MOTU 828 (mkIII) and new iMac

[bazziman]

Hi guys,

I must be somewhat of a slow learner - but after some moving about of my studio (having it shelved for some time) I wanted to reinstall it all again.

Problem is: I cannot seem to get my 828 mk III (fw) do to do anything.
It's hooked up to a 5k Imac (tb to firewire converter) and want it to simply play the sounds of the imac instead of the internal speakers.

It's connected thrue s/pdif to a 01v96 mixing table.
I've set all output to s/pdif (default, phones assign and main out) (and yes I've reseted the machine and installed all the latest drivers and firmware)

I get no sound from the Motu. No meters are moving. No matter what I do. Nothing. Not from the s/pdif nor from the headphones. Not even when I connect an analog source directly to the MOTU - no sounds are coming from it.

I do get to change the sample rate on the machine (the green LED blinks a 1 second interval or something) and I can communicate with the machine using the MOTU Audio Setup, but that's about it. What obvious thing am I overlooking here?

Any help would be much appreciated.

[mikehalloran]

If you disconnect it, will it work in stand-alone mode?

If you hook another FW device to the iMac, can it be seen?

Have you tried resetting your 828 to factory defaults?

Can you see it in MOTU Audio Setup.app ? If not, nothing else will work.

Once there, it should show up in Preferences/Sound. You will need to set it up as your input and output device.

[bazziman]

Hi Mike, thanks for the input.

The 828 is connected thru firewire and the connection seems to work (the 828 is found in both my Macs preferences and I can access it through audio setup app - changing the bitrate on my mac will result in a change on the 828)

I reseted it. I set it as my primary output device from the preference panel of the mac.
I also connected it to my 2014 MBP and that machine can also 'see' the device but no sound.
It really seems I am overlooking something quite obvious.


No comes the weird thing:
I went for a swim, came back and left logic still on. I played some notes on my keyboard with a soft synth and those notes DID play. For about a minute. Also the meters on the 828 moved up and down.

I went to check the settings in Logic - switched them to the iMacs built in sound and back - but that must have killed to sound. I cannot get it to play again. This is really, really getting frustrating.

Other tips?

[bazziman]

p.s. How do I test it in stand-alone mode? Never used that.
p.s. I'm using a rather expensive Belkin FW cable and official apple FW to TB converter cable. I don't think the cable can be at fault.

[mikehalloran]

p.s. How do I test it in stand-alone mode? Never used that.
p.s. I'm using a rather expensive Belkin FW cable and official apple FW to TB converter cable. I don't think the cable can be at fault.

I wouldn't worry about stand alone since your Mac can see it.

I'd give MOTU a call -- probably something obvious but I can't visualize it from a hotel room in Vermont.