MOTU or RME?

  • Thread starter Thread starter gcapel
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gcapel

gcapel

boom box recordings
I am trying to decide beteween the 2408 mkIII or the Multiface. I think the 2408 is more expandable as far as channels, but the RME seems to be more stable and better quality from the reviews i've read.

Any testimonials would help. Or any other advice.

Tanks
 
I'm a long time MOTU user myself. Bruce (Blue Bear) has or had the Hammerfall and liked it. I've had my 2408 in multiple computers with no problems. I take that back. I picked up a Dell Demesion 8200 at a garage sale a month ago and reinstalled the operating system, updated the bios and all that crap and it HATED the MOTU. It's now strictly my internet machine. I'd buy anything from MOTU based on my experience still.
 
Never had the MOTU, but I've owned a Multiface (and a Digiface) in the past. In my experience the RME boxes that are PCI/PCMCIA based are rock solid (not so much with the firewire ones).

A friend of mine had a 2408 in his studio and it wouldn't play nice AT ALL with his setup (come to think of it, I think he had a Dimension 8200 also...) He eventually bought the Digiface and has not had any more problems.
 
i also need to mention that i am using a PC. Not dell though.

Correct me if i am wrong, but if I use the multiface I will have the 8 channel a/d conversion on board as well as 8 additional channels a/d from the adat lightpipe @ 48k?
 
gcapel said:
i also need to mention that i am using a PC. Not dell though.

Correct me if i am wrong, but if I use the multiface I will have the 8 channel a/d conversion on board as well as 8 additional channels a/d from the adat lightpipe @ 48k?
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Correct. I have the Multiface II, it is rock-solid, and the mixer software is awesome. You can run three at once, IIRC, which is 46 i/o's, so I'm not sure how expandibility would be a problem. It's also nice that the cable is physically Firewire, but not FW protocol, so you can run it like 70'. No need to soundproof the PC, just put it two or thre rooms away.
 
Myriad_Rocker said:
The Fireface 800 is pretty damn rock solid...
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Mine sucked ass. 3 days of pure hell and it was on its way back in exchange for something else. I tried everything known to man, and then some. Nothing would make it stop popping, clicking, dropping out, freezing up, etc. I was a loyal RME customer until that thing came my way.

It works great for the majority of folks out there, but it sure didn't for me.
 
One apple spoils the bunch.

Something had to be conflicting in some manner. I've haven't had ANY negative experience with mine. Many users of the FF800 share my experience.
 
I had the Motu 828 MKII for about a month . Great unit with lots of extras. I ended up selling it and buying a Multiface II. Nothing major , but alot of little issues with the Motu. The SPdif input would not work with my Boss Gt8. For some reason, these two just won't get along sync-wise. I don't think Pods work with the Motu's either. I could never seem to get my midi tracks to sync right in my projects. I guess that could have been user error, but everything i tried didn't seem to work. The firewire worked well most of the time, but not all the time. Sometime glitched on playback. The preamps actually sounded pretty good. After reading through some of the posts on the Motu forum, I found it alarming how many people are sending their units in for repair. I didn't trust this unit and decided to go for the Multiface II. I gotta say, the multiface doesn't look like much compared to the Motu , but it sure does deliver. No preamps, but even though i just use a DMP3 through the multiface, there is definately an upgrade in sound. Converters are definately better. SPDIF and midi work amazingly well now. Haven't heard any of my playbacks glitch once yet. And I really, really like the routing setup on the multiface. And after reading through quite a few posts on the RME newsgroup, I haven't seen one that talks about needing repairs on their units. That's gotta tell you something. My opinion is that RME makes a much better, stable unit and I think it sounds better.
 
Like Track Rat, I'm a long time user of MOTU. I've had great results with a 2408 MK II over the last 4 years.

I have recently purchased a RME Fireface, which I use with a Dell 9400 laptop as a mobile recording rig.

If you are looking at expandability, and want to go down the RME path, I would consider the Fireface.
 
Thanks for all of your insight people. I greatly appreciate the feedback.

I have ordered the multiface II on the bases of stability and sound quality.

Thanks again.
 
Multiface. I believe that RMEs converters have a much better rep.

Cheers.
 
You guys that have multifaces, what are you using to mount it in your rack. I was thinking of getting this universal thing from raxxes.
 
gcapel said:
You guys that have multifaces, what are you using to mount it in your rack. I was thinking of getting this universal thing from raxxes.
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I haven't bothered with a rack.. i've got no outboard gear to speak of so the Multiface just sits on it's own by the console looking pretty smug. :)
 
gcapel said:
You guys that have multifaces, what are you using to mount it in your rack. I was thinking of getting this universal thing from raxxes.
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Got one. It works, it sits back from the front about an inch, and centered in the shelf. You will need to go to the hardware store and get a couple mounting screws, none are provided by RME or Raxxes, and the chassis screws on the RME are too short to transplant. I keep meaning to get the RME shelf, which would mount two side-by-side (or any other 1/2 rack), if needed. I think Northern Light and Sound has them, they are not common.
 
ermghoti said:
Got one. It works, it sits back from the front about an inch, and centered in the shelf. You will need to go to the hardware store and get a couple mounting screws, none are provided by RME or Raxxes, and the chassis screws on the RME are too short to transplant. I keep meaning to get the RME shelf, which would mount two side-by-side (or any other 1/2 rack), if needed. I think Northern Light and Sound has them, they are not common.
Click to expand...

When I had mine (with a Raxxess shelf) I mounted it all the way to one side. That left me enough room on the shelf for an external firewire drive right next to it. Plus it sat nearly flush with the shelf edge that way (all the way to the right.

I thought about the RME shelf, but at the time it was awfully expensive compared to the $15 Raxxess.
 
I'll have to double-check the holes on mune, I couldn't find a set on either side that lined up right. Of course, if it ends up all the way forward, it will make accessing the i/o's that much more difficult...
 
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