Enter to Win a $8000 PA System!
Reviews for

MOTU 828mk3 Hybrid Audio Interface Reviews

28x30 USB/FireWire Audio Interface with 2 Microphone Preamplifiers, 8 TRS Inputs, 8 TRS Outputs, 2 XLR Outputs, 2 x ADAT I/O, MIDI I/O, Word Clock I/O, and Built-in Mixer with Onboard Effects - 24-bit/192kHz Resolution - Mac/PC
More Details

Highest Rated Reviews

Page 1 of 1

It's True MOTU 828

By Victor from Princeton NJ on March 15, 2014 Music Background: Pro Musician

The MOTU 828 mk3 works great with my Mac Pro running Pro Tools 10&11, DP8, Logic, Reason,. The sound of the ad/da converters are fantastic. No issues with set up and updates did them in 5 min. The drivers are rock solid and the added control with qmix with the iPad is fantastic. I'm using my Martech MSS 10 mic ore as my main preamp, however the two mic pres that come with the 828mk3 sound great and have great eq sculpting. Thanks to Mark Magdich x1265 for suggesting the 828mk3 for my needs and getting it to me via UPS. QMix is a great app to control the 828mk3 and very easy to navigate. I really like the reliability and stability of the 828mk3 thanks MOTU and SW I will be redoing my backing tracks and next cd using this interface.

Too good for the likes of me!

By John Hardin from Crossville, Tennessee USA on June 7, 2013 Music Background: Pro Musician recording hobbyist

The Motu 896mk3.
What's to say about something that doesn't do anything? What I mean is that you
don't know it's there. You can't hear it, it just routes your signals around. It will add
reverb and stuff, but you won't hear the Motu itself, you'll just hear the music going through
it. Very simple but exhaustive combination of sends, mixes, and pepperoni pizzas at midnight.
The interface is pretty simple once you get a handle on the layout, which I admit, I don't understand
all of it yet. (I am a newbie at recording and yes, I am spoiled to have such a grand piece of equipment
at my stage of learning. (similar to giving a 5 year old taking his first piano lesson an eight foot Steinway Grand.)

I have recorded a couple of things on it already. There is NO NO NO NONE AT ALL background noise.
The pre-amps have plenty of gain enough to drive a low volume ribbon mic.

perfect for live computer musicians.

By Megaton Leviathan from Portland OR on October 13, 2012 Music Background: Touring musician

i am in a two piece audio visual project we use ableton live and route out tracks to front of house, our back line pa and in ear monitors(for click track and vocals). i have gone through a few interfaces, two presonus units, and recently a focusrite pro 40. this thing sounds great and the routing possibilities seem endless. it has 2 main outputs, headphone outputs, 8 analog outs etc... i can rout out my ableton live tracks to the cu-mix by running a adat optical cable from the outs to the ins. so we can do our back-line pa and in ear mixes in cu mix. i have yet to play with the ipad app- but im looking forward to it. cu mix=its midi mappable, these guys at motu are thinking. there are enough ins that we mic our own bass, guitar and ghost guitar, and run it to the front of house, track it or run it in our in ear mix. i have yet to play with the on board effects, but if the eq's and compressors are as good as i think they are, we can do away with a 6 space rack full of hardware. i was for certain we would have to integrate another unit for all the ins and outs we need, but to my surprise- this does all we need and promises more.

MOTU 828mk3 Hybrid is excellent

By Danny Solomon from Dublin, NH USA on July 18, 2012 Music Background: Musician, Recording/mixing/live sound engineer, studio owner, producer

There are not many choices for a rackmount interface that uses USB. I needed USB for my Macbook Air which doesn't have firewire. I also needed the unit to be rackmountable for giging, but the 828 is so superior, that i immediately bought a second one for permanent installation in my studio. Super clean analog in and out, with typical MOTU completely flexible internal routing between all inputs and outputs. You can even assign any output pair to be controlled by the front panel volume knob, which is great for live use. Another big feature for me was word clock. I had clocking issues with cheaper interfaces that didn't have word clock, but of course I've had no clocking issues using word clock off my clock distribution unit. It's expensive compared to many other USB interfaces, but you definitely get what you pay for.

The MOTU 828mk3 Hybrid GREAT PIECE OF HARDWARE!!!

By Edward Moon from NW Lower Penninsula, Michigan on July 25, 2011 Music Background: Recording engineer, producer, etc.

After I put it into Pro Tools 9.03, it didn't want to record from the mike inputs; however, after talking one time (by e-mail) with a SweetWater service tech... The problem was fixed. (It was mostly my fault {I was the dummy!}). I have, since, used the Microphone and Line inputs with no difficulty. I specifically like the built in mixer and effects (EQ and reverb). I have not used the compressor/limiter yet, but, I have set them up in a test project and they seem to be able to do the job. NET RESULT: I would recommend this unit, and SweetWater to my friends.

IT WORKS!

By Kevin from Pevely, MO. on January 26, 2021 Music Background: Guitarist/Songwriter/Entertainer

I guess since it has been several years now, 4 to be exact, that I have owned the MOTU 828mk3 I should give it a review. I have put in through the ringer as far as use goes. Not abuse just constant use and often forgetting to turn it off. My set up is a daisy chain of and cluster fudge events LOL. And when my PreSonus LightPipe light bride went down I was desperate for answers, since no one made any such creature any more. OK lets call my sales engineer and hero Dan Van Amerongen. I had been and still using an Old Mackie 24x8x2 analog console for all my pres. direct out into An Alesis HD24 HD recorder ( remember these 2 things? ) lol into the Lightpipe that got me into my DAW. Dan suggested the 828mk3 and IT WORKS! Far be it from me to jump out of analog to all digital! If it "ain't broke don't fix it" ... so all that being said Mackie channels 1-8 are into the first 8 analog ins. then the next banks of 8 are going into still the HD24 and into the Adat ins on the 828...firewire 800 into Windows PC and NO latency that I can detect. I am getting very clean recordings this way. The warmth of analog pres plus digital conversion!Again "IT WORKS!" I guess one of these days I will splurge for saving space sake and get a couple 8 channel preamps to bi-pass the HD24 and Mackie but then I may just get a newer Analog console because... IT WORKS! AFTER 4 years of constant use IT WORKS!... In reality the next major change is going to have to be move from my outdated Sonar 8.5 Producer to a newer DAW, When I end up having to get out of Windows 7 and into 10. My DAW is the main reason I haven't upgraded to 10 yet. THANKS DAN! IT WORKS! (still)

Works well- I expected this having a M828 MKii

By Brian Millier on January 2, 2014 Music Background: recording enthusiast (not a pro)

I bought this to replace an old M828 MKII which was developing problems after 10+ years. New unit works very well- it takes a while to get used to the extra features present that were not on MK ll , like EQ, compressors etc. The only complaint I have to MOTU is that I question their changing the standard Firewire receptacle to the newer one commonly used for FW800. Even in the fixed configuration I use, in a 19" rack, the FW cable has managed to wiggle its way free a few times, causing the M828 to "disappear" as an interface on my computer. This never happened to me over many years, with the older, standard FW cables I used on the M828 MK II.
Sweetwater staff (Josh Dillon) was great to deal with.

Great I/O

By tom schaffer from Denver, CO USA on September 13, 2012 Music Background: Live Sound Engineer, Professional Musician, Professional DJ (Not with the Sync Button!)

Had some issues with this baby working with Ableton the way i wanted, but once i figured it out, all is well. Mic Pres sound crystal clear and capture great dynamic range. Really love the flexibility of all the I/O. Have it wired into a patch bay so i can route anything to anything haha. Complete control over all things analog! Muhahahahah

MOTU 828mk3 Hybrid

By Eric E. on June 30, 2011

Works just as expected. I had good luck with the prior two versions of the 828, so decided to give this one a try. I'm not disappointed. I bought two of these to support all the inputs I need. Works well with FW or USB connection. I'd like it more if it had a few more inputs (who wouldn't) and if the panel were a bit easier to figure out (but, it's pretty good considering the limted real estate available).

A Nice Piece

By Eric from Washington, DC on April 4, 2011 Music Background: Label Owner, Producer

My Wife brought me this for me & it's a nice piece. Actual the pre-amps are very clean & the converters are nice & smooth; works great with Protools 9 & Cubase 5.5. I'll recommend this over the presonus Fire-Studio or if you canget both, I actually have both...

Completely Satisfied No Problems

By Mike Marshall from Houston Tx on November 22, 2013 Music Background: Midi almost since day one and audio formal audio training. Keyboard player.

Equipment shipped and arrived on time in perfect condition. I use Digital Performer 8 on a MacBook Pro connected to a Thunderbolt display. The interface worked just as expected and after a short learning curve on cue mix I got it to do exactly what I wanted. This unit replaced a Tascam 1800 and I am completely happy with all aspects. It integrated well with DP and the sound is pristine, even better than expected. Would recommend it to anyone. I like MOTU equipment and software over everthing else out there.

Very Solid Piece

By Nick Borgosz from Buffalo, NY on March 17, 2011 Music Background: Recording Engineer, Guitarist, Drummer.

Very solid piece for an awesome price. CueMix FX is great and anyone not using it is not using this thing to it's fullest. I can use the CueMix FX to monitor artists using EQ, Comps, & Reverbs with no latency while having my DAW have a 1024 buffer and making it super solid and reliable. It also takes care of talk back and basic volume controls, elimanating the need for any external central station/big knob controllers. Front two inputs are very handy and DO NOT overide analog 1 & 2 on the back. Just really, really feature loaded. On the BAD side...the LED's on the front are useless and the knobs on the front feel really sketchy. The software can control everything and you never really need to touch those though. I have mine hooked up via USB to W7 32bit w/ Samplitude 11.2 and it's been perfect. No crashes, no ASIO dropouts, nothing. GREAT piece at a great price.

Almost everything I need

By Damon Gold from Lake Tahoe, CA. on May 30, 2011 Music Background: 25+ years in recording, live sound, broadcast and film

the sound quality on the mk3 is very good, it's I/o flexibility is nearly perfect, for my needs (live sound) I would love to have 8 mic pres not 2 and dedicated gain control knob for each of the 8 line inputs (or at least one knob that could access each line input gain and shuttle between them. my only real disappointment is the lowest latency setting of 64 samples per buffer this setting is not quite fast enough for a pro musician I normally run at 16 and if I want to run big multichannel shows I might drop to 32 samples per buffer. the 828 mk3 has not proven to be stable until I drop it 96 samples per buffer.
overall I am pleased with my 828mk3 but I expected more fro
MOTU after purchasing their products for the last 15 years.

It's about time they got there Sh*t together

By Rodney Foster from Lancaster,CA on March 14, 2011 Music Background: Recording studio owner-Producer, songwriter

It's works better than mkII and they finally fix the firewire issue with linking them together by the NEW firewire port 800 was the fix. Don't get me wrong it still has issue with some audio drop out here and there.
But by far the best I've ever had up to this point. I have three 828mkII connected to the new 828mk3 and it is working not perfect but working. If anybody ask me I would tell them to purchase this unit for the money and the New feature it sound great. Motu still has some driver issue with 64bit my computer crashed once and display there driver was the cause. Note: if this company get this driver issue fix this will be one of the best DAW sound card on the Market under a thousand dollars.

Not too bad

By Dwight Goodman from Sanford, FL on October 12, 2021

At the time I purchased this I need an interface that carried 2 optical/adat inputs and outputs that could be used for my synths or to expand xlr inputs via an A/D. It does the job for what I need it for but I definitely already need something else as this piece is out of date. MOTU doesn't support it anymore and it renders itself very unstable at times. It'll just stop working randomly and I end up having to restart my entire setup just so it'll work again. I get alot of digital clicks a pops randomly as well. I should've just went with my first mind and got a behringer x32 rack so I'd have the inputs I need with out the hassle of an ADA or anything like that. All in all the preamps on it are solid, and the dsp is ok. But after spending the money and not getting out of it the performance I need. I have to spend MORE money and grab something else. But when it works. It does work well.

Extremely quirky on windows

By Bill on July 7, 2012 Music Background: Home Studio Hobbyist

This unit has great features and works well with my workflow. The mic preamps are decent and are very usable for a home studio setup. The one issue I have is that this unit is extremely quirky working with windows 7. I constantly have issues with cracks/pops during playback and the only way to solve the issue is to restart the unit. This seems to be a common issue with windows users so beware if you are buying this to use with a windows workstation.

MOTU 828mk3 Hybrid

By Reggmail from Philadelphia. PA on August 31, 2011 Music Background: Producer

Sweetwater was on time and delivered the right item at a competitors price.

Motu Hybred 828 mk3 Audio interface will take some getting use to.
Why the special 9 pin to a 6 pin fire wire cable, when it would have been better and more convenient with a standard
6 pin on both sides cable type.
The cable works fine when positioned in a certain way to fit.
Although many computers are discontinuing firewire, for audio fire wire has more bandwidth.
When the 828 Hybred mk3 works it' sounds pretty good.
It replaces my Emu 1818M that I loved and had for many years.
It took some time for Motu to release new drivers for this unit, once downloaded it works fine.
Customer service at Motu was fine, I was able to speak with a tech who helped on the configuration
before the latest driver release drivers for Windows on 8/09/2011 (version 4.0.48697) from Motu Download sight.
All and all, for the price and the sound, the Motu Hybred 828 mk3 would get the job done and after surfing the net for days,
I believe that I made a good choice.

Unreliable junk

By Anthony from Houston on July 26, 2018 Music Background: Full Time Professional Audio Engineer

If the room is too warm, the unit overheats and outputs a full scale sine wave tone at a piercing high pitch. sometimes it becomes unresponsive to the computer requiring driver reinstalls and computer restarts. I do audio engineering professionally and I now know why there is no motu products where I work. Will be switching to RME very soon. so much wasted time trying to troubleshoot this thing when the problems lie in the poor, poor drivers. totally unreliable. unstable. the amount of inputs is just there to get your money. drivers haven't been updated in years.

of
Close Close $8,000 PA System Giveaway -- input your email address below to enter or click here to learn more.

See giveaway details & rules or check out our past winners!

Success!

Your email, test has been entered to win this giveaway. Good Luck!