Mark of the Unicorn Software has announced a new, somewhat pricey digital audio input mechanism that runs through the FireWire port of your Mac.
MOTU’s new device is called the 828, a single rack-space audio interface for Macintosh. It includes eight channels of ADAT optical digital input/output (switchable to S/PDIF optical), RCA S/PDIF, eight channels of balanced 24-bit analog input/output, mic preamps and an ADAT Sync input for sample-accurate synchronization. In addition, the 828 provides CueMix Plus zero-latency monitoring of live input with separate front-panel volume control over the monitored input signal.
The MOTU 828 connects to any FireWire-equipped Mac. No PCI card or PCMCIA card is required. The 828 includes an ASIO driver for compatibility with all major audio software on both computer platforms. Also included is AudioDesk, a complete audio workstation software package for Macintosh.
The MOTU 828 FireWire interface is expected to ship this quarter for US$795.