8pre + 896mk3, daisy chaining, MIDI and more

[xtrmntr]

Hello all,

Just joined up to ask a few questions and, hopefully, participate in some MOTU discussion in the future. Been aching for some MOTU action for a couple of years now, and only recently became able to afford one. This after mistakenly going for an Alesis (Firewire died) and a PreSonus (received two interfaces with main out issues from AMS... in a row).

Before I jump into the world of MOTU I was hoping to ask a few questions. I've looked up the answers to many of them on this very forum, and apologize for asking many of them again.

That said:

To get it out of the way, I run Windows 7 64-bit.

My first interface will be an 8pre. I plan on purchasing this after Christmas, as (hopefully) there will be a sale on them. The 8pre will be my main pre-amp and MIDI interface (to an older digital piano).

My second interface will be an 896mk3 (unless something better comes along from MOTU in Q1/Q2 next year). This will be purchased for its metering, to use outboard gear with and the ability to bypass the pres. This will become the "main" interface with the 8pre "slaved" to it.

The reason I am posting is to ask how best to connect them. I have read about the Firewire daisy chaining issues. ADAT Lightpipe is out as I *need* the 8pre's MIDI capabilities (and the idea of spending another $100 on a MIDI interface seems to be quite literally the stupidest idea I've ever heard of when I just spent $500+ on an interface that does MIDI). So, that leads me to the following questions...

Can I simply buy a Firewire hub and plug the two interfaces into separate ports (ie not daisy chain them)? Does MOTU's hardware/software support that? Will I get all of the features of both interfaces if I do that? Is it possible to Lightpipe the audio section of the 8pre into the 896mk3 and simply use ONLY the MIDI via Firewire? Are there any DAW limitations when using two FW interfaces separately (not daisy chained)?

Again, I realize many of these questions have all ready been asked, and I thank you for reading and answering them again. I merely want to be as sure as I possibly can (without owning the interfaces and testing myself) that this setup will "work".

Thank you very much!

-BP

[Jayson Wonder]

This is such a great question. Did you ever get an answer to this one. Surely the MOTU support can address this.

I actually have the exact gear and want to do the same thing regarding MIDI from the 8pres. I NEED MIDI. I have tried the lightpipe method of syncing and aside from a occasional "glitch / pause / white noise" which lasts for 1.5 seconds approx. things were decent. However there is no presence of MIDI device in my computer or DAW.

I am not going to try the firewire daisy chain approach but do not think this is a great option as want all my tracks controlled by one main out / phones and also to monitor them all on the 896 meters. Perhaps this can be done by sending the channels from the pre to the 896 via lightpipe while daisy chained. Working in this test tonight.

Have not tried firewire hub as I do not have one.

Any thought or success with this yet? I am totally with you, should not need to buy a MIDI interface (i have one but no spare USB ports. I love the gear just need an ultimate solution here. I'm sure gear of this quality is capable of something and the engineers here should know something to help us.

Thanks,

[Yummay]

I have the exact same question here... To the point I am wondering why the MIDI port found its way on the 8 pre unit, instead of the 896 mk3. That way around, it would be a lot simpler to to have audio-MIDI connections as a base, and then add the 8pre for more mic inputs.