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Gear / Technical Help => Battery Boxes, Preamps, Mixers, ADCs, and Processors => Topic started by: easy jim on April 17, 2006, 02:13:58 PM
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Well, the gain knobs have become very noisy on my 'trusty P-Mod.' UA-5 (purchased 5/04). Fortunately, I figured it out while trying to making a recording of a friend playing an acoustic in my living room instead of at a show. Whether mic cables are plugged in or not, it now produces a 'whooshing' like wind noise bringing the noise floor up to somewhere around -40 to -24db below threshold when the gain is near 0 to near max. The noise is noticeable/the same from all outputs (analog/digital). I'm guessing the gain pots for the XLR inputs have gone bad, but it looks like I'll now have to wait another week before I can send it back to the Oade Bros. to see what is wrong since they are closed for vacation.
I've also been debating the upgrade to a multi-track capable device for a while since I now archive for a band from San Diego and have a lot of muti-tracking opportunities. My old pre/A2D's issues have brought me face-to-face with my upgradeitis, and I'm about to purchase Motu's new Ultralite Traveler (see link)
http://www.motu.com/products/motuaudio/ultralite/
This would be my first move towards laptop recording, which I have been very reluctant to do considering that I would be using an iBook G3 (800mhz/640MB RAM) until I can afford to upgrade the laptop to a G4 or Macbook. It is looking like a good move but I'm still wondering if the older iBook can handle 24 bit multi-tracking.
Anybody have any experience/feedback on running any firewire input boxes (Motu?) on older G3 macs?
Anyone bought an Ultralite Traveler yet and have any feedback? (I know the Traveler has been out for a while)
Alternative suggestions?
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...pulled the trigger on the Ultralite about 10 min ago. $543 (new in box w/ warranty) including FedEx 2day shipping from Rainbow Guitars in Tucson, AZ was the best price I could find for a new unit. Can't wait to test it out this upcoming weekend.
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nice price on what looks like a pretty sweet unit. I haven't played with one so I don't have any input for ya but it sure looks cool. keep us posted on how it all works out for ya! and slip over to team mac geeks for some more input on your G3 machine and it's abilities.
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keep us posted on how it all works out for ya! and slip over to team mac geeks for some more input on your G3 machine and it's abilities.
Teams to join: team mac geeks & team multitrack....wahoooo
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keep us posted on how it all works out for ya! and slip over to team mac geeks for some more input on your G3 machine and it's abilities.
Teams to join: team mac geeks & team multitrack....wahoooo
welcome to the club (mac geeks) multi track is still too much for me in the field
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Looks like it only has 1 mic in? So you need 2 units?
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Looks like it only has 1 mic in?
the other XLR in is on the opposite side
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That's weird. Looks like a sweet unit though with nice meters.
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Looks like it only has 1 mic in?
the other XLR in is on the opposite side
I thought it was kind of weird too, but I guess it will be easier to make sure I do not get the cables reversed ::)
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I'm really interested to see how this thing works out in the field. I was looking at an ad for it in EM and noticed that it had decent looking meters (compared to my UA5 anyway:P) and was 9vDC in.... kind of grabbed my attention. Plus I have a bit of a hookup at the local GC! ;D
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I'm really interested to see how this thing works out in the field. I was looking at an ad for it in EM and noticed that it had decent looking meters (compared to my UA5 anyway:P) and was 9vDC in.... kind of grabbed my attention. Plus I have a bit of a hookup at the local GC! ;D
I don't think 9v will work--the specs on the "Feature Summary" Page says this:
"Just plug in any DC power adapter (10-24 volts, tip positive or negative)."
Also, I'm not sure the meters will be as cool as might seem at first glance--if I'm understanding this correctly, the only spot on the meter display that will be of use for 2-track recording with a pair of mics, assuming digital out, would be the S/PDIF OUT pair of meters in the lower right corner. Looks like maybe 7 segments are possible. All the others seems to be analog in and out, the main analog out, and S/PDIF IN. Obviously much better than the UA-5 situation by itself, but I think just the size of the meter display and all the bright lights are a bit deceptive for what we'd use this for. Less informative than using an SVU-1 or 2 with a UA-5 for 2-channel use. Though for multitracking, I think it might be pretty interesting, and some of the other meters in the display could be put to use, too, obviously.
I'd be very interested in hearing reviews on the quality of the preamp and A/D compared to our other gear options.
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I was just bumping this to find out how the UltraLite is holding up in the field? Likes/Dislikes? I am torn between it and the Traveler.
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I was just bumping this to find out how the UltraLite is holding up in the field? Likes/Dislikes? I am torn between it and the Traveler.
It has held up pretty well in the field. The main benefit over the Traveler is size, however the Traveler also has 4 mic pres instead of two and more i/o options. I personal plan to have one of each soon for daisy-chaining.
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I was just bumping this to find out how the UltraLite is holding up in the field? Likes/Dislikes? I am torn between it and the Traveler.
It has held up pretty well in the field. The main benefit over the Traveler is size, however the Traveler also has 4 mic pres instead of two and more i/o options. I personal plan to have one of each soon for daisy-chaining.
Be careful with that theory. MOTU gear is notorious for not clocking properly when daisy-chained. It's a hit or miss thing. Most of the problems I've heard about have been with the 896's though. So YMMV.
Dirk
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I was just bumping this to find out how the UltraLite is holding up in the field? Likes/Dislikes? I am torn between it and the Traveler.
It has held up pretty well in the field. The main benefit over the Traveler is size, however the Traveler also has 4 mic pres instead of two and more i/o options. I personal plan to have one of each soon for daisy-chaining.
Be careful with that theory. MOTU gear is notorious for not clocking properly when daisy-chained. It's a hit or miss thing. Most of the problems I've heard about have been with the 896's though. So YMMV.
Dirk
I was wondering about that Dirk since the clock is already less than stellar. I planned to test it out with a borrowed 2nd unit first, of course, but have not had the opportunity yet. It seems available RAM and processor speed must become pretty relevant also when daisy-chaining.
On the other side, though, I plan to get the Black Lion Mod. done to my UltraLite sooner than later, which should improve both the clock and the mic pres. Maybe having a fullsize Traveler around will be more for options depending on the show. vs. using both at the same time.
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I've eyed the ultralite with the blacklion mod as a future solution for myself as well. Please keep us posted.
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I don't think 9v will work--the specs on the "Feature Summary" Page says this:
"Just plug in any DC power adapter (10-24 volts, tip positive or negative)."
Actually there is a discrepancy in the manual about this and i wrote MOTU to find out the official word. http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=64422.0 (http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=64422.0) Short anwser : 8-18v DC +/- tip. Speaking from experience, I've powered my ultralite for hours upon hours with a walmart 9.6 volt nimh (i think it's 4400mah). This battery works for hours with the traveler as well, although I've done less extensive testing with that (the unit was only powered on, no signals)
Also, I'm not sure the meters will be as cool as might seem at first glance--if I'm understanding this correctly, the only spot on the meter display that will be of use for 2-track recording with a pair of mics, assuming digital out, would be the S/PDIF OUT pair of meters in the lower right corner.
In your scenario you would also have meters for the two analog signals coming in on the XLR's as well as the digital out levels. IMO the display on the ultralite is better than the traveler. The traveler has no output meters. The ultralite has a meter for every input and output (analog and digital). I've had them all alive at once and it's very pretty. Also more segments than the traveler.
I'd be very interested in hearing reviews on the quality of the preamp and A/D compared to our other gear options.
http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=63624.0 (http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=63624.0)
Syncing multiple units....
The manual for the ultralite says no problem with up to four units......the traveler manual says two units should be ok, connected with wordclock (ultralite doesn't have wordclock). Three or four units is risky daisy chaining the wordclocks, instead they recommend a distributor box. I would seem then the the ultralite is more stable for daisychaining, but I'm thinking actually it probably isn't. It's just that since there's no way to improve the sync with the ultralite, they just don't even bother telling you about the issues. Since you can improve sync with the traveler they tell you about the issues and how to correct them.
Note's on black lion upgrade...
They warn that syncing via adat, spidif, wordclock, or AES/EBU becomes nearly impossible with the clock upgrade. Depending on how you plan on using your unit you may want to just get the preamp upgrade and bypass the MOTU's clock. You can set the clock to your computer's internal, or any digital device you're connected to.
In the field...
The ultralite is sweet, nuff said.
I'll get back to you about the traveler.
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Send me your UA-5 and I'll fix the pots.... (spare pre... backup)
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Note's on black lion upgrade...
They warn that syncing via adat, spidif, wordclock, or AES/EBU becomes nearly impossible with the clock upgrade. Depending on how you plan on using your unit you may want to just get the preamp upgrade and bypass the MOTU's clock. You can set the clock to your computer's internal, or any digital device you're connected to.
Is syncing the same as slaving? I mean, is syncing what happens when a device further downstream in the chain synchronizes to the Ultralite, or does it refer to synchronization to an external device earlier in the chain as well? I want to be sure I understand correctly, as I find this a bit confusing, and it's an important point. If I get the Bliack Lion upgrade (including the clock), will I still be able to slave to an external input device (say, my UA5) by selecting S/PDIF as the clock source?
Here's what I want to do: Use my T+UA5 for 2-mic stereo recording, S/PDIF out to MT. For 4 mics, I want to use the UA5 S/PDIF out to the Ultralite mixed with the 2 mic pres it provides, S/PDIF out to MT. Of course, if I find I like the modUltralite better than the UA5, I'd use that for the 2-mic situation and just bring the UA5 along for 4-mic situations. If I can't slave to the UA5, though, that's going to be a problem . . . And if I don't get the clock upgrade with the Ultralite, then I'll likely not want to use the Ultralite without the UA5.
Thanks
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From what I understand you won't be able to do what you want after the clock upgrade. The ultralite will have trouble slaving to any other unit. http://www.blacklionaudio.com/motu_firewire_mod.html (http://www.blacklionaudio.com/motu_firewire_mod.html) Look toward the bottom, just above pricing.
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Yeah, I checked that page before posting here, but I still don't quite get understand this, as if I turn off the internal clock, one would think the "moddedness" of it shouldn't matter. I'll send them an email to confirm this, though. Thanks