MOTU Intros Ultralite-mk3 Firewire + USB 2 Audio Interface

motu-ultralite-mk3

Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU) has announced the 10 input/14 output Ultralite-mk3, an audio interface that they say is the first ever “hybrid” audio interface, offering FireWire and USB 2 connectivity to Mac and PC computers.

They haven’t put up official availability or pricing info yet. If you know anything on this, leave a comment.

Details on the Ultralite-mk3 below.

Feature summary

  • Hybrid FireWire/USB2 connectivity — connect to your computer via either bus-powered FireWire or hi-speed USB2.
  • CueMix FX™ — flexible 10 input/14 bus mixer with on-board DSP effects, including reverb with sends/returns, plus EQ and compression on every input and output.
  • 10 inputs / 14 outputs — there’s no channel sharing in the UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid; the mic inputs, S/PDIF I/O, headphone out and main outs are all handled as separate channels.
  • Classic Reverb™ — provides five different room types, three frequency shelves with adjustable crossover points, shelf filtering and reverb lengths up to 60 seconds.
  • Two forms of compression — a standard compressor with conventional threshold/ratio/attack/release/gain controls and the Leveler™, an accurate model of the legendary LA-2A optical compressor, which provides vintage, musical automatic gain control.
  • Modeled EQ — provides 7-band parametric EQ modeled after British analog console EQs, featuring 4 filter styles (gain/Q profiles) to effectively cover a wide range of audio material. LP and HP filters are also supplied with slopes that range from 6 to 36 dB.
  • CueMix FX cross-platform mixing software — attractive graphic mixing, graphic editing of parametric EQ and a convenient tabbed interface for quick access to all features in one window. Also provides full-screen real-time FFT display, spectrogram “waterfall” display, oscilloscope, X-Y plot and linear or polar phase analysis.
  • Front-panel control — access any setting in your entire UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid mix directly from the front panel.
  • “Reverb return” stream — allows users to record or mix UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid reverb output separately in their DAW. Effects can also be applied when the UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid is operating stand-alone (without a computer) as a complete stand-alone mixer.
  • Stand-alone operation — program your mixes at the studio and then bring the UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid to your gig — no computer needed. Just plug in the included power adapter and you are ready to go. Need to tweak the mix? Do it on site using the back-lit LCD and front-panel controls.
  • Multiple CueMix FX mixes — for example, create different monitor mixes for the main outs and headphones. Or add send/return loops for outboard gear — with no latency.
  • Two combo jacks provide hi-Z 1/4” guitar input or low-Z XLR mic input with phantom power, pad and plenty of gain.
  • Eight 24-bit 192kHz analog inputs and outputs on balanced/unbalanced 1/4″ TRS jacks
  • Precision Digital Trim™ — Digitally controlled analog trim on all analog inputs (mic/guitar inputs + quarter-inch TRS inputs) provides accurate adjustements in 1 dB increments. Fine-tune the balance of your analog inputs and then save/recall trim configurations.
  • Direct Digital Synthesis™ (DDS) — a DSP-driven phase lock engine and internal clock source that produces imperceptibly low jitter characteristics (below the noise floor), even when the UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid is resolved to an external clock source via SMPTE time code.
  • Time code support — directly resolves to (or generates) time code via any quarter-inch input or output, without the need for an extra synchronizer.
  • Sample-accurate MIDI — connect a MIDI controller and/or sound module with no separate interface needed. MIDI I/O is sample-accurate with supporting software.
  • Expandable — add additional interfaces for more I/O as your needs grow.
  • Separate TRS main outs with front panel volume control.
  • Stereo 24-bit 96kHz S/PDIF in/out.
  • Includes drivers for Mac & PC, including ASIO, WDM, Wave, Core Audio, and Core MIDI. Supports all popular Mac and Windows audio software.
  • 100% compatible with all host-based effects processing in today’s popular audio programs.
  • Includes AudioDesk full-featured sample-accurate workstation software for the Mac with recording, editing, mixing, real-time 32-bit effects processing & sample-accurate sync.
  • Plug-and-play operation with your Mac or PC via FireWire or USB2.
  • Front panel volume control for monitoring. Stereo, Quad, 6.1, 7.1 and user-defined surround monitoring setups available.
  • Front panel headphone jack with volume control.
  • Bus-powered FireWire operation. No need for external power when operating as a FireWire interface connected to a computer. A power supply is included for stand-alone operation.

10 thoughts on “MOTU Intros Ultralite-mk3 Firewire + USB 2 Audio Interface

  1. I have the older MK3 version and I have had some problems as with many other people. I did find that it was my computer that was causing some of the problems with some crackling and some high pitch sound coupled with the audio dropped out. I had to do some tweaking here and there to get the interface working just right. Other than that it's a great piece of hardware. I went through several other interfaces from other manufactures with in a couple of months and the MOTU is the best….so far. I love the fact that it has the numerous ins and outs which helps when jamming with other people. I hope I can upgrade my older MOTU software to the new one.

  2. I have the older MK3 version and I have had some problems as with many other people. I did find that it was my computer that was causing some of the problems with some crackling and some high pitch sound coupled with the audio dropped out. I had to do some tweaking here and there to get the interface working just right. Other than that it's a great piece of hardware. I went through several other interfaces from other manufactures with in a couple of months and the MOTU is the best….so far. I love the fact that it has the numerous ins and outs which helps when jamming with other people. I hope I can upgrade my older MOTU software to the new one.

    1. Hey man,

      Can you please let us know what tweaking was done to remove the high pitch sound?!

      I am using Motu Ultralite mk3 with windows 7 on a laptop, using ableton live 7

      Thank you very much

  3. I have the older MK3 version and I have had some problems as with many other people. I did find that it was my computer that was causing some of the problems with some crackling and some high pitch sound coupled with the audio dropped out. I had to do some tweaking here and there to get the interface working just right. Other than that it's a great piece of hardware. I went through several other interfaces from other manufactures with in a couple of months and the MOTU is the best….so far. I love the fact that it has the numerous ins and outs which helps when jamming with other people. I hope I can upgrade my older MOTU software to the new one.

  4. my $5 sigmatel audio works much better then this troublesome, annoying MOTU-box-thing.
    after 2 days strugglng with it i sent it back where it came from. hope i get a refund for this disaster.

  5. Hi,

    I just bought and mkIII hybrid and I also have some crackling and some high pitch sound, what have you done on tweaking,

    Thanks,

    Herb

  6. After contacting the motu tech support team, they helped me resolve this ISSUE. I had to BUY a new FIREWIRE pci card with a TEXAS INSTRUMENT chipset. WORKS GREAT now!

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