2408 MK I Convertor Quality

tdstotler · Post by **tdstotler** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 11:42 am

Hello,

I have a Motu Hd 192 and Motu Mk III in my studio. A freind just gave me
a old first version Motu 2408, the one with the RCA outputs.
My question is this, does anyone know if there is much sound quality difference between this older motu unit and say the motu 2408 MIII.
I would like to implement it in my studio unless the convertors are of
worse quality then what I have.
If anyone has any input I would be greatly appreictive.

Thanks

Todd

markwayne · Post by **markwayne** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 1:23 pm

I don't think you are going to be happy with the convertors (20 bit instead of 24). They are not in the same league as your other interfaces. I'd say the 2408s are just shy of the original black-face ADATs in quality.

Wayne

Jidis · Post by **Jidis** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 2:40 pm

I've heard the same comparison with the BF ADAT. The old 2408 doesn't have a great reputation.

It still might be cool though. It will get you 3 more banks of digital if you get hold of devices with digital i/o, and the RCA's might be OK for remote headphone cue lines. You also might be able to use it as a buffer/extension for the lightpipe from one of the other ones to get some added length. I think that line will pass the same bit depth as the new one. The analog also might be good enough to keep some old noisy effects or tape units linked to your rig with convenient "virtual" patching.

Wish somebody would "give" me a 2408.

George

BradLyons · Post by **BradLyons** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 3:35 pm

When the 2408 was first introduced, I found out from a client of mine telling me about this box that had 8-ch of analog I/O, 24-ch of ADAT Optical and 24-ch of TDIF I/O.... all for $995?? I thought NO WAY, yeah right!! Well I picked up KEYBOARD MAGAZINE and on the back, there it was. At that time, it was a great solution as computer-recording was still fairly new or at least multi-track. I shouldn't say new, it was becoming affordable. Echo (marked as EVENT) was bragging about their Layla which was a good product, but it took forever to deliver--by the time it came out, MOTU was killing them because of all of the additional I/O. The one advantage though was balanced I/O. The vast majority of those that bought the original 2408 didn't need the digital I/O, just the analog...but it was THE product to get and remains one of the best-sellers of ALL time. The mkII enhanced the converters and added balanced I/O, the mk3 is significantly improved with a DSP-based PCI card------but now with the 828mkII available, this fits most users better.

If you have an original 2408 today, it's only good for the multi-channel digital I/O IMHO....the converters aren't worth it. Well if you're just getting into the world of computer-recording and it's free, then it would be a wise investment

tdstotler · Post by **tdstotler** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 3:51 pm

Thanks a million for your input guys, I greatly appreciate it and now I know.

I may use it for some additional headphone cue/mixes.

Just to clarify if I use the optical inputs it would be the same as
using say the 2408 MkIIIs optical inputs? Since there is really no
A/DA conversion going on there. Am I correct here?

Thanks again all!

Todd

www.echoesrecording.com
www.myspace.com/echoesrecordingstudio

BradLyons · Post by **BradLyons** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 5:20 pm