Winter NAMM: MOTU Debuts 828mk3 Hybrid FireWire/USB2 Audio Interface

January 11th, 2011 by Janice Brown

At Winter NAMM later this week, MOTU will introduce the 828mk3 Hybrid, an enhanced version of their 828 audio interface that provides flexible connectivity to Mac or Windows computers via Firewire or USB 2.0.

MOTU's 828mk3 Hybrid offers both FireWire and USB 2.0 connections

The 828mk3 Hybrid provides professional audio quality at samples rates up to 192 kHz, along with all the audio I/O needed for a personal recording studio, including two mic/instrument “combo jack” inputs, eight line-level analog inputs, ten channels of analog output (with XLR main outs), 16-channels of ADAT optical digital I/O, stereo S/PDIF, and a stereo headphone output.

The rear panel of the 828mk3 Hybrid provides both Firewire A (400 Mbps) and hi-speed USB 2.0 (480 Mbps) ports. Users can connect the 828mk3 Hybrid to their computer using either format. The Firewire jacks on the 828mk3 are Type B jacks, but they can be connected to any Firewire port on the computer (Type B, Type A, or miniature Type A) using any standard 9-pin-to-9-pin, 9-pin-to-6-pin, or 9-pin-to-4-pin Firewire cable, respectively.

Other feature updates include computer-controllable pad and 48V phantom power switches for the two mic inputs. The 828mk3 Hybrid includes all the features from the earlier Firewire-only mk3, including:

• 28 inputs / 30 outputs — there’s no channel sharing in the 828mk3 Hybrid; the mic inputs, ADAT optical banks, S/PDIF I/O, headphone out, and main outs are all active simultaneously as separate channels.
• Hardware sends — add your favorite outboard EQ, preamp, reverb or other processor to the two mic/guitar inputs, before the signal goes digital.
• V-Limit clip protection — hardware-based input limiter on both mic/instrument inputs prevents digital clipping and
distortion from overloaded signal levels up to +12 dB over zero.
• CueMix FX — flexible on-board 28 input/16 bus digital mixer with effects, including reverb with sends/returns, plus EQ and compression on every input and output.
• Classic Reverb — provides five different room types, three frequency shelves with adjustable crossover points, shelf filtering and reverb lengths up to 60 seconds.
• Two forms of compression — a standard compressor with conventional threshold/ratio/attack/release/gain controls and the Leveler, a model of the classic LA-2A optical compressor, which provides vintage, musical
automatic gain control.
• Modeled EQ — provides 7-band parametric EQ modeled after British analog console EQs, featuring 4 filter styles (gain/Q profiles) to effectively cover a wide range of audio material. LP and HP filters are also supplied with slopes
that range from 6 to 36 dB.
• CueMix FX cross-platform mixing software — attractive graphic mixing, graphic editing of parametric EQ and a convenient tabbed interface for quick access to all features in one window.
• And more! For a full list of features, visit http://www.motu.com/products/motuaudio/828mk3

The 828mk3 Hybrid will ship in Q1 of 2011 at the same price as the original 828mk3 (retailing now for $750).