Stability of MOTU traveler in the long run ?

nanonash's icon

Hello,

Has anyone got any experience with using a MOTU Traveler or Ultra Lite for very long periods in a row (several days).

This is for an art installation (using Max) and I need to make sure that the MOTU traveler is stable for long periods of use. This would be under Mac OSX tiger.

Would anyone recommend another firewire-based soundcard which is good for sound installations ? (with a least 8 output channels).

Thank you.

GP

zipb's icon

I've used Travelers in a museum installation with bad results. The
units(3) would loose their settings (mike preamp gain etc) every once
in a while, and worse, would suddenly produce high pitched noise that
on one occasion burned the tweeters of a speaker pair. The high
pitched noise trouble is easily fixed by manually resetting the unit,
but this is not an option in an installation.

I've discussed these problems at length with Motu tech support,
without much result. I swapped the first 2 Travelers for a second
pair, and ditched nr 3 for an 828. Unfortunately the second pair of
Travelers had the same problems.

The MOTU 828 mk2 has been totally reliable for me in all circumstances
(heavy touring, installations). I also have great faith in Metric
Halo stuff.

Hope this helps,

Zip Boterbloem
Media Mechanics
Zwaluwstraat 54
2025 VR Haarlem
The Netherlands
+31627014758
zip@knoware.nl

Op 26-okt-2006, om 23:53 heeft Gui Pot het volgende geschreven:

>
> Hello,
>
> Has anyone got any experience with using a MOTU Traveler or Ultra
> Lite for very long periods in a row (several days).
>
> This is for an art installation (using Max) and I need to make sure
> that the MOTU traveler is stable for long periods of use. This
> would be under Mac OSX tiger.
>
> Would anyone recommend another firewire-based soundcard which is
> good for sound installations ? (with a least 8 output channels).
>
> Thank you.
>
> GP
>

nanonash's icon

thank you, this is really useful!

andre's icon

Es war der 27.10.2006 0:18 Uhr, als Zip Boterbloem nicht widerstehen konnte,
folgende Gedanken dem Netz anzuvertrauen:

> I've used Travelers in a museum installation with bad results. The
> units(3) would loose their settings (mike preamp gain etc) every once
> in a while, and worse, would suddenly produce high pitched noise that
> on one occasion burned the tweeters of a speaker pair. The high
> pitched noise trouble is easily fixed by manually resetting the unit,
> but this is not an option in an installation.

I have the same experiences with the traveler. The high pitched noise
happens sometimes, at least with my Intel MacBook and the latest Motu
drivers.
This seems to be a well known problem. The german motu support recommends to
flip the optical I/Os on and off ...

> The MOTU 828 mk2 has been totally reliable for me in all circumstances
> (heavy touring, installations).

Yes, I can affirm that also the old 828 (MK1) doesn't have this problem,
neither with older Macs / old OSX versions nor with MacIntels and the latest
system.

Andre

--------------------------------------------------
Andre Bartetzki
http://www.bartetzki.de
mailto:andre@bartetzki.de

Tel +49-(0)30-92375877
VoIP +49-(0)30-38108677
Fax +49-(0)30-38108678
UMS +49-(0)941-599214065 (Voice, Fax, SMS)
Skype bartetzki

--------------------------------------------------

julien breval's icon

The MOTU or RME ones are great
Maybe something from Apogee also ?

Selon Gui Pot :

>
> Hello,
>
> Has anyone got any experience with using a MOTU Traveler or Ultra Lite for
> very long periods in a row (several days).
>
> This is for an art installation (using Max) and I need to make sure that the
> MOTU traveler is stable for long periods of use. This would be under Mac OSX
> tiger.
>
> Would anyone recommend another firewire-based soundcard which is good for
> sound installations ? (with a least 8 output channels).
>
> Thank you.
>
> GP
>
>

julien breval's icon

Hello

I made a wrong choice last time a bought a computer and need some advice or
experience.

Requirements:
* best management of professional Firewire audio/MIDI interfaces
* silent machine (will be used for recording)
* laptop or very small desktop
* < 1500 euros
* most difficult task: running a polyphonic software sampler in Max/MSP during a
live concert, at very low latency (48, 64 or 128 samples).

This machine will be used for audio only, and I need *stability* rather than
huge CPU power. To put it differently, I don't want the sound to drop at low
latency when the total CPU remains below 70%.

The sound card will be a RME Fireface 400.

Is there a real advantage to get an Apple computer for low-latency audio with
Max/MSP, like the black Macbook or the Mac Mini ? I have Windows and Linux on a
desktop PC so I am not asking for a sterile XP / OS X debate (I think both are
very good, depending on what you are making).
For the PC side, I was thinking of the Samsung or Asus laptops.

Please share your experience
Thanks for your information
Julien

Jeff Kaiser's icon
Carlo's icon

Check out Apogee "Ensemble".

Carlo

----- Original Message -----
From: "julien breval"
To: ; "Gui Pot"
Cc:
Sent: Friday, October 27, 2006 1:01 AM
Subject: Re: [maxmsp] Stability of MOTU traveler in the long run ?

> The MOTU or RME ones are great
> Maybe something from Apogee also ?
>
> Selon Gui Pot :
>
>>
>> Hello,
>>
>> Has anyone got any experience with using a MOTU Traveler or Ultra Lite
>> for
>> very long periods in a row (several days).
>>
>> This is for an art installation (using Max) and I need to make sure that
>> the
>> MOTU traveler is stable for long periods of use. This would be under Mac
>> OSX
>> tiger.
>>
>> Would anyone recommend another firewire-based soundcard which is good for
>> sound installations ? (with a least 8 output channels).
>>
>> Thank you.
>>
>> GP
>>
>>
>
>