Quick newbie question about the Motu 828 MKII

Thanks for clarifying. Seems like there's really no need for the ADA8000. Not for my purposes anyways.

No, I have not yet purchased the Motu.
 
But perhaps I'm still quite confused, because it seems like I should be able to run my drums through an analog mixer, and then not need the 8000 because I'd still have 7 usable inputs on the Motu. Where is my logic screwed up?
Click to expand...

If you used an 8 channel analog mixer w/direct outs or inserts, unless you plan on subbing the 7 drums out into the one input on the motu (kinda stupid - in a multi-track respect anyway) only then would you have 7 left over inputs on the motu.. Correct?

logically, you'd run the 7 drums into the mixer, then direct out/inserts out into 7 line level inputs on the motu. This leaves one more line level input left. So you still need what, another 3 inputs? (or 2 if you used the 8th input on the mixer).

This means you'd probably need the ADA8000 here.

Alternatively, you could get the ADA8000 for your drums, run that into the motu adat in, leaving 8 line inputs usable still. then to a cheaper extent, get a less-input mixer and use the inserts, alt 3-4 and or Aux's for anything extra and run them out into the line-levels on the motu.

It also depends on how your going to mic and record your gear too. Like are you going to multi-track in a sense of everyone plays at the same time? or just record one instrument at a time? That way you would only need one or the other with the ADA8000 or mixer. Seems the better option to me...
 
Why not just buy something like the Motu 896HD, which has 8 built in mic preamps? They can be had used for $650-750 or so, which I would guess is roughly the cost of a used 828 and an 8 channel mixer.

Then you'd pretty much eliminate the need for the mixer, the pres in the 896 are better than the ones in the 828, and you *still* have the option to expand channels via ADAT later on if you need more preamps.

Yes it's only 8 preamps, but do you really need 7 mics for the drums?
 
tnjazz said:
Yes it's only 8 preamps, but do you really need 7 mics for the drums?
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. Unless your a real pro in my opinion your best making do with what you can do. No point going all out to get all this gear just to satisfy the drum kit. I've done great recordings with 5 mics, let alone 3 on a kit. Just mic up the necessities first such as the kick drum, snare, and two overheads at the start then add what you can from there if you have the room.

Thats also another point, spend the money elsewhere rather than on all these inputs, and get some decent mics. Your bound to get better results having less but higher quality mics rather than having an extensive range of budget pres with low-end mics.

Only use what you need is my basic rule of thumb.
 
I am yet to record drums with more than 5 mics, and my standard is 4 (2OH, kick, snare). Don't make it more confusing than you need to when starting out.
 
Thanks for the advice on going with fewer mics for the drums. Thinking "out loud" here, if I do five drum mics, then that leaves room for three guitars, and the two pre-amped vocal mics. Which is perfect.

The only question that remains for me is whether or not the 8 instrument mics need to go through an ADA8000. I assume they do, right?
 
All mics need to go through pre-amps, so they need to go through either the ADA or a mixer before the MOTU.
 
Is there a reason you are specifically looking at the 828? You can get an audio interface with 8 mic preamps and ADAT, so later you can add another 8. I can only speak for what I've used, which is a Tascam unit, and it does great. I'm also looking at the Presonus units...
 
Maybe you're already here, but if you probably want to record each drum track individually (or at the very least record a stereo mix, not just 1 input), so you would need more mic inputs. Reducing your drum mics is also probably going to be helpful.

You might want to also think about if you want control surface capabilities. There are various integrated FW Control Surface's out there with 8 mic inputs and ADAT I/O. With the MOTU 828 mkII (again, which I really love) you're going to at least need the ADA8000 to get to 10 mic inputs. If you think you're going to want to use more than 10 mics at one time, then you'll need a 3rd interface (an analong multi-channel pre, or a mixer). At that point you may be better off looking at an all in one solution.

If you have a good room, one well placed Omni is all you need for drums. :)
 
Yeah, i agree. With micing the kit also, i've found those "drum mic kits" to be pretty shotty for quality, atleast in the recording domain anyway. I wouldn't recommend purchasing those sets, though, instead getting some individual ones would be your best bet, head on over to the microphone section for that ;).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top