · Posted: Fri May 21, 2004 6:52 pm Post subject:

Wow, they answered your email enquiry. I'm impressed.

7 · Joined: Apr 04, 2004 Posts: 69

yeah, neat huh. But just one reply from their tech support wasn't enough I guess. heh heh

7 · Joined: Apr 04, 2004 Posts: 69

I built a new computer (doubled the power I had before) and installed Win2k. The MOTU 828mkii now works perfectly.

Now all I have to figure out is how to get Gigasampler to speak with Sonar 3 in Win2k. Grrr.

mosc · Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2004 8:46 pm Post subject:

I was doing some recording and was getting distortion. I was able to fix it by reducing the buffer size on the MOTU. I've got it set at 256 samples per buffer.

7 · Joined: Apr 04, 2004 Posts: 69