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Measurements of Motu UltraLite mk4 (AKM DAC Version)

Sylex

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Wow, I bought my Ultralite mk4 months before you and somehow manged to get the ES9016S chips as a posted back in June. I'm in Australia and we normally get everything last. Appreciate all the testing done.
 
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hadadzhi

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Thanks a lot for the measurements and info about different DACs!
Although, can someone please answer a slightly off-topic question: does this card have separate parametric EQ controls for each output (official info suggests that it does, but a confirmation would be nice), and is the EQ any good, does it affect DAC quality? I need to correct for my room (or monitor, not sure) resonance at around 120 Hz.
On another note, does this card work on Windows 10 1903? Quick google search shows some people having problems on 1903 with Ultralite mk3 inputs not working...
 
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ppataki

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Is there any chance to measure the ESS version of the Ultralite mk4 please? Would really appreciate it
Many thanks in advance
 

DanGuitarMan

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Thanks a lot for the measurements and info about different DACs!
Although, can someone please answer a slightly off-topic question: does this card have separate parametric EQ controls for each output (official info suggests that it does, but a confirmation would be nice), and is the EQ any good, does it affect DAC quality? I need to correct for my room (or monitor, not sure) resonance at around 120 Hz.
On another note, does this card work on Windows 10 1903? Quick google search shows some people having problems on 1903 with Ultralite mk3 inputs not working...

I have the 624, but this should translate to the Ultralite. Regarding the EQs: every channel, aux in, aux out, and group has a 4 channel eq. They are very flexible with broad ranges for gain and bandwidth. Right now I'm using 10 parametric filters for room correction. You could daisy chain every aux and group together and have something like 50 EQ filters if you needed.
 

wadec22

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I thought I did and posted a thread on it. have a search. If not I still have it so can perform some measurements when I get a chance.
I only found one loop back measurement you ran on the newer version.
 

wadec22

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I will try and get time to do some measurements, no promises as to when though. Its all a bit crazy busy at the moment.

No worries. I was just curious as to how it generally performed. Did it measure better than the 8a?
 

sfabio

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March Audio

March Audio

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sfabio

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Can you post a recording of the noise?

Here are two records (umik mic at the mouth of the horn), one for the Ultralite and one for the Babyface:
RME
MOTU
it seems that the noise level is similar but the spectrum is more bothersome for the Motu, at least for my ears.
 
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ppataki

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@sfabio
I have the same issue using an Apollo Twin X thunderbolt 3 interface in combination with an NC250 amp (two of them actually since I have a 4.0 system)
Strangely enough there is no such noise when I pair the same amp with another DAC or the same DAC with another amp; only this particular combination produces the crackling noise
I have created a post here earlier but no solution
An electric engineer told me that this could be due to the large idle-state voltage that the DAC has - I am not sure
Anyway, since the sound quality of the Twin X is soooo awesome I can live with the noise + during music or movies the noise is definitely not noticeable
 

wadec22

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I have the ES mk4. Unit sure does have high stock volts. I have to use Windows volume to keep it turned down with my 887 amp on low gain
 

HionHiFi

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I’m interested in a new audio interface for both room measurements and audio component measurement and the Motu UltraLite mk4 seems like a good choice. As does the MOTU M4. The outward difference I see are with the UltraLite MK4 having Digital I/O. Do I need Digital I/O? Would they be needed or utilized per my aforementioned use case?
 

wadec22

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the mk4 has a lot more functionality. you can eq each input/output, built in compressor/mixer/level adjust - ability to adjust for each channel as well as an audio tools software suit with scope/fft analysis
 

HionHiFi

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the mk4 has a lot more functionality. you can eq each input/output, built in compressor/mixer/level adjust - ability to adjust for each channel as well as an audio tools software suit with scope/fft analysis
Thanks for that. I see.
 

sfabio

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@sfabio
I have the same issue using an Apollo Twin X thunderbolt 3 interface in combination with an NC250 amp (two of them actually since I have a 4.0 system)
Strangely enough there is no such noise when I pair the same amp with another DAC or the same DAC with another amp; only this particular combination produces the crackling noise
I have created a post here earlier but no solution
An electric engineer told me that this could be due to the large idle-state voltage that the DAC has - I am not sure
Anyway, since the sound quality of the Twin X is soooo awesome I can live with the noise + during music or movies the noise is definitely not noticeable

I've read your post and made an RF filter like Alan - March audio suggests and... no more noise!
Here two wave files recorded at the mouth of my mid-highs horn, the background hum is my pc... :rolleyes:
Motu before
Motu After
I've the Motu output directly connected to my NC500MP inputs, so the filter is very simple: one 5,6 Kohm resistor in series and one 680pF ceramic capacitor in parallel to both + and - signal.
Hope this helps :)
 
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