MOTU MicroBook II

Which technical specifications motivated your choice?
Small, portable, MOTU, Enough for a beginning.

What do you use it for?
To record condenser MICs, analog and modular synthezisers and DAW.

What's your setup (motherboard, CPU, RAM, hard drive,...)?
I have a badass monster I put together and optimized myself, I work with computers...

Do you use it with other instruments or systems (mixing console, preamp, DtD, ...) and what's your setup? ...
Focal monitors, Cordial cable, DJTT USB cable.

UTILIZATION

Are the drivers stable?
No

Are they up to date?
No

Which software do you use?
Ableton Live

What's the latency of your system?
It's useless to do automation with Ableton's Curve without having a buffer of 512 Samples; no problems with my motherboard's built-in soundcard using MME DirectX...

How many tracks can you record/playback simultaneously ? ...
I have never counted, because it depends on the gear you use on each track, but with a CPU-resource consumption above 40% it produces glitches, clicks and pops.

GETTING STARTED

Did you have any problems during the installation?
Plug and Play ( ...or rather Plug and Do Your Head In)

Did you have any incompatibility problems?
Yes

Is the overall configuration complicated?
You can get easily lost with the strange options...

Is the user's manual clear and comprehensive? ...
Yes

OVERALL OPINION

How long have you been using it?

Which feature do you like the most / the least?
The most:
The tools are great, Oscilloscope, Tuner, FFT Analyzer, etc.

The least:
The included USB cable is completely useless, it only makes the soundcard restart all the time.
USB female connector of dubious quality.
Latency, CPU consumption, it's horrible, glitches, clicks and pops without end.
The card simply can't be used with a buffer below 512 (and I'm talking about a 4.8 Ghz PC with the best components inside, and I won't to tell you how it did with my laptop...)
Live's Automation works poorly or not at all in "Curve" mode if the buffer isn't set to 512 samples in Live, but I have no problems with Directx/MME and a built-in soundcard.

Did you try any other models before buying this one?
No

How would you rate its value for money?
It's worthless, frankly, not even free is it a good option.

Based on your experience, would you buy this product again? ...
Right now, if I were to find one lying on the street inside its box I would throw it directly into the first garbage can I'd found.

A final word:
I must warn all Windows users to run from the brand, which is just worse as time goes by, the drivers aren't stable, the USB connector and the USB cable included are of very bad quality. The overall operation is deplorable.

Bottom line, unless your idea of making music is racking your brains every time, don't even think about it.

I had heard lots of good things about this brand when I started out but, to be true, I don't know where that reputation comes from.

In short, it's lousy.

The MOTU Micro Book II is very small and compact. It works via USB with a computer and it is an 8 bus digital mixer as well. This mixer is plug and play, even the install is very quick and easy. Loading up the drivers is really the only thing that needs to be done and after that it will work in your DAW. I only used it on my MacBook Pro and used it a few times for some small projects in Garage Band. I have also used it with Ableton Live and it worked great. I didn’t install the software that came with it though because I didn’t feel the need to put it on my hard drive knowing that I wouldn’t need it. But for someone who is just starting out, it does come with software just in case you do not already have one.

UTILIZATION

The conversion on this unit is very good but there are some issues with using it in Garage Band when it comes to the phone output. There are a lot of users who have had this problem and for some reason it only happens on Macs. The playback and outputs are very clean even when at loud volumes. I used a pair of Alesis speakers to monitor with when I had this device and the speakers were not very expensive either but it sounded great.

GETTING STARTED

This unit is very portable and small, I recommend it for the mobile producer/engineer or even the mobile DJ. There are ups and downs with it and it wouldn’t be my first choice in this price range if I had to do it all over again I would have purchased something else.

OVERALL OPINION

Also the customer support with it was not very good either, they didn’t seem to know what they were talking about. So if you are not good at working with interfaces like this one and do not want to trouble shoot I would stay away from it.

The MicroBook II is a 4 in and 6 out interface that connects to your computer through a USB cable. It is one of the smaller and more portable interfaces that MOTU makes, it is also one of the more affordable ones as well. This interface is small and simple to understand, you will not need to touch a manual to operate the MicroBook II. It works great on your PC and on your Mac, and will work in any DAW you wish to use it with. I started using this interface off and on this summer and one of the first things that I noticed is how great of a recording you can get with this little interface. I would not use it for anything but rough drafts and demos though just because the preamps are not warm enough for me and the tone is a little colored with this interface.

UTILIZATION

For this interface to be small and affordable, the latency is gone! You can record whatever you would like to record with this interface latency free. I do recommend using a higher quality microphone with it because of the preamps coloring the sound, using a cheaper microphone will give you some bad quality.

GETTING STARTED

I have experienced 0 compatibility issues when using it with my MacBook and all of the basic functions of this interface are right on the face of it. They are easy to use and understand, the knobs are built well for this interface to be as affordable as it is.

OVERALL OPINION

My favorite thing about this interface is that you can take it with you and get a good sound no matter where you are going to use it at. The lease favorite thing about this interface is that you have to use a better than average microphone with it or your tone will have a lot of color to it. Even I am recording a demo on the go I still want a clean sound.

I was looking for a small and compact soundcard with enough INs & OUTs to be able to record demos on the road.

Plus, it has built-in DSPs, cool. It's (high rate) USB powered, which is cool.

UTILIZATION

The drivers seem stable and, from what I know of the brand, updates are constant. Cuemix FX is clear and easy to use. I use this card with DP or Audiodesk.

GETTING STARTED

Easy and effective overall design and usability. Installation in a couple of clicks.

OVERALL OPINION

Interesting value for money, I think the sound is quite all right for a soundcard at this price point. I have never tried the "Mix" DJ mode, but I'm sure it will find a place in my mobile setup.