MOTUnation.com

Hey everyone, I recently upgraded from an Edirol 2496 PCI based interface to the 828MK3. I tried to do a bit of research beforehand and learned that I needed a firewire card with either a TI or LSI chipset (advice from MOTU). So I picked up one at a local Best Buy with the LSI chipset.

I installed it, downloaded the latest drivers off the MOTU site and set it up. Everything looked fine. But I am unable to get any actual sound output. Everything is routed to Main 1-2 in Windows audio set up. So all of my standard wav/mp3/cd etc output should be going to the Main 1-2. But alas, I never hear anything.

I have confirmed the hardware itself is working, since I can plug a mic in the front and hear it come out my monitors. CueMix FX loads and I can monitor the mic input from there and see that the device is at least recognized by XP. Everything looks fine, just no sound output!

I'm new to firewire based interfaces in general, and suffice to say I'm not having a great first impression. My system set up is as follows:

Windows XP Media Center w/ SP3
ASUS M2V / Athlon 64 X2 4400 / 4 GB ram
LSI based PCI firewire



Any suggestions are welcome! I'm not even sure where to start troubleshooting.

Open the MOTU Audio Console, go to the 828mk3 tab, and set Main Out Assign to Main Out 1-2. Then read Chapter 5 in the 828mk3 User Guide for Windows.

Thanks for the reply! I omitted in my original reply that the Main Out Assign is set to Main 1-2.

I've now tried going from the 3.6.8.1394 drivers (most current from site) to the 3.6.7.4 drivers, but that just left me with a MOTU Audio device in Device Manager with a yellow exclamation. Not sure what to try next. Maybe I'll try a different firewire card?

devinc99 wrote:Thanks for the reply! I omitted in my original reply that the Main Out Assign is set to Main 1-2.

I've now tried going from the 3.6.8.1394 drivers (most current from site) to the 3.6.7.4 drivers, but that just left me with a MOTU Audio device in Device Manager with a yellow exclamation. Not sure what to try next. Maybe I'll try a different firewire card?

Right-click on the MOTU Audio device in the Device Manager, and click on Update Driver. This will force the New Hardware Wizard to run again. If you select the option to choose the appropriate driver from a list, you should see the newest version (3.6.8.1394) in the list. Choose that and complete the wizard. That should get you back on track.

Still no luck, and I have tried just about everything now.

I have tried the following configurations:

Windows XP SP3 with 3.6.8.1394 (latest from site)
Windows XP SP3 with 3.6.7.4

Windows XP SP2 with 3.6.8.1394
Windows XP SP2 with 3.6.7.4

Windows Vista SP1 with 3.6.8.1394


In all of these configurations I can get no sound from the PC to the mains. Starting to go nuts! I can plug a mic into Mic 1 and turn on the monitoring for it in CueMix and hear it just fine through Main 1-2.

I'm at my wits end! Anyone have suggestions? I have set the Main Outputs to Main 1 - 2 in the MOTU Audio Console. I have set Windows to use Main 1 - 2 for standard playback functions.

What else could I be missing?

If MOTU Audio Wave doesn't appear in the Sound, Video, & Game Controllers section of the Device Manager, then apps that use the Wave driver for playback won't be able to play audio through the 828mk3.

I see three things under Device Manager: Motu Audio, Motu Audio MIDI, Motu Audio Wave

Same under both XP and Vista...

Quick update:

The strangest thing is that it "sort of" works now, and it started randomly working between the time I went to bed last night and woke up this morning. Gaghh! So I say "sort of" because it will work for about 30 minutes, and then the same old problem comes up.

My test now is just playing an album through WMP and waiting. I get about 20 or so minutes into an album and then all of a sudden it just stops working. No output to the mains. The main 1-2 meter on the front goes dark. The 828mk3 acts like it's not receiving any data from the pc.

Going nuts here!!!

I had the same problem when I first pluged my mk3.
And finaly I turned it on... )
on a front panel display put the MASTER to AN 1-2 and turn it on...
the default value is MAIN for MASTER - change it to AN 1-2 it should help...