Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU) UltraLite 10x14 FireWire Interface with MIDI
No longer available at zZounds
Your compact bus-powered portable studio is ready to go.
Overview
Your compact bus-powered portable studio is ready to go
The UltraLite bus-powered FireWire audio interface delivers everything you need to turn your laptop or desktop Mac or PC into a mobile 24-bit, 96kHz recording studio with 10 inputs and 14 outputs. And because it's bus-powered, the UltraLite gives you the ultimate freedom to make music anywhere, anytime.
Ultralite
Housed in sturdy yet lightweight aluminum alloy, the UltraLite provides 2 mic/instrument inputs with preamps, 48V phantom power, front-panel gain adjust and three-way pad switch. There is plenty of additional analog I/O via 6 balanced line-level quarter-inch (TRS) inputs and ten analog TRS outputs for a total of 8 analog ins and 10 analog outs. You also get stereo S/PDIF digital I/O, a dedicated stereo headphone output and MIDI I/O for your controller keyboard and other gear.
Connect all of your studio gear, including microphones, guitars, synths, keyboards, drum machines and even effects processors. Then monitor all of these live inputs via the UltraLite's main outs, headphone jack or any other output--with virtually no monitoring latency and no processor drain on your computer. You can even create separate monitor mixes for the main outs, headphones and other outputs. Control everything, including talk-back and listen-back, from the included CueMix Console
The UltraLite bus-powered FireWire audio interface delivers everything you need to turn your laptop or desktop Mac or PC into a mobile 24-bit, 96kHz recording studio with 10 inputs and 14 outputs. And because it's bus-powered, the UltraLite gives you the ultimate freedom to make music anywhere, anytime.
Ultralite
Housed in sturdy yet lightweight aluminum alloy, the UltraLite provides 2 mic/instrument inputs with preamps, 48V phantom power, front-panel gain adjust and three-way pad switch. There is plenty of additional analog I/O via 6 balanced line-level quarter-inch (TRS) inputs and ten analog TRS outputs for a total of 8 analog ins and 10 analog outs. You also get stereo S/PDIF digital I/O, a dedicated stereo headphone output and MIDI I/O for your controller keyboard and other gear.
Connect all of your studio gear, including microphones, guitars, synths, keyboards, drum machines and even effects processors. Then monitor all of these live inputs via the UltraLite's main outs, headphone jack or any other output--with virtually no monitoring latency and no processor drain on your computer. You can even create separate monitor mixes for the main outs, headphones and other outputs. Control everything, including talk-back and listen-back, from the included CueMix Console
Reviews
Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.
(53 ratings)
Submitted December 10, 2006 by a customer from atlanticbb.net
"The Ultralite is Ultra Nice."
This review has been selected by our experts as particularly helpful.
This unit is almost the perfect device. With some software improvements, it could very well be a 10.
Sound
The MOTU Ultralite is an awesome audio interface. It may not have quite the sound of an apogee, but it is nice. I have had virtually no problems using it on both windows and mac machines. It is picky about the firewire chip you are using. MOTU recommends using a Texas Instruments based firewire port, but i did have a problem with a built-in firewire port on a Gigabyte motherboard, and it was a Texas Instruments chipset. However, once i plugged it into a port on a PCI card everything was great, and every other firewire port i have ever plugged it into (weather it was a pc, Mac, Desktop, Laptop, whatever) it has worked flawless. It does work best with my MacBook Pro (Duh!). It would be nice if the "Cue Mix Console" had some EQ's on the channels, or supported some plug-ins on the channels.
Features
The UltraLite came with everything i would need. The included "AudioDesk" software is actually just Digital Performer with the MIDI functions stripped out. I don't use it beacause i need the Virtual Instruments. I personaly recommend Digital Performer 5.11 with the Intel based Macs. Another cool thing is that they give you the longest firewire cable i've ever seen come with any device.
Ease of Use
If you have any experience with external audio interfaces, the Ultralite is going to… read more be a walk in the park.
Quality
The Ultralite is housed in a very rugged cast aluminium chassis. But i am very careful with mine as i am always using it in various clubs and venues.
Value
Awesome price for this high quality unit.
Manufacturer Support
I have never had any problems with the Ultralite unit. I did have a problem using it with a certain buggy firewire port, as i have previously mentioned. The MOTU techs were quick to work with me on an unsolvable problem.
The Wow Factor
This is a nice looking unit. It is ultra portable. I carry a 15" MacBook Pro, The UltraLite, Headphones, A Lacie 320GB External Hard Drive, a 6 outlet power strip, all my cables and power supplies in my wenger backpack.
Musical Background:
Active performing musician
Musical Style:
Trans Genre read less
Sound
The MOTU Ultralite is an awesome audio interface. It may not have quite the sound of an apogee, but it is nice. I have had virtually no problems using it on both windows and mac machines. It is picky about the firewire chip you are using. MOTU recommends using a Texas Instruments based firewire port, but i did have a problem with a built-in firewire port on a Gigabyte motherboard, and it was a Texas Instruments chipset. However, once i plugged it into a port on a PCI card everything was great, and every other firewire port i have ever plugged it into (weather it was a pc, Mac, Desktop, Laptop, whatever) it has worked flawless. It does work best with my MacBook Pro (Duh!). It would be nice if the "Cue Mix Console" had some EQ's on the channels, or supported some plug-ins on the channels.
Features
The UltraLite came with everything i would need. The included "AudioDesk" software is actually just Digital Performer with the MIDI functions stripped out. I don't use it beacause i need the Virtual Instruments. I personaly recommend Digital Performer 5.11 with the Intel based Macs. Another cool thing is that they give you the longest firewire cable i've ever seen come with any device.
Ease of Use
If you have any experience with external audio interfaces, the Ultralite is going to… read more be a walk in the park.
Quality
The Ultralite is housed in a very rugged cast aluminium chassis. But i am very careful with mine as i am always using it in various clubs and venues.
Value
Awesome price for this high quality unit.
Manufacturer Support
I have never had any problems with the Ultralite unit. I did have a problem using it with a certain buggy firewire port, as i have previously mentioned. The MOTU techs were quick to work with me on an unsolvable problem.
The Wow Factor
This is a nice looking unit. It is ultra portable. I carry a 15" MacBook Pro, The UltraLite, Headphones, A Lacie 320GB External Hard Drive, a 6 outlet power strip, all my cables and power supplies in my wenger backpack.
Musical Background:
Active performing musician
Musical Style:
Trans Genre read less
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