Page 1 of 1

Am I connecting the optical from mac pro to 8pre right?

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 9:14 pm
by cosmicbdog
Hi everybody!

I have optical Out on the 8pre going into the In of the mac pro. The Out of the mac into the In on the pre. I'm assuming thats how it goes.

Nothing seems to change anywhere when I do this.. .as in I don't see the optical inputs to be selected anywhere in my software (ableton live).

It appears the firewire must be connected. Does the motu know to just automatically send audio via the optic channel if its connected?

Thanks for helping me understand this,

Kind regards,

Bobby

Re: Am I connecting the optical from mac pro to 8pre right?

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 6:13 am
by magicd
Bobby,
Disconnect the optical cables between your Mac and the 8Pre.

Connect the 8Pre to the Mac via the Firewire cable.

If you have installed the drivers for the 8Pre, the MOTU Audio Setup utility will launch automatically when the 8Pre is detected by the computer.

Dave

Re: Am I connecting the optical from mac pro to 8pre right?

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 6:19 am
by 1nput0utput
The 8pre's optical I/O uses an 8-channel digital audio format called ADAT (Alesis Digital Audio Tape). The Mac Pro optical I/O uses a 2-channel format called TOSLINK (Toshiba link). They will not work together.

Re: Am I connecting the optical from mac pro to 8pre right?

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 6:30 am
by cosmicbdog
Sorry I didn't explain my situation correctly.

The motu is working via firewire. I've been using it like that for some time and I have no issues.

I'm just wondering if there is any benefit to connecting it via optical?

Aahh... so they don't play nice together the mac and motu optical.

Is there an optical audio card one can get to connect via this method?

Re: Am I connecting the optical from mac pro to 8pre right?

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 10:58 am
by audio_artist
yes another 8 pre and connect the two to each other for 16 pre-amps

the ADAT is for expanding your inputs and outputs!