MOTUnation.com

Hi

I have a Watchout (multi screen presentation software) presentation. It consists in 16 projector displaying a single video over a 50 mts wall. Over that wall i have 16 speakers. All the audio will come from a single computer, so i need an interface with at least 16 analog outputs to get this going. I could use a MOTU 24 I/O interface, but the problem is that i have Small Form Factors PCs and the PCI card wont fit. So i'm thinking about using 2 828mk2 USB interfaces, to get the 16 analog outputs. How can i do this? FireWire it's not an option. any experiences with it? i didnt find any information about this yet, and i need to buy a solution real quick. So all helpfull comments are wellcome! thx !!

I've heard that 16 channels over USB for any audio may be problematic. USB is usually recommended for a max of 8. So if you can fit small form factor PCI, there are plenty of cardbus or small factor PCI to firewire. And firewire works very well with 16 channels [this is what I do and I have never hand a problem with it on a dedicated bus].

I assume these are all line level outputs, and these are 44.1kHz and 24 bits.

However, if you want to give it a try [maybe, since you are only going out, you can give it a try]. Here is how you could make it work;

1] Use the 828 as the main unit [via USB if you can't get FW]
2] Then use ADAT lightpipe to connect a second unit--any adat D/A would work, another 828 [even an 828 mk1]
3] Use a bnc connector to synchronize the word clocks.
4] Now you will have 8 native 828 outputs, and 8 ADAT outputs.

If the USB doesn't choke, you will be all set.

I'm not sure I understand your setup well. Are there 16 different signals going out? If not, wouldn't analog splitters work well?