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Post by jcoutu1 on Sept 30, 2016 9:57:44 GMT -6
The new Motu boxes are getting nice reviews and the price is right, but the specs of the 24Ai are killing me. 110dB dynamic range.
This is the same as a Focusrite Octapre. Does this sound better than the specs imply?
I currently have a Focusrite Scarlett (which I think stinks) that I could expand to 18 inputs for ~$350.
I could grab a 24Ao for ~$850 and have 24 inputs instead and down the road when I need the outputs could spend another ~$850 to add the 24Ao.
Or, I could just lay the money down for an Antelope Orion 32 (118dB) and have 32 channels both ways off the bat without screwing around.
Anyone compared the 24Ai to the Octapre or Orion?
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Motu 24Ai
Sept 30, 2016 18:16:39 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by ChaseUTB on Sept 30, 2016 18:16:39 GMT -6
Searching Antelope on GS brings up one shaky experience after another regarding their interfaces, drivers, firmware, control panel, and customer service. I would not invest in Antelope at this time, even though their boxes have great sound, features, and lots of I/O.
I have read very few complaints regarding the revamped motu's, and people who own them say the sound quality is outstanding.
The focusrite new interfaces don't not sync to PT for HW inserts and the routing is messed up for PT. Focusrite is aware but do not have a solution at the moment. If you are not a PT user or HW user this may be irrelevant to you.
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Post by kilroyrock on Sept 30, 2016 20:54:28 GMT -6
I use a saffire 56 with PT and it's great, so with the clarrett they messed up the set up?
I like the absence of pres on the motu stuff. And the windows TV drivers FR keeps promising
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Post by ChaseUTB on Oct 2, 2016 11:36:18 GMT -6
I use a saffire 56 with PT and it's great, so with the clarrett they messed up the set up? I like the absence of pres on the motu stuff. And the windows TV drivers FR keeps promising I hate to say this but I'm talking about their $2500 red4 pre and $2999 just released red8 pre interfaces. Audio does not sync on the timeline even if you enter a HW offset delay in the setup I/o menu. I don't know about the clarett range of interfaces |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2016 13:59:48 GMT -6
I've had very positive experiences with Antelope, I would highly recommend the original Orion because they're dirt cheap these days.
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Post by sozocaps on Oct 2, 2016 14:22:38 GMT -6
Using a Trak2 , Mini DAC, AD and DA 16x. Just tried JCF here to compare(converters are not the place to make real gains INHO).... All current converter are very very good get what meets your needs....
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Post by baltazar on Oct 3, 2016 1:06:51 GMT -6
Ive had both and here is my experience.
Had motu 24ai and a 24ao. gave it a year, but the drivers and the AVB mixer was so bad, sync issus, very unstable when changing sample rate. Routing was not working as intended neither. I know they tried to improve it and it's been half a year since i replaced them, might be working better now.
Changed to Orion 32 and a RME Madiface. Running the interface over MADI and i haven't had any problems since then.
The sound quality of both of these interfaces however i would say are equally good, just a bit different..
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Motu 24Ai
Oct 3, 2016 4:39:16 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by jcoutu1 on Oct 3, 2016 4:39:16 GMT -6
Ive had both and here is my experience. Had motu 24ai and a 24ao. gave it a year, but the drivers and the AVB mixer was so bad, sync issus, very unstable when changing sample rate. Routing was not working as intended neither. I know they tried to improve it and it's been half a year since i replaced them, might be working better now. Changed to Orion 32 and a RME Madiface. Running the interface over MADI and i haven't had any problems since then. The sound quality of both of these interfaces however i would say are equally good, just a bit different.. Why are you running the ORION over MADI and not USB? What's the advantage there? |
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Post by baltazar on Oct 3, 2016 4:51:29 GMT -6
Ive had both and here is my experience. Had motu 24ai and a 24ao. gave it a year, but the drivers and the AVB mixer was so bad, sync issus, very unstable when changing sample rate. Routing was not working as intended neither. I know they tried to improve it and it's been half a year since i replaced them, might be working better now. Changed to Orion 32 and a RME Madiface. Running the interface over MADI and i haven't had any problems since then. The sound quality of both of these interfaces however i would say are equally good, just a bit different.. Why are you running the ORION over MADI and not USB? What's the advantage there? The routing is limited, you cant get direct monitoring AND send signal to DAW simultaneously running on USB (this is for both the orion and motu). In recording situation we set up the monitor mix for the musicians on our console. The motu could handle this (with a very complex work around set up in the AVB mixer) but could only handle 24 channels up to 48kHz. I was surprised when i realized the non flexible routing on newer interface. Direct monitoring on all 24 channels was rock solid on our +10 year old motu 24io system. Running the Orion over MADI gives you better routing options. |
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Motu 24Ai
Oct 3, 2016 5:14:46 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by jcoutu1 on Oct 3, 2016 5:14:46 GMT -6
Huh, the one time I ran the Orion in an overdub situation, I didn't notice any issues like that.
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Post by baltazar on Oct 3, 2016 11:32:54 GMT -6
Huh, the one time I ran the Orion in an overdub situation, I didn't notice any issues like that. Well, yes and no gonna try to explain better... The physical outputs on the interface cannot sum a signal from both physical input and DAW output. To do that you have to use their mixer but it doesn't have enough busses. So yes, to record a full band with monitoring setup is doable, but the moment you want to playback what you just did, you have to change preset to change DAW output > physical output. When moving on to doing overdubs it gets even more complicated.... What i just wrote above is however doable (and much more) with RME totalmix when running the interface on MADI, then you can sum several inputs (both physical and DAW) to one single output. Hope this explains better. |
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Post by forgotteng on Oct 3, 2016 18:03:34 GMT -6
It took me a while to get comfortable with the 24A1/24Ao but I've been happy with it lately. I haven't had too many stability issues with it lately either. It sounds good to me.
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Post by jcoutu1 on Dec 15, 2016 9:31:36 GMT -6
Bumping this up again. You guys still digging the 24Ai? Are people using these on both Mac and Windows without issue? Pro Tools? Reaper? Running 24 inputs over USB on the reg? I should really just pick one of these up to leave at my venue for live recordings. We run a 24 channel console, easy as that I could take direct outs from the console to the 24Ai into a laptop to capture.
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Post by EmRR on Dec 15, 2016 9:43:22 GMT -6
Should be brainless and fine in that app with no learning curve.
I've watched system behavior for a few years now, and can say every time there's a driver or firmware update it's a big PITA to install, and SOMETHING in idiosyncrasy land changes. I'm extremely skeptical of the idea of these in a large networked system spread over a large venue, for instance. Too many start-up problems, and updates essentially require dismantling and rewiring each piece temporarily, there is no network update capability. I have a 16A and Monitor 8 together in the rack next to me, and it's an on and off dance to see if they'll both come up and be recognized. Frequently requires power cycling something. Then you might get a firmware update that's great and it all comes up every time until the next update.
But for what you want it to do, it should be fine.
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Post by jcoutu1 on Dec 15, 2016 9:45:35 GMT -6
Should be brainless and fine in that app with no learning curve. I've watched system behavior for a few years now, and can say every time there's a driver or firmware update it's a big PITA to install, and SOMETHING in idiosyncrasy land changes. I'm extremely skeptical of the idea of these in a large networked system spread over a large venue, for instance. Too many start-up problems, and updates essentially require dismantling and rewiring each piece temporarily, there is no network update capability. I have a 16A and Monitor 8 together in the rack next to me, and it's an on and off dance to see if they'll both come up and be recognized. Frequently requires power cycling something. Then you might get a firmware update that's great and it all comes up every time until the next update. But for what you want it to do, it should be fine. Mac or Windows? |
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Post by EmRR on Dec 15, 2016 9:53:16 GMT -6
Mac. I've been in since day 1, there was no windows system then.
The latest driver update hosed my control surface, need to spend an hour rolling that back.
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Post by porkyman on Dec 15, 2016 12:13:56 GMT -6
I've had two major problems. 1. You can't change sample rates. Just don't even try. It's not worth the pain. 2. Updating the drivers fucked up my system so bad I had to wipe my drive and clean install. It might be better now but I refuse to update again. 2.5 the routing matrix is horrible. PT 12 win 7.
When I went through the update fiasco I was so pissed all I did for a week straight was search for something to replace it but I came up empty. There's just nothing that comes close in terms of price/quality/feature ratio.
Once you come to terms with its faults you just chug along and don't even worry about it. I'll also add that I've had several other interfaces audient, spl, rme, avid, etc. and all of them had there own issues so you just gotta deal with them.
I'm curious about the Rme Madi combo above. Does this mean you use rme drivers with any ad/da you want. That is the dream setup.
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Post by johneppstein on Dec 15, 2016 13:20:07 GMT -6
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