MOTU Ultralite mk3 Hybrid

mga2009 · Jun 13, 2022

Hi,

Does anyone have any experience with the MOTU Ultralite Hybrid mk3?

The mk5 is nowhere to be seeing, and my alternatives the FR 18i20 2nd and the MOTU mk3 Hybrid. The latter seems to fit better my requirements to use it as 8+ channel DAC for a HT:
-. 10 channel output
-. You can even program the UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid to control all 14 outputs (analog and digital) with the VOL knob.
-. MOTU WDM Driver Allows any WDM-driver compatible audio software to do multichannel input and output with the UltraLite-mk3.

But i have to review nor measurements to understand if the mk3 hybrid is a good buy -maybe not SOTA- but close to the FR 18i20

Cheers

mdsimon2 · Jun 13, 2022

I would avoid it personally. If I was going to buy I would buy one used as $550 is way too much for a new one.

There is a teardown of it here -> https://khronscave.blogspot.com/2021/09/77-motu-ultralite-mk3-hybrid-part-one.html. The DAC IC is an AK4358 which has spec'd typical THD+N of -94 dB, so not exactly stellar. In general I bet it measures worse than a Focusrite 18i20 2nd gen and the I/O is more limited, only advantage is the smaller form factor.

What is your price range and I/O requirements?

Michael

mga2009 · Jun 13, 2022

mdsimon2 said:
I would avoid it personally. If I was going to buy I would buy one used as $550 is way too much for a new one.

There is a teardown of it here -> https://khronscave.blogspot.com/2021/09/77-motu-ultralite-mk3-hybrid-part-one.html. The DAC IC is an AK4358 which has spec'd typical THD+N of -94 dB, so not exactly stellar. In general I bet it measures worse than a Focusrite 18i20 2nd gen and the I/O is more limited, only advantage is the smaller form factor.

What is your price range and I/O requirements?

Michael

Michael,

Thanks for the help (again!)

Yup... THD+N of -94 dB seems a little on the low side. If they would cost around USD$180 it would still be a good buy.

I am looking for a USB 8+ channel DAC with volume control for use in a 5.1 HT . Not looking SOTA, but something on the range of a goodish AVR.

My budget is around USD$600 --> reserved exclusively for the performance of Ultralite mk5. If I am to get lower performance, I would say I am willing to spend around USD$400ish.-

Blumlein 88 · Jun 13, 2022

How do you plan to get this to work for home theater? What other gear are you connecting to make it happen? This is something lots of us would like to do because AVR's are not great performance, but it usually is rather complex to put it altogether.

mga2009 · Jun 13, 2022

Blumlein 88 said:
How do you plan to get this to work for home theater? What other gear are you connecting to make it happen? This is something lots of us would like to do because AVR's are not great performance, but it usually is rather complex to put it altogether.

I use my PC as media source. All movies, games and music are within my computer, thus having an 8 channel DAC would allow me to use it for HT. For speakers I am planning in getting 5 Kali LP6.-

Also, Equalizer APO, REW, rePhase, etc. are very powerful tools to EQ, room EQ, bass management, etc.

I know it's very limited (no HDMI input, no ATMOS) but the sound and picture quality (madVR) you can get it's very, very good without expending too much money.

Blumlein 88 · Jun 13, 2022

I haven't used madVR, but if you can output the sound over USB seems like it would work. I'd say for your budget one of the better choices is the Focusrite 18i20. I'd buy used even 1st or 2nd gen models would work. The specs on them are better than any AVR though short of SOTA. To get much better than that you'd have to exceed your budget. An Okto research DAC 8 would be perfect, but is $1100.

Review and Measurements of Okto DAC8 8Ch DAC & Amp

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Okto Research DAC8 8-channel DAC and headphone amplifier. I was sent a prototype unit for measurements. From my understanding, the company has been producing the internal DAC module for a while for the DIY market. But now are building complete...

www.audiosciencereview.com

mdsimon2 · Jun 14, 2022

mga2009 said:
Michael,

Thanks for the help (again!)

Yup... THD+N of -94 dB seems a little on the low side. If they would cost around USD$180 it would still be a good buy.

I am looking for a USB 8+ channel DAC with volume control for use in a 5.1 HT . Not looking SOTA, but something on the range of a goodish AVR.

My budget is around USD$600 --> reserved exclusively for the performance of Ultralite mk5. If I am to get lower performance, I would say I am willing to spend around USD$400ish.-

You might be able to find a used MOTU Ultralite AVB es, 8A or 624 for less than $600 and all have very similar performance to the Mk5. They all work well with Mac or Windows, if you want to use Linux then I would suggest adding a miniDSP USBstreamer as a USB to ADAT device as the MOTU AVB units do not play nice with Linux. These AVB enabled units also have a lot of enhanced network configuration ability that the Mk5 does not have.

Michael

mga2009 · Jun 14, 2022

mdsimon2 said:
You might be able to find a used MOTU Ultralite AVB es, 8A or 624 for less than $600 and all have very similar performance to the Mk5. They all work well with Mac or Windows, if you want to use Linux then I would suggest adding a miniDSP USBstreamer as a USB to ADAT device as the MOTU AVB units do not play nice with Linux. These AVB enabled units also have a lot of enhanced network configuration ability that the Mk5 does not have.

Michael

The 624 only have 6 channel analog output, so I will consider it the "worst" of the bunch.

The AVB and 8A look very good. I am reading the user guides to check if they have a "volume control" for all analog outputs (at least) or analog outputs+digital outputs. Also checking if the networking features will be used in a HT audio setup.

Also the MOTU 24ao -althou more expensive- seems to offer 24 channels for analog audio. I really don't know if this would work with Windows in a HT setup, maybe using ASIO?

mdsimon2 · Jun 14, 2022

The AVB knob won't controls all outputs, just the main outputs which will not work for you. I have not used the 624 or the 8A but I think they are similar because I remember others commenting that the Mk5 ability to control all analog outputs with a knob was an improvement over other MOTU interfaces.

Michael

dasdoing · Jul 13, 2022

did you end up buying it?

mga2009 · Jul 13, 2022

dasdoing said:
did you end up buying it?

No. I am waiting for a good price on eBay.

dasdoing · Jul 13, 2022

from what I read on elektronauts.com the MK3 is considered old generation (less stable drivers and worse converters). there seams to be no big diference between the mk4 and mk5 though. You might want to look for a used mk4

mga2009 · Jul 13, 2022

dasdoing said:
from what I read on elektronauts.com the MK3 is considered old generation (less stable drivers and worse converters). there seams to be no big diference between the mk4 and mk5 though. You might want to look for a used mk4

Thanks for the recomendation.

The mk4 is even harder to find than the mk5!

dasdoing · Jul 13, 2022

from old gen look for/into Traveler-mk3, too....if you can live with firewire

mga2009 · Jul 13, 2022

dasdoing said:
from old gen look for/into Traveler-mk3, too....if you can live with firewire

Will look into int, specially if you can control all analog outputs with one knob.

About firewire... I would eventually use a desktop PC, so adding a firewire card is not much of a problem... but I suspect the driver suppor must be very out dated. When considering the mk3 I meant the "hybrid" one, that comes with USB.

dasdoing · Jul 13, 2022

they use the same driver, check: https://motu.com/en-us/download/

somebodyelse · Jul 13, 2022

mdsimon2 said:
The AVB knob won't controls all outputs, just the main outputs which will not work for you. I have not used the 624 or the 8A but I think they are similar because I remember others commenting that the Mk5 ability to control all analog outputs with a knob was an improvement over other MOTU interfaces.

Michael

The knob won't control all the outputs, but there is the json api for those with some code skills.

mga2009 · Jul 13, 2022

somebodyelse said:
The knob won't control all the outputs, but there is the json api for those with some code skills.

Not my case!

Anyways, would you explain -in easy words- how that would work?

somebodyelse · Jul 13, 2022

mga2009 said:
Not my case!

Anyways, would you explain -in easy words- how that would work?

In what sense? Do you mean what it might look like, or how the API works? I suggested one incarnation as a potential ASR ope source project, but haven't followed up as I don't have the need for one myself. How it works is a longer story but I can try if that's what you're after. Probably belongs in another thread though, or PM.

mga2009 · Jul 14, 2022

somebodyelse said:
In what sense? Do you mean what it might look like, or how the API works? I suggested one incarnation as a potential ASR ope source project, but haven't followed up as I don't have the need for one myself. How it works is a longer story but I can try if that's what you're after. Probably belongs in another thread though, or PM.

What I meant is... how this API would work? I need a PC connected to the same network of the AVB to control volume?

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