Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2015 11:52:34 GMT -6
@smallbutfine in case you or others are interested there is a Hankintosh build thread starting up at ua forum: about 5 really great guys debating parts: apollo users so tbolt slant but your comment about the header part might interest them.
Take it as "loud thinking".... :-)
Seems these guys over at the UA are already exactly knowing what they do. Most of them use Gigabyte boards with tbolt onboard, one guy uses an Asus one, so i guess he already knows about Asus extension cards and will use one to get his tbolt interfaces, which are available up to 2x tbolt2.
Still, the thread over there is interesting. Hackintosh has quite gone a few miles since it started and my last experiments with it were not bad, you just have to watch out your components and load the right kext drivers, nothing that will pull off an old win and linux user...sometimes it is not more complicated than a standard OSx install on a mac.
This said, it's a legal grey zone, as you Apple guys know. Officially, installing on a hackintosh is not covered by the terms of usage of OSx, AFAIK it is explicitly not allowed. And - Apple could easily block this totally in any future update of OSX.
It's a bit odd that the driver development for Win tbolt is not made by many hardware manufacturers.
Tbolt on Windows is there, drivers are native as far as it goes. It's the proprietary driver part for the devices itself that is missing.
I really don't like the idea to be forced to switch to another OS just for these drivers now. But that's the only way atm to get the max out of the AVB devices from Motu...
That said, USB2 interface works as far as 32x32 channels 24/96 now. And does it's job. Still, it's a bottleneck as soon as you use all interfaces or even a second AVB device conneted via the AVB ethernet port.
For example, this is my actual setup for the 24Ao, feeding a console (which, i have to admit, is already impressive and sounds very good).
For recording we use bank B and C lightpipe with a Mytek 8x96 ADC thru ADAT, giving me 8 channels analog input. (This is also the clock master.)
For monitoring we use one lightpipe port as an SPDIF out to the RM Superbeast. Works.
For console we use the 24 analog outs of the 24Ao, that sound excellent.
For additional console feed or DAW hardware inserts i plugged ADAT 96khz DACs into bank B and C lightpipe. They give additional 8 channels of 24/96.
This makes up already for 2+24+8=34 available physical, analog output channels.
To use them all independently from the computer interface, we would have to go back to 48kHz or i already lose 2 of them in the routing due to USB2 bottleneck. What i CAN do, is using the internal routing/mixing and use these 2 output channels with submixes or double any of the 32 available channels.
But buying a second out device to connect them i cannot see atm if running under Windows, because i would use it for console connection, the computer interface functionality is what i need...
Another option would be going back to 48khz. This way i would have 64 output channels available thru the USB interface. If i would connect external single speed ADAT DAC, which we have plenty, i come to a maximum of 24 analog channels from the 24Ao and 24 channels via all three lightpipe outs configured as ADAT. Makes 48, at the cost of the RM DAC monitoring.
If i still use the RM DAC and SPDIF on bank A, which is more likely i get 24+16(ADAT)+2(SPDIF)=42 outs. Not bad for my bigger console maybe.
So, i have 22 channels left thru the USB2 at 48khz.
If i buy another AVB device, i could never experience the full potential due to the driver/USB bottleneck, not with 96khz, not with 48khz, while the device itself can do it easily, like unter OSx with Tbolt...
I would have to wait for an acceptable 3rd party AVB network card driver or switch to OSx.
You see, the whole plugin thing, my main DAW software is Windows exclusive, they dropped Mac a while ago at Cakewalk, i guess the existing and potential buyers market was far more on the Windows side.
I would be "forced" to use Mixbus (well, no big deal, i like it), but would have to either prepare tracks on Win before or set up everything plugins new on OSx, i use a lot of win vst freeware and a vast lot of what comes with my Sonar and i for shure would miss alot of what i use now...
I probably would even easier switch to linux and be happy with mixbus also beeing operated with a control surface (which sadly isn't supported under Win...). But, well, no linux drivers yet. And AVB network card drivers for ALSA are not yet available, nor in sight anywhere soon...
So, great devices sonically, but still, Mac world is clearly better supported, i.e. AVB network audio support by Apple AND the Motu Tbolt driver for OSx. Which leaves a small grain of salt for Windows users again. But at least we *are* supported with stable working drivers anyhow this time.
If there would appear any "reasonable" network card with full AVB audio driver support for Windows OR Linux, well, this would change the whole game again ...so, time will tell...