New MOTU Hardware!

[philbrown]

I've been using the Apollo with the UAD Neve preamp (and the Unison technology), and have all my nice preamps for sale now.

Doing the same exact thing here, using 4 different UA preamp emulations.

Back to topic, nice that MOTU is keeping up in the hardware game.

[swpowe]

Any idea when the new products will be available? I can't find a release date anywhere. Is it normal for MOTU to announce something and had delivery months out?

[EMRR]

within the week.

[Splinter]

While it is all very exciting to see what feels like long overdue TB audio interfaces, has anyone else noticed the deletion of the PCI interfaces from MOTU's site? Not that this is a big surprise, but it also represents a significant shift for those of us who have invested thousands into that platform. My suggestion, if you intend to keep your PCI-based Mac Pro for a bit, buy up whatever you need now. If you are going to sell your stuff off, sell it now, if you haven't already!

[HCMarkus]

While it is all very exciting to see what feels like long overdue TB audio interfaces, has anyone else noticed the deletion of the PCI interfaces from MOTU's site? Not that this is a big surprise, but it also represents a significant shift for those of us who have invested thousands into that platform. My suggestion, if you intend to keep your PCI-based Mac Pro for a bit, buy up whatever you need now. If you are going to sell your stuff off, sell it now, if you haven't already!

USB interface on the new hear makes that less of a concern, although system latency is likely to be higher under USB than Thunderbolt or PCIe.

[EMRR]

Manual and installer links are posted now.

Drag to see the 1/4" outputs won't like unbalanced TS cables, only TRS with the ring floated. I'm never sure why this circuit choice is made, cost I assume. Won't be a problem for me, at any rate. I think the older models were like this too, could be wrong.

You could be happy, or not, that the above at least means they are balanced outputs which drive both legs, as opposed to impedance balanced outputs which only drive a single leg. I'm not bothered by either, so long as they work.

I am happy to see metal jacks with metal nuts on them, an improvement over the jacks on the old PCI line.

Input and output trim is nice, that'll fix more than a few interfacing scenarios.
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[HCMarkus]

Drag to see the 1/4" outputs won't like unbalanced TS cables, only TRS with the ring floated.

I saw that spec and was wondering about that. Then again, the only unbalanced connection I currently use in my studio is the bus output to my "eye in the sky" tuner. A little soldering, and the appropriate cable will be created!

I think MOTU has a winner here.

[Shooshie]

Manual and installer links are posted now.

Drag to see the 1/4" outputs won't like unbalanced TS cables, only TRS with the ring floated. I'm never sure why this circuit choice is made, cost I assume. Won't be a problem for me, at any rate. I think the older models were like this too, could be wrong.

You could be happy, or not, that the above at least means they are balanced outputs which drive both legs, as opposed to impedance balanced outputs which only drive a single leg. I'm not bothered by either, so long as they work.

I am happy to see metal jacks with metal nuts on them, an improvement over the jacks on the old PCI line.

Input and output trim is nice, that'll fix more than a few interfacing scenarios.
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While all the ¼ inch cables I buy these days are TRS, I do have some old TS snakes currently employed connecting MIDI gear to audio interfaces. Those work on all my MOTU hardware, at least I think they do. If they don't, then I've been defying the odds and "accidentally" plugging those cables into the only box(es) that accept TS cables.

I'm usually more concerned about the other route: TS jacks that don't handle TRS cables properly. I test all my new gear to see what kinds of jacks they have, but I didn't do that with my oldest audio interfaces, still in use today.

So are you sure the new boxes won't like TS cables? It's not a problem; I could stand to get rid of those old snakes, anyway. But I doubt I'll be buying anything for at least a few years. I was forced to get a new 896mk3 a few months back when my old one bit the dust. I was planning to wait until MOTU came out with Thunderbolt interfaces, but life intervened and I got what they had. Geez! Just a few months more and I could have... aaahh... it doesn't matter.

But I do hope those jacks will accept both varieties of cables.

Shoosh

[EMRR]

So are you sure the new boxes won't like TS cables?

Says so in the manual. Connection which grounds an output side via Ring to Sleeve connection will cause distortion.


There are a lot of potential connection possibilities not touched on one way or the other in the manual.

If you are working 44.1/48 you can possibly run two daisy-chained via ethernet, and a third and fourth via optical connection to the first two, no AVB switch involved, 16 channel I/O per unit via optical, 64 total I/O with 16A's.

Is there a reason you couldn't run four using pairs, each with TB or USB connection to the computer? Possibly one set slaving via word clock to the other? That'd be a matter of host DAW being capable of taking multiple source/send streams, I'd think. Also depends on whether the AVB detection app can deal with multiples.

[mikehalloran]

No mention that the new TB devices no longer have MIDI ports (except for the 828x which really isn't a new interface).

Is this an issue for anyone?

It occurs to me that my stack of MIDI boxes is where I put them 10 years ago when I moved in. The only thing I've done with a MIDI box is to update my MTP AV USB in 2012 and plug it into my iMac to see that it now works. My main keyboards have usb ports for plugging into my Mac or iPad and my Fatar... did I give that away or is it attracting dust somewhere (probably can't give that away anymore)?

Perhaps it's time for some housecleaning while there's still value in the old equipment. Hmmmm... eBay or Craigslist? eBay or Craigslist? eBay or Craigslist? eBay or Craigslist? eBay or ...

[HCMarkus]

I still use the MIDI output on my 828mkII, but could easily replace it with one of the out ports on USB-connected gear (assuming the NSA doesn't install malware in my Motif!)

The inputs on the new MOTU boxes still operate balanced/unbalanced with TRS/TS. Only the outputs require TRS and floating the ring when using with unbalanced gear.

[Shooshie]

Only the outputs require TRS and floating the ring when using with unbalanced gear.

Ah, that makes more sense. I realize now that EMRR wrote "outputs" in his post. I just missed that. Sounds good to me!

Shooshie

[EMRR]

Reading further, it looks like the connection methods I mentioned above for more than 2 units w/o having the AVB Switch do appear possible, with proper configuration. 2 units via USB is mentioned as a recommended limit, but no reference to sample rate for that limit.

[Tim]

5 volts

[MartinBaird]

Regarding the 1248, can all the inputs be used at the same time? Meaning, can I plug in 2 guitars, 4 mics, and 8 line level sources and record to 14 channels in DP?
Thanks for the clarification.
Martin