Does Motu Support care

[DjTom-i]

Hi all,

short question without starting a huge flame war:

Does Motu care about their customers?
Do they support their products?
How long did it take to receive a respond?
How oftern driver updates are released?

I bought my first Motu product and dont know what to do now. I have a problem with it, it has not the expected simple basic functionality which i expected. Ok you will say: Bring it back an get your money back... Doing this will be easy but i really bought it because it seems to be the best i can get for the money and competitors products seem not to be comperable. My problem (described in another thread in this forum) seems to be a very basic driver problem which can/must be fixed with a driver update. As i can use the main functions in ableton i could live for some time with the missing functionality if Motu fixes the drivers sometime in the next one or two months...

You guys hang around here a bit longer and surely can give me a hint if it is worth waiting a month or two for a solution..

Sorry my not best english. As a non native speaker i tried to describe best i can.

Thank you for your attention.

Tom

[Shooshie]

What product?
What problem?
What OS?

Generally, MOTU cares about their customers. They can't be everything to everyone, but they usually take care of problems. MOTU always keeps up with OS updates, and always has a new version soon after a new OS is available, if it requires any changes. If no changes are required, then you may not see an update.

Shooshie

[DjTom-i]

I described my very very basic driver problems here:

http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtop ... =2&t=48638" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My tech link is still unread since the 21.12.2011. I know its holiday time and i can surely wait one or two weeks for a respond.

May be its a bit to much but here in germany we mainly get an answer within a business day or two.

So i received an answer of german Motu support within 24h. They told me they have to talk with motu representatives at the Namm as they have forwarded it some time ago and its unsolved till now. That makes me a bit speechless to be honest. So my questions came up here to those people who work with motu for some time...

Its good to hear that they care and support. Is there a person who i can contact? Should i give them a call and point them to my tech link?

[NazRat]

In your original thread, the responder tried to explain that for MOTU interfaces, you do not set the default output in the Sound Preference panel on the Mac. Instead, you set it the MOTU Audio Setup app by selecting the 'Default Stereo Output' - that sets the system audio output for all apps that don't have their own selection dialogs. Even though you will still see analog selected in the Sound Preference panel, it's changed to whatever you've selected in MOTU Audio Setup. Have you done that? I don't see any screen shots of MOTU Audio Setup included.

[DjTom-i]

Hello,

sure i did.

Only channels 1 and 2 are forwarded. It does not make any difference if i change in the motu audio setup. It seems the driver passed QA without beeing tested on lion. I don´t know if it works with leopard.

As i mentioned its confirmed by the support and not working as it should.

Thank you for looking into this.

[Prime Mover]

If they're aware of the problem, as you say, then you can be sure a fix is RIGHT around the corner. The Ultralight Mk3 is one of their most competitive products, and they've been going through updating everything for Lion, I wouldn't be surprised that you'll get your fix in a matter of a few weeks.

Lion's really throwing some people through the loops, and it's taking time on all fronts to make devices/software compatible. From what I've seen, though, it's NOTHING compared to the Tiger -> Leopard fiasco (complete redesign of the MIDI and audio architecture), but it's got it's quirks. I'm sticking with SL, and I feel no need to upgrade. Sorry you're having to be a guinea pig.

[DjTom-i]

Thank you very much.

Yes i am aware of those os update/driver update problems, thats why i still have this card.

Nice would be a support that gives quick and short response like this:
- we are aware of this problem, sorry.
- we will fix this with the next driver update
- the update will be out in 1-2 months
- ticket closed

If i would have bought a "cheap" soundcard i would not expected a "fast" answer. Thats why i ask here you guys that should know how the ball is played in such case ^^

Is motu such a small company that they can not afford 1st level supporters for those - sorry to say again - basic and simple inquiries in a business day or two?

I know from the support forums of other companies that the supporters hang around in such forums... Is that the case here with motu employes? Or are all of them "ghosts" here that read but do not answer. Sorry if i touch someones personality with those agressive questions. I dont like to talk "around" the main problems/concerns. But this often pisses people ^^

[wylie1]

Last 2 times I called support about a hardware issue they picked up the phone on the first ring.
Second time the issue wasn't even related to their hardware but they helped me sort it out anyway.
I think now that they have most the bugs out of DP their phone support has greatly improved.

[KarlSutton]

My last few calls have been quick & helpful - problems resolved right away.

Techlinks have been quickly answered too - but the phone call was quicker.

[Prime Mover]

My last techlink, to be honest, I was a bit disappointed. I asked them about troubleshooting and self-repair of my 8pre unit, since I'm a long distance from their service center. I explained that I really couldn't afford to part with my unit for that period, and if at all possible, would like to try and fix the problem myself. Now, obviously, this is unconventional, and probably against policy, and I would have been perfectly understanding had they replied with "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but we really can't recommend self repair on our hardware." However, their response was a generic form letter stating "From the information you have given us, we have concluded that your MOTU hardware needs servicing. Please contact our service department for shipping instructions." Obviously, they either didn't bother reading my email specifically STATING that I couldn't send it in, or worse, completely ignored me, both of which I don't appreciate.

[wylie1]

May be a dry solder joint somewhere if you where to open it up.
But there is no company that will authorize you to self service their products.

[DjTom-i]

Ok first of all thank you very much for your good and flamefree explantions and "cases" you had. Like those professional conversations.

So i will give it a try an give them a call in the first january week if there should still be no answer to my techlink.

Would be very sad if those things would separate me and my ultralite mk3 again. ♥♥♥♥ love it meanwhile ♥♥♥ but it should do what it does on windows also on my mac

[Prime Mover]

May be a dry solder joint somewhere if you where to open it up.
But there is no company that will authorize you to self service their products.

Yeah, I'm thinking it's probably something obvious (I hear preamps tend to have a lot of weak wired connections). Unfortunately, the 8pre isn't physically constructed very well, and a few of the screw holes are stripped, I'm going to have to do some grunt work to get the box open. I also didn't have the right hex wrench at the time I tried, but I have access to better tools, it'll just take some planning.

And it's not so much that I was expecting them to authorize it, I just was kinda put off by their non-response. Hell, I would have felt better if they had yelled at me for asking! One of those cases where I'd rather be told "no" rather than ignored. A good tech support person shouldn't be affraid to tell a client that what they're doing is a bad idea. And I'm guessing they would have done it had I called them on the phone.

Of course, opening the box up and testing the wiring isn't really a bad idea if you know what you're doing.

[David Polich]

I never count on getting tech support calls or inquiries answered between
Dec. 21 and Jan. 4th. Actually I never count on getting anything handled by any individual or company during that time period.

Not saying MOTU tech support is AWOL during the holidays...just that I
wouldn't count on it.

[Agent of Random]

Hey DJtom,
So I tried this out using both my Ultralite and 828 mark3s using Skype, and guess what! I'm having the same issue as you. No matter which input I select as the default input in MOTU Audio Setup the first input is always the one being picked up by Skype.

And guess what else....it happens on both my Snow Leopard computer and my Lion computer, so it's definitely not a Lion driver problem.

I am however, hesitant to say this has anything to do with MOTU's drivers, or if it's even anything they could be expected to fix...it could be a problem with the Core Audio driver, or most likely a limitation of the application itself. When I get a chance I may try the same test with my Mbox 2 and see if the same thing happens.