Ultralite FW400 to USB?

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Discussion related to installation, configuration and use of MOTU hardware such as MIDI interfaces, audio interfaces, etc. for Mac OSX
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FunkyBearMusic
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Ultralite FW400 to USB?

Post by FunkyBearMusic »

Anybody have any experience with this? Got a new MacBook Pro and of course there is no Firewire 400. Is this even possible with some cables?
Jeff Tanner
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mikehalloran
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Re: Ultralite FW400 to USB?

Post by mikehalloran »

No.

You can get a Thunderbolt to FireWire adapter. You need the Apple TB-FW adapter and an 800-400 cable or adapter. Many Ultralite owners are doing this successfully. Oh, bus power is no longer possible since TB only passes 7V -- you need to power externally if you don't do so already.

IIRC, only the original 8pre is incompatible as it requires functionality not supported by the TB spec.
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
2023 Mac Studio M2 8TB, 192GB RAM, OS Sonoma 14.4.1, USB4 8TB external, M-Audio AIR 192|14, Mackie ProFxv3 6/10/12; 2012 MBPs Catalina, Mojave
IK-NI-Izotope-PSP-Garritan-Antares, LogicPro X, Finale 27.4, Dorico 5.2, Notion 6, Overture 5, TwistedWave, DSP-Q 5, SmartScore64 Pro, Toast 20 Pro
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FunkyBearMusic
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Re: Ultralite FW400 to USB?

Post by FunkyBearMusic »

Great, thanks! Just wanted to make sure it would work.
Jeff Tanner
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jackroland
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Re: Ultralite FW400 to USB?

Post by jackroland »

I have a mid MacbookPro with retina and use the thunderbolt to firewire and it works.. but you need a 400 to 800 cable into the firewire to thunderbolt (apple) adapter. I recommend Belkin. Although for some reason since the 10.10.3 Yosemite update it has not been detecting the interface at all and my sound options completely crash / my system starts to get really slow -- I have no idea why. I produced a track after the update with no issues and now all of a sudden its completely unstable. However - I'm making another post for that issue!
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FunkyBearMusic
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Re: Ultralite FW400 to USB?

Post by FunkyBearMusic »

Awesome :shock:

Well, the adapter and a belkin cable are due to arrive tomorrow, so I guess I'll see how things go.
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mikehalloran
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Re: Ultralite FW400 to USB?

Post by mikehalloran »

jackroland wrote:I have a mid MacbookPro with retina and use the thunderbolt to firewire and it works.. but you need a 400 to 800 cable into the firewire to thunderbolt (apple) adapter. I recommend Belkin. Although for some reason since the 10.10.3 Yosemite update it has not been detecting the interface at all and my sound options completely crash / my system starts to get really slow -- I have no idea why. I produced a track after the update with no issues and now all of a sudden its completely unstable. However - I'm making another post for that issue!
Have you filed a support ticket with MOTU?
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
2023 Mac Studio M2 8TB, 192GB RAM, OS Sonoma 14.4.1, USB4 8TB external, M-Audio AIR 192|14, Mackie ProFxv3 6/10/12; 2012 MBPs Catalina, Mojave
IK-NI-Izotope-PSP-Garritan-Antares, LogicPro X, Finale 27.4, Dorico 5.2, Notion 6, Overture 5, TwistedWave, DSP-Q 5, SmartScore64 Pro, Toast 20 Pro
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