MOTU 828 MKI

The Motu 828 interface is run by fire wire and not USB which is one of the reason I took a lot of interest in it. When the Motu 828 first came out all the kept saying is that it was going to change the face of computer integration with audio interfaces and in some ways it did just that. The Motu 828 was very easy to use and to install it on my machine. It was very powerful and I was excited to get rid of my PCI card and get into the new era of audio interfaces via fire wire. I was pretty young when I first purchased this, and really wasn’t sure if I wanted to make the leap from the PCI card that I just bought. But needless to say I have kept this interface all the way till the year of 2010. So it really lasted me almost 8 year or so. I used this interface with Cubase LE for a while and later using it with programs like FL Studio.


UTILIZATION

I didn’t experience any driver updates, maybe I wasn’t aware of them when they came out but for my system I had no issues and no need to update. Even when I switched the Motu 828 to my Quad Core computer years ago, it still worked great and with the same drivers that it came with. Also, the latency on this interface was very low, but I have had lower latency with some newer interfaces. The Motu 828 was very stable and the price when it first came out made it a tough buy at the time because it was not cheap.


GETTING STARTED

I had no compatibility issues on either system I used it on. I cant remember the specs of my Dell desktop that I first used it on , but the second computer I used it on was a quad core pc with AMD and it worked perfectly. The manual was easy to use as I remember correctly and it wasn’t to long or hard o understand. All of the main functions of the Motu 828 where right on the unit and easy to use.


OVERALL OPINION

They have upgraded this interface to the MKII and then the MKIII. I have had a chance to work with both of the upgrades that MOTU has made, but the original Motu 828 has set the standard for the other products they have release. I do not regret my decision to purchase the Motu 828. I bought it with every penny I had saved and got well over my moneys worth.

I believe this was one of the first consumer oriented external firewire devices on the market. It originally sold mail order for $800.00. I bought mine around 2001 or 2002 and am still happily using it (2008) to record onto my home computer. It features two preamp inputs with individual adjustable gain with phantom power switch and XLR or 1/4 inch inputs, 6 more balanced inputs with 1/4 inch jacks and level controls for each pair of two, LED in/out lights, headphone jack, master volume level knob, monitor level knob, stereo main out jacks, 8 individual balanced out jacks and some optical and Adat jack options I don't use or know much about. It has 24 bit 64 and 128 oversampling converters. It has a software control panel that is easy to use.

UTILIZATION

I have installed this on two different Macintosh computers and have never had any difficulty whatsoever with the installation or functionality. The manual is clear.

GETTING STARTED

I have never had any issue with the Motu 828 except that often when I turn it on the clock does not sink up with the computer and the clock lights continue to flash. This requires me to turn off the Moto 828 and turn it back on again. The second time I turn it on it always sinks right up to the computer. My drivers are updated and I have had this issue with 2 different computers each running Tiger OSX. I have no idea if this issue is peculiar to me or an issue with Tiger or a characteristic of the unit. It is annoying but not terribly bad. I use the 828 with Logic software.

OVERALL OPINION

The Motu 828 sounds great to me! I don't hear any negative coloration of the sound whatsoever. I don't have a lot of experience with soundcards but it sounds professional to me. It sounds better that my Tascam US-122. I don't know how it compares to the newer products but overall it is a great product and I've been very happy with it.

I chose this interface because it is not expensive to Argus in 2013 and I planned the linker with adat for 16 tracks to record synths, samplers, guitar and microphone

UTILIZATION

Well it worked a month and nothing ... Suddenly she was no longer receiving juice, once she was no longer detected ... spent a technician to take a look there ... without success ...

GETTING STARTED

see above installation

in recent macs it was not detected either (tested after the failure), and w 7 32 bit or 64, nada ... xp can not be tested ...

OVERALL OPINION

I use it more than once ... it seems to have slept in a closet for years and once emerged from his cryogenic said bye bye soon enough.

What I like most is the price if it works fine for a hundred euros you have a good sound card, coupled with the adat 150 euro + or - there is a 16 tracks ...
I do not like the inability to direct monitoring of more than one entry ... not stand alone either

for comparison, in the ear, I would say less good at rendering sononre the presonus mobile firestudio the motu ultralite, analog mixer Mackie SR24 / 4 (love it!), the TC Electronic Konnekt 24D .. . better than m audio fast track and Alesis IO2 course!

if it had functioned with this budget and I would choose it again