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Matrox MXO2 mini + AJA io
Hi All,
I posted this in the Matrox forum a few days ago, but I think that was probably too specific a forum to get many answers. Hopefully someone in here will have some experience with this scenario. Thanks!
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After 5 happy years with my dual 2.7 G5 it’s time to move up on the world. I just purchased a MacPro quad core.
I’ve been looking at the MXO2 LE as a replacement for my AJA io for SD material and as a way to finally be able to view the HD footage I edit with on an external monitor.
Over the years I kept hearing that AJA hadn’t updated their drivers for the io box so I assumed it would now gather dust in a closet. I decided to check again and what do ya know, they now have drivers for Snow Leopard. So now it looks like I can incorporate my fully functioning io box into my new system.
I think I can now get the more basic MXO2 mini, lose some of the inputs, and still have all of the HD functionality of the LE. Will this work? Do you think the io and the mini will play well together? The mini connects via PCI and the io uses firewire. It seems like I’ll be able to save $500, still have all of my SD ports, and be able to convert and view my HD material.
Thanks for any input.
Tim
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5 Replies
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I’m not familiar with the Mini’s i/o, but using it with the IO should work. I do something similar with my IO and Kona. For SD upconversion, the SD deck goes into the IO. Then SDI out of IO to SDI input of the Kona. Works great. And as Bob Zelin has pointed out, the IO has a framesync which makes capturing SD from 1/2″ & 3/4″ decks possible.
John
MacPro 8-core 2.8GHz 8 GB RAM OS 10.5.8 QT7.6.4 Kona 3 Dual Cinema 23 ATI Radeon HD 3870, 24″ TV-Logic Monitor, ATTO ExpressSAS R380 RAID Adapter, PDE enclosure with 8-drive 6TB RAID 5
FCS 3 (FCP 7.0.2, Motion 4.0.2, Comp 3.5.2, DVDSP 4.2.2, Color 1.5.2)Pro Tools HD w SYNC IO & 192 Digital I/O, Yamaha DM1000, Millennia Media HV-3C, Neumann U87, Schoeps Mk41 mics, Genelec Monitors, PrimaLT ISDN
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Installing drivers for two different capture card manufacturers in problematic. Why? They both intall capture and playback settings…a LOT of them. Unfortunately you can’t see them all in FCP…it has a limited number it will display. So it will go alphabetically and show all the AJA ones, but none of the Matrox ones. SO two cards won’t really work.
But…not all is lost. Keep that G5 and the IO as one station. Get the MXO2 LE and a Mac Pro as a NEW station. If you need SD…use the one computer, HD, use the other. Now you can do twice the work…and at the same time.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Shane’s right. I misread your post and assumed you’d keep the IO with the old Mac and use the MXO2 LE with the new. Go that way and you’ll have tremendous flexibility.
John
MacPro 8-core 2.8GHz 8 GB RAM OS 10.5.8 QT7.6.4 Kona 3 Dual Cinema 23 ATI Radeon HD 3870, 24″ TV-Logic Monitor, ATTO ExpressSAS R380 RAID Adapter, PDE enclosure with 8-drive 6TB RAID 5
FCS 3 (FCP 7.0.2, Motion 4.0.2, Comp 3.5.2, DVDSP 4.2.2, Color 1.5.2)Pro Tools HD w SYNC IO & 192 Digital I/O, Yamaha DM1000, Millennia Media HV-3C, Neumann U87, Schoeps Mk41 mics, Genelec Monitors, PrimaLT ISDN
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I have a similar setup.
I have an old Blackmagic SP card in my G5 and an MXO 2 on my Mac Pro.
I have to admit, I haven’t used the BM card in a couple years. My MXO 2 has all the ins and outs I need.
If you do put your stuff to the web or do blu-ray invest in the MXO with Max! I’d go with the MXO 2 LE if I were in your shoes.
Steve Eisen
Eisen Video Productions
Vice President
Chicago Final Cut Pro Users Group -
Thanks for the responses fellas. Please allow me to add a wrinkle.
Shane, I was intrigued with your idea of having an SD setup and an HD setup, then I quickly remembered that my reason for upgrading to a new system was the suddenly quick march to death of my G5. I don\’t think I can trust it anymore, which is why I\’m upgrading to a new system when it\’s not a great idea financially.
Anyways… I posted this question over the weekend and Matrox support returned a voicemail this morning that I\’d left on Friday asking the same question. Matrox tech support said I\’d be just fine using the MXO2 mini and the AJA io on the same system. They say they have systems like that in their support area (to keep up with the competition) and they play together just fine. I just have to power off the machine I\’m not currently using.
Oh the humanity. I\’d love to save $500 but I don\’t want to hose myself.
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