Motu 2408 mk2 Standalone

[pidgey]

Hey people's,

Quick question, Can the Motu 2408 mk2 be used in standalone mode without any connections with firewire or PCI??

Cheers

[emulatorloo]

Yes

I use mine to convert from analog in to adat out.

Look in the manual under standalone mode.

If you don't have a manual MOTU will send you one for I think 15.00

www.motu.com

[pidgey]

Just received a reply from MOTU, stating that:

"The 2408 mkII requires a PCI card for use."

If someone has the manual in PDF format, if they can post this, it'll be much appreciated.

Brett

[emulatorloo]

If someone has the manual in PDF format

A pdf of the manual doesn't exist.

At anyrate -- markII standalone mode is mainly for format conversion/ A/D conversion. -- that is from analog to digital, tascam to adat, spdif to analog etc etc. So maybe that is not what you are looking for? (you are maybe looking for a standalone mixer mode like mk3?)

A trip to the internet wayback machine yields this from Motu's description of the mkII:

http://web.archive.org/web/200208020539 ... .motu.com/

There••™s even more to the 2408mkII. If you turn off your computer, it acts as a stand-alone audio format converter. You can convert audio from any one of its formats to any other, in banks of 8 channels. For example, if you connected three Alesis ADATs and three Tascam DA-88s, you could transfer three tapes (24 channels) from one format to the other in one pass. With this number of channels and audio formats, at this price, the 2408mkII is a major breakthrough - just as a format converter!

In my scenario I am using it as an adat expander for an 828mkII. Analog in to Adat lightpipe out. Which I then feed to the 828mkII.

Basically you turn it on, unconnected to your PCI card. You set it up w the buttons on the far right (Select and Set), selecting clock, source, bounce.

I am not in front of mine right now, but I believe you hit select to choose a row of LCDs (ie source setting or clock) and then hit set to toggle between the differenct choices (e.g. clock -- internal external etc). (Bounce is just a way to shift track order around during transfer.) Anyway I think you can probably figure it out w/o the manual.

Hope this helps.

---

ON EDIT -- I found a tech doc on the MOTU site -- troubleshooting for 2408 standalone mode, but it goes through an example scenario of how to set it up -- this should help a lot figuring it out -- I hope.

http://www.motu.com/techsupport/technot ... 6389820574

[pidgey]

Thanks for that info,

I would be using the MOTU purely as a standalone.

I only want to use the 2408 as a converter, Analog/ADAT to TDIF.

Thanks again for this

[emulatorloo]

Thanks for that info,

I would be using the MOTU purely as a standalone.

I only want to use the 2408 as a converter, Analog/ADAT to TDIF.

Thanks again for this

That would be perfect for you then!

One more bit that might help sort it out -- from a soundonsound review of the orig 2408:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb99/a ... 08.654.htm

One of the really neat features of the system is its ability to operate as a stand-alone format converter without needing a computer. In fact, on power-up, the 2408 automatically enters stand-alone mode, but immediately switches to PCI mode as soon as the connected computer loads the 324 software driver. In PCI mode, all discussion with the 2408 take place via the computer, but when in stand-alone mode, the front-panel buttons can be used to steer around the various source and destination options to provide format conversion. In this mode, up to 24 tracks of ADAT can be transferred to Tascam TDIF machines or vice versa, or digital multitrack track pairs can be output via S/PDIF. The Select button steps around Clock, Source, Bounce or Meter, and while the three banks don't have full metering, they do have a simple activity monitor where a signal stronger than -40dB lights an indicator LED. By selecting meter mode, the analogue inputs can be displayed at the right-hand side of the front panel on a four-LED scale registering -1, -3, -10 and -40dB. A single 'signal present' activity LED monitors the outputs. Using the 2408 in stand-alone mode is a little fiddly and you have to keep an eye on the status LEDs to find out what's going where, but it's much better to have this mode available than not. Given the box's ability to translate 24 channels of digital audio in ADAT or TDIF format, some users will find it worth the money for this feature alone.

--

[154]

I want to use a 2408 for analog to adat-conversion for my 828mk2 so i get 16 analog inputs

ive been searching for a while but i cant really find a clear description of the differences between the original and mark 2 and 3..

Will all three work standalone? anything i should really know when buying a 2408 strictly for standalone analog to adat conversion?

is there a nice chart somewhere with the different 2408's and specs?

[magicd]

There has been three generations of the 2408 interface (2408, 2408mk2, and 2408mk3).

All three generations work as a standalone format converter.

All three generations have 24 bit throughput on all digital connections.

The 2408 and 2408mk2 operate at 44.1/48khz sample rate.

The 2408mk3 operates up to 96khz sample rate.

The difference between the 2408 and 2408mk2 is the analog connections.
The 2408 has RCA jacks (unbalanced) that are referenced to -10db line level. The converters are 20 bit.
The 2408mk2 has TRS (balanced) I/O referenced to +4db line level, with 8db additional headroom. The 2408mk2 has 24 bit converters.

The 2408mk3 has TRS I/O referenced to +4db with 14db additional headroom.

All three generations work with the PCI 424 card.

The 2408mk3 does not work with the older PCI 324 card.

Magic Dave

[154]

that is great, tnx!

i will be using strictly RCA jacks, will the 20bits really be noticable?

the -10db/+4 will prob mean a lot more noise

is it save to say for what i want to do(expand my 828mk2 with 8 RCA jack unbalanced in) id be best off with a mk2? or is the original perfectrly suited for the job i want it to do?

im a bit of a n00b im afraid when this stuff's concerned, sorry..

[magicd]

that is great, tnx!

i will be using strictly RCA jacks, will the 20bits really be noticable?

the -10db/+4 will prob mean a lot more noise

is it save to say for what i want to do(expand my 828mk2 with 8 RCA jack unbalanced in) id be best off with a mk2? or is the original perfectrly suited for the job i want it to do?

im a bit of a n00b im afraid when this stuff's concerned, sorry..

Whether or not you will notice the difference between inputs on the original 2408 vs the 2408mk2 has a lot to do with what you plug in.
If you're plugging in synth modules, those devices don't have a ton of dynamic range. Synths also typically have a relatively low level line output. You'd want to keep the unbalanced cables as short as possible, but I think plugging synths and samplers into a 2408 original would sound fine.

The higher headroom and wider dynamic range of the 2408mk2 would benefit input signals that were hotter and had potentially greater dynamic range (than synth modules). External mic pre amps would be an example of this. Yes, the balanced inputs could mean less noise in the signal.

For your comparison, the 828mkII inputs are +4db with 14db of headroom.

Dave

[154]

it will be synths, so i should be ok with an original. they seem a bit easier to find, around 250euro's

the mk2 is not that much more expensive, but a lot harder to find im afraid..

[154]

so i just got offered an old 828 mark1 for a very nice price, would this be an option as well? does it run standalone? running 8 channels of audio in and out through adat lightpipe?

also, is there a big difference in converter-quality between mark1 and 2?

[marduk]

Old thread BUT:
Anyone care to elaborate if it's possible to route 24ch ADAT to analog out (for monitoring purposes only) in standalone mode?
With the Cuemix it should be possible (according to manual) but I need it to be standalone...
Thanks.

[mikehalloran]

Old thread BUT:
Anyone care to elaborate if it's possible to route 24ch ADAT to analog out (for monitoring purposes only) in standalone mode?
With the Cuemix it should be possible (according to manual) but I need it to be standalone...
Thanks.

CueMix is part of the PCI-424 card.

I don't remember that you can mix inside the 2408. IIRC, you can only route one ADAT or Tascam bank to the analog in stand-alone mode. The manual for the mkIII is online.

[bayswater]

IIRC, the 2408 will work as a standalone converter using the front panel controls, but not a mixer. One of it's selling features is to serve as a standalone interface to feed a digital mixer, but not to be a digital mixer.