to PCI 424 or not to PCI 424

[mikehalloran]

MOTU recommends external clock when trying to sync 3 or more interfaces. Those directly connected to the 424 card are considered one interface in this equation. You are wanting to connect others as stand-alone via ADAT or FireWire.

[NoFi Audio]

MOTU recommends external clock when trying to sync 3 or more interfaces.

Yes they do. I have an external BNC clock device.

Those directly connected to the 424 card are considered one interface in this equation. You are wanting to connect others as stand-alone via ADAT or FireWire.

I see, that makes sense. One of the dilemmas I have is knowing that the 828s (firewire devices) and the 2408 (via PCIe card) show up as 2 distinct and separate audio systems (in Studio One). To use the 2408 with the 828's (firewire) I have to connect the 2408 via ADAT, which is my current configuration. If I install the PCIe card, the 2408 becomes "native" and then the 2 828s would have to use ADAT to the 2408.

If I elect to switch to the 424/2408, with 828s via ADAT, I'll have to reset all the current projects, create a new I/O config and reconfigure I/O assignment in a couple dozen projects. My question is trying to build justification for creating more work. If the gain is minimal, it may not be worth the exercise.

To respond to a previous post about converters... I realize that there have been more current products out there that might (do) have better specs these days, but this gear is what I have, I'm not cutting any THX movies for anyone, I'm only working at 48K. These still get the job done for me, and in a fairly cost effective way.

[HCMarkus]

If I elect to switch to the 424/2408, with 828s via ADAT, I'll have to reset all the current projects, create a new I/O config and reconfigure I/O assignment in a couple dozen projects. My question is trying to build justification for creating more work.

Could you not do the Bundle reconfiguration once, then Load the Bundles into your other projects? That could ease your pain substantially.

If the gain is minimal, it may not be worth the exercise.

That is the real question.

To respond to a previous post about converters... I realize that there have been more current products out there that might (do) have better specs these days, but this gear is what I have, I'm not cutting any THX movies for anyone, I'm only working at 48K. These still get the job done for me, and in a fairly cost effective way.

We made records with ADATs. Although conversion quality has improved, older gear can still get the job done.

[NoFi Audio]

Could you not do the Bundle reconfiguration once, then Load the Bundles into your other projects? That could ease your pain substantially.

It's easy to create am I/O map and even save it as something different. That's what I did when I was about to introduce the 2408 into the mix, but still wanted to work on a couple things I was in the middle of. Any time I create a new I/O map and apply it to an existing project with a previous I/O config, all the tracks reset to "MAIN", none of the track assignments stick. If I open a project with a previous I/O config it will open with the tracks assigned as I had them, but those tracks may not point to valid definitions anymore. If I were to update and use the 424, all my routing would be routing through that, and for sure the ADAT config would be totally different, so those would have to be remapped. CH1 might change from 828#1 CH1 to 2408 ADAT A-1, or that track might light up on Track 9 on the console. That kind of thing. Multiply by a couple dozen projects...

Any new projects created with the new config obviously wouldn't have any issues.

If the gain is minimal, it may not be worth the exercise.

That is the real question.

Yes, exactly.