Digi 001 vs. Motu 2408

[AlinMV]

I am in the process of setting up a DAW on a G4 platform. I had made up my mind on the 001 until a friend of mine said that the MOTU 2408 with the digital performer sofware is a better deal than the 001. Any feedback?

Thanks

[zavijah]

Ah, ye olde 2408 vs 001 debate.

Depends on what you need/value, is my usual spiel.

MOTU's got a compelling package, but you'll want to buy Digital Performer or some other large sequencer, in all likelyhood. So that'll cost you a few hundred bucks more than the 2408 alone. The 001 is great if you just want a basic, hassle-free setup that's not *particularly* expandable but can do some nice work. And Pro Tools is a big plus in some folks books. Again, depends on your preference.

One thing to bear in mind is that with the 001, you'll be relegated to being something of a second-class citizen. Digi wants you to buy their high-end stuff, so they tend to make the low end less than all it could be... As far as I know, MOTU's product line isn't as wildly stratified.

[E. D. Cooper]

For various reasons, not relevant here, I own both.

The MOTU 2408's central advantage over the Digi001 is its ability to send 24 channels of digital audio simultaneously in any combination of ADAT and TDIF (and S/PDIF to a limited extent). That's great, if you need it; overkill, if not.

The Digi001 is simple and easy to use. It is more than adequate, if you don't need the mass channel count.

[AlinMV]

Thanks for the feedback. From viewing the 001 video it appeared really easy to use which is a high priority for me since I don't have a lot of time. The only other question I have is what type of mastering/CD burning software/hardware would work best for this set up. I've been told that the Tascam CD-R Pro is a good setup and to avoid masterlist. The problem with the tascam system is that it does not supprort CR-RW. Any thoughts from those who have had success in that area.

Again I do appreciate the help. Thanks for your time and input.

[cnelson87]

I too have had this same question. I'm not speaking first hand - only repeating what I was told when I asked on this board and did my research. The 2408 mkII has way better A/D D/A, but there were some comments that it's latency was intolerable.

I'm buying my digi001 next week at Guitar Center ($799!!!) for reasons of cost alone. While the 2408 mkII MIGHT be considered better, it's not quite an all-in-one package, which I need. If you have the money to spend on mic-pre's, outboard MIDI in/out, and of course software, then take another look at the MOTU.

I'm currently using a QPS 8x4x32 Firewire CD/RW with Toast 4.1 and have had ZERO problems burning data or audio at 8x. However, I might be in the minority of satisfied QPS/Toast users.

HTH, Chris

[Juergen]

My Mac had some factory mainboard problems, so I'm not using it at the moment. But I had been using PT on it for a month until the G4's problem showed up (a big exception that stuff like that happens, as I understand), and I must say that until tonight I have never quite realized how easy and straightfoward and logical PT is, compared to other multitracking DAW's, like Emu's Logic (not that logical) and Vegas Pro. Of course, they all need some time to get adjusted to, but they just didn't feel right (and I'm not being snotty), compared to the way PTLE is handled. I'm not talking about certain aspects of functionality, because fpr example PTLE only has 24 audio channels, and yadda yadda (insert weakness here).

But just tonight as I was trying out Vegas and Emu on someone else's PC, trying to figure it out all by myself like I had done w/ PTLE (I'm usually not that slow with new software), I really started missing my PTLE. I sure hope future upgrades will have some better functions (eventually stuff like real virtual tracks and a little better sequencer, even though I do mostly audio).

And I hope G4 gets fixed soon, for crying out loud.

Haven't tried MOTU yet.

This has been a pro-PTLE post, not anti-anything.

Juergen