I should know better by now

[mesaone]

SO I got this fancy schmancy new laptop, first time I've ever bought myself a lappy that can run Pro Tools with any degree of success. Things have worked out great, except the built-in headphone jack broke after about a dozen uses. I'm not even rough with my gear, it just straight up broke. I did all the troubleshooting - it's a physical problem, and I can't be bothered to take this thing apart.

The point of the above paragraph isn't about asking for tech support, more to illustrate my thought process when shopping for a portable audio interface.

So I have a RME UCX attached to my main rig, and it's worked out great. I loathe to take it on the road, so I wanted to get a smaller and less expensive interface with me when I travel. My first choice was an RME Babyface, simply because the UCX has worked out so well. But I eventually settled on a MOTU Microbook, since it cost 60% less than the Babyface.

Not a good decision. The headphone amp lacks the guts to drive higher impedance headphones, the CueMix routing and monitoring software is slow and buggy, and for some reason MOTU saw fit to remove buffer size from the driver control panel - this is something I didn't find out in all my internet searches and whatnot. I tried to like it for a week, then decided to return it and buy the Babyface instead. I should have gone with my gut to begin with.

Now I have to deal with the RMA process. I wish I could have bought local. For pete's sake, all I wanted was a solid ASIO soundcard with a good headphone amp.

[albee1952]

Yeah, tough lesson Drivers and software is RME's ace in the hole

[mesaone]

I have been spoiled.

I started out with an Edirol UA-5. At the time, it was pretty much the best you could get in the price range.

Then I got a Firewire 410. Man, that thing was awesome. Only problem was the outputs were all unbalanced, but I kept my cable lengths short and never had an issue.

Then I graduated to an MBOX3 which, contrary to what you read on the internet, can be an excellent interface. The preamps were decent, it was pretty darn solid. A/B tests had it beating out everything else I tried in the transparency department.

Then I got the RME. And I have the nerve to take a step backward to a MOTU. Lesson learned.

[krazylain]

You have been spoiled and many others as well. Routing, reliability and general flexibility make the RME an indispensable tool. Being able to send any input or output anywhere without latency is what make those boxes special. It's one of those things you take for granted, but then really miss when it's gone.