Motu 828mk3... do people use cuemix software?

The Lounge Other Gear
1

Hi there.

My unit arrived yesterday. Read the manual and getting to grips with the interface to figure out my ideal configuration.

I chose the 828mk3 mainly due to it’s in/out expandability and alleged reliability running on mac. I just want to record 3 Elektron boxes and 2 mono synths, and maybe a Kp3 send/return.

To be honest I knew little about the cuemix software and didn’t plan to use it much… but now that I have it I am wondering if it’s really useful after all if I’m only going to be recording in ableton

Does anyone with a similar setup to me use cuemix in conjunction with live/any DAW for a particular interesting extra advantage?

Cheers:)

Martin

2

i’ve been using it with my ultralite mk3 for a few years now, but only for overall volume adjustment for my monitors … daw for everything else.

i sometimes feel i should give it more of a chance, and likewise for the multitrack recording software it came with, considering the respect digital performer commands. but i haven’t.

as you’re a new owner it’s worth mentioning that motu has great customer support. register your interface and if you ever have a problem they’ll respond to your online ticket quickly and conscientiously, no matter how long since you bought it. i’ve only had a couple of issues, all due to my own ignorance, and they’ve consistently impressed me.

3

Hi

I have an 828x…I use Cue Mix extensively…great bit of kit.

Great front end for visual control of the whole units features as mentioned below.Sure you can do it all from the MOTU’s front panel and real handy to have that option if you need it albeit slow and tedious if no computer.The main thing here is that if you use the MOTU as a standalone hardware mixer and are jamming out live from the MOTU (but still have a computer hooked up) with near zero latency monitoring, its no big deal still controlling the unit with Cue Mix.Don’t forget about the MOTU audio setup tool so you can rename all your channels/I/O and see whats what in Cue Mix (You can rename them in Cue Mix also)

You can use touch OSC (for android and iOS for £4) with cuemix template and remote control it over wifi with midiOSC. Not sure if you can automate?

Set up/store preset mix/recording setups and recall.(You can of course do this from the MOTU unit itself)

Bus routing up to x8…you also want to go bigger with ADAT/Sp-dif and increase/control physical i/o/routing Cue Mix will help.

Control/visualisation of DSP FX (they are very good too) for eq/compression/limiting, your mileage will vary depending on how you use them but you get a significant amount, also with respect to Cue Mix you get a DSP usage meter…the reverb is more than good enough…personally I like it a lot.

Significant number of audio analysis tools.

Option for visualisation of metering on all I/O at once (pre and post).Real handy for fault finding and of course monitoring levels.

Monitor Mix control option.

Real handy if your MOTU is out of sight/reach.

Cue Mix doesn’t get in the way or appear to take much CPU resources when running in the background.

Its easier to get an idea/tap the MOTU I/O in your DAW using Cue Mix so when it comes to fault finding/sort out what channels are coming from where or going where for recording.You can tap/route/send audio out and or in to the MOTU reverb, you really need Cue Mix if you want to do this.

Cue Mix has nice conventional analogue console simplicity and I think its quite pretty.But it does take a little getting used to (like anything) to get au fait with its functionality/feature set and control but the small learning curve is easily worth it imho.Nice organised pages so you can see overall layout/settings of I/O/Routing/Mixes/DSP FX and of course tweak.You can move/control fairly quickly on anything once your up to speed.

If you don’t need Ableton for recording you can always use the bundled Audio Desk/Cue Mix…you get an integrated system with powerful recording/editing designed all by the same folks so ideally more stable and of course Cue Mix for visual control of MOTU hardware.

PS Just one thing I have noticed on rare occasions is I experience audio drop/glitch with Live (9.2, OS X Yosemite 10.10.4, different buffers tested doesn’t seem to matter) Have not isolated/tested with other DAW (seems to be no problem either with Audio Desk), all I know is I never have it when using 828x on its own with/without Cue Mix running in background with my Hardware.

4

Cheers for the heads up, dubathonic.
It’s used but I’ll inquire about passwords from the previous owner. I presume he’s already registered it.

5

Big thanks for the comprehensive run though of the benefits there, Motion.
Initially I was puzzled about getting the audio to my monitors from ableton when I had cuemix running simultaneously as cuemix seems to take over the audio. I’ve obviously routed incorrectly. So trying to figure out my best set up for routing. So many options. Not a bad thing.
It’s clear that Cuemix can help with a lot of things down the line so I reckon I’ll try and get to grips with it as best I can.
Thanks again, Motion.

6

Hi Martin

You are most welcome.