damnit, going nuts here..........

[liv_rong]

So I know i have asked multiple questions about the MOTU 8 Pre, and it appears I have run into a snag. I wanted to purchase the Motu and keep a few outboard mic pre's hooked up to it, then use either a mixer with direct outs or the behri ada8000 to be able to easily plug and unplug stuff on the fly without having to pull my rack out and go behind it. It seems that I cant even use outboard pre's with the Motu, unless i use a pre with lightpipe.

The inputs on the Motu are XLR/TRS, but if I run an outboard pre into the input on the Motu, wouldnt I be amplifying the signal twice, thus creating unpleasant hiss or other bad sounds?

I was also looking at the SM Audio 8 channel anolog to digital(lightpipe) box. at first it seemed ok, even though its cheap, but it had no pre amps. so I figured I could plug my outboards to that, then lightpipe to the Motu. But the inputs are not balanced.

Can anybody help clear this up? I have been reading and reading for weeks about all of my options, but I can not get a clear answer as to how use my outboard pre's with the Motu. Im sure this is a stupid question, but as you can see I am totally clueless

Thank you for your help, it is greatly appreciated!

Joe

 

[cusebassman]

Everything I've read about the MOTU 8Pre indicates that it accepts line-level TRS inputs on the combo jacks on the back. If you plug a line-level TRS into it, it should disable its own internal preamp - the pre's are more for the instrument or mic source.

 

[liv_rong]

thanks for the reply.

i did not know that the pre's were dissabled when you plug TRS in. that is refreshing. looks like this will work after all.

thanks again

 

[cusebassman]

thanks for the reply.

i did not know that the pre's were dissabled when you plug TRS in. that is refreshing. looks like this will work after all.

thanks again

I don't use the MOTU 8Pre myself, mind you - but from what I found "researching" on google, and from my experience with every other device that has a combination TRS/XLR jack on it, TRS inputs are assumed line-level, and as such, don't have any gain applied unless you turn up the gain knob yourself. I suspect that if you turn up the gain from its lowest setting on the MOTU though, that it will in fact add more gain.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing - I've done it once or twice when toying with ribbons - ran the mic into my DMP-3, and then into the interface, and for testing very high gain, I also cranked the gain on my Firepod a bit. Didn't hurt the equipment at all.