MOTU 896mk3, User Manual

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D I G I T A L P E R F O R M E R
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Figure 7-2: The stereo return and reverb return busses from the
896mk3 in Digital Performer’s Bundles window.
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Warning: the Return inputs can cause
feedback loops! DO NOT assign this input to a
track that shares the same 896mk3 output pair as
the returns.
Reverb return
The 896mk3 also supplies a return to Digital
Performer that carries the output of its reverb
processor (Figure 7-2). This return can be used for
any purpose you wish.
WORKING WITH 896MK3 INPUTS AND
OUTPUTS
Once you’ve enabled the MOTU FireWire Audio
driver as explained earlier in “The 896mk3
settings” on page 53, 896mk3 audio inputs and
outputs will appear in Digital Performer’s audio
input and output menus, as well as the Bundles
window (Figure 7-2). If you don’t see the optical
inputs and/or outputs, check MOTU Audio Setup
to make sure they are turned on. If you don’t plan
to use either optical bank, turn them off to
conserve computer bandwidth.
Trimming the analog inputs
The 896mk3 analog inputs provide trim knobs on
the front panel. To calibrate an audio input:
1 Record-enable a track in Digital Performer.
2 Choose the desired 896mk3 input for the track.
3 Open the Audio Monitor window.
4 As you feed signal to the input, adjust the input’s
corresponding trim knob on the front panel of the
896mk3 until peaks in the level meter are as high as
possible without clipping (hitting zero dB).
Phones 1-2
If you’ve chosen to treat the 896mk3 headphones as
an independent output, you’ll see
Phones 1-2 in
Digital Performer’s output menus. Audio tracks
assigned to this output pair will be heard on the
headphone jack only. For further explanation, see
“Phones” on page 39.
24-BIT OPERATION
Your 896mk3 hardware fully supports Digital
Performer’s 24-bit recording capabilities, including
both analog and digital 24-bit recording. If you
would like to record and play back 24-bit audio
files, go to the Audio Options in the Digital
Performer Preferences (Digital Performer menu),
and choose 24-bit recording as the sample format.
This setting is saved with the Digital Performer
project.
PROCESSING LIVE INPUTS WITH DP
PLUG-INS
If you patch a live input (such as MIDI synthesizer)
through a plug-in effect in Digital Performer, you
might hear a slight delay. There are several ways to
reduce this delay. For details, see chapter 10,
“Reducing Monitoring Latency” (page 69).
WORKING WITH CUEMIX FX MIXING AND
EFFECTS
The 896mk3 provides powerful external mixing,
EQ, compression and reverb, which you can
operate hand-in-hand with Digital Performer’s
complete mixing environment. For example, the
896mk3 can serve as a monitor mixer routing
channels to musicians, or it can serve as an
integrated extension of your Digital Performer
mixing environment. If you program an 896mk3