About The 828 - MOTU 828 User Manual

About the 828

1
CHAPTER
The 828 is an 28 x 32 USB audio interface with
mixing, DSP effects, and very high quality
A/D/A conversion at sample rates up to 192 kHz
for on-the-go mobile audio recording.
Hardware-driven DSP delivers monitor mixes on
all analog output pairs, with seven stereo buses
and 32-bit effects processing, including EQ,
compression and reverb.
The 828 can operate as an audio interface for a
studio workstation (DAW), as a standalone mixer,
or as an auxiliary monitor mixing system in the
studio or on stage. This chapter provides a brief
overview of its main features and characteristics.
Comprehensive I/O
The 828 provides a variety of analog and digital
interconnects, all active simultaneously, designed
to provide everything you need for a well-
equipped desktop recording studio.
Connection
Quarter-inch analog on bal/unbal TRS
Main out on XLR
Mic/guitar inputs on combo XLR/TRS
Headphone output
S/PDIF digital I/O on RCA
ADAT optical digital (at 44.1 or 48 kHz)†
Total
† The 828 optical connectors support the industry-
standard ADAT and TOSLink optical
I/O formats, which provide varying channel
counts. TOSLink is available on Bank A, and
ADAT is available on both banks (A and B). See
"Optical I/O" on page 27 for details about optical
bank operation.
All inputs and outputs are discrete. For example,
using a mic input does not "steal" an input from
the TRS analog I/O bank.
Universal connectivity
The 828 connects to a computer via USB, using
isochronous Hi-Speed USB 2.0 (480 Mbits/s) or
SuperSpeed USB 3.x (5 Gbits/s) connectivity,
depending on the host computer. It is USB audio
class-compliant, which means that it is iOS
compatible and does not require driver
installation for USB connection to macOS or iOS
hosts.
Mic/guitar inputs with preamps
The two front-panel mic/line/instrument inputs
are equipped with preamps and "combo" XLR/
TRS jacks, which accept XLR microphone inputs
or quarter-inch line/instruments inputs.
Individual 48 volt phantom power and a -20 dB
pad can be applied independently to each mic
input. The Precision Digital Gain™ knobs on the
Input Output
front panel for each mic/instrument input provide
8 8
up to 74 dB of gain in precise 1 dB increments.
- 2
Mic/guitar sends
2 -
Before A/D conversion, the pre-amplified signal
from each front-panel mic/guitar input is routed
- 2 x stereo
to one of the two rear-panel quarter-inch analog
2 2
sends, so that you can insert a favorite outboard
16 16
EQ, compressor, amp or effects processor to the
28 32 mic/guitar input signal before it is converted to
digital form. The resulting output from the
outboard gear can be fed back into the 828 via the
corresponding return jack for the channel on the
rear panel, for routing to the computer and/or
inclusion in the 828es built-in monitor mixes. If
13