My old MOTU is on its last legs -- strong opinions on interfaces welcome

[KermitPickle]

I've used the same MOTU 8Pre since 2009. It still (mostly) works, but it's firewire-only...back when I bought it I didn't anticipate that firewire was going away, and my ancient macbook with the firewire port sometimes wants to boot up, sometimes doesn't, and is generally acting like it's contemplating death. When the mac goes, the 8pre goes.

I haven't really paid attention to the world of interfaces for 10+ years, but I think I might need to soon-ish, and it seems like there are a lot of options now. Has anyone here bought a new one recently? Do you like it?

I'm just trying to get a feel for what's out there that people like. I suppose I could just buy an equivalent new MOTU but I'm not married to that.

[kslight]

I have a Motu 1248 that’s been great. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another Motu.

[KermitPickle]

I did look at the 1248...it looks great but my current laptop has USB-C rather than Thunderbolt. I think most of the MOTU stuff is Thunderbolt now? Which might be a problem.

[alexdingley]

regardless of the fact that they had (in years past) had some horrible tech-support habits, I can't say enough good stuff about my Antelope Orion 32+

I wouldn't hesitate to look into their Zen units / or their Discrete 8, etc. The built-in FX are great and the round-trip latency is super-low.

[kslight]

I did look at the 1248...it looks great but my current laptop has USB-C rather than Thunderbolt. I think most of the MOTU stuff is Thunderbolt now? Which might be a problem.

I use it over plain old usb 2 because my mac is too old for thunderbolt. I haven’t had to battle the policies of USB C and thunderbolt but on Mac at least I thought sometimes thunderbolt devices worked on usb c, perhaps with the correct adapter. Not sure on that however.

[floeter]

I use a MOTU 828 mkII firewire with double dongles into USB-C on both intel and m1, works great, cost about $90.

Mine is not technically supported here, but a variant of yours the 8pre USB is, so yours might also work if you are willing to gamble.

https://motu.com/techsupport/technotes/ ... audio-inst

Also check this:

https://www.motunation.com/forum/viewto ... =2&t=68450

[KermitPickle]

Oh interesting -- thanks, though I should have mentioned, I'm on a windows laptop now (rather than Mac), but I wonder if I could kludge something together.

regardless of the fact that they had (in years past) had some horrible tech-support habits, I can't say enough good stuff about my Antelope Orion 32+

I wouldn't hesitate to look into their Zen units / or their Discrete 8, etc. The built-in FX are great and the round-trip latency is super-low.

Thanks, I'll check that out!

[KermitPickle]

*reminiscing*

Years ago, prior to the MOTU, I had a PCI card interface installed in a desktop machine. It had a little breakout cable with 4 line TRS inputs and outputs. I used it with the same external pre's I used with my rackmount 4 track, and I felt like stuff that I recorded with it was maybe a tad bit easier to mix somehow than the stuff I did with the MOTU. The MOTU + laptop was double the channels and more portable, though, so it won. I would be happy now with 8 line inputs.

The Cranborne 500 USB rack idea appeals to me, although it's more than I can really spend right now and I don't have enough 500 series modules for 8 channels. Oh well, seems like a cool idea.

[digitaldrummer]

if you haven't already, also check though the Tape Op gear reviews -- https://tapeop.com/reviews/gear/

there have been quite a few interfaces reviewed in the last year or so.

[KermitPickle]

if you haven't already, also check though the Tape Op gear reviews -- https://tapeop.com/reviews/gear/

there have been quite a few interfaces reviewed in the last year or so.

Yes indeed, that's where I read about the Cranborne in fact. There are so many, though, I was interested in hearing about people's favorites.

[dave watkins]

USB type c was supposed to make everything easy but there's still lots of nonsense and confusion because it's a connector form factor and not necessarily an indicator of transfer speed/spec. You have devices operating at usb 2.0, 3.0, etc. specs on the same damn plug and thunderbolt 3 and 4 as well now too.

I'm pretty sure there are adapters for firewire to thunderbolt 3 that will work on a mac (which has the same plug form factor as usb c) but the same adapters will not work going firewire to usb-c on a windows machine (if it's not a usb-c/thunderbolt connection)

Also most of these new audio interfaces that have a usb-c connection only operate at usb2 speeds. I think only the new Steinberg interfaces claim they operate at usb3 spec. But people who have tested them have in various reviews I saw when I was doing my own new interface search said there wasn't really any appreciable ability to decrease latency vs similarly priced interfaces that operate at usb2 speeds via a usb-c connection.

I'm currently using a MOTU 828es in one of my workspaces with a Windows PC. It's thunderbolt 2 and USB 2 so it's mac and pc friendly. I have used it with a 2019 macbook pro with the apple thunderbolt 2 to thunderbolt 3 adapter and that worked great as well. The 1248 and the 8pre-es which is basically a more current version of what you have both have Thundebolt 2/USB2 connection options too. On PC MOTU is solid, RME might be a little better but the cost reflects it. USB2 is fine for audio. Having good drivers is key, MOTU and RME are probably the most reliable options out there.

even though you have the old Firewire 8pre and that probably won't hook up to your new windows laptop directly, I think you can use it for an additional 8 mic pres via ADAT? So if you get any new interface with ADAT optical ins you still may be able to put your old 8pre to work.

[KermitPickle]

Thanks, Dave. That clarifies a lot for me, actually - I didn't realize that USB-C didn't imply a faster transfer speed than USB2, so...that's one less thing to worry about.

On PC MOTU is solid, RME might be a little better but the cost reflects it. USB2 is fine for audio. Having good drivers is key, MOTU and RME are probably the most reliable options out there.

even though you have the old Firewire 8pre and that probably won't hook up to your new windows laptop directly, I think you can use it for an additional 8 mic pres via ADAT? So if you get any new interface with ADAT optical ins you still may be able to put your old 8pre to work.

I thought about that, yes, the old 8pre has an ADAT output so I could still use it for preamps even if I couldn't run it directly into a windows laptop. I was looking at the MOTU Ultralite for this, the ADAT and line inputs (for external pres) would be useful to me. The 828 would be better, but I think I could get away with the ultralite.

[dave watkins]

Yeah, interfaces like the newer 828es will connect just fine with the appropriate USB-B to USB-C cable. Even thought the USB-C ports on your computer are capable of way faster speeds they're backwards compatible with the USB2.0 spec.

It threw me off too when I started seeing all these new interfaces coming out with USB type C connections, I got overly excited that it would mean improved lower latency if they were now taking advantage of usb 3 speeds, but it's not the case. The thing is in most cases, audio doesn't really need much more than usb2 speeds which is why so many manufacturers are still hanging on there for a lot of the more affordable interfaces to make sure they are compatible with the broadest range of computers. From what I understand, drivers and processing power in your computer have greater impact on latency than the USB connection. A lot of folks really like that ultralight mk5, seems like a great option for staying portable but having the ability to expand I/O when you need it.

[KermitPickle]

From what I understand, drivers and processing power in your computer have greater impact on latency than the USB connection. A lot of folks really like that ultralight mk5, seems like a great option for staying portable but having the ability to expand I/O when you need it.

That is good to know (I had no idea, honestly). Thanks for this, and yeah, the ultralight mk5 seems pretty ideal. Glad to hear other people like it.

[Magnetic Services]

I've been using MOTU for years and currently have an 828es. I love it! The older units used to have some stability issues but this thing and the rest of the AVB line have been rock-solid for me. Might sell soon to upgrade; DM me if you're interested. You could probably still use the 8pre as an expander via ADAT if it has that.