MOTU 828mk3

Rackmount 1U high FW, with a lcd windows that shows every setting for every channel. Also built in effects for standalone functions, and zero latency monitoring. The LCD and front panels show full led on input/output meters, and the roof is lit red. Limiters are included, and is hardware built in to this unit. A very good one at that. One can "print" FX, reverb EQ and the magnificent limiter onto your daw program. Metal case sturdy. 2 Balanced sturdy XLR outs. Physical volume controls and two separate headphone amp with controls. Only 2 high quality mic preamps on input 1 & 2. One can use it as a mixer standalone too. All mixing can take place without software.

Firewire only, two for daisy chaining things.

Preamp quality of mic preams are very very good. Combined with the limiter, it is absolutely one of the best. They have thought abuot bringing this one out on stage. If you tend to overload your mics the limiter hits it like it's nothing. A bunch of I/O for ADAT SP/DIF all coaxial, and two MIDI input output are on it as well. Separatate outs for each of the 8 channels. Cue/Mix outputs as well. Possible to do 5:1 mixes if needed, but nothing straightforward as on M-AUDIO 2626 profire.

2 Headphone outs, Independent volume control. Back panel is very clean and easy to find your input/output connectors.

AC-powered only, NO WALL-WART. accepts three prong 220 (or 110v) cable direct into unit. AC line cord. Phantom power for mics, which is true 48v. -20 db pad too.

Here comes the hard bit. Not anywhere in the printed manual or on their site, any technical specs are available. Just features. Their manual are not readily available in PDF format or anything else on their site. You have to ask them first. They list FEATURES only and one has to second guess certain specs. Sample rate is up at 192 KHZ if needed, and 24 bit resolution albeit with limited functions.

Drivers are ASIO, WDM, And the GIF type for TEAC or whatever it's called. And MIDI too. Direct monitoring? Yes, and no, sort of, read later on.

Regarding tech specs: OK, that's not all there is too it. But every other manufacturer lists this. For us regular customers it works like this: Very few if ANY music shops allows you to cruise in and ask for trying out soundcards or interfaces, just like you would try out any guitar or synth. They are heavily sealed and packaged, and they dont rip out, and destroy packaging and seal for say 4-5 sound interfaces just for you to try out. Or let you see the manual. So for us regular consumers there's only one way that we can compare different sound interfaces. By looking at the tech specs on their internet sites. Granted, they always mention "Tech specs are cubject to change without prior notice", and they don't want people bickering about something, if they measure something for themselves and finds that - say latency - is not up to what's on their specs. So I can understand why certain manufacturers avoid it. BUT! It's about the only thing that we can compare to. Different manufacturers specs OR at least have their manuals ready on pdf, to see if this or that is possible. And how you go about it. MOTU has still to reply to my requests about this after a month, although I am a registered owner of a brand new unit. I am especially interested in crosstalk figures since this is what I have problems with.

CueMix mixer applet, and a little unwieldy and un-intuitive interface. No ground lift, and no turntable input. Stand Alone operation is decent.

So then, so far all good, but then it came. I was waiting for a M-AUDIO 2626 really but had a timeline to meet in a recent film project. The 2626 where back ordered by several weeks, and they could get this - similar unit - 828mk3 to me in one day. So I did, it was a tad more pricey than the M-AUDIO, and it had proper outputs and no "breakout" cable as on the 2626.

The first unit. Well I didn't even put it on. I installed the drivers from the CD FIRST as you always should do before you hook something up, and then... crashed my hard disk. Blue screen. The only thing I even faintly was to detect was something of error in the mfwave.sys file. So...

Ok, then I tried it - at least - standalone unit, and when starting it it said something FPGA Error in the LCD display. It worked alright but had an annoying hum. Surfed to their site, and they had a firmware upgrade. Now, how to install upgraded firmware, when my computers crashed? Ok, there was ONE update driver from June/Jule this year but not that different what's one the CD. One should always use the latest driver, but some vendors just provide additional upgrades to whatever was on any CD, so one can't really tell if the upgrade is just a "fixes" patch or a complete installation.

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My hard disk had NO errors, but it didn't start, so I had to run a restore from backup, and all my files from earlier project. However, it too me a week and a half before I was up and running again. Contacted swedish retail and they said I had to leave the unit back, because of the FPGA error when starting, it shouldn't do that.

So 2 weeks late, a finally got another unit, that basically worked ok but hummed a lot, in spite of me having all things grounded at the same outlet. So I had to use adapters from XLR-RCA to connect to my active monitors. That gor rid of the hum, but not the balancing.

So, probing deep into the manual, and asking forums on the net, I couldn't get rid of a SMPTE signal from an external source. I couldn't get rid of my Guitar Rig Kontrollers control signal, that is audible, but one can switch that one off, if the driver - OR HOST PROGRAM - has a switch that tells you "disable asio direct monitoring". In this case, it had to be switched off inside, cubase or some similar program, not the driver. Mailed and phoned support, but they haven't returned on this. Extremely annoying and I really went to places in order to track down this, hence my interest in crosstalk figures and so on. The swedish retailer just told me that I couldn't hook up things right. Now, one could get rid of the guitar control signal bleeding into other channels by getting it first onto any AD device and let it go into the 828mk3 SPDIF interface instead. But it STILL leaked into the outputs if ever so slightly. It wasn't a mains hum. Spent weeks on this.

Now, finally when i read on the MOTU forum, how you should de-install it, and reinstall drivers, that you have to manually go through the registry in an unwieldy ritual, I just couldn't believe it. No way!

The M-AUDIO 2626 finally came into the shop, and I was allowed to swap. They knew that I had too much problems with this. Had to remove every trace of MOTU which had festered my computer registry before I installed the M-AUDIO. Now, that one, the M-AUDIO installed directly without hum, errors, and bleeding any signal onto any channel, and had disable asio direct monitoring built in. Also, for some very strange reason, the MOTU driver f***ed up the Microsoft Wavetable GS synth om my XP which seemed impossible to get back. With the M-AUDIO driver, it was there again, up and running. Quite a few programs requires that Wavetable synth as a default installation.

However, the MOTU sounded great, when playing just wav files. But so did the M-audio. It sounded the same, and had better mic pre-amps. And of course, light years better intuitive user interface, and easier installation. MOTU's taking over M-audios former bad rap now!