Daisychaining 3x 828s

[Jez_Wright]

Hey all,

So I'm slowly building my MOTU firewire empire (2x 828 MKII FW & 1x 828 original) to multitrack 24 channels into Ableton (running Catalina on an iMac and use the thunderbolt to firewire adaptor) but I'm running into some problems in the chain. It's worth noting that my previous setup for 16 channels (828 MKII FW + 828 original) was working flawlessly before I introduced the second 828 MKII into the chain.

Here's how I have it setup currently:

828 MK II FW (firmware 1.01) as the master. Clock set to internal. Firewire and word clock out to:

828 MK II FW (firmware 1.00). This is the new unit. Has blinking lights problem and channels 1-8 sometimes produce feedback. Often does not pass audio into Ableton. Also gets very hot. Clock set to word clock in. Firewire and optical i/o to:

828 original. Clock set to optical in. Regularly loses clock.

Obviously the middle unit is the issue but does anyone know if this is likely to be:

a) a clock issue
b) a firmware issue
c) a hardware issue

Apologies if this is another case of RTFM - I have read it and i know it recommends daisy-chaining via word clock (or a word clock distribution device - whatever that is in 2021??) so I will try that with another word clock cable tomorrow - but I haven't seen many threads on daisy-chaining 3+ motus and I'm not convinced this is simply a clocking issue?

Cheers!

[mikehalloran]

Are you running as an Aggregate Device?

[HCMarkus]

Assuming that, in your original setup, you were Aggregating the Original and MkII 828's, why not just add the new 828mkII as an optical device, running into the original 828mkII's optical in?

[Jez_Wright]

Yeah running as an aggregate device for all 3.

Previous setup was an aggregate device for the MK2 and original connected over firewire and optical i/o.

Tried your suggestion Markus and just got full red LEDs and feedback in Ableton. Tried hooking it up directly to the iMac outside of the chain and audio comes in, but no metering LEDS and no audio out of the main outs. Tried it standalone and it's still flickering / freezing.

Super weird because it has worked in the middle of the chain before, albeit briefly.

I've opened it up and reseated all the ribbon / LED cables but it didn't make a difference.

Before I resign to hardware failure - would a firmware update to 1.01 help? I've seen the thread from 10 years ago about doing this on a Mac - but I'm on Catalina so can't run 32 bit but will have access to a MBP running Mojave next week - worth a try?

[Jez_Wright]

Ok so after more troubleshooting I've concluded that the new 828 mk2 is dud and have ordered another in full working order (1.01 firmware).

So theoretically what is the best way to hook these up when it arrives?

I'm thinking of doing exactly what the manual says:

1. MK2 (thunderbolt to firewire in + firewire out + word clock out via a BNC tee splitter)
2. MK2 (firewire in + word clock in + firewire out)
3. MK1 (firewire in + word clock in)

So all 3 units connected via firewire and then creating a 62 channel aggregate device in Audio MIDI Setup.

But the other option would be to use the optical outs on the second MK2 into the first. So:

1. MK2 (thunderbolt to firewire in + firewire out + optical in)
2. MK2 (optical out)
3. MK1 (firewire in)

So 2 units connected via firewire, 1 via lightpipe and then a 40 channel aggregate device.

Are there any benefits to using one setup over the other? Is a 40 channel aggregate device likely to be more stable than a 62 aggregate device? How necessary is word clock in either of these setups?

Cheers!