new "toy"!

sewa · Post by **sewa** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 2:24 pm

I finally did it...

my old audio interface (Audiophile 2496) stopped working for some mysterious reasons after I upgraded a PC motherboard. After weeks of fruitless efforts I was left with little options; upgrading the audio interface seemed like most reasonable one. On top of that, work has been stressful like hell and I really deserved a nice Christmas present

:

What do you think?! I like the sound quality of those interfaces (I think our colleague Dreamaiden uses one in her studio) + it has 8 analog ins. The mkII is a previous model and its also USB (I do not have a firewire port) but it cost me 455 Euro, some 250 Euro less then an mkIII...

It now sits in my rack and works perfectly. Its connected to my Yamaha MG 206 mixer, which has 4 ALT buses + 4 sends meaning that I should be able to record 4 stereo tracks simultanously, instead of one. I'm excited to see how this will affect the quality of my mixes... I guess I did enough mileage with the 2496 and it was time to upgrade. I will definitely be busy recording this weekend!

sewa

Stephen · Post by **Stephen** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 4:55 pm

Very nice!
I've heard nothing but good things about the 828.
Congratulations.

Timo · Post by **Timo** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 10:12 pm

Nice one Sewa. Think you'll be well chuffed! I have the Traveller, which is effectively a bus-powered 828 mk2 in a different package. The pre's are excellent, very quiet, the routing is great, and the LCD and meters are a boon for navigation and monitoring.

See that ADAT port? Grab a Behringer ADA8000 (probably the only Behringer bit of kit that is consistently praised) and you have yourself another 8 balanced audio ins and outs (if needed)!

sewa · Post by **sewa** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 11:13 pm

Thanks guys,

I have been listening to music the whole evening; sounds nice but I guess it the recording where this baby shines. I need to check the system performance in cubase btw. Apparently Motu works great with Macs but XP drivers can sometimes be tricky.

I took a day off tomorrow so there will be plenty of time to play around

Lorenzo · Post by **Lorenzo** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 12:13 am

welcome in the motu world!

Post by **Sharp** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 12:28 am

Sweet ..!!! Congratulations

Regards.
Sharp.

JonSolo · Post by **JonSolo** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 5:17 am

Very cool. Enjoy.

Diego · Post by **Diego** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 1:48 pm

I couldn't be more happy for you Sewa!
Hope you found a good deal for that, as it's been released the mkIII version, with some cool features.
BTW, I'd an Audiophile, too, before upgrading to a Traveler, and the first time I listen to my "reference" CD on the "new" system it seemed to me that I was listening to a new disc!! Do you agree with me?

What monitor are you currently using?

sewa · Post by **sewa** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 2:17 pm

Diego wrote:
What monitor are you currently using?

Well,

I still use the Behringer Truths (active). With the new audio interface, I do not hear that much difference, in terms of quality, while listening to mp3's. However, there is a difference when it comes to recording. A very cool thing about the motu is that now I can record 4 stereo and 2 mono tracks at the same time. It helps to enhance the sound quality quite a bit.

As for the Truths, I have tweaked their room compensation settings and repositioned them in the studio. It helped quite a lot I must say. Nevertheless, I have been thinking of buying Yamahas HS50M (I like their clean sound) with a subwoofer but I want to take it one step at a time. The accoustics of my studio is a more pressing problem right now and I have to sort this out first.

cheers

sewa

Timo · Post by **Timo** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 4:03 pm

sewa wrote:With the new audio interface, I do not hear that much difference, in terms of quality, while listening to mp3's.

MP3s are baaaaad. Not ideal blind test material! The high frequencies will be severely compromised (along with distortion and unpredictable modulation-type artefacts), as will the stereo field, and dynamics.

dreamaiden · Post by **dreamaiden** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 12:07 am

Hey Sewa,

Well done.

I think you will be happy with that. I actually have the big brother, the 896, but the sound is the same. I've always had good complements on my sound and the MOTU is part of that. It's not too bright but has a richness to it that I like. I know the kinds of synths you have. The MOTU complements the sound of those synths I think.

Cheers,
Susan

sewa · Post by **sewa** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 9:37 am

dreamaiden wrote: I've always had good complements on my sound and the MOTU is part of that.

Hi Susan, long time no see..

the complements are well deserved. I recently bought your album on itunes and I have to say that the sound quality (amongst other thing) is just excellent.

What are you working on at the moment?

S.

P.S. Oh and by the way Susan, I wanted to ask you what monitors do you use?

Diego · Post by **Diego** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 12:50 pm

Hi Sewa!
You can give a look at Susan's studio here: http://www.dreamaiden.com/Site/Studio.html
She uses ADAM monitors, can't remember or see the right model.
If you don't have a good acoustic environment, I agree with you Yamaha are a great choice. I use MSP5 and find them great for the price; Lorenzo uses Event ALP5, and when he listened to my MSP5 he told that they are confortable to listen to, but he find more "precise" his ALP5.

Regards

dreamaiden · Post by **dreamaiden** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 6:51 pm

Hi sewa! Thanks for buying my cd on iTunes. I'm glad you like it.

I'm experimenting with some things atm. If it turns out good I'll share.

I do have the Adams but guess what.. I only use them for reference. I also have some $15 Creative speakers I also use for reference. I created the entire cd in my headphones. I love working in my headphones. You absolutely can do that if you know the things to look out for, if you compare other music in them, and if you use monitors for reference. It also helped that my mastering engineer (Steve) confirmed that what I was doing was good. He said that 4 of the tracks were 'audiophile' perfect. The rest I'm sure would have been if it hadn't been my first time. So whatever monitors you have you should still follow that process of compare and reference. Steve has a perfect, I mean perfect room acoustically and knows his room and monitors intimately.

Cheers,
Susan

sewa · Post by **sewa** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 10:57 pm

Its interesting what you say Susan.

I tend to use my headphones for mixing (AKG K240) too, despite all the 'pros' on the net saying how bad that is. I think there are certain things you won't spot on the monitors and vice versa.

This weekend I worked on accoustic isolation of my studio. I put some bass traps in the corners and can hear the difference already; will see how this translates into the quality of my mixes.

Looking forward to hearing your new tunes

sewa