Which MOTU interface?

[thebigcheese]

I have a MOTU Traveler, the original one I think. I recently inherited a MOTU 2408 mk2, but not the PCI card that goes with it. Is there any real advantage to the 2408 over the Traveler? I only record at 24/48, so the higher sample rates of the Traveler don't matter to me. I have a Presonus Digimax D8 hooked into the Traveler, giving me a total of 16 inputs, and I don't even have enough mics for that, so the additional inputs on the 2408 don't really matter. I imagine the converters are likely to be pretty much the same, though the 2408 can be modded by BLA.

The reason I'm wondering is because I'd have to buy a PCI card to make the 2408 work, whereas continuing to use the Traveler is free. On the other hand, I could sell the Traveler if I got the 2408 working, though I would probably have to buy some more preamps (which I will probably do anyway; not a big fan of the MOTU pres). So I could really go either way, it just depends on what is really the better unit. Thoughts?

 

[thebigcheese]

Does anyone have a 2408 mk2 still? I'd like to get a few things straightened out about it, as I think it might be the more flexible option (in that there's no way to bypass the preamps on the Traveler, which I don't like very much, so that leaves me with only 12 inputs).

First, it does all the mixing (for the inputs) on the card, which they say is "near-zero" latency for monitoring. Is that the same as how the Traveler does it? I don't hear any latency on the Traveler when monitoring an input, but they make it sound like the 2408 does it differently, so I want to be sure that won't be worse.

Second, what does the volume knob control? Is it just for the headphones or just for the main outs?

Third, why do they have some many duplicates of analog 1&2 out? They are always all outputting the same signal, right? Very confusing...