The Motu 1248 - The Perfect Audio Device for use with an HTPCThe Motu 1248 is named after some of the inputs and outputs available - 12 balanced outputs, 4 mic inputs, & 8 line inputs. However, it also has 2 hi-z guitar line inputs, 2 banks of ADAT optical (16 channels), 1 bank of SMUX Optical (8 channels), Stereo RCA SPDIF input/output, and Stereo Toslink SPDIF input/out. The 1248 is part of a new series of Motu interfaces with 7 audio devices total that have Thunderbolt, USB, and AVB connectivity.
The new Motu audio devices were released in the summer of 2014 with only Mac drivers and firmware. It wasn't until December 2014 that Windows was supported. The 1248 I received from Musician's Friend only had the Mac firmware. I connected the unit directly to my computer using a Cat 5 cable, downloaded the latest firmware and drivers from Motu, entered the unit's IP address into a web browser (accessed by pressing a button on the front), and uploaded the firmware and installed the drivers. One can also connect the device to any local network and use a computer on the same network to upload firmware, or use the app for iOS devices on a phone or iPad.
From Motu engineer Michael Miller:
"We designed the firmware update to work over ethernet mostly for convenience. If you're a user with lots of networked boxes, you can upgrade them all from a distance (even over wifi!) without having to plug in directly and without having to download or run an updater application.
We also decided on this approach for engineering reasons. We put a heavy emphasis on reliability. When installing an update, the device reboots into a stripped-down recovery partition to guarantee that you can always finish updating, even if the power goes out mid-update. Since updates can also affect the Thunderbolt or USB chips, we can't use them from the update mode."
Here is a list of things I like about the Motu 1248:
Easy instructions - Upon opening the 1248 you are directed to
www.motu.com/AVB which walks you through the installation, firmware update, registration, and use process. There are even videos to make it easy to understand.
Website - excellent information with easy access to manuals, firmware, software, features, specs, FAQ, and tutorials
Web App Support - The control software (mixer, routing, settings) for the Motu is a web app located on the audio device. Any browser on any web client platform can access the software. You can use your phone, tablet, or computer to access the software and make changes or see what is going on.
Routing - Any input can be routed to any output. This makes it easy to setup ASIO channels the way you want. This has valuable considerations for multi-zone output.
12 balanced outputs - There are two output labeled "Main", two outputs labeled "Monitor", and eight labeled "Analog Out." You can route up to 64 channels out through ASIO and can assign any ASIO outputs to any of these 12 physical outputs.
2 headphone outputs - Like any of the Motu outputs, these can be assigned whatever channels you want. If you want the headphones to get the same output as Left and Right speakers, you can do that. If two people want to listen to different playlists on two Zones in JRiver, then each headphone output can be assigned to a different Zone.
ESS Sabre32 Ultra DAC converters - high SNR and 32 bit output means volume control is completely transparent, excellent sound quality
Low Noise Floor - With the ear up to the tweeter and nothing playing I hear no noise at all. Some audio devices will have a hiss that can be annoying with higher sensitivity speakers.
No noise on sample rate changes - Sample rate changes are completely silent! No slight tick, pop, or anything else. This is perfect for home use when listing to a playlist of mixed sample rates.
No noise during on/off when amps are on - You can turn the Motu 1248 on/off and never get any noise out of the amps - no tick, pop, click!
Multi-client ASIO driver - This is a huge feature! With most ASIO devices including my 16 channel Lynx Aurora 16TB, you can only use one instance of the ASIO driver. With the Lynx, if eight channels are in use then you can use the other 10 channels for other Zones. With the Motu, it is truly multi-client. You can access channels 1-8 for a home theater and use the other channels, simultaneously, for output to other Zones. You can also access the headphone output Zones the same time as the other Zones and even use both headphone outputs simultaneously with different content.
Works great with the WDM driver - I was able to get no noticeable lip sync problems with no crackling when using the JRiver WDM driver.
DC Coupled Output - With no capacitors in the signal chain, there is no rolloff or phase shift of the low frequencies. You can also use the outputs for Control Voltage output to control analog synthesizers using software such as
Silent Way. Hmm, I wonder if an extra output can be used for 12v triggers on amps, receivers, and projectors?
+20 dBu line output max level - The maximum level out I've seen of any DAC is +24 dBu (Lynx Aurora VT, Solid State Logic Alpha Link). You can compare the maximum output to get an idea of maximum volume differences among DACs. For example, the Behringer Firepower FCA1616 has a maximum output of +8 dBu and the Steinberg UR824 has a maximum output of +18 dBu. The Motu can output 12 dB more volume than the Behringer and 2 dB than the Steinberg. This is helpful when using EQ or convolution because this DSP always lowers the output signal.
Output Trim range of 24 dBu (+20 dBu down to -4 dBu) - Even though the maximum output is 20 dBu, you can lower the maximum output level on each channel using 32-bit digital trim levels. This is helpful if matching speakers or amps with different sensitivities. You can also use it to make sure you don't ever overload the input on a small amp used on one of your Zones.
Mic with phantom power and line inputs - To do room measurements using software such as Room Equalization Wizard (REW), you can just connect a microphone, push the +48v phanton power buttom, and start measuring. No extra mic preamp is necessary. If you have an Earthworks M30BX microphone, with built in preamp, you can connect it to the line input without having to go through the preamp section. The Steinberg UR824, in comparison, only has preamp inputs, but no line inputs. The Mic and line inputs also let one play other instruments such as a keyboard along with music and even do karaoke with up to 4 microphones.
Guitar inputs - These probably aren't helpful to most, but it does let one connect an electric guitar or bass and play through their system along with the music.
Auto-sensing mic inputs - If you put a TRS jack into the mic input, it will disable the phantom power option. You can only use XLR jacks for the phantom power to be available. This prevents you from accidentally damaging equipment.
Thunderbolt and Ethernet connectivity (Mac only) - You can connect with Thunderbolt and get about half the latency of USB. This can be helpful when using something like the JRiver WDM driver. However, the driver is only available for Windows and currently Thunderbolt only works with Motu's Mac driver. You can connect a Mac (OS X Yosemite) directly to the Motu 1248 via Ethernet and use the audio device.
Variable USB buffer and ASIO buffer - You can change the USB buffer using 5-6 different settings from Lowest Latency all the way to Safe. You can also change the ASIO buffer size. Adjusting both of these is helpful for getting a system with no crackling that still can work well with the JRiver WDM driver
AVB Network - You can connect a 2nd device using the ethernet jack or 5 interfaces using the AVB hub to increase channel counts. There may be 2 channel AVB compatible devices in the future that would let you easily add Zones that are always in sync.
Zone featuresI wanted to comment some more on how great the Motu is for using multiple zones. Like I mentioned earlier, you can use the multi-client capability have separate Zones for the following all playing at the same time:
Theater (8 channels)
Headphones 1 (2 channels)
Headphones 2 (2 channels)
Living Room (2 channels)
Kitchen (1 channel)
Deck (1 channel)
You have two options for multiple zones with the same playback:
1. Link Zones in JRiver
2. Route the same computer outputs to different zones in the Routing tab of the web app
If you always play the same content to the same zones, the 2nd option is easy to setup in the Motu software and can make for easier selection and playback when using eos or JRemote. Whether using a single or multiple Motu's, your Zones will always stay in sync because they are all being played from a single device or they will be using AVB, which uses one device as the master clock.
Dislikes:Synchronization delay - Initial playback and sample rate changes require a setting of 3 seconds in Tools > Options > Audio > Settings > Play silence at startup for hardware synchronization. If you use a zone with these settings for the WDM driver, then you miss a few seconds of any audio.
No LCD Dimming - When using computer inputs only, there are no meters on the LCD. However, the LCD glows blue and cannot be dimmed. It can be adjusted for contrast.
Conclusion - The Motu 1248 is the most well rounded and complete audio device I have used to date. Its silence on sample rate changes and on/off, 32-bit DACs, mulit-client ASIO capability, and expandability make it the perfect audio device for use with an HTPC.
Other audio devices I've used:
M-Audio Revolution 7.1
Creative Labs X-Fi Elite Pro
ASUS Essence ST with H6 Daughtercard
Echo Audiofire 12
Steinberg MR816
Steinberg UR824
Ross Martin Super Beast
Lynx AES16e with Ross Martin Audio AES Eight
Lynx Studios Aurora 16
Lynx Studios Aurora 16TB
Tascam US-122
Tascam US-366
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Topic: Motu 1248 review (Read 35127 times)