Motu Build Quality

[shtidrummer]

Hi Guys,

First let me say that I've been using a MOTU 828MkII for the last year and I love it. It's an ease to work with and I'm very happy with the sound i get out of it.

However...

I've recently bought an 8pre to expand the 828, but the first unit I received had problems with some of the XLR connections. So back it went 3 days after I bought it and I was given a replacement on the spot. The 2nd unit seemed to work great. I recently completed a live recording using both the 8pre and 828 and was very happy with the result.

But last night I was recording a friend and found that two of the jack connections aren't working. No signal in at all, but the XLR input on those channels work fine. Very disappointing.

So I called the shop today and they said that because it's been over a month since I bought it (1 month and 4 days, isn't it always the way.) that it will have to be shipped back to Motu for repair. I can accept that, my problem for not properly checking all the inputs when I first got it. But the shop tells me it's a 4 to 6 week turn around. I'm in the middle of a project and really can't be without my 8Pre for that time so I may have to wait a month or so before I can get it repaired.

So my questions, have any of you experienced similar hardware issues? Did Motu just have a bad manufacturing year at some point or am I just very unlucky? If Motu just had a bad quality assurance year, is there any way to tell if a device was made in that time or not?

The shop I bought it from (Allans Music in Sydney, Australia) wouldn't have a high turn-over of 8pre's, so there's every chance that the 8pre's have been sitting in their store for ages.

As I mentioned before, I am very very happy with the 828 I've been using and my experience with that was why I bought the 8Pre. And the 8Pre is a great unit too, i just wish all the inputs worked.

P.s. I'm sorry that my first post here is about a Motu hardware problem, but as is usually the way, we don't typically join forums just to say how good something is and that we're not having any problems with it. And even with my 8Pre problems I would still class myself a Motu fan.

Cheers guys.

[Matcher]

I had to return 2 travelers before I got a working one.

[David Polich]

I keep extra audio interfaces around, just in case. To be without an
audio interface of any kind is not good. Keeping "spares" is standard
operating procedure on all major artist tours.

I had an 828 MK II's Firewire connections go bad (Mac wouldn't see it
anymore) so I shipped it back to MOTU and they sent me a replacement.
Meanwhile, I had an extra 828 MK II so was able to continue working.

I wouldn't say MOTU has historically had a bad "run" of any particular
product, just that it pays to keep a spare handy.

[wylie1]

The store I deal with has a rack full of them that they send out on rentals, some of them look pretty beat up but they tell me they all work fine they've had no problems with them.
But when it came time to expand I went with the DigiMax FS because it had more patching options.

Sounds like it could be dry solder joints.

I have a 2408mk3 I've had powered up 24/7 since they first came out maybe 10-12yrs and never had a problem with it.

If you have to ship it back make the store give you a loaner.

[James Steele]

If you have to ship it back make the store give you a loner.

I'd prefer an interface that was a bit more sociable.

[twistedtom]

If you have to ship it back make the store give you a loner.

I'd prefer an interface that was a bit more sociable.

Groan!!

I have had mine for ever it uses a PCIe card and never gave me a problem.
Knock on my wooden head.

[wylie1]

If you have to ship it back make the store give you a loner.

I'd prefer an interface that was a bit more sociable.

Leave it to the Canadian guy to miss the A.
Eh.

[shtidrummer]

LOL - Nice one James.

I can't get a loan unit from the shop as they say they don't have any in stock. It's also not really the done thing here in Australia; you get a replacement if it's reported faulty in the first month, otherwise it's shipped off for repair.

I've been using this unit solidly since I originally posted here and I've found no other problems with it. Well, except I've found that when I use it with an 828 (as in both connected to PC via firewire) that I have to set the 8pre as the clocking source. If I set the 828 as the clocking source I get all sorts of pops and noise and the 8pre loses clocking sync all the time. Using the 8pre as the clocking source solved that issue.

I'll be finished on my current project in the next 2 weeks, so then it can be shipped back for repair.

[erikjamesmusic]

I actually just went through this, myself. I had an Apogee Ensemble for 2 years, but decided that despite the great PRE's and converters, I wanted to go back to a MOTU interface for the "monitor hardware input" and DSP options the mk3 series now provides. I sold the Apogee and bought a 828mk3. The D/A converters were definitely a compromise, but otherwise it seemed like a cool unit. 2 weeks after I bought it, the unit wouldn't turn on - it would only flash green on the LCD. I had to sent it in for a repair a couple weeks ago and had to go the Austin's best rental house (Rock'n'Roll Rentals, awesome!) and rent a presonus Firepod for a month ($20 for the entire month). It sucks because I had to pay the rental AND another $20 for the MOTU shipping, so I'm out $40. Those are just the breaks, i guess, but I'm definitely PISSED that a NEW interface was a bad egg. Really lame...

[Saintmatthew]

Within 2 weeks? Should have taken it back to the place you purchased it from for an exchange.

[chethan]

I am a recording engineer based in India, I largely work with motu audio interface and DP as I find the software and hardware more user friendly. as I use motu for studio production
I have serious suggestions about improving audio quality and mixing in dp.

I have been using Dp from ver 2.7 till date with 2408 mk3 & Pci424 in my DualG5 2.5 machine, I use it mainly for recording and mixing rather than MIDI.

In OS9 Dp used MAS drivers which to my understanding may have connected audio directly from my old Pci324 to DP, but now In OSX audio makes a trip through the Core Audio and then to the software. I am not fully aware of technical details but when I tested various Audio materials [pref: 48k,24bit] through different softwares in the same machine, this was only to find how different softwares sounded through Care Audio not to criticize any software and is just my limited knowledge opinion, I found

logic to had good bass but kind of rounded off HF, slightly better separation of instruments and warmer sound in comparison to DP while mixing [but still I find the user interface complicated,editing & mix automation features are not as good and handy as DP]

second software I used to compare with same audio materials is a demo version of sonic studio sound blade which I found was best to my ears in audio playback quality with good HF detail, wide and natural separation, tighter but clearer, detailed and deeper low end

DP had sound quality nearer to sound blade, but with lesser detail, lesser separation and not as wide but with a nasal tendency and a brittle higher mid freq., but still not rounded as in logic [this was what I felt]

But instead of playing back directly from 24 bit setting, I used 32 bit float and then dithered it to 24 bit with Izotope ozone4 set to Mbit+ on my master fader, now I heard a lot of differences in play back quality

first the nasal quality was noticeably lesser, bass was deeper and punchy, the image was both more warmer and wider than before, clearer in mid freq. with slightly improved separation between instruments. Now I follow this workflow for all my projects and am happy with the results, I am using less compression and eq's

I didn't want to compare DP to any software what I meant is, are the other softwares using core audio in a better way, Can't MOTU have there own MAS drivers instead of routing audio through Core Audio, but still have support for AU plugins. Can MOTU use better Dithering Internally, or Design a better Audio engine with higher fidelity. That said a 64 bit audio engine is the preference of all motu users

secondly I use only one 2408 for my tracking and mixing purpose on my Pci424 and use aux
in DP to rout to an external reverb and delay unit connected via 2408, now instead of using different layers in Cuemix for different mix outputs, which becomes complicated to handle when using more number of outputs and outboard effects during a recording session, Can MOTU design a simple single layout Cuemix matrix with number of Aux, mirroring atleast the First few aux in DP including control and assignment of the aux to output's, so that hereafter we will switch to direct hardware play through in DP for a low latency monitoring and still have the external efx routing and levels copied to Cuemix for artists feedback.
though I don't use any internal AU or MAS plugins while tracking, If MOTU can rout the aux on Cuemix to VRacks through internal bus [with some acceptable latancy] would be of great help.

Can motu improve the performance of Pci424 [may be 424 mk2] by adding a direct word clock connector and super clock connectors in the card there by avoiding the word clock from making a round trip through lengthy audio wire cables.

lastly If MOTU extends support for available video cards from Blackmagic and motu [HD express] from within DP for video playback with out delay it would be more usefull

I know I am expecting too much, but still if somebody listens to me and kindly do the needed It would help many

regards
chethan