Motu 896HD ADAT into iD14 ii

[tacitus]

As the title says. Dug my 896HD out - cheaper even than a Behri 8200 - and plugged it into the Audient ADAT in. Clock master is the 896, and the iD software seems happy with that.

As far as I can see I just need to plug the 896 into my old firewire-equipped mac and use cue-mix to set the mic inputs to go to ADAT. Then I should have 10 mike inputs on the iD14. Is it that simple?

Has anybody got any idea how these 20 year-old pres will compare to modern equivalents; say ADA8200, Evo SP8 or ASP800? Value for money, if they still work OK there’s nothing to beat totally free. But I have no idea how standards have changed, either in theory or in practice.

[James Perrett]

As far as I can see I just need to plug the 896 into my old firewire-equipped mac and use cue-mix to set the mic inputs to go to ADAT. Then I should have 10 mike inputs on the iD14. Is it that simple?

Has anybody got any idea how these 20 year-old pres will compare to modern equivalents; say ADA8200, Evo SP8 or ASP800?

I don't know the particular gear that you have but in principle it really is that simple.

I also can't find any information on the performance of the MOTU mic preamps but decent mic preamps have changed little over the last 20 years. Indeed, I understand that Audient have used the same design of preamp in the iD14 and the ASP800 as they were using 20 years ago.

[Kwackman]

As far as I can see I just need to plug the 896 into my old firewire-equipped mac and use cue-mix to set the mic inputs to go to ADAT. Then I should have 10 mike inputs on the iD14. Is it that simple?

Just curious, but if the ADAT (Toslink) connection is made between the 896 and the iD14, and the iD14 is plugged to the mac, then why does the 896 need to be connected to the mac?

[James Perrett]

Just curious, but if the ADAT (Toslink) connection is made between the 896 and the iD14, and the iD14 is plugged to the mac, then why does the 896 need to be connected to the mac?

Some interfaces need to be set up with their control panel software before they can be used in stand-alone mode. Others will automatically use a default routing in stand-alone mode.

[tacitus]

Sorry, I wasn’t clear. You need to run the 896HD interface on Firewire so you can use Cue-mix on the computer to assign the interface’s 8 mike inputs to the Adat outs. That’s remembered once set, so you can power the unit on and off, reconnect and use the adat outs into your main interface - iD14 ii in my case - and have those 8 mike channels appear alongside the existing channels.

[Kwackman]

Got it, thanks.

[tacitus]

What I haven’t got, suddenly, is a working Mac that’ll run an OS old enough for the Motu configuration process to run. I’m hoping a friend will have a firewire socket on one of his numerous “heap of the week” PCs, and I’m bracing myself to the almost inevitable purchase of a new device instead. That’ll be another thread …

[James Perrett]

Have you actually tried the MOTU plugged into the iD14 yet? It is just possible that it has sensible default stand-alone routing.

[tacitus]

Yes, I’ve tried it and while I get a green light suggesting the ADAT link is OK, I’m not getting ant signals through - the configurable meters are set to “adat outs” and show nothing, so I don’t think anything’s set to go to the adat outs yet.

However, I have a larger backup disk on order, so when that’s installed I’ll see if I can turn the old one into a bootable disk with an old enough OS for the MOTU software to run. If I can then get the configuration done, all well and good. If the 896HD runs in that OS version (os x sierra) I can use it properly via Firewire. 8 channels will be more than enough, at least for the foreseeable future. I have the Apple firewire to thunderbolt 2 adapter but no idea if it’ll run with a FW400 to 800 cable and this combination of hardware.

So I’ll pursue:

a) getting the mike signals to the ADAT out on the 896,
b) running the whole 896 shebang with Reaper on an external disk running mac os sierra,
c) sourcing a new interface, expandable, to take me, probably, to the end of my recording career, and
d) retiring and spending more time with coffee and doughnuts …

[tacitus]

It does give some perspective to note that my 2009 iMac that’s just died is 7 years older than my current 2015 iMac, which itself has now reached the point where it can’t run the latest Mac OS and is therefore obsolete by design if not in practice.

I believe the oldest Mac OS the 2015 machine will run is just old enough to run the MOTU Cue-Mix app which in turn will be able to get my 2003/4 896HD’s mike inputs routed to its ADAT outs. Positively historic! As I intimated a few posts ago I’ll be starting a thread looking for what I might buy should all these “ifs” become “if nots”.

By the end of the week I should know how the 896HD rescue project is going …

[Kwackman]

my current 2015 iMac, which itself has now reached the point where it can’t run the latest Mac OS and is therefore obsolete by design if not in practice.

Sort of true, but if you get a stable working system that covers your needs, why upgrade?
My old 2010 MacPro (Cheesegrater) got as far as Mojave (10.14), but it ran the latest version of Cubase 12 Pro with no issues at all. I finally retired it February.

Anyway, good luck with your attempts to get this working. Fingers crossed you'll get it sorted without falling out with your credit card!

[tacitus]

I’ve started to replace my old, full backup drive in my less 2015 iMac and as soon as the old drive’s available I’ll try to make it bootable for this machine, as the version of Mac OS it came with appears to be able to run the Motu Cue-mix app. We shall see …

The new drive and a firewire to thunderbolt 2 adapter are the only cost so far, and I have to put in a bigger backup drive in any case. So 20-something quid so far. I’d like to get some use out of the 896HD as I barely used it before switching to PA for nearly two decades.

I’ll carry on using the 2015 iMac for some years yet, even if only as a backup or location recorder, but I do generally prefer being able to upgrade the OS and apps.

[tacitus]

Well, I've tried several approaches to getting an older OS version onto an external drive. Everybody says it's possible but each avenue I go down results in a dead end.

I'm not rushing to splash the cash, but I'm looking at options for a movable rig with 8 or more decent mic pres. Not the point of this thread, so I'll start another one.

If I have a brainwave with reviving my 2009 iMac or downgrading my 2015 one, I'll keep trying. Nothing to lose, but I don't have endless time.

[Kwackman]

Bummer.
I don't suppose anyone local to you would have a suitable Mac?
If you're near Belfast...

[James Perrett]

I'm not rushing to splash the cash, but I'm looking at options for a movable rig with 8 or more decent mic pres. Not the point of this thread, so I'll start another one.

If you haven't seen it already, take a look at

https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques ... setup-adat

It may also be worth looking at older units with an automatic stand-alone mode. I seem to remember that the MOTU 8pre works this way and I think the older Focusrite Saffire Pro26io does too (at least I don't remember setting mine up for standalone mode).

[sonics]

I use my old M-Audio ProFire 2626's as converters. Standalone, they pass the analog inputs to the ADAT. They should be pretty cheap now that no computer supports them! I have an old $50 Mac Mini around to configure them. Cheap, and takes up almost no room.