MOTUnation.com

I have been an 828mkii user for years. I'm thinking about buying a used 2408 mkiii with a pci/e 424 card--in an attempt for lower latency. But I noticed that the 2408 doesn't have MIDI. Are there any motu "audiowire" devices that have MIDI ports? If not, what is the solution?

USB MIDI is sample accurate and latency is not an issue. You have an 828mkII—no reason not to use that unless it is not working properly or you need support for the latest versions of SMTPE.

If you look for an older MOTU MIDI device, make sure that the firmware is 2.0.1 or it will likely not work with Windows. Currently shipping MOTU MIDI boxes (since 2012) don't have that issue and most have updateable firmware.

Great. Thanks. I think I figured it out. But the reason I want to try the "audiowire" setup is for audio latency, not MIDI. It's just that none of the audiowire devices (2408,hd192)come equipped with MIDI ports--and I need MIDI to sync a drum machine to the grid on my DAW, and for a keyboard controller. Of course, I finally figured out that I could just add a USB MIDI device to my computer. I guess I just had it on my mind that the MIDI device would need to be synced to my converters, but I'm starting to gather that's not the case. I've never used a standalone MIDI router. I'll keep the driver situation in mind. Thanks.

I strongly recommend you go for the MOTU MIDI Express XT USB, buenavista.

I've had two of them since 1999 and I swear by (but not at!) them.

That's good to know. Thanks. mikehalloran mentioned potential driver issues with windows for older devices. I noticed you are on a mac, monkey man. I'll look into it before I purchase.

Yeah, I saw that. Mike knows his stuff, so I'd assume he's correct if I were you, which it seems you're doing.

Good luck man.

buenavista wrote:That's good to know. Thanks. mikehalloran mentioned potential driver issues with windows for older devices. I noticed you are on a mac, monkey man. I'll look into it before I purchase.

Not drivers.

The firmware is hard coded into the chip. I bought one of the last upgrade sets for my MTP-AV in 2012. MOTU had pulled them off the web site but I called and got lucky. Anyway, the startup screen displays the firmware on these. It must display 2.0.1 to be fully compatible with Windows and Intel Macs. eBay sellers who know this will display the screen shot while those selling older versions will often leave that out of the ad.

This does not apply to the currently shipping MOTU MIDI devices. Besides being up to date with the latest SMTPE compatability, the firmware can be updated.
http://motu.com/techsupport/technotes/firmwarechangelog

Now you've got me worried, Mike:

"It must display 2.0.1 to be fully compatible with Windows and Intel Macs."

My 2012 cheese grater OK? I bought my interfaces at the turn of the century, and although I literally haven't used any of my audio gear in some years, I hadn't encountered any issues (besides the mysterious "extra-interface in AMS" a couple o' times) thus far.

Probably relevant, I'm guessing: What does "fully compatible" mean?