monads

Motu 896 & Neutrik Connectors

Quick question, maybe dumb, but I’m a noob so please don’t beat me up I’ve been researching Audio Interfaces for quite awhile now and its come down to the Motu 828, and 896 for my 1.25 G4 OSX with Logic 6. My question is with the 896 and the 1/4"/XLR Neutrik combo connectors and connecting my Motif 6. Is it possible to just use TS cables and plug it directly into these Neutrik combo connectors? Or do I need an Audio Interface like the 828 that has 6 1/4" TRS jacks to connect the TS cables?

Usb & Midi Cables

Can someone please explain to me what the difference is between connecting a keyboard/controller via USB cable and traditional Midi cables are? I know the later you need a midi interface. I read that the USB transfer rate is faster and you can switch channels to rout different midi data. Am I missing something?

Audio Interface Software

Ok, so for some audio interfaces I see the driver support for OS X but the bundled software to configure the unit looks to be for OS 9. A perfect example would be the Echo Layla 24. Do I not need the software and can just configure everything through Core Audio?

Mlan8e And Os X 10.2.4

Does anyone know if the expansion board (mLAN8E) for the Yamaha Motif will work with OS X? I know 10.2.4 supports mLAN but it doesn't look like there are drivers fo the expansion board. Anyone?