Thats a tough one as some people have good luck with the WDM drivers for the MOTU stuff on Win2K or XP but some people have absolutely no luck at all...
The parellel port device port is a tough one especially when using a parellel port dongle..for Cubase or Nuendo..typically the dongles don't always allow for good throughput data from a MIDI device such as the MTP AV
It really depends on the mainboard and chipset being used really...
Opus

Heres a brief history of what I've been through with my PCI324/1224:

1) Built an AMD/XP system with a Gigabyte GA7DXR(AMD760 NB, VIA686B SB), XP1800 CPU, 512 PC2400 Cosair Memory. Under XP, Wave driver refused to even start. Under 98SE and ME, it worked but I had to reboot often as it would drag the PCI bus down to a crawl after a while).

2) Sold the AMD system and built a P4/Rambus rig with the Abit TH7II-R (Intel 850), P41.6 Northwood, and 512 PC800 Samsung. Motu worked same as above exactly. 98/ME...fine. XP or 2000..Code 10 error: "Wave driver cannot start".

3) Finally I purchased an Asus P4TE. Put the same cpu and memory on it, reinstalled my dual boot-up: 98se/XP. Same thing on 98se, worked fine and didn't have to reboot as often. On XP, I ran the install for the Motu, shut down and added the hardware, rebooted and crossed my fingers. Wham!! Wave driver started right up and my Motu now works better than it ever did.

My conclusion... Motu is very choosey about its mobo, expecially when you run it under XP or 2000. All I can say is try it on your system and see.

Make an even bigger leap, GET A MAC! The MOTU hardware (and software) was disigned for Macs.

Here's my experience with a MOTU 24i and MOTU 2408 MK2 with PCI 324 and various motherboards and os's.

Win98se running on Celeron 450mhz (p3) asus p3bf mobo. Runs great.

Upgrade above system to win2k. Unfortunately, too slow to run, probably due to lack of memory (128mb).

Build a new system with Athlon 1.0ghz and Iwill KK266mobo. Loaded win2k. Works wonderfully.

Current system:
Build a new system with P4 1.6ghz MSI 845E max2 mobo and 512MB.

Load XP, nothing I tried can get rid of the stuttering audio. I didn't try Opus's XP optimization stuff, so the combination of things there might have helped.

Loaded win2k, everything works fine without any optimizations.

Steve Hong
http://www.greenfiredigital.com

Well . . . I went with the XP (Pro). Should have gone with the Windows 2000?!?!?

I can't get MOTU's Midi Timepiece AV (Parellel port version) to work. Followed instructions to the "T"! Interestingly, the computer is telling me that the "MOTU Parellel Midi Interface" is properly installed!!!

I've been trying to solve this problem for the past two day. Been posting on Steinberg's forum for Cubase (SX) users. Recieved some thoughtful suggestions which I tried and which, unfortunately, didn't work.

I configured the computer's parellel port to be compatibale with the MTPAV ("Printer Port LPT1", etc. . .) as suggested by MOTU and various responses by the people at the Steinberg forum. Still, no luck.

Understand that I had a dependable system using the MTPAV and 2408 mkII using Windows ME! I just don't understand why there is such a problem using the XP operating system. Of course, I am not a computer expert . . . but it still doesn't make sense to me.

Any suggestion??? I want to use the MTPAV because I've had a couple of successful years using this device along with my ADAT and computer. Is the USB version of the MTPAV more friendly towards the XP operating system??? I would consider getting the USB version if I knew that it was more dependable (although I would like to avoid spending the extra $$$).

I'm a Logic user who felt the sting of the Apple/Emagic deal. I love the LAWP program and still plan on using this program!!! But I did "upgrade" to Steinberg's SX program which, as you know, requires the XP or 2000 operating system. (I look foward to continued support for the SX program which unfortunately will not exist for the LAWP program :( )

In reading Steve Hong's post, it seems like that Windows 2000 should have been the way to go. Still I've read other posts which claim dependability with XP, the MOTU hardward and the SX program. I'm confused. . .

My computer is a Dell workstation 420:

PIII 733
512 MB of DDRAM
two 7200rpm hard drives
Plextor 12/10/32S
LAWP 5.1
Wavelab 4.0
MTPAV
MOTU 2408 mkII
Various other audio programs
And, of course, the XP operating system (Formerly the Windows ME).

Again, thank you for your kind suggestions.

Respectfully,

Ted Fiebke, RN
TOO LIVE NURSE
efiebke@toolivenurse.com" target="_blank

What motherboard do you have? With the Motu, its everything. Also under XP, you must set the playback buffer in the console to its lowest setting of 64 to get rid of the audio glitches. But not to worry...That is the best setting to have anyway for the latency issues.

Wow.....so 64 all the time? What happens when you start transfering multiple tracks..i.e over 8 channels...Also when you add plugins? I don't know of any card that you can keep the buffers that low from start to finish on a 24 or more track project...as you add plug ins you start to close the PCI bus down some...thus you start botlleknecking...so you open the buffer size to open it up...now, If that is the case on the Motu stuff with XP I would then rethink that move completely!
Opus

Originally posted by KeithW:
What motherboard do you have? With the Motu, its everything. Also under XP, you must set the playback buffer in the console to its lowest setting of 64 to get rid of the audio glitches. But not to worry...That is the best setting to have anyway for the latency issues.

I don't know what company made the motherboard. It is a Dell Workstation. Do they use Intell Motherboards??

I'm inches away in purchasing the USB based MTPAV. Before I take this plunge, is there any issues with MOTU's usb-based MTPAV device??

With regards to the 2408, I used a fairly low buffer setting while using the Windows ME . . . 512 or 1024. Honestly, everything worked so well for me just a few days ago.

Of course, I could always go back to ME. But after spending a few days with the XP operating system, I grew to know and like it better . . . except for the MTPAV fiascal.

Regards,

Ted

First of all, ME is the worst o/s of all time expecially with the MOTU. Hate to be blunt like that but its been rule-of-thumb for quite some time to stay away from it.
Second, I don't know what the Dell has in it but after my experiences for the last two years with the Pci-324, I would not trust anything but an Asus board with it. Asus just seems to have the PCI and memory handling power that the Motu likes.
Third, In response to Opus, I recently transfered 10 tracks in real time (8 Analog 2 Aes/Ebu), into Samplitude. Our new project is one 30 minute-long medly, and I had to make 3 passes to get everything. I did all this in one session under XP using a 64 buffer size without encountering any problems or the pci bus getting slow. I am running 38 tracks so far with 2 RenVerbs, 3 L2's, 2 Waves LinMultibands, and a bunch of EQ's and other compressors and still everything running ok. The Motu is just weird like that.
Bottom line: With the right setup and configuration Motu can really rock. Without...It can be a real nightmare.

Oh, as far as your midi device, go for the usb. Thats what I use under XP and it seems to work great.

Originally posted by KeithW:
Oh, as far as your midi device, go for the usb. Thats what I use under XP and it seems to work great.

Actually, I purchased the USB-based MTPAV . . . all is well. Since upgrading to XP, Emagic's LAWP 5.1 program holds a tight sync between audio and midi . . . and hasn't crashed (yet); the sync with the ADAT seems to work fine. I'm a happy camper. It's a shame that the parellel version of MOTU's Midi Timepiece AV does NOT seem to jive with Windows XP. That device has served me well for the past couple of years using 98SE or ME.

With regards to Window's ME operating system. Yep, I've heard horror stories regarding ME. I am not a computer expert by any means. But ME has done me well. The set-up was very dependable. I just followed directions as best as I can (provided by the generous minds of people from forums like "recording.org" or "logic-users", etc). Once everything was in place and functioning dependably, I didn't touch a thing and just made music and recordings. . . . .

. . . . up until now when I "touched" the computer way too much in a nerve-wracking attempt to prepare the computer for Steinberg's SX. Actually, I've grown to like the XP operating system. I've even started optimizing XP for audio recording (as I had done with ME and 98SE) and things are looking great . . . again thanks to the great minds of these music-based forums.

With regards to the Apple/Emagic adventure. . . Business will be businesss. I'm saddend that Apple/Emagic will no longer support its Window's based customers. However, I'm totally happy with the LAWP program. I plan on using the program for quite a while. Although I did purchase the Steinberg's "for those who got shafted by Apple" upgrade to the SX program. . . and I had to upgrade the operating system for the SX program . . . I was planning on upgrading the operating system to either 2000 or XP anyhow. Things just got done sooner that I I had planned. I am looking forward to learning the SX program. . . bottom line, I'm a software junky. I'm sure there will be the usual wrinkles to iron out. But I'm also sure that the SX will more than suit my needs. . . and I look forward to working with a company that will support it's products and customers. However! I love the LAWP program. Still going to use the LAWP. . . and happily so.

Again, thank you for your posts. I'll continue lurking about . . . picking up valuable recording tips here and there. . . and even place the occasional "panic posting" if something should go terribly wrong (like what happend with the MTPAV thingy).

This is a wonderful forum. The talents and suggestions are respected. The humor is fun too! :)

Peace,

Ted Fiebke, RN
TOO LIVE NURSE

Originally posted by Edward Fiebke:
[This is a wonderful forum. The talents and suggestions are respected. The humor is fun too! :)
]

Yes..cool forums but who says we're trying to be humorous?!! :p

Indeed..Windows ME is considered the Microsoft bastard child...it came and went with no recognition or care by anyone...
I'm sure microsoft lost money on that one(no big deal to them I'm sure tho!)
I'll say it again..MOTU is Mac based..plain and simple..their stuff is cool..the fact that you can get 72 channels off of one PCI card is killer...but their support for the PC side is lacking in every aspect...especially legacy products..besides..like any hardware manufacturer you want people to use the new stuff..so offering limited support makes you do just that...
Opus