Powerbook G4 17" And Motu 896hd, Powerbook G4 17" and Motu 896HD Options

[millerdg99]

I'm curious about the Motu 896HD working with my Powerbook G4 if I run an external firewire hard drive along with the 896. If anyone has ever done this, I would like to know if it works or not. I want to be able to keep all audio on the external drive (obviously), while also connecting the 896HD through firewire all on the laptop itself. I know my 17" powerbook is a good system, so it should be able to handle this setup, but I'm worried about the external hard drive being able to send / receive the data quickly enough all through firewire. I also have a firewire 800 port available, so I'm wondering if maybe I would need a firewire 800 drive instead of 400 to connect to a separate port?

If anyone has any comments / ideas please respond!

Thanks!

[breeyark]

I have the exact system you are describing and it works great.

I have a 17 inch G4 Powerbook, with the 896 HD running from my FW400 port. I then have a La Cie 250GB HD running from my FW800 port. I use Logic Pro with this setup. For a midi interface, I use the Novation Remote 25, which is via my USB port, and I have that controlling anything MIDI in my setup. For now, all I have is a "vintage" Roland R8 that I use for it's sounds.

Only thing I can recommend with this setup is to ensure that you have a lot of RAM. I have 1GB, and in Logic, I have to maximize my buffer size or else I get delays. Another buggy thing about my setup is the transport controls on my Remote 25. I find that hitting stop twice really fast when I want to restart a loop, can get my system in get into an infinite loop of repeating the first bit of a measure. It's all cool though...workaround is to re-intialized MIDI from Logic. Usually clears it.

The 896HD itself is pretty damn amazing. Transparent, built right, and great control. The next step for me is to pick up a Mackie Universal Controller or something similar. It would make setting levels and eq on the 896HD much simpler.

The only thing I have to figure out now is how to master my tunes, but that is part of my continuing education with Logic and the 896HD.

But, I recommend this setup to anyone. Small and portable, it's pretty damn powerful.