Silly question about MOTU PRE 8---digital audio outputs

[osopolar]

Very silly question....wish you guys help this newbie on recording.

I have my MOTU pre 8....i use the analog outputs to conect to the monitors (m-audio B8)
But...the motu comes with digital audio output...and i am not sure..what use can i give to this output.
REally...

Could you give me an idea...??


Thanks you

[osopolar]

anybody?

[Hidden Driveways]

Here's a thread I made a while bak on the topic:

http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php? ... t=S%2FPDIF

[McQ714]

it's not a spdif connection on the 8pre... it's an dual ADAT optical i/o, but it can still only send/receive 8 channels. if you're working with 44.1 or 48kHz sampling rates, you only need to use one pair of ADAT i/o. here's what i've done with my RME Multiface 2, which has the same type of connection... i didn't have any mic pres in my interface so i bought the Focusrite Octopre LE and Optional LE Codec card. what this gives me is 8 more 1/4" balanced line ins 8 mic pres outputting from the ADAT port to the input on my interface. i can also output from my interface back to the ADAT input on the Octopre LE using a 2nd optical cable which gives me an additional eight 1/4" outputs for my interface.

I don't know of any other units exactly like this but i'm sure there are a couple. basically this will you give your interface 8 more mic/line inputs and also give you 8 analog outputs, which would be ideal if you wanted to get some outboard gear like effects units or compressors, etc. looks like you only have two 1/4" outs at the moment and those are your main outs?

[osopolar]

Hey thanks for the response!!!

I read the post....and i am know much happier.
I realized that most people don't use digital outputs.
They used them for hardware effects process....or very specific things.
But people like machinate who are pro's don't use it at all....so i can sleep well tonight.

If anybody has any other ideas...concerning WHAT TO DO WITH digital outputs let us know!

thanks again

[osopolar]

it's not a spdif connection on the 8pre... it's an dual ADAT optical i/o, but it can still only send/receive 8 channels. if you're working with 44.1 or 48kHz sampling rates, you only need to use one pair of ADAT i/o. here's what i've done with my RME Multiface 2, which has the same type of connection... i didn't have any mic pres in my interface so i bought the Focusrite Octopre LE and Optional LE Codec card. what this gives me is 8 more 1/4" balanced line ins 8 mic pres outputting from the ADAT port to the input on my interface. i can also output from my interface back to the ADAT input on the Octopre LE using a 2nd optical cable which gives me an additional eight 1/4" outputs for my interface.

I don't know of any other units exactly like this but i'm sure there are a couple. basically this will you give your interface 8 more mic/line inputs and also give you 8 analog outputs, which would be ideal if you wanted to get some outboard gear like effects units or compressors, etc. looks like you only have two 1/4" outs at the moment and those are your main outs?

Hey thanks for your response.
YEs...right now i only have 2 analog outputs...and i use both for the monitors.
So...yes i don't have any other outputs.
But the digital one's/
which are not connected to anything.

Last time i was trying to record a clean guitar track thru a Direct-box to the motu 8pre.
and then run the clean track thru a line 6 pod...so i could endessly experiment what sound was right for the song...
But i found out the only way i could manage was thru disconnecting my monitors...and doing it thru the analog outputs on the motu 8pre to the pod...and from the pod a 1/4 to the analog in of the 8pre.
But i figured that i could use the digital output/ins to do this same shit.

anyway....All your knowledge will be appreciated.

thank you again

OSO

[osopolar]

By the way...
Is there any hardware piece...that i can connect thru my ADAT out/in just to get a couple more analog outputs.??
if there is...what are the options to consider!???

i do not need any more INS...i have all i need..

I only need analog outputs.

Thanks!

[monobeach]

just connect the adat out to the adat in on this and set the motu as clock master:

http://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_ultr ... da8000.htm

[osopolar]

just connect the adat out to the adat in on this and set the motu as clock master:

http://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_ultr ... da8000.htm

COOL this is an option!
As i see...this product would cover my needs...but i have doubts

1) This seems to be also an AD/DA converter...do i really need that feature???
I mean...i only want a piece of gear that i can connect thru ADAT...but use only AS ANALOG OUTPUTS.

2) Behringer has a reputation...to do good control surfaces (midi ones).
But really bad audio gear...i've heard in many posts about how much the add noise/color to the chain.


Thanks anyway for the response....

[monobeach]

well, since ADAT is a digital signal, there has to be ad D/A-conversion somewhere...

I used the behringer and it worked fine for me. what do you need the extra outputs for?

if you don't trust in the behringer there are also other options, like a presonus digimax fs or whatever interface with adat in and several ouputs. the adat connection carries up to 8 additional channels

[McQ714]

For a high quality 2-channel AD/DA converter, you could use this...

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ADI2/


For just an D/A converter, you could use one of these...

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/141/

but you would also need a db25 to trs cable which could cost you another $100 or so. totalling about $500. that's why i suggested to setup i have. you get a lot more for just the couple hundred dollars more. it's an 8-channel mic pre with ad/da converter as opposed to just an a/d or d/a converter. the quality isn't the best you could get but it sounds pretty good to me.

ad/da converters aren't cheap!

[Hidden Driveways]

The only two devices that I know of for ADAT to analog output are the Presonus Digimax FS and the Behringer ADA8000. The Presonus is $600, and the Behringer is $200.

If anyone knows of more options for ADAT to analog output, I would be interested to hear them. I know there is a ton of stuff that does analog to ADAT input, but output is another story.

I've read both good and bad things about the ADA8000. You can't expect the world from that unit, but for the price it can't be beat. The analog outputs are XLR, which is kind of odd. I want to get one because I have all of this gear around my studio that currently isn't tied into my DAW. With a device like this, I can route tracks in Live to run through all of my guitar pedals and various effects processors (the one in my old VS800EX), etc.

[McQ714]

check my post above, the Aphex 141 is an adat to analog converter. it doesn't have 1/4" or xlr outs, though.. it has a db25 out. but there are plenty of db25 to xlr or 1/4" cables available. Aphex also has the 142 which is an analog to adat converter. both are priced at $400 on sweetwater.

[monobeach]

The only two devices that I know of for ADAT to analog output are the Presonus Digimax FS and the Behringer ADA8000. The Presonus is $600, and the Behringer is $200.

really? didn't know that. So I am lucky with my ADA8000

I would have thought, that you could route incoming adat signals to the analog outs of any interface, like the rme multiface.

[Hidden Driveways]

The only two devices that I know of for ADAT to analog output are the Presonus Digimax FS and the Behringer ADA8000. The Presonus is $600, and the Behringer is $200.

really? didn't know that. So I am lucky with my ADA8000

I would have thought, that you could route incoming adat signals to the analog outs of any interface, like the rme multiface.

Hmmm. Well, the idea is to have more outputs from the DAW, not to route signals coming from an ADAT input device to analog outputs on an interface. The role of the additional ADAT hardware here is to give you more analog outputs, not to occupy the ones you already have.

P.S. McQ made a great suggestion with the Aphex 141. I wasn't aware of that one.