dgatwood
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I just wanted to relay this experience while it was fresh on my mind. 
So I just got a package from Sweetwater that I ordered Monday morning. BTW, those guys rule. They said they thought it wouldn't go out until Tuesday, but it went out Monday anyway. FedEx Saver arrived in two days instead of three. I was expecting it Friday and got it today, so I'm already happy before I even open the box.
Inside the package, I got two of the new MOTU 8Pre audio interfaces. Out of the box, I immediately got the feeling that this hardware was in a completely different class than my FIREPOD or my M-Audio gear. It has an actual built-in power supply with a standard three-prong plug. A real freaking ground on an audio interface. Thank you, God! My prayers have been answered! (No, still no girlfriend....
I meant my OTHER prayers.)
I decided to minimize the CPU load by setting it up with only one of them hooked up to my computer and the other one acting like a 2x ADAT preamp. After a few minutes of playing with it (and yes, I had to read the manual to figure out how to set up the interface that wasn't connected to the computer), everything looked good.
One tiny snag: if you set up the thing using the front panel controls, it stays in stand-alone preamp mode even if you connect a computer. Since I played with both interfaces, I had to power cycle the one for my computer to see it. No big. Had me freaking out for all of five minutes before I realized what had probably gone wrong, power cycled it, and it showed up instantly. I chuckled heartily at myself for ever doubting MOTU.
A few minutes and a driver install later (it's not a FireWire AVC compliant device, which is unfortunate, but oh well), I can see the interface in all its glory. All eight inputs from that device, all eight inputs from the second one, all running at 96 kHz. This is a setup that I had been fighting to get working for MONTHS using my M-Audio FW1814 and my Presonus FIREPOD syncing over S/PDIF.
Best of all, instead of eating basically 100% of one of my four CPUs like the M-audio FW1814 seems to do frequently, the pair of MOTU 8Pre interfaces was sitting there with a couple of pixels of green on the far left site of the CPU indicator, varying by maybe a pixel or two. Holy freaking crap! And Digital Performer seems more responsive with these things attached... probably because the CPU load from the interfaces is so much lower.
I haven't done any actual audio tests with the thing yet. It's late at night, I'm tired, and I'm going to crash. I'll do that Saturday. If what I've seen thus far is any indication, though, I have a feeling this is going to be a beautiful friendship, and I suspect that I'm going to seriously be recommending the MOTU interfaces at every possible opportunity.
The difference between everything working within in the first few minutes with these things versus slamming my head against the wall for months with the other three interfaces I've worked with has been like that of night and day. The MOTU gear might cost a little more than the competition, but now that I have seen the light, I'm never going back into the darkness.
Seriously. It's as much of an "aha" moment as when I ran a UNIX OS for the first time. (Except maybe a little more so because it took about eight hours less to download and install the software than it did back then.
)
Just thought some folks would like to hear my experience which this brand new piece of gear, particularly since it has only been on the market for about two weeks.
So I just got a package from Sweetwater that I ordered Monday morning. BTW, those guys rule. They said they thought it wouldn't go out until Tuesday, but it went out Monday anyway. FedEx Saver arrived in two days instead of three. I was expecting it Friday and got it today, so I'm already happy before I even open the box.
Inside the package, I got two of the new MOTU 8Pre audio interfaces. Out of the box, I immediately got the feeling that this hardware was in a completely different class than my FIREPOD or my M-Audio gear. It has an actual built-in power supply with a standard three-prong plug. A real freaking ground on an audio interface. Thank you, God! My prayers have been answered! (No, still no girlfriend....
I meant my OTHER prayers.)I decided to minimize the CPU load by setting it up with only one of them hooked up to my computer and the other one acting like a 2x ADAT preamp. After a few minutes of playing with it (and yes, I had to read the manual to figure out how to set up the interface that wasn't connected to the computer), everything looked good.
One tiny snag: if you set up the thing using the front panel controls, it stays in stand-alone preamp mode even if you connect a computer. Since I played with both interfaces, I had to power cycle the one for my computer to see it. No big. Had me freaking out for all of five minutes before I realized what had probably gone wrong, power cycled it, and it showed up instantly. I chuckled heartily at myself for ever doubting MOTU.
A few minutes and a driver install later (it's not a FireWire AVC compliant device, which is unfortunate, but oh well), I can see the interface in all its glory. All eight inputs from that device, all eight inputs from the second one, all running at 96 kHz. This is a setup that I had been fighting to get working for MONTHS using my M-Audio FW1814 and my Presonus FIREPOD syncing over S/PDIF.
Best of all, instead of eating basically 100% of one of my four CPUs like the M-audio FW1814 seems to do frequently, the pair of MOTU 8Pre interfaces was sitting there with a couple of pixels of green on the far left site of the CPU indicator, varying by maybe a pixel or two. Holy freaking crap! And Digital Performer seems more responsive with these things attached... probably because the CPU load from the interfaces is so much lower.
I haven't done any actual audio tests with the thing yet. It's late at night, I'm tired, and I'm going to crash. I'll do that Saturday. If what I've seen thus far is any indication, though, I have a feeling this is going to be a beautiful friendship, and I suspect that I'm going to seriously be recommending the MOTU interfaces at every possible opportunity.
The difference between everything working within in the first few minutes with these things versus slamming my head against the wall for months with the other three interfaces I've worked with has been like that of night and day. The MOTU gear might cost a little more than the competition, but now that I have seen the light, I'm never going back into the darkness.
Seriously. It's as much of an "aha" moment as when I ran a UNIX OS for the first time. (Except maybe a little more so because it took about eight hours less to download and install the software than it did back then.
)Just thought some folks would like to hear my experience which this brand new piece of gear, particularly since it has only been on the market for about two weeks.
