I'm considering setting myself up with a MOTU 828 interface and a titanium G4, and I've been very encouraged by the reviews I've read on the 828. However, I have two questions remaining...
1) Will I be able to use the 828 alongside an X-Project firewire drive (by Glyph, designed for use with Digi 001) on the same firewire bus?
2) Is it possible to use multiple 828's on a single firewire bus? I know that the other MOTU interfaces can be used in parallel, up to 3 interfaces on a card, but I have not seen any mention of this feature (or lack thereof) in the 828's literature or reviews.
Hi Eric,
To answer your questions, yes the Glyph XProject Firewire drive will work with 828, We've tested that combination here, and it works great. MOTU has also tested the two together with the same results.
At the moment, only one 828 can be used on a system. MOTU is currently developing drivers that will allow multiple 828's to be used on the same system. MOTU has been testing the driver with great success (I hear they got FOUR 828's running on one system). The driver hasn't been released yet, but MOTU expects to roll it out very soon.
Minor hardware question though, as I'm coming from a PC background, and haven't used firewire yet: I've seen the back panel of the 828 in pictures, and the firewire port seems to be a single socket. Would a hub of some kind be required for multiple firewire devices, or do devices funtion in series, similar to SCSI chains?
You can use the firewire "through" port on the XProject drive as a link between the G4 Powerbook and the 828*. Eventually, MOTU will approve firewire hubs (probably when the new 828 driver becomes available)
* (Note to 828 users with two or more "native" firewire ports, use separate firewire ports for each device when available).
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