Each input is equipped with individually switchable 48V phantom power and a 20dB pad. Additional protection is available via MOTU's Soft Clip function. Two front panel microphone/guitar inputs feature high-quality preamps, plus a V-Limit hardware limiter for overload protection. Equally suited for the studio and stage, the interface can function as a standalone mixer. The interface provides 10 channels of 192kHz analog recording and playback, combined with 16 channels of ADAT digital I/O and stereo S/PDIF. And I think choice is a good thing.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.
But it looks like USB2, FireWire, and USB all offer excellent audio interface possibilities. If so, please feel free to correct me, anonymously or otherwise. Of course, I’m not a hardware manufacturer, and I know some people who read this site are - so I might have this completely wrong. USB 1.1 performs quite well for audio interfaces with fewer connections, and MOTU’s announcement comes at a time when FireWire connections have made their way onto more PCs, even though they were once a rarity. So Mac users, as usual, you can breathe easy.įor audio, it’s much ado about nothing. Current Macs are the most consistent with I/O options: USB2 and FireWire are standard, and even FireWire 800 ships on many models. It’s ironic that Mac users would be the most upset, because the Mac platform popularized both formats: Apple led the way with USB on the iMac and was ahead of the curve adopting FireWire (which it co-developed) and USB2. With increasing attention on USB 2.0, is this the beginning of the end for FireWire? Mac users get really touchy about this subject, since Apple replaced its iPod connections with USB 2.0. They’ll continue to offer the FireWire version, and the two interfaces offer the same features and performance, so the choice is really a matter of what computer connections you have free. MOTU, long a big advocate of FireWire for audio, announced this week it will offer its 828 mk II interface in a USB 2.0 version.