8 Pre Studio Setup

[petesguitar1]

Hey, kinda new here and love my 8pre but I've just acquired my first outboard gear and I'm trying to figure out the best way to set it up.

I have the 8 pre going via firewire to 21.5" iMac
Behringer Headphone Amp
Joe Meek SixQ
FMR RNC

I would ideally like to use the RNC as a stereo compressor to run over tracks after recording clean, I'm just not sure how I would do that with only the stereo outs on the 8pre.

Any thoughts or comments are really appreciated - How would you guys set it up?

I only really record 1 or 2 tracks simultaneously if that matters

[mikehalloran]

In CueMix

[4stripes]

Unfortunately for you the 8Pre is really just a mic preamp. It doesn't have analog outputs for you to connect hardware insert devices directly for mixing.

You need to buy an ADAT<>analog converter to tack onto the 8Pre. This will give you the analog IO to connect your outboard FX.

You can use the main outs but that'd be awkward because they are for speaker monitoring, not a recording chain.

[Prime Mover]

Wow, besides the SixQ, that was EXACTLY the same equipment I had until about a year ago. But yeah, the 8pre is a one-way trip: it's meant to either be your only preamp/digital unit, or in tandem with a line converter like the 828. To use my RNC, I bought another small preamp to go before it: Presonus Bluetube, and then into the 8pre, with the gain down.

So you could go SixQ -> RNC -> 8pre, that should work okay. Only thing is, you're getting a little bit of color from the low-end preamps on the 8pre, but I've found them to be fairly quiet as low-end pres go.

But in the end, I bit the bullet and got an 828mkII on eBay. It's a dream. The 8pre really was meant to be an extension of the 828, they work so well together. Don't get me wrong, I worked with the 8pre alone for a while, and did many great recordings. And it's perfect for drum and rhythm tracking. But it's very limited,

It's kinda unfortunate, it's basically in the same class with the Presonus FireStudio and whatever the name of the Focusrite unit is... those come with a bank of line converters and some send/returns. And the 8pre is more expensive! I never understood why MOTU did that. But paired with an 828, it just smokes, and the 828 converters are some of the best in the industry.

[petesguitar1]

Thanks for the replies guys. Prime mover, I have a Presonus Blue Tube and an ART MPA so I'll give each of them a whirl!

I see that the 6Q has Optical out - Can I use an optical cable and go out of the 6Q and into the Optical on the 8 pre to use the 6Q as extra preamps?

[Prime Mover]

This is uncanny! Are you sneaking into my studio at night?

Anyway, look again at your SixQ. I don't think it has an optical out, not from what I'm seeing and reading.



What you're probably referring to is the SPDIF output, which is a digital RCA connection. The 8pre has an optical TOSLINK connection using ADAT protocol. Unfortunately, the 8pre doesn't have a TOSLINK input, though most of MOTUs other converters (including the 828) do.

The bottom line is, the 8pre cannot receive more than 8 signals with the sole acception of being connected to another converter via ADAT. It's fairly conceivable that they could have thrown a TOSLINK bridge in there as well, but they happened to have not

The simple truth is that the 8pre is a wonderful unit for what it does, but it has its limits. The thing that it does: being a mass of preamps and converters, it does quite well, and is usable no matter how much you expand your setup. But eventually, you'll probably want to get a primary converter, and use your 8pre as a preamp bank.

What I will say is that the 8pre is NOT a unit you graduate from as your needs progress, it doesn't duplicate many functions that primary converters have, so you'll never feel like you once paid for something you'll no longer use.

But, until you can set aside some cash for a primary converter, you can still use the SixQ in conjunction with the 8pre, just turn the preamp down on the 8pre, and let the SixQ do most of the work. Yes, you'll still be going through a second preamp, yes, you'll be using up one of your 8 channels, but it'll still sound great.

When and if you do decide to get a primary converter, you'll probably want to look at an 828, specifically. All the others either duplicate functions on the 8pre (at the expense of things not on the 828) or won't interface as well with the 8pre. For instance, the Ultralight is ALMOST an 828, but it doesn't have an ADAT bank, so you can't use it in conjunction with your 8pre (you can use them separately at the same time, but that has disadvantages).

[kgdrum]

fwiw there's a ton of spdif/optical adaptors
they can be found from about $3 or $4 & up.

We used these for hooking up Dacs that had spdif with optical dig based Macs.

http://www.google.com/search?q=s+pdif+t ... ent=safari

[Prime Mover]

You're Kidding me! That's awesome! I never even thought to look. I assumed optical would require a pretty complex device to translate! Well, in that case, maybe petesguitar1 is in luck! I don't know many channel strips with ADAT outs, but there are many with SPDIF. This is great news for 8pre owners.