MOTU 2408

[Greenlander]

Hey everyone,

My first post! And after years of complaining that I couldn't find a forum for people who record and like the sound of (say) Pavement records.

Anyhoo, down to business. I'm investing in some recording equipment and I've decided to record to laptop (mobility being important). I'm open minded and more importantly somewhat unknowledgeable about the various d/a interfaces out there.

I've seen a MOTU 2408 Mk 2 for sale locally for ?700 (around 780 of your American Dollars I believe). I'd really appreciate any insights anyone has into the machines. Is anyone here using one? How does the price sound?

In fact, if anyone has any advice about d/a interfaces or can point me somewhere good that'd be cool.

Richard.

[ahmedgarcia]

Welcom to the board Richard.

A few questions, is that 700 Pounds as in the British Pound. I beleive 700 pounds is equall to $1,400.00 American dollars. Correct me if I am wrong.

Also, do you know what software you might want to use. This answer can help in determining what hardware you may use. For example, if you want ProTools go with an MBox, it works with a laptop. My 2408 came with Cubase VST5.1r1 and I enjoy it. So I did not need to buy any software.

Find the software you are happy with and see what hardware interface is compatible with it. How many inputs do you want? Is this for live band recordings? Get an external hard drive for audio only. Your internal harddrive will hold the software. What OS do you want to use on your laptop?

If I am not mistaken, I beleve that the 2408mkii works with a PCI card attached to your computer, and that laptops do not have PCI slots. So I do not beleive that the 2408 will work with a laptop. Does your laptop have a "Firewire" connector or a "USB"? Is there an adapter for laptops and PCI cards?

RME has some good stuff as I have read about them on this board and people rave about them, but I have not used one.

Good Luck

***************************************************
I just checked for every american dollar there is 1.68 pounds as of today...
that is like $1,176.00 for a used 2408mkii when they go for a few hundred bucks. Is the one that you saw have the PCI card, manual, software drivers, DAW software? This is the stuff it comes with, so make sure you are not getting ripped off.

Here is one on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... gory=41784

[Greenlander]

Thanks for the reply.

That crazy € symbol is for Euros, which is the currency we're using in Ireland since January 2002. I'm not from Britain. So, I think my exchance rate calculations are correct.

I should have mentioned that I intend to buy a Mac laptop (G4 I guess). My preferred package is Protools, simply because I'm somewhat familiar with it. I know protools is bundled with the mbox and the 002s and so forth, but the Mbox has too few inputs for me and the 002s are a little too expensive. I have no experience of Cubase, do you like it?

Still, looking at the ebay auction, unless the price rises dramatically, I'm paying too much for the one I saw advertised.

How has the MOTU worked for you? Are you happy with the quality of the conversion?

Rich

[ahmedgarcia]

Sorry about the assumption that you where using British Pound as your countries currency. I assumed that since living near the United Kingdom you guys used the Bristish Pound. I forgot that Ireland is on the euro currency. My appoligies....Yea you are close to the exchange. It is just over $800 American Dollars as of today.

I love my Cubase and I love my MOTU2408. It does everything I want it to do so far. If you are cosidering the use of Protools it has it own proprietary hardware. In your case the MBox. You can't use ProTools unless you use their hardware I beleive. I can use ProTools Free with my 2408mkii, but it is the only Protools software that can use others hardware. I am also on a Dell PC runing WIN98se. Protools free only runs on WIN98 and Windows ME.

If you are going to be using a MAC with a MOTU you can use MOTU's Digital Preformer or Audio Desk, or Cubase, Nuendo, Logic.

I still don't think you can hook up your laptop to a 2408 because of the PCI slot that is not found on a laptop. On MOTU side, I think you might need a 828mkII firewire audio interface for a laptop.

[JES]

I still don't think you can hook up your laptop to a 2408 because of the PCI slot that is not found on a laptop. On MOTU side, I think you might need a 828mkII firewire audio interface for a laptop.

This is correct.

--JES

[Greenlander]

Does Pro Tools LE only run with Digidesign hardware? I didn't realise that, although it makes sense.

[ahmedgarcia]

Does Pro Tools LE only run with Digidesign hardware? I didn't realise that, although it makes sense.

Bingo, this correct as well...Protools software equals Protools hardware.

[Greenlander]

Hmm, so has anyone here used both Pro Tools and Cubase or any of the other major ones? Anyone like to weigh in with their preferences and why they feel that way?

Actually, there must be a previous thread about this, I'll take a look.

[Greenlander]

Ok, after looking at some other forum topics I've answered my previous question but now I've got another one. Is anyone here using the 828 and how are the preamps? I've seen some conflicting opinions on them from reading old topics on the boards.

Also, I don't plan on using many but is the Audio Desk that's bundled with the MOTU good for plug-ins? I'd like to have the option.

[JES]

Dunno what Audiodesk is like now but I used it for years exclusively. Did lots of songs on it with no problems. The stock plugs are OK and it ran most major plugs in MAS format (there are a bunch of competing formats). MOTU is still working out their shit with OSX, as are a lot of audio manufacturers right now, so I don't know what's up there. I still recording in OS 9.2.2 . I upgraded to Digital Performer about 18 months ago from Audiodesk and am really happy with it. As for OSX, I want to wait until I see tons of posts from people saying "I've been using DP in OSX with all my favorite plugs for the last 6 months without any problems!" on the MOTU boards before I spend a cent to upgrade on the software end. It's not broken, so I don't want to fix it.

Best,
--JES