So, I picked up a MOTU PCI-424 card to run the rack. To fill out the bus, I pulled two MOTU 24I/O units and a 2408 Mk3 out of that giant hardware haul I brought.

That gives me 72 channels of simultaneous analog and digital I/O running over AudioWire—zero latency, direct PCIe throughput, no modern USB buffer dropouts, and no multi-device aggregate driver hacks inside the DAW.

The 24I/O units give me 48 dedicated line-level TRS balanced inputs and outputs on the rear panels, which finally lets me wire every piece of outboard gear and synth directly into the patchbays without repatching mid-session. Meanwhile, the 2408 Mk3 handles the digital routing, ADAT lightpipe expansion, and SPDIF interconnects.

Is running a legacy PCI-e card on a modern motherboard an absolute exercise in driver negotiation, kernel overrides, and custom system rigging? Naturally. But once the bus sync locks up and all 72 channels light up green in the routing matrix, there’s nothing else like it.