MOTU 24i/o 24-bit/96 kHz pciE converter
 

hello all, simple thread

i'd like to hear some first hand experience with these converters, MOTU 24 IO
i'm aware they are now bundled with a pciE card instead of the much outdated PCI...

how do these converters compare to the new breed of converters out there, mostly concerned with comparisons directly to AVIDs own HD I/O line...

i own an HD OMNI and for the most part, it will suit my needs just fine, i'm more into doing over-dubs than tracking live off the floor... so i'm trying to be a little realistic in what my I/O needs will be for the foreseeable future.

this would be an affordable solution for those rare occasions where i encounter a need to track a full band, as in a jazz band or the sort... of course I will still continue to do most of my work directly with the HD OMNI converters...

thanks for your thoughts.. i have seen a couple of y'all have these units, i'd love to hear what your experience has been...

Re: MOTU 24i/o 24-bit/96 kHz pciE converter
 

Re: MOTU 24i/o 24-bit/96 kHz pciE converter
 

Thanks Tom I really appreciate your response, I was going over one of my older posts and I realized you'd mentioned it...

I was hoping you'd chime in.

I am venturing a guess the OMNI clock helps out immensely in this scenario, I was thinking of it last night as well.

I 1st did not find the motu units all that enticing as they used to be PCI only... but with the new cards.. well.. thats a really good options.

so once you're done with the main tracks, you just go over the session again with over-dubs if needed then... I too figured this would
balance the playing field...

do you find the MOTU colors the recording? or is it more transparent?... all i keep hearing about the AVID HD units is how musical they sound,
unfortunately I havent tracked with my OMNI yet so i'm having to imagine all this.... hahah....

if you have any samples of recorded material it would be immensely helpful, thank you very much for your help...

this is my fear as well, dont wanna spend 4k on 8x8x8 HD i/o if i'm never gonna use it...

Re: MOTU 24i/o 24-bit/96 kHz pciE converter
 

Knowing that my opinion is not very popular. I can say that the motu does not have any disadvantage to the new hd line. I have both at hand. Talked myself into getting the new hd I/o for its supposed superior sound and stability.

And my best friend who stick with the motu at his place. Beside that we have pretty similar set ups. Large format consoles of British origin, same computer etc.

We both use a black lion micro clock. Which helps both systems a lot.

After nearly a year now I have to admit that I wish I stayed with the motus as well.

For they do not sound worse that the new HD i/o ( they sound different though)
And what bothers me most: they are much more stable then the hd native setup.

I did not manage to finally get rid of the 90** errors and my friend with the motus does not have a single issue.

Plus they do not have this annoying loud fan.

So in fact I still think of going back.

Just my opinion.

Basstian

Re: MOTU 24i/o 24-bit/96 kHz pciE converter
 

thank you for your thoughts Basstian... i dont see why your opinion would not be popular.. to be honest it is rather welcome..

from the research I have been doing recently it seems all the top players tend to wake up when a proper time piece is running 'em... which would make sense..

I really appreciate your thoughts specially since you've obviously already ran down that road, i do understand what you are saying and i'm glad actually... as long as they
do not fall on their face when put up against the HD i/o units I am very much intrigued..

you say they sound different!? hmm well that is very much interesting.. and something that i look for in my studio gear actually, even with pre-amps, i like having a good mix between solid state and tube pres. for different projects..

i think i'm gonna pick one of 'em up at years end.. 24 i/os will be absolutely perfect for this one studio i would like to work with as they have a full sized console, always fun to mix on a proper console.... I do require fool proof integration with my HD10 and it looks like both of you are experiencing this...

i'm glad i decided to look into this option... though both my pre's have digital out capabilities i would rather proper, dedicated CONVERTERS do all the hard work.!

thanks again for your help!

Re: MOTU 24i/o 24-bit/96 kHz pciE converter
 

Beware of hype and marketing. People are gearwhores. Subjective descriptions of AD/DA is interesting, but even more interesting is the fact that all of the double-blind tests that are done show that supposedly trained ears can not distinguish between AD/DA after a certain level of quality. And actually doing loopback tests, LIKE THIS ONE, are pretty revealing. Maybe not 100% accurate, but they do provide a relative ranking.

Personally, I want transparent converters; I'll take care of the sound either ITB or OTB.

Re: MOTU 24i/o 24-bit/96 kHz pciE converter
 

Bear one thing in mind here. Using the MOTU will negate most/all of the usefullness of the Native card, and the OMNI. You could sell the native card and OMNI without the software and just use the MOTU as your interface all the time. Just thinking that going back and forth is maybe more hassle than needed.:rolleyes: Food for thought.....

Re: MOTU 24i/o 24-bit/96 kHz pciE converter
 

Hopefully not too off topic, I have a MOTU 24io with the PCI card collecting dust. Would this be faster (read "better") than my current Firewire Presonus interface? I see I could get the PCIe card on eBay but don't know if the cost of a decent mic would be substantially different. I just haven't tried it yet. I figured if I went 24io I'd run the pre's from the Presonus StudioLive out the Dsubs into the 24io.

So, A: is PCI better than Firewire, and B: does the PCIe vs. PCI make things drastically different?

Re: MOTU 24i/o 24-bit/96 kHz pciE converter
 

What's currently wrong with your FireWire setup?

PCIe has the potential for lower latency versus FireWire in theory.

What do you expect to be "better"? Latency? Roundtrip latency is lower on PCIe, all things equal.

If you a registered owner of the 24 I/O, MOTU will do a swap for the PCI card to PCIe for a charge. Check out their website.

Re: MOTU 24i/o 24-bit/96 kHz pciE converter