PCIe-424 + enclosure + new Mac experiences?

[unitard]

Hello MOTU users. I have a 2010 Mac Pro 5,1 with a MOTU PCI-424 card and two x MOTU 2408 mk3 and one x 24i/o (a total of 40 ins/outs). Everything has been working (mostly) fine for years. I would like to upgrade my Mac and OS. I was considering purchasing a used MOTU PCIe-424 card and a single PCIe enclosure from OWC. Does anyone here have any experience with this setup? I'd prefer to keep my MOTU 2408s and the 24i/o if this setup is proven to work with a new Mac and OS. Thanks in advance for any help.

[mikehalloran]

This will not work and there is no possible workaround. Many, many threads about this over the last nine years.

MOTU would have to build a new version of the PCI-424 card with compatible firmware and that is not going to happen.

[unitard]

This will not work and there is no possible workaround. Many, many threads about this over the last nine years.

MOTU would have to build a new version of the PCI-424 card with compatible firmware and that is not going to happen.

Thank you for the quick response. I searched for older threads before posting but wasn't getting the results I was looking for. I'm sorry if this thread is redundant.

Just to clarify before I totally give up on this idea, it is confirmed that the MOTU 424 PCI Express card will not work in an OWC PCIe enclosure running the latest Mac OS?

[unitard]

I have a related question. To achieve the same functions of my current "vintage" MOTU setup listed previously (40 in/outs) with 2022 MOTU hardware, I would need 3 MOTU 16A's or 2 sets of the MOTU 24Ai/24Ao. Correct?

[mikehalloran]

Just to clarify before I totally give up on this idea, it is confirmed that the MOTU 424 PCI Express card will not work in an OWC PCIe enclosure running the latest Mac OS?

Cannot be done.

I have a related question. To achieve the same functions of my current "vintage" MOTU setup listed previously (40 in/outs) with 2022 MOTU hardware, I would need 3 MOTU 16A's or 2 sets of the MOTU 24Ai/24Ao. Correct?

Please describe your I/O/MIDI/ requirements exactly including sampling rates.

It's possible, depending on what you need, that one or more of your older units can be used to provide additional analog I/Os via the ADAT ports.

[unitard]

Please describe your I/O/MIDI/ requirements exactly including sampling rates.

For audio, ideally I would like to replace what I currently use, which is 40 mono ins/outs. I could probably get by with a few less. The highest sampling rate that I use is 24/96, mostly 24/48. Cubase is my DAW. And for MIDI I use two MOTU Micro Lites and one MOTU MIDI Express 128, so a total of 18 MIDI i/o. I was hoping/assuming I could use my MOTU MIDI devices with a new Mac system via USB adapter/hub.

It's possible, depending on what you need, that one or more of your older units can be used to provide additional analog I/Os via the ADAT ports.

If I could salvage one or more of my older devices via ADAT ports, that would be great. I see that the 2408mk3 has ADAT in. I'd like to know more about how that would work and which current MOTU hardware is best to pair with the older MOTU devices. Thanks for your help!

[mikehalloran]

Your MIDI units should be ok with the current drivers. There are threads on Clockworks with the M1 Macs — if you use that, you should read them.

ADAT optical depends on the sampling rate (which is why I asked): Each port is 8 channels at 48/24 but only 4 channels at 96/24. The current 828s have two ports IIRC. I used to use my 2408 as an expander with my 828mkII.

[HCMarkus]

Unitard, you should review the 2408 manual "Stand Alone Operation"... this should fill you in on the possibilities. Based on that info, you should be able to figure whether you want to use the 2408s in your updated rig and, if so, what capabilities (ADAT ports, in particular) you need in a new audio interface.

Mike's info is important to consider; if you will be happy at 44.1 or 48k, you get 8 channels per port... if you really need to run at 88 or 96k, your ADAT I/O gets cut in half.