Traveller (mk1) with M1 Macs (Big Sur)

[Rodrigo]

Hello all,

I've had a search but didn't find any info on this specific combination. From what I've seen it may be possible to use an mk3 Traveller via "many dongles" to speak to newer (M1) macs, but I don't know what that means in terms of a mk1 one.

I see neither here:
https://motu.com/en-us/news/motu-and-macos-big-sur/

It would be great to upgrade my studio computer to one of the newer M1 minis, but if that means also having to replace my interface, things get a bit more complicated.

Has anyone managed this and/or does it seem like it may be at all possible via some combinations of dongles and such?

[traveler1]

Hi Rodrigo,

Not 100% sure if this is helpful in regards to the M1 Macs but I'm using a Traveler MK1 on an iMac 2014 via FW-TB2 adapter on Big Sur 11.2 and it works totally fine. I just downloaded the latest Motu audio drivers (despite it not saying anything about traveler mk1 compatibility) and having no issues here.

[Rodrigo]

Awesome, that's really good to know!

I take it you're using the official apple FW-TB2 dongle? Not sure if that matters, but good to know in terms of replication.

[traveler1]

Yeah exactly, just the official firewire thunderbolt 2 adapter. Perhaps you'll need a combo as you said Firewire to TB2 to TB3/4 ——assuming the M1's have TB3/4 ports

[Rodrigo]

Yup, I think that may be the case. Thankfully I have a FW400 to FW800 cable (which is what I presently use now), so that saves me an extra dongle.

[mikehalloran]

Yeah exactly, just the official firewire thunderbolt 2 adapter. Perhaps you'll need a combo as you said Firewire to TB2 to TB3/4 ——assuming the M1's have TB3/4 ports

The M1 has TB4 which is an enhancement of TB3. Though this mainly benefits Windows where TB3 support is extremely limited, TB4 allows multi-port TB hubs to Mac/Win users, something that cannot exist with TB3.

A TB3 hub allows only passthrough of TB3 to one port — all others in the hub are USB 3 and/or 3.1.

Unfortunately, TB4 hubs are not backward compatible with TB3 ports.

[Rodrigo]

Hmmm. From the looks of the Apple webpage the current TB2 to USB-C cable takes it up to TB3. Are you saying that TB3 peripherals won't work with M1 macs at all then?

[ronaldroy]

Hi Rodrigo,

Not 100% sure if this is helpful in regards to the M1 Macs but I'm using a Traveler MK1 on an iMac 2014 via FW-TB2 adapter on Big Sur 11.2 and it works totally fine. I just downloaded the latest Motu audio drivers (despite it not saying anything about traveler mk1 compatibility) and having no issues here.

Interesting. My Traveller MK3 doesn't work at all with my M1 Mac.

[rickorick]

I think what I would do is look at the MOTU LP32. It has 4 ADAT in/outs that one could plug into. If I ever see 1 used I’m on it.

[blackcrayon]

Yeah exactly, just the official firewire thunderbolt 2 adapter. Perhaps you'll need a combo as you said Firewire to TB2 to TB3/4 ——assuming the M1's have TB3/4 ports

The M1 has TB4 which is an enhancement of TB3. Though this mainly benefits Windows where TB3 support is extremely limited, TB4 allows multi-port TB hubs to Mac/Win users, something that cannot exist with TB3.

A TB3 hub allows only passthrough of TB3 to one port — all others in the hub are USB 3 and/or 3.1.

Unfortunately, TB4 hubs are not backward compatible with TB3 ports.

The M1 macs still have TB3, it's just that Apple has always supported certain optional features of TB3 that are mandatory in TB4. The new TB3 hubs work in the M1 macs as well as any intel mac with TB3. On PCs, those hubs require TB4 because of the aforementioned- PCs with TB3 did not support the "optional" features required for hubs that Apple already supported with TB3. If that makes sense

Source: https://www.apple.com/mac-mini/specs/ (Thunderbolt 3)
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/owc-thunderbolt-hub? (OWC hub page specifying support of all TB3 macs)

[Rodrigo]

Interesting.

Yeah it would seem weird to completely drop TB3 with the new computers.

I guess it's yet to be seen since the M1 support is not official at this point in time (from MOTU), but I guess if the FW800->TB2->TB3 dongle chain works, that it could potentially work with something like the OWC hub.

[mikehalloran]

TB4 is an enhancement of TB3, that's all—but it's a nice enhancement. The big benefit to Mac users is that multiple TB3 devices can be plugged into a TB4 hub—but only on a TB4 Mac.

Windows users will finally see TB3 features that Mac Users have taken for granted since 2017. They will also benefit from being able to plug multiple TB3 devices into a single hub, of course.

[chapito]

Has anyone used the TrvlMk1 with a M1 Mac yet?

I like my MOTU interface but fear I'll have to retire it when I upgrade to an M1.

Unfortunately, I just saw this post: viewtopic.php?p=582032#p582032

[Yann Le Bihan]

Hi all,

Just found this thread and decided to give my Traveler MK1 a new chance with a MacBook M1... and it works, in particular with Logic Pro.

Here is the connecting chain I am using :

- FW400 to FW800 cable
- Apple FW800 to TB2 adapter
- Apple TB2 to TB3 converter

It's really working like a charm. The Traveler's main output volume can even be controlled by the Mac multimedia keys, which is pretty rare with other brands - and very convenient.

As for the driver installation, I just followed this advice posted by Mike Halloran in another thread :

From motu.com/downloads, find the 828mk3 Hybrid and download the correct driver for your MacOS. Read the support doc about allowing the driver to install in Security and Privacy.

Thank you very much, Mike. I would never have guessed that the latest 828 driver was the one to install in order to keep working with a Traveler MK1 in 2022

[sw1]

Hello Yann Le Bihan
thanks for your post, I just wanted to ask if your traveller is being powered ok via the adapters? or are you using the power adapter.
I have a Traveller Mk3 and an M1 macbook pro with 10.17 on the way. so I'm preparing myself!

Hi all,

Just found this thread and decided to give my Traveler MK1 a new chance with a MacBook M1... and it works, in particular with Logic Pro.

Here is the connecting chain I am using :

- FW400 to FW800 cable
- Apple FW800 to TB2 adapter
- Apple TB2 to TB3 converter

It's really working like a charm. The Traveler's main output volume can even be controlled by the Mac multimedia keys, which is pretty rare with other brands - and very convenient.

As for the driver installation, I just followed this advice posted by Mike Halloran in another thread :

From motu.com/downloads, find the 828mk3 Hybrid and download the correct driver for your MacOS. Read the support doc about allowing the driver to install in Security and Privacy.

Thank you very much, Mike. I would never have guessed that the latest 828 driver was the one to install in order to keep working with a Traveler MK1 in 2022