Koopdaddy wrote:With regards to the Motu 2408, I see several mk1's available for really...any reason not to use the m1 vs m2/3 ?
I know next to nothing about outboard pre-amps so I am not sure what I need to look for with regards to specs...other than having an ADAT interface. How are Focusrite Optopre's? Behringer ADA8000, ART Tubeopto8's, etc? Any others you recommend?
The Mk1 has RCA analog ins and outs and can only do 20bit (IIRC), whereas the Mk2 and Mk3 use 1/4" TRS analog ins/outs and are 24bit. Otherwise they're pretty much the same, although the Mk3 can do up to 96khz sample rate, has a different front panel look at can do some SMPTE stuff. Most folks are using Mk2 or Mk3 for the TRS jacks and higher resolution, but pretty much everyone uses 48khz sample rate. 96khz simply doesn't buy you much for live sound unless you have an *extremely good* and expertly set up PA...which most of us just don't.
I like having the equipment on the stage. I would still need to have a cd/ipod/pc input from FOH so I definitely think I should have at least one interface located there.
Think hard about that for an installation. Not having access to your preamp input gain levels might not be a big deal if you do the same general thing week in and week out and no one changes their instrument settings, but if they do, you might want those input trim knobs where you can tweak them. If you already have stage to booth mic wiring, most people would say use it.
I have read through most of the user manual and there is one area I am still unclear about. How does the signal get patched from FOH mixer to Monitor Mixer 1 for example. By that I mean how do I make channel 1 on monitor mix 1 = aux 1? Am I completely confused and got this wrong?
Forget about using Auxes for monitor mixes, and just consider them for effects use. The monitor virtual mixers are much better as they can do the same thing as an aux send mix and more that you can't do with a traditional aux mix setup. Things like level meters, discrete effects on one monitor mix vs another and/or FOH, control of levels via a fader pack or arrow keys, mute groups, etc, etc.
Every virtual mixer can have 8 physical stereo outs, even though most folks only use the first stereo out to feed an amp, recording mix or in-ear monitor (FOH mix would obviously use more). All monitor mixes tap off of the FOH mix at your choice of points: before or after the trim control, before or after EQ, before or after dynamics and before or after the faders. All this is done in software. All actually outputs just come off of your preamp outputs (the MOTU outputs or the ADAT preamp outputs...assuming they have outputs). You choose where the mixer outputs go by choosing the output channel on the output channel. The name of the first output channel also becomes the name of the virtual mixer, i.e. if you name output 1 of virtual Monitor Mix 1 "Jeff's Monitor", then Monitor Mix 1 is now named "Jeff's Monitor".
HTH,
Jeff