Hello,
I just wanted to know if the 8 stereo firewire output channels of the motif (having the expansion card installed) are usable under Cubase when using another audio interface as the primary audio interface.

I know that I can not use several audio interfaces at once under Cubase. But as I load the Motif Rack VST Plugin there seem to be several plugin output channels available in the VST Instruments list next to the plugin. Are these channels usable when running Cubase with my Rme audio interface? I do not own the firewire expansion yet but maybe someone is using this kind of setup already successfully. So please let me know :)!

Greetings
Thomas

I know that I can not use several audio interfaces at once under Cubase.

You say you know that you cannot use another audio interface. The mLAN16E2 is an audio interface for the Motif-Rack XS. If you are using it as your audio interface, you canot use another audio interface at the same time.

So, no, you cannot use the RME with the 8 Stereo audio outputs of the mLAN16E2.

Thanks for Your answer… I was thinking of an integration like the one of an Access Virus TI… There the audio transfer is done somehow by the plugin (and the drivers installed underneath). So it doesn’t matter which audio interface You use - You just insert the plugin and have 3 stereo channels available from that vst. So when I looked at the motif plugin in Cubase Vst Window there were also 8 plugin output channels showing up so You say that these are only usable when running Cubase with the motif as audio interface?

Thanks for Your help!
Thomas

when I looked at the motif plugin in Cubase Vst Window there were also 8 plugin output channels showing up so You say that these are only usable when running Cubase with the motif as audio interface?

I don’t believe that is what I said. The 8 stereo outputs are available when you are using the mLAN16E2 as your audio interface. The DAW you use is really up to you. It simply must be VST3 compatible. VST3 compatibility will slowly become a standard available in all the major popular DAWs. Cubase is a Steinberg product (Steinberg invented VST protocol, so quite naturally it showed first in their own products). I believe STUDIO ONE is also VST3 compatible, and someone here reported Ableton Live now is as well (although I had not personally heard that one).

The Motif XS is external hardware to the computer so setting up routing to/from it is a bit different from VSTi’s where the audio is generated within the computer. Part of the charm (for lack a better term) in the sound of the XS is the fact that it is external. It has its own powerful synth engine that asks 0 resources from the computer, its own PART EQ’s, its own world class Effects, etc., etc., etc.

So you can understand. The VST Instrument setup starts by sending MIDI data from a track routed to the “Motif XS VST” (MIDI OUT = Motif XS VST). That data triggers the tone engine of the external hardware. The XS generates the audio - you assign each PART as necessary to the available output buses - this RETURNS audio via the 8 Stereo buses to your DAW.

If you are using an audio interface other than the mLAN16E2, you will be limited by the audio connection you make to that interface. If your audio interface has only a stereo analog input, you will be limited to just a single stereo pair. If it has 4 inputs, you can additionally use the two Assignable Outputs. If you have an audio interface that accepts S/PDIF… then you can connect it but again it will be just a single stereo pair of outputs.

The only way that the Motif XS can output 16 audio buses is via the mLAN16E2/Firwire connection.

If you use the mLAN16E2 port connected to a computer running the Motif XS VST Editor - you will have 8 stereo pairs of outputs.

If you use the mLAN16E2 port connected to a computer running a DAW capable of receiving audio via an EXTERNAL INSTRUMENT routing scenario, you can configure the 16 audio buses in an extremely flexible manner. For example, if you are running Cubase 4.5.x, or Cubase 5 and setup the Motif XS as an EXTERNAL INSTRUMENT, you can setup to use the L/R stereo bus plus 14 assignables as your need. The 14 assignables can then be configured as odd/even stereo pairs or as mono sends as you require. 

Setting up the EXTERNAL INSTRUMENT function in Cubase 5

You can also do this kind of routing using the more advanced DAWs - Motifator member “motif8mine” has a tutorial on how to setup this routing situation for Logic.

The key is understanding the signal flow: DAW MIDI data > audio engine > audio RETURNS > DAW