MOTU 828mk3 Hybrid — FireWire / USB2 audio interface with on-board effects and mixing

MOTU 828mk3 Hybrid

The 828mk3 Hybrid from MOTU is a digital audio interface that provides connectivity to any Mac or Windows computer via FireWire or high-speed USB 2.0. The interface provides 10 channels of 192kHz analog recording and playback, combined with 16 channels of ADAT digital I/O and stereo S/PDIF. Equally suited for the studio and stage, the interface can function as a standalone mixer.

Two front panel microphone/guitar inputs feature high-quality preamps, plus a V-Limit hardware limiter for overload protection. Additional protection is available via MOTU’s Soft Clip function. Each input is equipped with individually switchable 48V phantom power and a 20dB pad. Each microphone input has a rear panel send that allows for inserting outboard gear before the analog to digital conversion.

Comprehensive connectivity means that any studio gear, including microphones, guitars, synthesizers, keyboards, drum machines, and even effects processors can be permanently connected. In turn, these can all be recorded, monitored, routed and processed using the professional on-board CueMix FX digital mixer, with no latency and no processor strain on the computer.

The interface provides two FireWire Type B ports that operate at 400 Mbit/s. They can be connected to any available FireWire port on a computer, either Type A or Type B. If the computer has Type B ports, use the included 9-pin-to-9-pin FireWire cable. If the computer has either standard Type A ports or miniature Type A ports, use the appropriate 9-pin-to-6-pin or 9-pin-to-4-pin FireWire cable (sold separately).

MOTU 828mk3 Hybrid Features:

• Connect to your computer via either bus-powered FireWire or hi-speed USB2
• CueMix FX – flexible 28 input / 16 bus mixer with onboard 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) with no channel sharing – the microphone inputs, S/PDIF I/O, headphone out, and main outs are all handled as separate channels
• Front-panel control provides access to any setting in your mix directly from the front panel
• Standalone operation – program your mixes at the studio and then bring the 828mk3 to your gig – no computer needed – need to tweak the mix? Do it on site using the back-lit LCD and front-panel controls
• Multiple CueMix FX mixes allow for creating 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 XLR microphone input with phantom power, pad and plenty of gain
• Microphone/guitar instrument sends – add outboard EQ, preamp, reverb or other processor to the two microphone/guitar inputs before the signal goes digital
• Microphone/guitar input limiter prevents digital clipping and distortion from overloaded signal levels up to +12 dB over zero
• Eight 24-bit / 192 kHz analog inputs and outputs on balanced/unbalanced 1/4″ TRS jacks
• Precision Digital Trim – digitally controlled analog trim on all analog inputs (microphone/guitar inputs + quarter-inch TRS inputs) provides accurate adjustments in 1dB increments. Fine-tune the balance of your analog inputs and then save/recall trim configurations
• Sixteen channels of ADAT Lightpipe, 8 channels of SMUX (96 kHz) or two pairs of stereo TOSLINK – mix and match formats between the two banks
• Sample accurate MIDI – connect a MIDI controller and/or sound module with no separate interface needed – MIDI I/O is sample accurate with supporting software
• Separate XLR main outs and 2 front-panel headphone jacks, each with independent volume control
• Stereo 24-bit 96 kHz S/PDIF, Wordclock, SMPTE in/out
• Stereo, Quad, 6.1, 7.1 and user-defined surround monitoring setups available
• CueMix FX Classic Reverb provides five different room types, three frequency bands with adjustable crossover points, shelf filtering and reverb lengths up to 60-seconds
• Each input, output and mix bus provides a send to the Classic Reverb processor
• CueMix FX EQ provides a high pass filter, low-pass filter, two shelving or parametric filters and five parametric bands
• CueMix FX offers a conventional compressor with standard controls for threshold, ratio, attack, release and gain
• Includes powerful audio analysis visual diagnostic tools for stereo audio signals, from an accurate guitar/instrument tuner to phase and polarity measurement tools, to a full-fledged oscilloscope
• Front panel meters or activity LEDs for all analog, digital and MIDI I/O, plus SMPTE sync, tach and lock LEDs
• Includes 32- and 64-bit native drivers for Mac OS X and Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7, including ASIO, WDM, Wave, Core Audio, and Core MIDI
• Supports all popular Mac and Windows audio software
• Includes AudioDesk full-featured sample-accurate workstation software for the Macintosh with recording, editing, mixing, real-time 32-bit effects processing and 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
• Add additional interfaces for more I/O as needs grow
• International 100~240V, 50/60 Hz auto switching power supply