JBL LSR4328 and MOTU 828MkII

[Tasa]

Hi all,

What a great forum!!! And even greater people!!
Thanks guys for helping all of us in getting there where perfect is very close.

Ok...Here is what I got.

MOTU 828MkII firewire interface, bought few days ago.
If anybody has any experience with 828...would me nice.

MOTU-828MkII..jpg

Back...8 ins, 8 outs 1/4", main stereo out (main stereo out volume control on front)
2 Mic/guitar instrument sends, ADAT, SPDIF, MIDI
front...2 mic/inst ins with pres. (two gain controls)

Motu_cuemix.jpg

This is Motu CueMix mixer.

JBL LSR3428 Monitors

Level meters are in dBFS. Specs are available online.

LSR.jpg

After that comes LA-610 and Chameleon Labs 7622.

RS 33-2055.

I need to make alignment of studio audio levels. A full calibration.

What is the right way of doing all connections?
What inputs and outputs on MOTU....
in 1&2 on the back to out 1&2 on the back or main out
in 1&2 on front with pres to out 1&2 on the back or main out

I need to know cause I guess I'll have to set ins and outs in REW and CueMix and in Windows Audio setup. It's a bit confusing.

Any help would be very nice!

[DrWho]

What exactly are you trying to do? Are you trying to measure the frequency response of the total system or just your mains or what?

Btw, did you know that you get a total of 10 A/D's with the 828mkII? I've been using a pair in the studio for a few years now and couldn't be happier. It's a great unit. You get the 8 in the back plus the two on the front panel.

I dunno exactly what you're trying to do, but I would probably just connect your monitors to the main outs from the Motu. Inside the Motu setup thing you can configure how the sound is routed to the main outs. There are various ways to deal with it that will depend on your specific application, but usually you just set the "main stereo output" of your computer to the main mix, which should also work properly with REW. You also get up to 4 submixes inside the Motu if you ever want to real time monitoring of the inputs (and it's easy to set things up to toggle back and forth between the submixes which can be real handy).

If you're hooking your measurement mic into the motu, then you want to use one of the front two inputs since they have the phantom power available.

[Tasa]

Hi there,

What I want to do is calibrate system so that I can meter K-System specs (Bob Katz).
Spectral PC, Nuendo 3.2, JBL LSR4328 + gear....is the setup. Room is small and with Auralex treatments.
I am all new to this digital measurements thing...
It used to be simple 0VU now is a bit complicated. I do not trust MOTU meters. Never had a need for calibration cause studios where I worked were already set up good. Generaly gain stages in my setup are a problem, and I don't like that.
I'd like to calibrate and measure the frequency response of the total system and mains.
Most of my problems are in the room where the system is (my friend's palce), first I want to correct levels and metering and after I will do detailed acustics in room. At the moment there is no $$$ for anything else. I know the modes of room and problematic frequencies so that is not a hudge deal to correct. And JBL's are handy in the setup, it has EQ!
Settings in REW are a bit confusing and in CueMix too...I played around with MOTU and REW few days ago
and it seams that routing was a problem. Next time I will play around bit more.
JBL Calibration is first and that is easy.
MOTU calibration is next.
Main out to ins 1&2 back (without pres) or 1&2 front (with pres) + REW ???
So if I connect Main OUT and Analog 1&2 back...REW needs to show both in settings - wright?
Well REW shows Main Out but for Input shows only Analog Input...and I guess that actual Analog Inputs are on front.
MOTU is not showing all ins and outs in REW. CueMix should show Main Out.
So correct way is MOTU Main Out to Line in 1&2 front, CueMix Main Out, REW Main Out and Analog in.
Correct me if I'm wrong. If that is all ok, setting levels with SPL meter should be easy, or it might not....we'll see!
After that I will need some guide for the rest.
Any ideas for settings in REW? Is deffault setup ok or do I have to change any settings?


Thanx,

Tasa

[DrWho]

I'm not sure if REW is the best tool for setting your meters.

As far as calibrating your system...I have found that it's easier to reference the mix when the monitors are run completely flat (no EQ). REW will definitely help you identify the problematic areas which can be extremely helpful for the first few references. If you do end up messing with EQ, then don't forget to remove it when you start messing with acoustical treatments in the future.

Btw, are you on a Mac or PC? I would imagine that you should be able to access any of the channels on your Motu from REW, but I guess that depends on how windows handles your Motu box. I would probably just start off trying to find anything that works and use that as your baseline.

[Tasa]

Thanx for reply,

In general, I want to set the system so that the gain stages are good and that I can meter ok everything.
With REW I want to do tests for MOTU and room. I want to see how all the measurements look on graphs.
I know how to set metering and that is not a problem.I reinstalled REW and it is looking good now.
all ins and outs are showing now. Since I have really bad room....I might use EQ to correct few things. I am not a fan of EQ-ing the room and I'd rather skip that part. What I wanted to say is that I have also an option of EQ-ing on JBL's.

I will let you know about the progress.

Thanx