Anyone using the MOTU 828?

[Biffer]

Hey, I just moved up to system 10 and am revamping my music recording system. Lost my metro 5 disk so couldn't upgrade and went to Metro SE instead. For an interface I bought a MOTU 828 firewire interface. I'm hoping to link up with other users of this system and see how they have it all hooked up. For instance, are you going through a mixer first and then into the interface? And how do I set up Metro to record from the various channels on METRO? In other words I would like to have a few mikes running simultaniously onto seperate tracks (all I have been able to do so far is have both mikes go to one track in stereo). And what do you do for montering what you are recording? I can't find any kind of playthrough feature in SE.

Thanks for any help.

Biff

[Scoot]

A few forum members have 828's.....don't know how often they post.
There is only midi thru in SE.

Does the 828 have a headphone port for monitoring?
(I can't go to MOTU and get the info.....its upgrade to the mkII).


scoot.

[Biffer]

The 828 does have a headphone port but it doesn't seem to work when you are recording...only playing back. I'm just trying to figure all this out but right now it is a puzzlement to me how I can hear my synth as I play to the prerecorded drums,voice etc.

[Scoot]

I would have thought if you could put the output of the mac into an input on the 828, the output of the synth to the input of the 828 and an output of the 828 to an amp and speakers you should be able to hear what's going on.
That would give you a play thru or at least allow you to hear your pre-recorded parts without the need for audio play thru.
If there is not enough power to hear whats going on in the 828, then some form of pre-amp would be needed first.

(you wouldn't need the Metro 5 CD to upgrade to Metro 6. The original serial number would be enough. It came on a card inside the box).

scoot.

[Biffer]

The problem for me is that the MOTU does not seem to monitor through the headphones any instruments going in, only the firewire return from the computer. When I bought this interface used it did not come with a manual and it could just be I'm missing something obvious. You would think it would act like a mixer and monitor everything that goes in.

I had put the serial number on the disk and long ago threw out the box. Pretty dumb and now I've lost the disk.

[Scoot]

go to www.motu.com and read the support pages.

[Jerm]

And how do I set up Metro to record from the various channels on METRO? In other words I would like to have a few mikes running simultaniously onto seperate tracks (all I have been able to do so far is have both mikes go to one track in stereo).

After recording stereo you can split the tracks into mono from the audio menus 'split stereo tracks'.

For multi-track audio recording see this link:

http://www.sagantech.biz/metro/help/Met00089.htm

[Biffer]

Thanks guys. What I was missing was that input select. That was key.

[cornutt]

I would have thought if you could put the output of the mac into an input on the 828, the output of the synth to the input of the 828 and an output of the 828 to an amp and speakers you should be able to hear what's going on.
scoot.

Too much trouble! The 828 has internal monitoring; you can choose any input pair to be monitored. You have to use MOTU's control panel to choose the input pair to monitor; then just turn up the monitor volume knob and it mixes the input pair you choose into the output. If you don't have the control panel, I'm pretty sure you can download it from MOTU's Web site.

The way I'm using mine is: I do have a mixer in front of it. I have an old Fostex X-28 (from my analog recording days, ahem ) that I use as a mixer. (I also have an M-Audio 10-input submixer in front of that because I needed more inputs.) The Fostex line outs feed input pair 3-4 on the 828, and that's what I do most of my recording on. I am saving input pair 1-2 for plugging in mics, which I haven't actually tried yet. (Word of caution: other reviewers have not thought highly of the 828's mic pre's. I don't currently own a respectable mic, so I can't tell.) I have outputs 1-2 feeding the amp that I use for monitoring. I'm going to use the other output pairs mainly for the output of soft synths, so I can feed them through external equipment for real-time processing and then send them back to the mixer.

Ciurrently I'm not doing any live recording. If I was, there are several things I'd probably do different. But right now everything is just me and I can afford to do track-at-a-time recording when I record audio.

[Biffer]

Cornut, thanks. That is interesting. I am getting a bit of hum from the 1/2 mike pre's. I noticed that on the new 828 it is possible to put the signals through an effects processor and back into the 828. Can this be done on the older 828 as well? and i still don't get all the out plugs on the 828. You mentioned that you send out through 3 and 4 to your amp. Why not just go out through the two monitor plugs? And you said you would use the others to go to soft synths. How does that work?

Thanks

[fastlanephil]

You can patch two inexpensive mini mixers together and use one just for monitoring. Thats what I do. It's a mess of wires but it works.

[cornutt]

I noticed that on the new 828 it is possible to put the signals through an effects processor and back into the 828. Can this be done on the older 828 as well?

There's not an effects loop as such. You can rig one up if you play with the input and output assignments.

and i sill don't get all the out plugs on the 828. You mentioned that you send out through 3 and 4 to your amp. Why not just go out through the two monitor plugs?

Er, after looking again at my setup this afternoon, I see that I lied ; I am using the main outs. The trick is understanding what the 828 actually does with the main outs: at any given time, they output a mix of whatever is on the 1-2 output pair plus whatever input pair is chosen for monitoring via the control panel application. The "main" and "monitor" knobs control the level of the mix on the main outs.

And you said you would use the others to go to soft synths. How does that work?

Sorry that wasn't clear. What I meant is that some soft synths let you route their output directly to an output device. Absynth is one that lets you do this. (Unfortunately, Absynth 2 with OSX support still hasn't been released. That's about the only thing I still have to go back to OS9 for.) Let's say I've got some audio tracks recorded already, and I want to record another one consisting of Absynth's output. I first record a MIDI track to drive Absynth, then I play it back. With the audio tracks from Metro routed to outputs 1-2, I can tell Absynth to send its output to some other pair, say 7-8, and it won't get mixed in at the main out. By patching the 7-8 outputs, I can run Absynth's signal through an external effect, and then back into the mixer to send back to Metro to be recorded on a new track. The 828's main outputs will give me a mix of the previously recorded audio tracks, controlled by the "main" knob, plus the processed Absynth signal, which I control the monitor level of using the "monitor" knob. (If it turns out that there's a noticable lag in the track, on account of having gone through the 828 twice prior to being recorded, I can use the Metro "shift" function to move the entire original MIDI track a few clocks to the left.)

I should mention that my monitor amp is an old Kenwood stereo receiver. (Lecture: KR-4070, 24 years old and still going strong... that's what happens when you size and heat-sink the predriver and output transistors properly.) From the Kenwood's point of view, the 828 is a recording device (one that the Kenwood's designers never thought of... ); the "record" outputs of the Kenwood go to the 3-4 input pair of the 828, and the 828's main outs go back to the Kenwood's "play" inputs. I can choose to listen to the 828's outputs, or to the source only, using the tape monitor switch on the Kenwood. That's turned out to be a handy thing for monitoring.

[Biffer]

Thanks Cornut, that is helpful.