About to get a Motu M4, worried about all the Windows performance issue stories…

[kofman13]

Hi all. I currently use a focus rite Scarlett 2i2 1st gen I got almost 8 years ago. It lacks gain I need, I need 4 inputs these days, and my Scarlett has some faulty worn out knob issues. The M4 checks all the boxes for me. I would be teaching on zoom on my Mac with it. And then twitch streaming and producing in Ableton with it on Windows. I have found dozens upon dozens of posts and threads by windows users saying that the Motu M4 has terrible windows drivers and so many people have had nightmare experiences getting it to work on windows. Seeing as half the time I will be using it on a windows machine for paying pro audio work, that gets me really worried. But then at the same time half of those posts and threads have other windows users also chiming in saying it works fine for them… So I guess it seems like its just a gamble at this point if it will work on windows?
All the threads ive seen have been over a span of the last almost 1.5 years (some of which only 2 weeks ago) so I am hoping that the situation is better now with some updates for firmware/drivers from Motu? But then again these same threads say Motu is notoriously bad with window drivers? I just dont know who to listen to/trust. Anyone here with Motu M4 or M2 on windows? Good experience? Bad experience?

[mikehalloran]

Windows is a clown car where drivers are concerned. If using over ASIO, that is supported to 192/24. If not over ASIO, some have reported 48/16 is the max rate and depth.

I have no complaints from my band and choir members who are using their M2 & M4s over Win7 and Win10. MOTU has phone support. A few of my people have called in during the setup process.

From MOTU

Windows System Requirements 1 GHz Pentium-based PC compatible or faster
2 GB RAM; 4 GB or more recommended
Windows 7*, 8 or 10
Available USB port
A large hard drive (at least 500 GB for recording)

*After a ten-year run, Windows 7 has been officially end-of-lifed (EOL) by Microsoft as of January 4, 2020. Therefore, MOTU products no longer officially support Windows 7, although existing installed products (as of June 2020) should still continue to function as they have been under Windows 7. However, future updates, including drivers, may require Windows 8 or later.

The M4 Line Ins 3 & 4 do not have gain controls and work best only with line-level sources. Many keyboards do not have enough output to drive those inputs without a DI. This 2-channel passive DI solved that problem for me for $83—the transformer is excellent. There is also a caution regarding TRS cables and unbalanced peripherals (also true for the Gen3 Scarletts and most other new interfaces). This box makes that issue go away, too.
https://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-aud ... el-shifter

[kofman13]

Thank you. I was planning on having a mic in xlr and having the stereo line out on my Kawai digital piano go into line in 3/4 on the Motu. My Kawai output is really loud. Using line out to my studio monitors it’s already dangerously loud at only 20% on the Kawai volume slider. So hopefully it’ll be fine going into channel 3/4 of the motu.
The m4 is The same as the M2 in terms of performance and quality right right? Just two more inputs and a mix knob

[mikehalloran]

…having the stereo line out on my Kawai digital piano go into line in 3/4 on the Motu. My Kawai output is really loud.

Uh huh… So is my brand new Yamaha P121.

MOTU Marketing may have said that 3&4 are designed for keyboard (that language is now gone from the web site, BTW) and if the Kawai has true line-level out, you're good. Otherwise, you will need a DI or preamp of some sort in front of 3&4 of an M4 (or Line Ins on a Scarlett Gen3 or Mackie ProFxv3 or many other units released since October 2019).

I had one of the first shipping units. MOTU Support and I went round and round on this till someone checked with Engineering. 3&4 are +15dB.

We live and learn.