MOTU Mac and Cubase

[HiPresto]

After years of not having this work properly and having to work around it, I simply want to know why Direct monitoring doesn't work on MAC with Cubase? Evidently it does on PC. Why? On Mac, the little check box is greyed out.

Further, why is there such a voltage drop between normal playback (of tracks, or any other signal coming from the computer) and the direct input? The input levels are fine, and record fine, but the monitoring level is WAY low. (I normally run the MOTU at -35dB headphone level for all purposes except recording, and then I have to turn the phones up to -10dB to hear myself at all. And then everything else is ear-splitting.)

I hate having to either use another program (CueMix) outside of Cubase when I am recording, or settle for turning the headphone volume way up in order to hear live mic input. On the PC, I understand, clicking that little Direct Monitoring box in Cubase lets Cubase control CueMix, and therefore the MOTU interface. But Macs can't do that?

I used to run everything through a Mackie mixer to get it all to to work properly, but the MOTU is supposed to handle all of this itself, and when my Mackie took a dump after 20 years, I thought I could just route everything through the MOTU. Not working.

Any help would be appreciated.

Ultralite mk3 hybrid
CueMix FX
Cubase 8 Pro
Mac 10.10.5

-HiPresto.

[mikehalloran]

I haven't a clue why it won't work in Cubase.

CoreAudio and Digital Performer are pretty easy to set up. Although MOTU advertises "high speed USB 2" on your 8 Pre mk3, it is not as quick as newer interfaces advertising "Fast USB 2" released since October 2019. Those, with a newer Mac, can get RTL (round trip latency) without CueMix so low that you cannot hear it with a low buffer setting.

You are on MacOS 10.10.5 which is nearly nine years old but haven't told us what Mac you're running it on.

I can achieve near zero RTL without CueMix on my even older 828mkII FW but I have it hooked up to an iMac Pro. Is it as fast as, say a MOTU M4 that doesn't even have CueMix? No—and I do know how to measure—but I can't hear it.

Most of the newer "Fast USB 2" released in the last three years do not offer anything like CueMix including the MOTU M2 & M4. It's not necessary if all you need is near-zero monitoring.

[bayswater]

I was using Cubase long time ago around V4 or V5, on OS 10.5 and 10.6 using a MOTU 828-3 and 2408-2. Direct monitoring just worked. I don't recall doing anything in particular or even thinking about it. Assuming you' went though the manual for the MOTU unit (I recall the manuals had a small section on setup with each of the main DAWs), maybe best to post a tech link at MOTU or ask someone on the Cubase forum for ideas.

[HiPresto]

I've got a 12-core Mac 5,1. I need it for compatibility with Adobe CS6. I have another 12-core which will be running at least 10.12 and Cubase 10 (purchased last year), but I'm waiting on a KVM which is backordered because chips.

I have indeed run through everything in the manual (I actually read manuals, but this one is particularly sparse on this subject). It does say that DP and AudioDesk will control direct monitoring on a Mac, but not why it doesn't work in Cubase. I looked at the PC manual, and it mentions Cubase and Nuendo and Logic, etc, etc, etc. Discrimination? ;p

When I monitor through Cubase, I get a tiny bit of stereo widening/flanging. I know it's not that much, but it is quite noticeable when A/B'd to a completely dry signal, and I'm picky. Add to that the volume difference, and it just bugs the cr@p out of me.

CueMix is a real pain in the...trying to get a Phone mix separate from the Main outs for preview purposes took ages, and I'm still not sure why that's working now when it wasn't before.

Anyway, I'll contact MOTU as you suggest, but I doubt they'll want to talk to me given the age of the unit. They disavow any product older than 2 years now. SMH.

Thanks for your input.

-HiPresto.

P.S. Just because it can, Cubase is now panning the Phone mix I fought so hard to get working, and it is more than audible. This screenshot is playing back a mono signal. Look at the difference between the monitor mix and the phone mix "LEDs"!

Screen Shot 2022-10-03 at 4.54.41 PM.png (51.25 KiB) Viewed 2212 times

I hate my life.

[James Steele]

They disavow any product older than 2 years now. SMH.

That's a little bit of hyperbole there. I *am* sorry it's not working right.

[mikehalloran]

I was using Cubase long time ago around V4 or V5, on OS 10.5 and 10.6 using a MOTU 828-3 and 2408-2. Direct monitoring just worked. I don't recall doing anything in particular or even thinking about it. Assuming you' went though the manual for the MOTU unit (I recall the manuals had a small section on setup with each of the main DAWs), maybe best to post a tech link at MOTU or ask someone on the Cubase forum for ideas.

That.

[bayswater]

CueMix is a real pain in the...trying to get a Phone mix separate from the Main outs for preview purposes took ages, and I'm still not sure why that's working now when it wasn't before.

Well, isn’t Cuemix is the basic tool for direct monitoring? IIRC, when you use direct monitoring, the signal doesn’t pass through Cubase, or any other DAW. If goes into the interface, and back out to your monitors, with levels and processing handles by Cuemix. The signal also goes into the DAW so you can record. Cubase was a long time ago, so I don’t recall how you change its monitoring mode.

Anyway, it curious because the DAWs only role in direct monitoring is to turn it’s own monitoring off while recording. It has nothing to do with the signal path in the interface and through Cuemix.

[HiPresto]

Yes. Point is, why MOTU can't be controlled by Cubase the way other interfaces can. And yes, I have posted this on Cubase forum as well...trying to get the best minds together from either world. And, this works on the PC, but not on the Mac - according to the MOTU documentation - but no explanation as to why.

-HiPresto.

[mikehalloran]

Yes. Point is, why MOTU can't be controlled by Cubase the way other interfaces can. And yes, I have posted this on Cubase forum as well...trying to get the best minds together from either world. And, this works on the PC, but not on the Mac - according to the MOTU documentation - but no explanation as to why.

-HiPresto.

Cubase is Steinberg is Yamaha. The current version is 12 and you are using 8. Good luck with that.

[HiPresto]

I'm also using it on older hardware with an older system. It doesn't expire.

-HiPresto.

[mothra]

Cubase 12 Pro user here. You don't need the direct monitoring button because the MOTU already has direct monitoring built right into it and its on all the time (unless you've gone into CueMix and muted the channels). That button is for some ASIO sound cards that may hand that control over to the DAW, that's never been the case with a MOTU interface. Now with my old RME (pre TotalMix), I did have to enable it, but CueMix takes care of that for ANY DAW.

Im not even sure why that button is there anymore, most audio interfaces nowadays have their own monitoring system built into them, although I admit it would be nice to control it all right there in Cubase.

[bprendie]

I know; it's the same as setting up the older Montage models. Good job getting the Steinberg USB driver in place; that's an important step. Make sure your MIDI settings in Cubase match what you've got on your Montage M.

I learned about the new features of Cubase 13, like the Channel Tab, which makes mixing much faster since you can see all the essential controls in one spot on this website. They've also made the MixConsole look cleaner and added new stuff, like the Range Tool for editing MIDI more easily. Plus, new plugins for working with vocals, like the Steinberg Vocoder and EQ p1a, are really handy.