Black Lion MOTU Interface Modifications

stephen1212b · Post by **stephen1212b** » Mon May 01, 2006 5:22 pm

Has anyone actually gotten a modified interface back? If so any comments on the sound?

iMAS · Post by **iMAS** » Tue May 02, 2006 4:55 pm

You can just go to blacklion's site. They have audio samples of "before and after" mods. Hear it for yourself.

travisbrown · Post by **travisbrown** » Fri May 05, 2006 11:50 am

The LCD on my 828mkII went, and they said it was a known issue for early 828mkIIs. I sent it back for screen replacement without charge. The fact it was lost in shipping on way back was another matter.

Ended up all good.

Nu-tra · Post by **Nu-tra** » Fri May 05, 2006 8:16 pm

I got two of my MOTU HD192's modded and it's night and day! My audio has better top end and more of a 3d sound to it. Makes mixing a lot easier.

davidj · Post by **davidj** » Fri May 05, 2006 11:50 pm

WHO did you send it to? MOTU or Black Lion?
Did MOTU honor the Black Lion-modded units for repair?
thanks,
david

[quote="travisbrown"]The LCD on my 828mkII went, and they said it was a known issue for early 828mkIIs. I sent it back for screen replacement without charge. The fact it was lost in shipping on way back was another matter.

Nu-tra · Post by **Nu-tra** » Sat May 06, 2006 1:11 am

that's nice of them.

climber · Post by **climber** » Sat May 06, 2006 6:45 pm

does Black Lion only do 828 Mx2? will they also do the original?

gearboy · Post by **gearboy** » Fri May 12, 2006 11:35 am

From a similar thread over at TapeOp:

"Well, I was very pleased with the results of Matt's mod on the analog stage of the 828 mkII that I sent him. A friend of mine has a stock 828 mkII that I was able to compare it to not just in playback but also for recording. Wow, what a difference. I did some recordings with each, same signal path, just changing the sound card and the difference was very obvious. The built in Mic Pres were the most changed and are now some of my favorite colorless pres, they are very neutral rahter than sluggish like they were before. Overall I was very pleased. Recently, however, I saw that he was also offering a clock mod to improve timing accuracy from 120 ps to under 10! I had to have it since the clock had quickly become the limiting factor of the 828 post-Analog-stage-mod. Its in his hands now and I should have it back soon. I can't wait to hear it because the one time I clocked the MOTU externally (to a Cranesong HEDD) it was a richer, tighter sound than the even the Pro Tools HD at the same clock rate. This seemingly ordinary MOTU of mine sure will be quite a secret weapon. I will try to get some sound samples up once i get my new clock mod back!"

Complete thread here:

http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopi ... c&&start=0

Jeff

electropoet · Post by **electropoet** » Mon May 15, 2006 5:51 pm

Does anyone know what kind of converters the 2408 mkIII has? Are these Asaki Kasei's as well or Texas Instruments? This Black Audio site indicates only the latest models have the same preamps as the RME's...just wondering if that included the 2408 mkIII's as well. Thanks.

IIIGmusic · Post by **IIIGmusic** » Mon May 22, 2006 5:11 pm

Seriously,

I just got my 2408 MKIII back today and it is an unbelievable difference, espicially in the low end and midrange separation. Reverb tails, delays are much easier to hear in a mix. I usually don't blindly spend $$$, but this is one of those cases where it was completely worth it, if not necessary. MOTU owners, i'm not sayin go and void your warranty, but in my case it made sense- my unit was well out of warranty, and I was already thinking Apogee or RME or something, but this mod has revamped my entire upgrade plan.

gearboy · Post by **gearboy** » Mon May 22, 2006 6:33 pm

I just got my 2408 MKIII back today and it is an unbelievable difference, espicially in the low end and midrange separation. Reverb tails, delays are much easier to hear in a mix. I usually don't blindly spend $$$, but this is one of those cases where it was completely worth it, if not necessary. MOTU owners, i'm not sayin go and void your warranty, but in my case it made sense- my unit was well out of warranty, and I was already thinking Apogee or RME or something, but this mod has revamped my entire upgrade plan.

Nice! Just what I needed to hear. I have been dreaming of this upgrade from months and have heard nothing but positive reviews, A/B comparisons, etc.

I just sealed the deal on my 2nd 828mkii this evening. Once it lands next week, my first 828mkii is going back to MOTU for the screen repair, then off to Matt at Black Lion. I'm going to try to have it back here in time to mix 2 records by mid summer. Then my second 828mkii is going to Matt late summer or early fall.

What was Matt's turn-around time on your 2408 MKIII???

I also just ordered 4 Burr Brown OPA627AP op-amps to upgrade my Presonus MP20. What a day! Planning on selling my Digimax LT for a Sytek MPX4Aii soon, too!!! ( http://www.sytek-audio-systems.com/prod ... eamps/mpx4 )

Jeff

Matcher · Post by **Matcher** » Tue May 23, 2006 5:14 am

One thing that isn't mentioned anywhere is that after the clock mod the unit can't be slaved via s/pdif, but only via BNC connections. In the end that's a small price to pay for the reduction in jitter.

dosuna11 · Post by **dosuna11** » Tue May 23, 2006 10:23 am

Does that mean there are no SPDIF inputs at all?

IIIGmusic · Post by **IIIGmusic** » Tue May 23, 2006 11:49 am

Gearboy,

Sent it overnight on monday, had it back exactly a week later. Definitely hit up matt via email to find out his current lead times.

mothra · Post by **mothra** » Tue May 23, 2006 12:01 pm

Kinda disheartening to hear the SPDIF issue..
My Lexicon processor spits out digital gibberish every few seconds if its not the master clock on the SPDIF bus..

MOTUnation.com

Black Lion MOTU Interface Modifications

WHO did you send it to? MOTU or Black Lion?

MOD! DO IT! NOW!