MH 2882 vs. FF800 vs. Black Lion 828mkii

jmoore · Post by **jmoore** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 10:17 pm

I currently own a non-modded 828mkii and I feel like the converters (or possilby the clock?) are clouding the fidelity of my recordings. I've used all several different high end mics and preamps and I just can't seem to get the kind of quality I'm after. I'm not one to always try to blame my gear for bad sound since I know good and well that I'm a novice at this kind of thing, but in this situation I have to believe that the problem isn't me but my interface.

I'm considering the following options and would love to get some input. I'm well aware of the fact that I'm not exactly comparing apples to apples, but just assume that any of these boxes would easily meet my minimum requiremens as far as i/o is concerned.

Option 1: Sell the 828 and buy an RME FireFace 800 (or possibly 400)
Option 2: Sell the 828 and buy a Metric Halo 2882 (not sure if I'd need the DSP?)
Option 3: Send the 828 to Black Lion and have it modded and also consider purchasing there word clock.

I'd love to hear from anybody that has experience with one or (preferably) more of these devices.

Thank you!

aitikin · Post by **aitikin** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 11:34 pm

All I can say is I love my Fireface 800 to death. I haven't worked with an 828 or an MH. One of my friends has a 828 mkII that he intends to BLA mod shortly.

Ironically the 896HD in the studio I work in just died less than 2 weeks after the PCIe-424 card died. Neither of these units is more than a year old (actually, the 896 is less than 10 months). I can't say what happened to them.

kgdrum · Post by **kgdrum** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 6:11 am

+1 for the FF it is very good (totalmix is great as well)I had 896 (old style not HD)the FF smoked it!
MH 2882 is also very good ,I was making the same choice,I went w/ the FF ,the FF I/O setup was more suitable for my requirements .....MH is very good but it appeared to be more of a 1 man operation (very helpful and nice) but it seemed to take a while for them to update so I felt more comfortable with a larger company like RME (very good drivers)SynthAx(support) is great as well ................ either product would be a good choice
KG

sdemott · Post by **sdemott** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 6:25 am

The 2882 is several steps above the FF800 and even the modded 828mkII. I have friends who have both and they wish they had gone with the MH units every time they hear mine. And now with the announcement of the 2d cards for the MH boxes it will be a while before anyone company comes close to competing with them. You have apogee quality conversion, SSL type patching and a bullet proof build (I use mine for location work all the time - never an issue with all the bumps and knocking around it gets).

And yes, MH is a small company - but how many companies put you in touch with the engineers & developers when you call for support. And also, the MH guys are *very* active in the Mobile I/O mailing list offering a level of support and community participation that no other company does.

One of the few purchases I have made that I have no regrets or issues with (I cant even say that about my MBP). I'm even in the process of buying a ULN2 to compliment my 2882.

gearboy · Post by **gearboy** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 10:29 am

I'm one of the guys that is totally satisfied with his Black Lion 828mk2. I got mine done when they offered the analog and clock mod under the hood. Huge difference. The preamps are even nice now! I think that it was $300 total a year ago. Maybe a little more.

However, now that you have to shell out $300 for the analog mod AND then another $225 for their microclock (which I hear is stellar), it raises an important question: Is it time to have your existing interface modded, or time to step up and upgrade.

I have a second 828mk2 that is unmodded that I use as an ADAT bridge between my G5 and Powerbook for VIs (if/when I need to). I've tossed around the idea of having it modded and clocking it off of my BLA828, but I don't need to shell out any money for it. It's mostly a backup. However, I have been thinking about selling it and picking up either a FF800 or a MH 2882 + DSP.

What would I do if I were you? If you can step up to the plate and shell out enough money for the analog and clock mod, well, you can definitely sell your 828mk2 and be very close to the FF800 prices that I see for B-stock (w/ warranty) on ebay all of the time. It's a tough one. I hear that the BLA Microclock is really nice and even the FF800 will benefit from it. True? Not sure, but that's the rumor on the messageboard universe.

I would personally save up for the MH 2882 + DSP and never need another interface again.

Jeff

airtime · Post by **airtime** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 5:46 pm

here's another endorsement for the BLA modded 828mk2. like gearboy i had the clock and analog mods done together in the box and the results were unexpectedly good. good enough, in fact, that i'm not even thinking about upgrading to anything else. it's all working so sweetly!!

wayne

jmoore · Post by **jmoore** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 7:15 pm

Thanks for all the input. I get the feeling that I can't go wrong with any of the options, but that I just need to decide which unit is going to be best for my specific applications. Each box comes with it's own set of positives and negatives. Based on most of what I've read here and elsewhere, I think the MH 2882 is probably closest to what I'm looking for, but I hate the fact that there are no tactile controls. I have a feeling that might drive me nuts. I'm in no hurry to pull the trigger, so I think I'm going to keep researching and hoping my 828 doesn't depreciate too much in the meantime.

chrispick · Post by **chrispick** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 8:04 pm

jmoore wrote:Thanks for all the input. I get the feeling that I can't go wrong with any of the options, but that I just need to decide which unit is going to be best for my specific applications.

I'd back you up on this. A strong clock/converter combo goes a long way, I think, toward giving you a better-defined sound, but, in my opinion, it's not as influential to sonic quality as many will boast. Sure, it can be great to have the supposed best-of-the-best in gear, but sometimes that improvement is measured in very small degrees -- and you have to decide whether or not that's worth it for you.

In my case, I have my Ensemble clocked by my Rosetta. So, I'm using the Ensemble's converters, even though the Rosetta is said to be better in that department. Why? I found that having the multiple inputs of the Ensemble online and well-clocked gave me the best combination of results and flexibility. And, since I mostly work in rock/pop genres, the conversion quality has proven good enough.

kassonica · Post by **kassonica** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 12:20 am

FF 800 eats my 828Mk2 for breakfast, highly recommended.

A master clock will help you if you have speakers worth $5000 + and a acoustic designed control room plus if you are clocking lots of digital devices together. I've been in pro mastering housings that don't have master clocks.

You would be better off either getting the MOD or upgrading to FF800 or similar and buy one really good pre and mic.

The FF800 has one of the best clocks around on it's class (if not the best) also their pre's are pretty damm good as well.

In my opinion it's the clock and the pres in the 828s and 896s that let them down the most.

valleysound · Post by **valleysound** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 4:17 pm

I've got 2 MH2882, one with the DSP card. They sound and perform excellent. They have top quality converters, a great control panel, you can use the DSP model as plug-ins for your DAW or inserts on a live console, they require NO computer memory or processing to operate, 64 tracks of recording and you can still use you Mac for other applications.
With my two units, I can easily record 32 tracks and have Bias Peak open, mastering a house console feed and run Photoshop, editing pictures of the gig on the fly for a live album cover.
I never understood buying a piece of gear then sending it out to be modified to make it better. Kinda like buying a car then having a new engine put in, Buy once, Cry once!!

gearboy · Post by **gearboy** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 6:31 am

Mod or not, it all comes down to sound in the end. Someone with a higher income than myself needs to do a shootout between the BLA modded 828mk2 w/ Microclock, the FF400/FF800, the MH 2882, and the Ensemble. And then again the entire combination clocked off of the Microclock AND the Big Ben. Then we'll see what is the best bang for the buck.

I really love my BLA 828mk2. It sounds great. I thought long and hard about having my other 828mk2 modded, but I've decided to pick up an Apogee Duet instead. Even though it is a close-ended system (no external clocking to/from, limited i/o, etc), I feel that having something that sounds that good in my laptop bag witha few mics for location recording is definitely worth it to me.

Jeff

valleysound · Post by **valleysound** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 8:29 pm

gearboy wrote:Mod or not, it all comes down to sound in the end. Someone with a higher income than myself needs to do a shootout between the BLA modded 828mk2 w/ Microclock, the FF400/FF800, the MH 2882, and the Ensemble. And then again the entire combination clocked off of the Microclock AND the Big Ben. Then we'll see what is the best bang for the buck.

I really love my BLA 828mk2. It sounds great. I thought long and hard about having my other 828mk2 modded, but I've decided to pick up an Apogee Duet instead. Even though it is a close-ended system (no external clocking to/from, limited i/o, etc), I feel that having something that sounds that good in my laptop bag witha few mics for location recording is definitely worth it to me.

Jeff

I can have my MH2882 available in January for a shootout.