Motu 828x thunderbolt windows driver

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donkles
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2014 10:53 pm
Primary DAW OS: Windows

Motu 828x thunderbolt windows driver

Post by donkles »

Ok, I have been having major problems with our brand new Motu 828x thunderbolt. Many of them please help. We had a brand new computer built for recording i7 processor with tons of Ram etc... its a super kick ass machine. we bought a brand new motu 828x and the Long and McQuade salesman talked my bands drummer into buying the Focusrite 8 channel unit rather than the Motu 8pre, which i was choked about (heres the deal, my drummer has the space and the money and the will to purchase the gear and I have the limited but more than anyone else in our band knowledge about recording and equipment). So all brand new stuff and we are running Cubase 7.5 . First issue is that Motu advertises and even has a manual that reads Motu 828x thunderbolt for Windows however they do not offer a driver for the thunderbolt connection for Windows...What the heck?! ok so that being said we instead have to use the USB2 output on the Motu while our computer is equipped with only usb3 inputs. (we have read on motu website that the USB2 connection is reversible as in USB3 will work). OK so when I create a project on cubase, everything is set up properly, I have signal showing on the Motu display but nothing comes up on the cubase tracks..not on the channel display, not in the mixer display, nowhere. I had it working at one point and then when i connected the Focusrite everything went to hell. All sound stopped coming in and out of the computer although i still had signal on the motu and focusrite displays. to elaborate I have gone through the computers control panel and sound configuration, the Motu is recognized by the computer here as well as on the Cubase VST connections. I have reinstalled cubase several times as well as the Motu driver. Several times I had signal coming into cubase and the first time all 8 channels worked, then once adding the focusrite everything failed, the second time I had signal to cubase through the Motu when channels 3 and 4 just suddenly had no signal, so we restarted and reinstalled cubase etc.... when I got signal to cubase again finally tracks 3 and 4 worked but 1,2,5 and 6 had no signal. so tried again and finally back to having no signal at all coming to cubase,yet the Motu still had signal in it. I realize this story probably sounds completely insane and I will be honest with you it has been an ongoing nightmare for me. It is like our jam/recording studio is cursed. I have some theories. The damn Focusrite is apparently supposed to work with the Motu 828x Thunderbolt. I wonder if because there is no driver available (although the manual says right on it Windows Motu828x Thunderbolt), maybe the focusrite is unable and creating a glitch due to the lack of Thunderbolt capability? I also theorize that the motherboards factory audio system is conflicting with our Motu sound card? We have disabled the motherboard audio setting and made Motu the default sound card but there is still a problem. At this point we have given up on the Focusrite and actually are terrified of connecting it again as it seems to destroy any progress we make towards getting signal to Cubase. The salesbutthead at Long and McQuade assured me that he has used the same setup himself Motu828x and Focusrite but at that point I didn't ask him if he was using a Mac or Thunderbolt...(apparently Thunderbolt Drivers are currently only available for Mac....despite the Manual that states Windows Thunderbolt). our next step is to uninstall Cubase again and use a CC cleaner to be sure Cubase is completely removed from the computer before reinstalling. Ummmm i am trying my best to include all the information I know so as to get some sort of genius to possibly help me get our massive investment to work so that we can finally record all of our new original music that we have been patiently waiting to lay down. Please Please Please help
David_Focusrite
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2014 9:15 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS

Re: Motu 828x thunderbolt windows driver

Post by David_Focusrite »

Hi Donkles,

Sorry to hear that you have been having such a rough time connecting your Focusrite device to your audio interface. It sounds like your a using a Octopre Mic Pre unit, is that correct? If so, this device does not connect to your computer but instead is a analog mic pre unit that can pass signal to your interface via ADAT or Analog connection.

If you connect the Octopre to the interface using an ADAT cable, it is important that both devices are in sync with each other, including matching sample rates. Since you mentioned once you connected your Focusrite unit sound stopped, it sounds like the devices were not in a locked status thus preventing audio from passing.

I think it may be beneficial for you to speak with one of our techs. While we are unable to troubleshoot your MOTU device, we are able to get your Focusrite unit to sync with your interface and have audio pass.

Phone support is available at (310) 322-5500, Monday - Friday, 8am - 6pm Pacific Time.

Best Regards,

David // Focusrite Technical Support
Last edited by David_Focusrite on Fri Dec 19, 2014 10:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
donkles
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2014 10:53 pm
Primary DAW OS: Windows

Re: Motu 828x thunderbolt windows driver

Post by donkles »

Hi thanks for the response. The focusrite I connect with a digital optical cable into the Motu 828x.
I use 2 digital optical cables to go out of Motu into Focusrite out of Focusrite into Motu. The Devices are both tuned to 44.1 Internal sync. I believe I also tried 48 kHz. The devices were definitely in a locked status. There is a light directly on the front of the Focusrite that reads Locked so its almost impossible to miss. What stopped working when I connect the Focusrite to the Motu via digital optical is all signal from the Motu to the computer and the computer to the Motu. The Motu is still recognized in VST connection as the main device however the audio signal to each track is no longer visible in Cubase 7.5. I have several knowledged minds working on this problem. Our latest move is to again uninstall the computer of Cubase and Motu drivers. I believe we used a program to ensure that Cubase was wiped and the hard drive cleaned of it. Also I have since disabled any possibly conflicting audio devices i.e.: primarily the motherboards factory audio device (bear with me I am not as learned about the computer jargon, incase my description of what we disabled doesn't make sense..lol. The pro that built the computer showed me how to disable it. Our next step is to install Cubase 7.5 again and then the Motu driver, however we are having issues with Motu regarding the Thunderbolt Driver for Windows. The latest I have been told is that the Driver is compatible with Windows 8 not 7, which is rather ludicrous to me....however we will see what comes of that. I would love to speak to a tech although is is a little difficult as they are not available on weekends and I work during the week. Also the equipment and computer that we are referring to is located at our rehearsal space at the bandmates house so I have to co-ordinate with them. It will happen eventually but I would like to figure out as much as I can in the meantime. Thanks again for your input. If you can help us get this brand new gear working I will mention you in our music and recording award acceptance speech
David_Focusrite
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2014 9:15 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS

Re: Motu 828x thunderbolt windows driver

Post by David_Focusrite »

Hi Donkles,

This makes sense as to why audio will not pass. If both devices are on Internal Sync then they are not in Sync with each other. If you keep the Octopre on Internal Sync and switch the MOTU Sync to ADAT, you should be able to pass audio from the Octopre to the MOTU.

Once you are able to test this out in your rehearsal space (after getting the MOTU driver worked out) please let me know how you come along!

Best,
David//Focusrite Technical Support
donkles
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2014 10:53 pm
Primary DAW OS: Windows

Re: Motu 828x thunderbolt windows driver

Post by donkles »

Thanks. I do not believe I have tried that yet. Hope it works (fingers crossed). First we have to get the Motu communicating with the computer and Cubase 7.5. I'm not even attempting to connect the focusrite until we have all 8 channels on the Motu sending signal to Cubase and being able to record. As well as having signal go back to the Motu outputs.

While I have you on this thread could I also inquire to you regarding the Thunderbolt connection of the Motu 828x? We had a thunderbolt card specifically installed into our new computer to communicate with the Motu 828x. When we downloaded the Motu Audio Installer from Motu.com for windows, during the install process we are not given the option to choose Thunderbolt. We are limited to FireWire/usb2, PCI-424Audio, and Microbook. In our previous inquiry the tech must not have understood that we want the Thunderbolt driver because the response we received was rather vague saying "the MOTU Audio Installer for Windows is the current driver for Windows. The text in the driver itself refers to the FW/USB family of products (which the 828x falls under), This is the driver you should use on Windows 7" what I am trying to convey is that we WANT to use Thunderbolt. We specifically designed the computer to use Thunderbolt and this is why we purchased the MOTU 828x. The manual that comes with the Motu reads MOTU828x thunderbolt for Windows. Now, on yet another inquiry I was told that the Thunderbolt Driver is only compatible for Windows 8 by MOTU customer service. Now, the Audio Installer download says it supports Windows 7,8 and Vista. If this is actually the case and the thunderbolt is only compatible with windows 8 then we will immediately purchase and install Windows 8. However, I'm not sure that the information is correct as I said during the installation there is absolutely no sign of Thunderbolt. I would expect to see a greyed out box if our operating system was not compatible. I'm no computer whiz by any means but is it possible that the lack of Thunderbolt connection possibly the reason that the Focusrite will not work through the Motu? (That is, unless your last comment is the solution.) We are rather concerned about the inability to use the Thunderbolt technology. Thanks again, I will try your suggestion regarding the Motu sync to ADAT however I won't be able to access the equipment until after the New Year.
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