My mobile rig prior to the Motu consisted of many different interfaces including Focusrite Pro40 ,Presonus original Firebox 2626,Alesis io26 all had high track counts and 8+ preamps. In my opinion (and it is only my opinion) if the OP is not too concerned about quality but needs a robust solution for tracking I would go with a multitracker. Me thinks they spent too much on trying to make it look like an Apogee Duet (or Babyface for that matter) verses giving you some market-standard I/O options.Īgreed for very low cost tracking the Motu is probably not the answer.
8 CHANNEL USB AUDIO INTERFACE PRO
I just can't see this thing competing with the Scarlett 18i20, Saffire Pro 40, OctaCapture, MR816, etc.
And the outputs are sparse, so if you want to do any sort of summing or run external effects, you're kind of hosed. To put it into perspective, if I'm spending ~$500, I want to be able to track a drum kit out of the box with my interface two mic pres, two hi-z inputs, two line inputs doesn't get me there. Believe me you'll save money in the long run.I completely agree as far as ADAT, expansion, getting an interface that'll grow with you, but I just don't see value with the MOTU compared with so many other options on the market for roughly the same price: you start off with so little, you really *have* to start buying expansion units (ADAT, preamps, etc.) from the get-go, so I don't see where this product fits in with a newcomer or a growing project studio. Believe me you'll save money in the long run.Īlternatively, save a little longer and buy something like the UA Apollo or UFX.
This is the route I would take if I was starting again on a budget.Īlternatively, save a little longer and buy something like the UA Apollo or UFX. The Motu or RME Babyface (both relatively inexpensive) give quality from the outset and offer expansion capabilities. This obviously means that (as often happens) once the limitations of the budget device become apparent, your only option is to buy a better device.
This means that the use of external preamps is problematic and often a waste of time. The problem with many of the budget interfaces is that they have preamps on every channel which cant be bypassed. The DSP EQ,Dynamics and Reverb are particularly useful for trackingĪdat, is a very useful tool (I wouldn't buy an interface without adat) and increases options from day one (increasing track count, adding different pres etc.). I use the Motu (teamed with adat enabled pres)for location work and it has been outstanding again in terms of quality,performance and functionality (the gap between the Motu and the RME is not a wide one in my opinion). I've been using RME UFX as my primary interface for a while now and couldn't be happier in terms of quality and functionality. In hindsight, I would have waited until I could afford better. I have owned many interfaces over the years and to be honest most of them haven't been great. My experience has taught me that invariably quality wins over quantity. There are many budget options that far better meet this requirement than the Motu. So for having a lot of options for inputs and a nice rack mount setup, I highly recommend it for live-off-the-floor and modest cue mixing, but lack of outputs and built-in zero latency routing means that you're really going to want a mixer for setting up elaborate cue mixes and even with that, the lack of outs makes analog summing/mixing fairly limited as you'd really only be able to send out two stereo stems (drum/bass as a stereo send on outs 1/2, guitar/vox on 3/4 the digital outs are bypassed when the line-outs are used on either 1/2 or 3/4).Īgree, the Motu may not be the best option if highest track count at lowest price point is the Ops primary requirement. I mean, you can use the DAW to control your outputs (which is limitation #2: only 4 outputs besides the monitor outs, well, and the 7/8 inserts, giving you a total of 6, but the inserts are not assignable in the DAW as outs), but using the DAW will introduce latency, depending on your computer/settings.
Thing's a rock, have recorded hundreds of hours (mostly rehearsals) using all channels (except digital don't have an SPDIF preamp), never a hiccup.ĭrawback is monitoring: there's no TotalMix DSP/digital routing/mixer built into the interface besides a few channel output assignments and latency settings, so if you want "more me" mixes beyond "cheating" with the inserts on 7/8, you'll want to use a mixer or get a different interface. My requirements were as many input channels as possible (8 XLR with preamps, 6 line-in, 2 digital SPDIF) for my budget.