I'm "eating crow".  I ran into a person, at the local Guitar Center, that has an MOTU 896mk3 Hybrid.  He agreed to show me his setup and gave me a run down (explanation) of Cue Mix and how to route items.  I had returned the 896mk3 Hybrid I had and exchanged it for a Presonus Studio 192.  The Presonus worked for 1 day and then developed a problem that it would not power off (unless unplugged from AC power).  I returned that for another MOTU 896mk3 Hybrid.  I now have the 896mk3 Hybrid installed and configured the way I want it.  Too bad I didn't run across the guy when I first got the MOTU or the "saga" would not have developed.   I've tracked some Bass (using a Tech 21 Sans Amp Bass DI), the first use of the interface and it worked perfectly and great sound. 

Okay, hope the crow was cooked and not raw.
I've had mine for a little over 24 hours, so I have a question.  The first page I come to is a sheet in the user guide is a sheet titled "Part 1 Getting Started".  The next page is a front view of the Motu 896mk3.  #12 is the Main Out and the associated text below says see page 95, Monitor Group.

I'm still reading the manual.  If I assign any outputs to the monitor group can't they be heard through the Main Out 1/4" phone jack?  I thought that is how it works.

How did you finally get your interface working?
 
Did you use the audio or reverb returns inside sonar, or what did you do?

Do you mean w/CueMix?  I haven't got into it yet.
 
I just got an Ultralite-mk3 Hybrid, days before the mk4's came out, but the setup was straight forward.
 
 

I'm using direct monitoring, not the "echo" in Sonar.  I have "Phones" set to "Follow Active Mix".  I have "Mixes" Analog 1 - 5 and Bus 1 enabled (unmuted).  I feed my headphone distribution amp from the front panel "Phones" jack.  I have the Main Out (rear panel Left/Right) connected to my studio monitors.  I assume I could have also connected them via TRS plug to the front.  That separates the Master Volume control (for monitors) and the Phones level control for the headphones.  That also allows muting the studio monitors with the Main Volume control (pushing in will enable or mute the studio monitors).  It would have been better if the Phones output had a jack on the rear panel, it would have eliminated a front cable as my Behringer PowerPlay Pro 8 headphone distribution amp's input jacks are on the rear panel. 
 
 
I had to use a USB 2.0 port to get it to work correctly.  I had originally installed it on a USB 3.0 port (not to try and increase speed, which it won't) as that is where I had the previous interface unit (a Roland Octa-Capture) connected, that worked OK.  However, I was getting intermittent static noise on the output - ONLY in Sonar - with the 896mk3 Hybrid connected to the USB 3.0 port. I switched some other gear around to get the USB 2.0 port and it is now "settled down".
 
 

An additional comment.  I have a Firewire port on my motherboard but its a "VIA 1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller" and not a T.I.  I decided to try the 896mk3 Hybrid anyway and see how it worked.  Surprisingly it works OK except the lowest I can go with Firewire connection (44.1Khz) is 96 samples.   I can go down to 64 samples with USB.

I play sax (all my life), hence the name.
I DID also hook into USB3 because I have a card thinking I might increase the speed, but have read that 2.0 is all that is required.  If I start to hear pops/static I'll know what to do.  Thanks for that.

Yes, what I've read is the front 1/4" and two balanced XLR for the mains are hardwired.  I did read about "follow active mix" so that is probably what I will do.

I have the Roland VS-2480 4xVSF3 boards & plugins, Triton LE & Casio Keyboards, Midi TimePieceAV USB since 2005, TC-Helicon VoiceLive Rack, old guitar-to-midi Terratec Producer Axon w/Module, GSP1101, a WX5 WindSynth and various other gear, so I have a lot to hook up.
 
My reason for purchasing the audio Motu is getting audio into and out of the VS-2480 is near impossible these days.  My rewriteable dvds/cds have become scratched and the recorder has become so much touchier and harder to deal with even with pristine recommended disks.
 
That is where the 896mk3 comes to the rescue.  But I've gotten so much more than I bargained for with CueMix and the built in 16 channel (8 bus stereo) mixer that's built in -- a huge plus imo.  Now it's just a matter of getting everything hooked up and routed.  All my cables come today!  :)
 
Also recently, just before my 896mk3 hybrid purchase I bought a FA-08, that is my midi-to-audio workhorse.  The sounds seem so much better than Casio or even the Triton-LE, but honestly I've never fully explored the Triton sounds that I have.  Since I have the early midi Motu and all the keyboard and other modules (Axon & JV-1010) outputs are audio, and the FA-08 will take ANY midi file and spit out good quality audio wav files per midi track, it seems that AudioDesk 4.0 might fit my needs without all of the synth stuff because I'm not into that sound.
 
I'm glad you've persevered with the 896mk3 and stuck with it (in a roundabout sort of way).  I too am a computer guy -- Sr. Systems Software Programmer/Analyst.  I'm just kind of upset with Roland that they've hidden the SysEx commands and proprietary file formats that they use in the FA, at least for now.
 
I own an early release of Finale that came with make music.  A light version of Cubase came with the Axon.  I own the OmniPak and Audiophile versions of Band-In-A-Box, so I use RealTracks right now for a 'light' DAW, but ALL of my mixing is hardware based and automated...  the VS-2480 recently combined with the 896mk3 once I get it hooked up.

I did look at Cakewalk years ago just after I bought Finale and it looked really good, and I"ve heard really good things about it back then.  And recently I heard that Motu sold off Sonar, which I suppose is a really good package, but I don't seem to be in the market now unless someone can tell me different -- which is another reason I joined this forum -- always looking for the next best and slightly of the mindset that newer is better, faster, and more efficient.
 
I wouldn't know where to start with DP9, Sonar, Cubase, ProTools, Reaper, yada-yada... so much to choose from.  Anyway, had some time to kill as cable shipment won't be here for a few more hours.  Back to getting everything in place so all I need to do is patch in the cables into the system to connect everything.  ttyl.

A USB 2.0 device will not gain any speed connected to a USB 3.0 port.  It will still run at the USB 2.0 speed.
 

Makes total sense to me.  :)   Thanks.

I already knew that, but I'm out of ports on my PC.  However, I will swap some things around so as not to waste a 3.0 port.

Going to get my connectors soon...  kinda excited to see what this baby can handle.
 
ttyl.

I don't have any ADAT input/output for any hardware that I own, and I don't want to set anything to TosLink and lose 6 digital channels.  I have decided to digitally loop my output from my DAW (set to use ADAT out ports [why waste them]) and have connected a digital optical audio cable from OUT-A to IN-A (be sure you don't have any routing that would cause a loop through CueMix if you do this!).
 
This way I can do something that was mentioned earlier -- use outputs for mixing within CueMix w/FX (and also monitor [although there are other ways (monitor groups)]) -- just [hardwire] loop it back into the 896mk3.  In a normal interface looping would cause an immediate feedback loop.  Because the 896mk3 is a mixer instead, it's not a problem.  Am currently using a 25ft BlueRigger digital optical audio cable now (ADAT OUT-A to IN-A [or IN-A to OUT-A]) and working great, but am getting two more short optical cables, and a single short AES/EBU digital cable to loop that too (all coming in a few days).
 
Couldn't I mix everything in my DAW and just use that?  Call me paranoid, but I'm for certain my computer is not up-to-snuff and any Inserts/Effects I add could mean trouble.  I have plenty of outboard hardware for effects -- VS-2480, GSP1101, and 896mk3 -- I plan to use them instead = absolutely no additional latency.

44.1 24 bit WAV: 32/32 In/Out: 64 spls ~2.7/3.3ms ASIO.  All audio is 24-bit until final 16-bit CD mastering.  All effects and final mastering is 56-bit stereo (or greater).
 
ymmv.