MOTU compatibility with PT9

[alithomas66]

I have a MOTU 828mk2 that I've owned for about 7 years now. I plan on purchasing Pro Tools 9 student edition fairly soon. My question is:

Are those two compatible?

And if so, is it compatible with both LE and M-Powered? I'd appreciate any and all help on this.

Thanks!

Ali

[derFunkenstein]

M-powered requires M-Audio hardware. Should work fine with the vanilla Pro Tools 9 (now 10) student version.

[alithomas66]

hey, thank you so much for your reply. what exactly do you mean by vanilla? like, which version is that..

ugh, i'm fairly proficient with working in my friends studio which is running pro tools 9, but I'm not sure of the specifications. I'm right out of college and I don't want to spend a boat load of money just yet. which kind is the best option for me?

thanks for helping out :)

[derFunkenstein]

What I mean by "vanilla" is that it should be supported by the software called "Pro Tools 9" (or 10). There's no suffix on the software that you want. They did away with "LE", which was tied to Digi/Avid hardware. Pro tools 9 and Pro Tools 10 are compatible with any Core Audio (Mac) or ASIO (Windows) interface, which your MOTU is.

[alithomas66]

Oh okay, thanks for the clarification! I see. So, basically, I'd be good.. if I purchased PT 9.

LE is out. Is PT9 M-Powered still available? I'm trying to figure out what my cheapest option is without pissing anyone off on here lol. Thanks again.

[derFunkenstein]

No sweat, that's what I'm here for.

PT MP9 is still available, but you won't be using your MOTU interface. If you're a student or teacher, $300 for PT9 Academic is a pretty good deal and still available via Amazon and around the internet. Plus it works with your interface and you'll get your upgrade to 10 for free.

If you're not a student, the absolute cheapest option is a MobilePre + MP9. I got mine from Sweetwater for $300. Or get a nicer interface like the new Fast Track - I wish I'd held off 2-3 weeks and gotten a C400+MP9 bundle for my mobile setup, though the MobilePre sounds pretty good. Comes with the iLok and a bunch of free plugins - Eleven LE, Strike, and Velvet.

If you want to go PT10 the cheapest way, bewilderingly, is to buy a PT9 + Mbox Mini setup for around $600 (I totally dig unique squared, btw, they're just as good as Sweetwater IMO). Mbox Minis are nice, but M-Audio hardware seems to get supported for much longer than Avid/Digi-branded stuff.

Once you figure out the way you want to go, and if you want to go MP, do it and then eBay your MOTU interface for $220-300, depending on the mood of the buyers that day.