MOTU 1248 anyone using one...? whats it sound like?

I wondered about the new Motus too.  Their features and flexibility are very appealing.  But whenever I brought up the name Motu to others their immediate response was that it won't measure up to the better converters on the market--sadly even without hearing them.  Motu claims that they've redesigned these and that they sound great, but I think they're really fighting an uphill battle of public perception.  
I do wish that someone here with the time and money would take a shot at the new Motu and do a full out review--there's precious little info out there.  

Over on the purple site in that huge converter shootout thread, there's a post about it nulling down to -77db with the symphony. They use the same converter chips, the response plots are eerily similar. I can't see how they didn't take a peak under the hood of the symphony when building this thing.
It's definitely on the top of my list for my next converter upgrade.

Anyone have/try/own the new 24AI or 24 AO converter boxes yet? If the conversion is done right it may be a winner.

This could be the(not perfectly convenient) answer i'm looking for? I could keep my BLA 002 that i'm totally thrilled with(10 simul inputs @96k), and DA feed my console at mix time with these, the price is more than right, and if Jim can apply some of his magic to the thing, it could be incredible? I wonder on Sabre32 ultra chip, 2 or 8 channel? what the implementation of them is? I cant seem to find that info so far.... A single chip per 8 channels would knock me off this wagon, and my guess is this is probably the case..

SamAsh shows them 18 month no interest

www.gearslutz.com/board/music-computers/943494-motu-1248-8m-16a-thunderbolt-interface-22.html

8)

i used to have to say that, now i say it when it comes to things like qrd dude 8) 
I'm still wondering if they're using this in the 2 channel per chip or 8 channel per chip configs, i'd be stunned if it was 2, i'd also tear my jeans pulling the credit card out of my pocket!

I was going to "like" this, but I don't, so I'll just say thanx for the info Deehope!

cool! Welcome Mike! got an upfront question....

I'm interested in the Motu Ao24, and curious to know how the power supply was implemented to maintain performance upon loading, every time i've demo'd converter units with 8 channels per converter chip, they seem to really flatten out, lose dimension and dynamic range when they are loaded up, how is this unit different in its design than say the antelope orion32(i'm aware that it specs better on paper)? Also, is there anyway to incorporate the Ao24 stand alone as a DA feeding my console with PT11? I've seen a lot of vids on the motu stuff, but I haven't seen anything on this.

Thanx

The market share for most of their previous stuff was the entry/low/mid level customers. They haven't until now entered the Mytek competition. Let's see what they have under the hood.

The Antelope 32 I've gone through used National LME49725 dual opamps, pretty good but it's their low end audio opamp.

Hey everyone!

My name's Michael Miller. I'm a software engineer at MOTU on the AVB team. I'd love to answer any questions you may have. I'll try my best to give as detailed responses as possible. Thanks deehope for inviting me over!


CueMix only works with the older interfaces, not the new AVB line. All the new AVB interfaces run a web server internally that serves a web app. You can control all the features of the box via any browser on the same network: your laptop, your desktop, your phone, etc. Multiple people can interact with it at the same time. You could give the artists iPads or phones and have them tweak their own headphone mixes, for example, while you take care of the big picture stuff. Features include flexible matrix routing, a 48-channel low-latency mixer, EQ, compression, reverb… You can also use it standalone as live mixer or DA without a computer. Rather than just keep listing features, though, here are some resources for you to look at if you're still interested!

1248 product page, with overviews of all the features
MOTU AVB resources including documentation, tutorial videos and FAQ


These units were re-designed from the ground up, informed by our experience building audio interfaces over the last 20 some years. Despite their similar looks, their internals have little in common with their predecessors. The DAC you're referring to—the ESS Sabre32 Ultra 8-channel—is a top-tier component. These are without a doubt the best sounding interfaces we've ever made and we're really proud of the result.

I don't know how the design for the Orion32 compares. In the end, it all comes down to a combination of objective measurements and subjective opinions. Users over at GearSlutz have taken their own measurements and others have chimed in with their opinions (thread here). Unfortunately, there aren't any professional reviews yet. If you're looking for an upgrade, I'd say find a unit from somewhere with a favorable return policy. Your ears are the ultimate test in all this!


I don't know which op amp chips we're using off the top of my head. For ADC, we're using Cirrus Logic's flagship CS5381 in the 1248 and 16A. The 8M and 24Ai use the CS5368 instead for engineering reasons.


Aside from the 24 balanced outputs, the 24Ao also has 3 banks of ADAT. If you've got ADAT out from your interface, that should work. All the new AVB interfaces work both attached to a computer and standalone. If you want to tweak settings on the box or change routings, just make sure it's accessible on your network, either connected directly to your computer via ethernet or to your wifi router or switch.

I just checked with the hardware guys on this. We're using Texas Instruments LME49724 chips. It's a phenomenal part and a big step up from our previous boxes.