One more nightmarish bump on the 3-year long quest to record

AnalogousGumdropDecoder · Post by **AnalogousGumdropDecoder** » Sat Apr 02, 2011 7:27 pm

So I finally gave up on getting my tape machine and board up and going in the short term, since I've spent so much time and money on them at this point and I can't afford to spend a month's rent on a test tone tape.

I saved up and bought a MOTU 828mkII from ebay. I get the thing in the mail, and I want to test it. I now realize that it won't plug up to my macbook. I have a port on my laptop that I THOUGHT was firewire. I've never used firewire before and I looked at a picture online and thought this was it. Well, it's kind of shaped the same (kind of) but it's a completely different size. I have no idea what it is. Anyway. I just spent all my money (I'm poor, ok?) on a board, a tape machine, and an A/D converter that I can't use. I read somewhere that you can't adapt firewire to USB... they're not compatible or something. Does anybody know of any way I can make my laptop communicate with this thing? I'm at wits end here.

EDIT:
I'm kind of an idiot when it comes to technology. I'm looking at my girlfriend's external hard drive. I see a firewire port on it. What does that do and is there a way I can hook the 828 to my computer via an external device like a hard drive?

Gregg Juke · Post by **Gregg Juke** » Sat Apr 02, 2011 8:20 pm

Try something like this:

http://www.tech-faq.com/firewire-to-usb-adapter.html

These types of adaptors are between $10-$20 or so on the Web. I'm wondering if your other port is a Cat5. If so, there are probably Firewire to Cat5 adaptors as well, but I didn't look for any...

GJ

AnalogousGumdropDecoder · Post by **AnalogousGumdropDecoder** » Sat Apr 02, 2011 8:30 pm

Gregg Juke wrote:Try something like this:

http://www.tech-faq.com/firewire-to-usb-adapter.html

These types of adaptors are between $10-$20 or so on the Web. I'm wondering if your other port is a Cat5. If so, there are probably Firewire to Cat5 adaptors as well, but I didn't look for any...

GJ

Have you used one of these?

Snarl 12/8 · Post by **Snarl 12/8** » Sat Apr 02, 2011 8:36 pm

What's stopping you from reselling the 828 and trying again for a USB (or something that will connect to the mystery port) interface?

If you don't get it right the first time, repeat it so people will think you did it on purpose.

AnalogousGumdropDecoder · Post by **AnalogousGumdropDecoder** » Sat Apr 02, 2011 9:05 pm

Snarl 12/8 wrote:What's stopping you from reselling the 828 and trying again for a USB (or something that will connect to the mystery port) interface?

If you don't get it right the first time, repeat it so people will think you did it on purpose.

I can potentially resell it, but I just got it and tried to hook it up for the first time and realized I couldn't. I posted on here to see if anyone knew how I could make it work. I was waiting to see if anyone could answer my question before I started trying to sell it.

RickvH · Post by **RickvH** » Sat Apr 02, 2011 11:21 pm

There are several different styles of Firewire connectors in existence. You might want to confirm that your mystery connector is in fact not a Firewire connector.
It is true that Apple stopped shipping Macbooks that include a Firewire connector, although the Macbook Pro apparently still has one.

Gregg Juke · Post by **Gregg Juke** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 2:18 am

>>>>Have you used one of these?<<<<

No.

GJ

nordberg · Post by **nordberg** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 6:11 am

if i'm correct, that is NOT a firewire cable. motus use a pci card and that's their cable to go from the box to the card.

edit: it's an eic cable

chris harris · Post by **chris harris** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 6:26 am

nordberg wrote:if i'm correct, that is NOT a firewire cable. motus use a pci card and that's their cable to go from the box to the card.

edit: it's an eic cable

Not correct. The 828 is a firewire interface, which is intended to be connected to an available firewire port on a computer.

chris harris · Post by **chris harris** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 6:30 am

Cody, which Macbook do you have? Macbook or Macbook Pro?

If you have a MacBook Pro, then you have a Firewire 800 connection on the laptop. You'll just need a Firewire 400 to Firewire 800 cable to make this work.

If you have a current standard Macbook, then there is no Firewire. If this is the case, then you'll likely have more luck and fewer headaches if you replace the laptop or the interface, as they're not compatible.

nordberg · Post by **nordberg** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 7:21 am

oops, my bad!

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 10:32 am

Three years, mucho $ spent and no recording?

Clint Eastwood said: "A man's got to know his own limitations".

If you add up all the money and time wasted in 3 years, you could have been able to finish your project using some of the fine facilities and technical talents right in your town?

AnalogousGumdropDecoder · Post by **AnalogousGumdropDecoder** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 11:48 am

Jim Williams wrote:Three years, mucho $ spent and no recording?

Clint Eastwood said: "A man's got to know his own limitations".

If you add up all the money and time wasted in 3 years, you could have been able to finish your project using some of the fine facilities and technical talents right in your town?

Except finishing yet another solitary project with less than satisfactory results because of meddling or narrow-minded engineers is not my goal, and renting a studio out with no engineer and paying by the hour to sit around reading the manuals for their gear and checking mikes for days isn't my idea of saving money. I need to be able to record myself, even if the quality isn't what it would be at a pro studio.

Things I've spent THOUSANDS of dollars for in pro and semi-pro studios:
Getting a lecture for touching a knob.
Getting yelled at for getting too loud too suddenly around someone's pet microphone.
Having gated reverbs added to drums while I was in the bathroom, after having asked that the gated reverbs be removed from the drums.
Having a studio owner (NOT EVEN THE ENGINEER) go into the isolation room where my amp is located and mess with my knobs because he didn't like my sound. He then later joked about how I didn't even know the difference, not realizing that I had gone into the room right after him and changed my knobs back. HE didn't know the difference, but wasted my time and money anyway.
An hour long argument about a reverb setting. The engineer wouldn't even TRY the settings I wanted the knobs at. Once he did, he said "Oh, THAT'S what you're going for." The knobs never moved again.
"I need a cigarette break." "I need a cigarette break." "I need a cigarette break."
An entire full length album's worth of unmixed masters DELETED. No refund. A label was waiting to put it out, but that never happened.

It goes on and on.

AnalogousGumdropDecoder · Post by **AnalogousGumdropDecoder** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 12:05 pm

I know all pro engineers (or even amateur ones) are not like this. I just can't GAMBLE with that kind of money.

AnalogousGumdropDecoder · Post by **AnalogousGumdropDecoder** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 1:35 pm

Sorry for all the venting, guys.

Back to the task at hand.

Apparently this interface and this laptop are NOT going to work together. Is there a decent USB interface for $300-350?

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One more nightmarish bump on the 3-year long quest to record

One more nightmarish bump on the 3-year long quest to record

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