Black Lion Mods to MOTU 1224

trond · Post by **trond** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 5:24 am

Has anyone modded their 1224? Curious to know if the improvement in sound quality is substantial.

Trond

hammerman · Post by **hammerman** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 6:29 am

I recently had my MOTU 1296 modded by BLA and also got their microclock. All I can say is that it really made the top end sweet and smooth sounding. Well worth the money:)

Dwetmaster · Post by **Dwetmaster** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 7:33 am

The only "bad" thing I can say about the micro-clock is that you have to remember to switch it manually if you work with 44.1 material. I once had some stuff playing really weird in Itunes because of that.

Phil Jeffers · Post by **Phil Jeffers** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 5:09 pm

trond wrote:Has anyone modded their 1224? Curious to know if the improvement in sound quality is substantial.

Trond

No, but I know that the converters and clock in the 1224 were among the best that MOTU ever made, so personally I wouldn't bother...

hammerman · Post by **hammerman** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 6:25 pm

You'll hear more difference with the I/O modded than the clock. I had the clock sent to me before the mod and I really heard a change after the mod. Highly recommended. I'm talking about the 1296, not the 1224 though.

daveyboy · Post by **daveyboy** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 8:56 pm

I tried a few times to schedule my hd192 to be sent in to be modded but since I use it everyday I just haven't been able to. At this point I feel that if I upgrade that part of my setup I'll really upgrade it. Still very curious thought to here the black lion mod though. It would be an easy upgrade verses getting an apogee integrated for example. I guess if I could somehow get a loaner 192 in while mine was being upgraded I'd go for it. Any hd192 owners get the mod done?

trond · Post by **trond** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 5:25 am

According to the black Lion site, with the 1224 the recommended changes are to the opamps. So this would be an analog 'sound quality' mod only.

I have to wonder though. If I am only using the 1224 as a stereo playback device (I don't record audio, I work exclusively with samples and vi's), is there a more effective way to spend $300 or so? Is there a simple two channel D/A box with excellent sound quality that would surpass what even the modded 1224 could do?

Thanks for any thoughts,
Trond

hammerman · Post by **hammerman** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 5:43 am

Hi Dave. I was in the same boat as you. I have only the one 1296 interface and I run a very busy project studio so I had to wait for the Holidays to have it modded. I actually drove it to their shop in Chicago as I was staying nearby. The mod plus the clock really opens up the high end. Silky smooth without a trace of harshness. Kind of like the difference between decent scotch (MOTU's stuff is very good) and top shelf scotch.

Tonio · Post by **Tonio** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 10:34 am

1224 is among best units MOTU has made? So assuming its in the 1296 or 192HD range only limited to 44.1 /48 khz rate?

I 've been considering a Benchmark DA-1 or a ULN-2 for lead tracks and leaving the supporting tracks to the 1224 vs BLA mod. That is a big difference in cost, however.

Jim w/ Audio upgrades has mentioned that the proposed op amp upgrades (at least for the 1296 ) is overpriced and not much of upgrade.

I love my 1224, but seem to be missing something in the high frequencies.

T

Phil Jeffers wrote:
trond wrote:Has anyone modded their 1224? Curious to know if the improvement in sound quality is substantial.

Trond
No, but I know that the converters and clock in the 1224 were among the best that MOTU ever made, so personally I wouldn't bother...

Phil Jeffers · Post by **Phil Jeffers** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 3:42 pm

Hey,

Mine sounds awesome - this was MOTU's flagship interface for quite a while. Here it retailed for $3,500 AUD and was one of the best you could buy. The clock is within the 424 card anyhow I think, but yeah you may want to use a high end Apogee master clock for your studio. I use a Spectral clock that is limited to 48k, but is one of the best you can buy.

For ultra clarity for higher frequencies, I also highly recommend plantar ribbon tweeter speakers. These speakers are like taking cotton wool out of your ears - absolutely amazing. All compression tweeters have a fair bit of distortion evident in their output, ribbon tweeters have almost none, which is to be heard to be believed...

I would like to mod my 2408, also my Digi 002R, but personally I think the 1224 is brilliant as is.

Just my opinion...

Cheers, Phil J.

trond · Post by **trond** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 6:07 am

Phil,

Your 1224 is stock? Or modded?

trond

Phil Jeffers · Post by **Phil Jeffers** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 4:13 pm

Hi, I bought it new and I haven't had a BL mod no.

Cheers, Phil J.

MOTUnation.com

Black Lion Mods to MOTU 1224

Black Lion Mods to MOTU 1224

Re: Black Lion Mods to MOTU 1224

Re: Black Lion Mods to MOTU 1224