A lil help please

I posted a while back about the best way to set up my equipment.
Mpc 2000xl, Imac, Motu 828mkii, rokit 5 monitors, basic turntable, midi controller keyboard, logic 9.

I have a MOTU 828mkii that acts funny and I am thinking of getting rid of it, but I am not sure what to get or if I should get rid of it or refurbished for $99.

when i use the motu to track out 8 tracks, i have to set up the mixer in the mpc of course. Is there away that the mixer can be on as a default. I want to hear what the mpc is doing without having to set up the mixer and adjusting levels everytime...i also want to keep the mic inputs available. Right now I have the mpc stereo outs into the mic ins of the interface, so if I need to record vocals I have to remove them. Is there away I can hear the stereo outs without using the mic ins? May sound like a dumb question but I am beginning to feel like I need an interface with more inputs.
Also when using an interface, i am able to hear the mpc without having the DAw on. When I do turn the DAW on and set it to hear the input from the mpc...the sound is doubled...sound from logic and sound directly from the interface to the speaker via the mpc...is this a good thing or should I be having one sound source going to the monitors. Lastly how can I "reroute" the interface so that have my turntable, computer etc run thru the interface and then to the record in of the mpc?...all in all I want a set up where I don't have to remove and replace cables. I also want to sample from the computer (itunes, youtube etc) and record from the turntable via the interface but I am not sure if it is possible with my set up...if not what wwill i need?
Sorry for the lengthy, noobish question but when i think I have it, i don't
Thanks

oh yeah If i do need an interface with more inputs, what would be good?

alright - you asked a lot of questions with a lot of different issues and i went a lot of times...
let's do this....

omarphi215 wrote:I have a MOTU 828mkii that acts funny and I am thinking of getting rid of it, but I am not sure what to get or if I should get rid of it or refurbished for $99.

that is one pretty bad ass interface - i would get it refurbished - but are you SURE it's messed up, or is your understanding of it messed up?

omarphi215 wrote:when i use the motu to track out 8 tracks, i have to set up the mixer in the mpc of course. Is there away that the mixer can be on as a default.

ok you lost me here...wtf do you have to 'set up' with the mixer in the mpc? are you using 8-outs of the mpc?
im going out on a limb here, assuming you mean you have the mpc 8 outs plugged into the motu and you have to somehow set the levels of the mixer in the motu...i dont know why you 'need' to do this. it should just work.

omarphi215 wrote:i also want to keep the mic inputs available. Right now I have the mpc stereo outs into the mic ins of the interface, so if I need to record vocals I have to remove them. Is there away I can hear the stereo outs without using the mic ins?

why are you using the stereo outs at all? see now i am not sure if you are using the 8 outs or not. if you are...why do you want to hear the stereo outs? regardless - if you want to keep the mic inputs open - don't plug the stereo outs into them. simple as that. so maybe it means you have to only use 6 outs of your 8-outs card....well that is just a compromise you have to make to get what you want. you can also just use headphones to monitor the stereo outs of the mpc.

omarphi215 wrote:Also when using an interface, i am able to hear the mpc without having the DAw on. When I do turn the DAW on and set it to hear the input from the mpc...the sound is doubled...sound from logic and sound directly from the interface to the speaker via the mpc...is this a good thing or should I be having one sound source going to the monitors.

this is because you are monitoring the sound coming in AND monitoring it with logic. one option is to go into logic audio preferences and turn software monitoring OFF. im sure you can also go into the motu mixer and mute the monitoring if you wanted to only monitor what you are hearing in logic (that way you could use the logic mixer).

omarphi215 wrote:Lastly how can I "reroute" the interface so that have my turntable, computer etc run thru the interface and then to the record in of the mpc?...all in all I want a set up where I don't have to remove and replace cables.

it looks like that interface has a 'send' port - so you could plug everything into the various ins on the motu then use the motu mixer to 'send' whatever channels you want to the sends which are plugged into the mpc record ins. another option is to plug one pair of motu outputs into the mpc record ins and then simply route via software various sources to those outputs - either in logic or the motu mixer or some other way.
as for recording youtube, etc....do a google search and download two programs: soundflower and sound source. sound source allows you to easily re-route your computer audio to a particular device.

basically, you've asked a lot of unrelated questions and it might be best to tackle these one at a time. finally, if you just physically dont have enough inputs, then yes you either need more inputs or you need to learn to compromise. something like a source-selector or tape routing box might also help, but again, there is really a lot of info to get into and i think you should take baby steps on this and go one thing at a time.

YO Tapedeck, thanks for taking time to try and figure out my post...it took me a while to try and figure out how to explain. I think I will refurbish it....the issue is it often cuts off in the middle of session but only when im tracking out to logic, not when it is used as a standaloone, so i assume its a firewirde issue..


as far as the mpc, yes I am using the 8 outs, going to the 8 ins of the MOTU. That said, when i power up the MPC, I have to hit "shift-mixer" and assign each of the outs 1 thru 8. If i don't do that I won't hear anything. I was wondering if there was a way to set the mpc so that all of the outs are already "on". As I type I believe when a program is saved, the mixer is saved also. the motu does use a program called cuemix, and I often have to set the levels in the program because they default to 0. hope that made sense. i am going to mess around with it some more.
thanks a million for the help !!!!!!!

omarphi215 wrote:as far as the mpc, yes I am using the 8 outs, going to the 8 ins of the MOTU. That said, when i power up the MPC, I have to hit "shift-mixer" and assign each of the outs 1 thru 8. If i don't do that I won't hear anything. I was wondering if there was a way to set the mpc so that all of the outs are already "on". As I type I believe when a program is saved, the mixer is saved also. the motu does use a program called cuemix, and I often have to set the levels in the program because they default to 0. hope that made sense. i am going to mess around with it some more.

yes, your 8 outs assignments are saved when you save a program.
you could save a 'template' program that has all the mappings already done, and then use that as a starting point whenever you make a new program.
for example, for me, pads 1-4a are always on out 1, 5-8a are always on out 2, 9-12a are always on out 3, and 13-16 usually on out 4. of course i deviate from this every now and then, but if i stick to it, all my stuff works together nicer. but yes there comes a time when you gotta just buckle down and go through and assign your samples.
then just save the program

as for having to set the levels each time, well just get used to it. you either do it in cuemix, or you do it in logic, or you do it on an external mixer.

again i would consider just cutting down on the outs you use cause youll get more flexibility that way. for example i mainly just use 4 because my mixer (external hardware) has 4 channels that have direct outs - so i can route these to the daw, but still use my mixer for monitoring - logic still gets the full level signal from the direct outs. in your case id start to use 6 outs maybe so that leaves two inputs on the back of the motu for other stuff.

point being theres a million ways to do it - just understand the concepts and what is going on and then you can make your own decisions.

Word, you have helped me start to understand the concept. I used to use a lexicon lambda interface using the stereo out from the mpc. I lucked up and got the motu and figured I can save alot of time using the eight outs. in that saved time I could then focus a bit more on how to mix etc. I recently decided to focus more on working in the mpc, and tracking out to logic to add effects sinc ei don't have the eb16...but i do eventually want to integrate everything to creat beats (drumset, keys, live bass, and guitar)

No doubt lamp.