MOTU 828MK3 Hybrid Fw/usb2 Audio Interface With Effects

828mk3 Hybrid System

FireWire/USB2 audio interface with on-board effects and mixing, 192kHz

Apply hardware-based effects to all 28 inputs and 30 outputs via an on-board DSP-driven 8 stereo bus digital mixer with 32-bit floating point precision. Effects include Classic Reverb with tail lengths up to 60 seconds, 7-band parametric EQ modeled after British analog consoles, and vintage compression (automatic gain control) modeled after the legendary LA-2A optical leveling amplifier. Effects can even be applied when the 828mk3 is operating stand-alone (without a computer) as a complete rack-mounted mixer.

Connect a wide variety of studio gear to the 828mk3, including microphones, guitars, synths, keyboards, drum machines and even effects processors via 8 balanced TRS analog in/out, two banks of optical (ADAT and TOSLink formats) and S/PDIF digital I/O. Monitor everything via XLR main outs, surround output and two front-panel phone jacks with independent volume control. Two front-panel mic/guitar combo inputs are equipped with transparent preamps, digitally controlled trim with plenty of gain, XLR mic input, true high-impedance guitar input, individual 48V phantom power switch, 20 dB pad, and V-Limit?, a hardware limiter that helps prevent digital clipping from overloaded input signals as high as +12 dB above zero with no distortion. Additional protection can be applied with Soft Clip.

All 828mk3 analog inputs are equipped with digitally controlled analog trim controls that allow adjustments in precise 1 dB increments. The mic/guitar input trims can be adjusted using front-panel digital rotary encoders that provide feedback in the front panel LCD, while all quarter-inch TRS inputs can be trimmed from the included cross-platform CueMix FX software. Different trim configurations can be saved as files on disk for instant recall.

Additional advanced features include 192 kHz operation, Direct Digital Synthesis (DDS) precision clocking, direct SMPTE time code sync (no extra synchronizer needed), MIDI I/O and much more. The 828mk3 provides CueMix FX and drivers for Mac (OS X) and Windows (7 and Vista) for cross-platform compatibility with virtually all audio software via WDM/ASIO/Core Audio drivers. The included AudioDesk workstation software for Mac provides 24-bit recording/editing and 32-bit mixing/processing/mastering.

Features

• Hybrid FireWire/USB2 connectivity lets you connect to your computer via either bus-powered FireWire or hi-speed USB2
• CueMix FX - flexible 28 input/16 bus mixer with on-board DSP effects, including reverb with sends/returns, plus EQ and compression on every input and output
• 28 inputs / 30 outputs (at 44.1/48 kHz) - there's no channel sharing in the 828mk3; the mic inputs, S/PDIF I/O, headphone out and main outs are all handled as separate channels
• Front-panel control lets you access any setting in your entire 828mk3 mix directly from the front panel
• Standalone operation lets you program your mixes at the studio and then bring the 828mk3 to your gig with no computer needed
• Tweak your mix on site using the back-lit LCD and front-panel controls
• Multiple CueMix FX mixes - create different monitor mixes for the main outs and headphones, or add send/return loops for outboard gear with no latency
• Two front panel combo jacks provide hi-Z 1/4" guitar input or low-Z XLR mic input with phantom power, pad, and plenty of gain
• Mic/guitar instrument sends - add your favorite outboard EQ, preamp, reverb or other processor to the two mic/guitar inputs, before the signal goes digital
• Clip protection - Mic/guitar input limiter prevents digital clipping and distortion from overloaded signal levels up to +12dB over zero
• 8 24-bit 192kHz analog inputs and outputs on balanced/unbalanced 1/4" TRS jacks
• Precision Digital Trim - Digitally controlled analog trim on all analog inputs (mic/guitar inputs + 1/4" TRS inputs) provides accurate adjustments in 1dB increments
• Fine-tune the balance of your analog inputs and then save/recall trim configurations
• Flexible optical I/O - 16 channels of ADAT lightpipe, 8 channels of SMUX (96kHz) or two pairs of stereo TOSLink
• Mix and match formats between the two banks
• Connect a MIDI controller and/or sound module with no separate interface needed
• The MIDI I/O is sample-accurate with supporting software
• Add additional interfaces for more I/O as your needs grow
• Separate XLR main outs and front-panel headphone jacks, each with independent volume control
• Stereo 24-bit 96kHz S/PDIF in/out
• Word clock in and out
• SMPTE in and out
• Includes 32- and 64-bit native drivers for Mac OS X and Windows 7/Vista/XP, including ASIO, WDM, Wave, Core Audio, and Core MIDI. Supports all popular Mac and Windows audio software
• 100% compatible with all host-based effects processing in today's popular audio programs
• Includes AudioDesk full-featured sample-accurate workstation software for the Macintosh with recording, editing, mixing, realtime 32-bit effects processing & sample-accurate sync
• Plug-and-play operation with your Mac or PC via FireWire or high-speed USB 2.0
• Front panel volume control for monitoring - Stereo, Quad, 6.1, 7.1 and user-defined surround monitoring setups available
• Two front-panel headphone jacks with independent volume controls
• Front-panel meters or activity LEDs for all analog, digital and MIDI I/O, plus SMPTE sync tach and lock LEDs
• Dedicated front-panel clock status LEDs
• International 100-240V, 50-60 Hz auto-switching power supply

Specifications

• Converters:
  • 24-bit
• Sample rates:
  • 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192 kHz
• Analog inputs:
  • 2 x XLR/TRS combo-style mic/guitar inputs
  • 8 x 1/4" TRS line inputs (balanced/unbalanced)
• Analog outputs:
  • 2 x XLR balanced main out
  • 8 x 1/4" balanced TRS line out
  • 2 x 1/4" TRS stereo headphone
• Digital I/O:
  • 16 channels of ADAT optical at 1x sample rates
  • 8 channels of SMUX optical at 2x sample rates
  • 2-channel TOSlink (optical S/PDIF) up to 96 kHz
  • 2-channel RCA S/PDIF up to 96 kHz
• Total I/O:
  • 28 inputs and 30 outputs at 1x sample rates
  • 20 inputs and 22 outputs at 2x sample rates
  • 10 inputs and 10 outputs at 4x sample rates
• Computer I/O:
  • 1 x Fire Wire 800
  • 1 x USB 2.0 (compatible with 3.0)
• Sync I/O:
  • 1 x SMPTE time code in (LTC)
  • 1 x SMPTE time code out (LTC)
  • 1 x word clock in
  • 1 x word clock out
• Headphone output:
  • 1 x 1/4" TRS stereo phone (assignable)
  • 1 x 1/4" TRS stereo phone (mirrors main outs)
• Phantom power:
  • 2 x individual +48V
• Front panel:
  • 2 x XLR/TRS combo mic/guitar in
  • 2 x 1/4" TRS phone
  • 2 x digital rotary encoders for phone/main volume
  • 2 x digital rotary encoders for mic trim
  • 4 x switches for Pad and 48V Phantom
  • 4 x digital rotary encoders for LCD control
  • 2 x 16 character LCD
  • 8 x 4-segment ladder LEDs for 1/4-inch analog in
  • 8 x activity LED for 1/4-inch analog out
  • 2 x 4-segment ladder LEDs for RCA S/PDIF in
  • 2 x activity LED for RCA S/PDIF out
  • 2 x 10-segment LEDs for mic in with V-Limit
  • 2 x 5-segment ladder LEDs for main outs
  • 6 x LED for sample rate indicator
  • 1 x LED for LOCK/TACH indicator
  • 2 x activity LEDs for optical bank A/B
  • 1 x activity LED for MIDI in/out
  • 1 x AC power switch
• Power:
  • International 100-240V autoswitching supply
  • 50-60 Hz, 20 Watts