RME or MOTU

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
Cryptic UK
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RME or MOTU

Post by Cryptic UK » Mon Feb 08, 2010 2:30 pm

I'm torn between getting rme or motu.
Which one should i go for being on a MBP latest, snow leopard?

Most important thing stability and latency.
I have done extensive research on both but was wondering what peoples experiences are... thoughts?

Maybe Tarekith could come in and shed some light here.
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SubFunk
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Re: RME or MOTU

Post by SubFunk » Mon Feb 08, 2010 2:37 pm

RME.

if you can afford it RME. most definitely!

it is the best card money can buy, hardware and latency wise. unless you can go into the top region and get a metric halo, apogee, benchmark, lynx or orpheus prism.
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Cryptic UK
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Re: RME or MOTU

Post by Cryptic UK » Mon Feb 08, 2010 2:43 pm

SubFunk wrote:RME.

if you can afford it RME. most definitely!

it is the best card money can buy, hardware and latency wise. unless you can go into the top region an get a metric halo, apogee, benchmark, lynx or orpheus prism.
Would i be getting better performance from the 800? or is the 400 just the same.
I have money for the 800.

Are you on MBP latest, snow leopard?
I thought motu was made to work well with macs. I want to go with rme but this the only thing holding me back.
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Re: RME or MOTU

Post by SubFunk » Mon Feb 08, 2010 2:53 pm

Cryptic UK wrote:
SubFunk wrote:RME.

if you can afford it RME. most definitely!

it is the best card money can buy, hardware and latency wise. unless you can go into the top region an get a metric halo, apogee, benchmark, lynx or orpheus prism.
Would i be getting better performance from the 800? or is the 400 just the same.
I have money for the 800.

Are you on MBP latest, snow leopard?
i am on a MBP, latest SL.

but i don't use an RME card in my setup, but know and worked with them a lot (next to motu, benchmark, apogee and metric halo, me totally loving metric halo... yum)

if we are talking firewire then the 800 has only way more I/O options and 4 instead of 2 pres (and an optional time code module, if you need, but i doubt that... it is for locking SMPTE formats to outboard gear)

i have to admit i never used the new UC card, but heard that it is a tad better in terms of latency performance, but i don't know that for sure.

i think it depends on what you are actually need... if it is not to much what the card offers in respect to I/O, etc. i would take the 800 if you can afford it. then again the 400 is handy for taking a long with you, in case you want to do that...?
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Tarekith
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Re: RME or MOTU

Post by Tarekith » Mon Feb 08, 2010 3:02 pm

The 400 is almost the same as the 800, though the 800 has SLIGHTLY better mic pres I've read. But the different is tiny. The MOTU is definitely the best bang for the buck, rock solid on all fronts, and the new versions have nice plug ins you can run included too.

The RME definitely sounds better and is more flexible in terms of it's routing (read: almost complex because of this). The only issue I have with my RME is that if I disconnect it from the MBP, I have to reboot the MBP when I reconnect it or else the hardware volume knob no longer works. I can still control the volume with the software mixer though.

IF you need a device mainly for live use, I'd say go with the MOTU. Probably not going to hear a lot of difference between the two in most live settings.
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rikhyray
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Re: RME or MOTU

Post by rikhyray » Mon Feb 08, 2010 3:04 pm

RME or Motu, BMW or Kia? What is about Motu on this forum- budget, ordinary card, not bad, but nothing special, can be compared to Echo, Presonus or M audio but RME is another league. I like the display and mixer feature but as compared to Echo or Prsonus it is bit plasticy and the over all quality took nose dive (read- returned units, repairs) considering shaky condition of Motu as company I wouldnt invest in any product from them, not now. Too many cases of companies that dissapear leaving users with expensive paperweights.

Cryptic UK
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Re: RME or MOTU

Post by Cryptic UK » Mon Feb 08, 2010 3:06 pm

SubFunk wrote:
Cryptic UK wrote:
SubFunk wrote:RME.

if you can afford it RME. most definitely!

it is the best card money can buy, hardware and latency wise. unless you can go into the top region an get a metric halo, apogee, benchmark, lynx or orpheus prism.
Would i be getting better performance from the 800? or is the 400 just the same.
I have money for the 800.

Are you on MBP latest, snow leopard?
i am on a MBP, latest SL.

but i don't use an RME card in my setup, but know and worked with them a lot (next to motu, benchmark, apogee and metric halo, me totally loving metric halo... yum)

if we are talking firewire then the 800 has only way more I/O options and 4 instead of 2 pres (and an optional time code module, if you need, but i doubt that... it is for locking SMPTE formats to outboard gear)

i have to admit i never used the new UC card, but heard that it is a tad better in terms of latency performance, but i don't know that for sure.

i think it depends on what you are actually need... if it is not to much what the card offers in respect to I/O, etc. i would take the 800 if you can afford it. then again the 400 is handy for taking a long with you, in case you want to do that...?
Ok thanks

Yeah just been reading about the UB. Looks like i would get really good performance on my mac with it. i/o's are not important at the minute but will be in the future, so i have to think about that.
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Cryptic UK
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Re: RME or MOTU

Post by Cryptic UK » Mon Feb 08, 2010 3:09 pm

Tarekith wrote:The 400 is almost the same as the 800, though the 800 has SLIGHTLY better mic pres I've read. But the different is tiny. The MOTU is definitely the best bang for the buck, rock solid on all fronts, and the new versions have nice plug ins you can run included too.

The RME definitely sounds better and is more flexible in terms of it's routing (read: almost complex because of this). The only issue I have with my RME is that if I disconnect it from the MBP, I have to reboot the MBP when I reconnect it or else the hardware volume knob no longer works. I can still control the volume with the software mixer though.

IF you need a device mainly for live use, I'd say go with the MOTU. Probably not going to hear a lot of difference between the two in most live settings.

Thanks

Only thing with the 400 is that its 400:)
So could i daisy chain my firewire 800 hard drive with it and the mac without problems. how are you connecting it to your MBP?

This worked with my firebox.
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Re: RME or MOTU

Post by SubFunk » Mon Feb 08, 2010 3:12 pm

rikhyray wrote:RME or Motu, BMW or Kia? What is about Motu on this forum- budget, ordinary card, not bad, but nothing special, can be compared to Echo, Presonus or M audio but RME is another league. I like the display and mixer feature but as compared to Echo or Prsonus it is bit plasticy and the over all quality took nose dive (read- returned units, repairs) considering shaky condition of Motu as company I wouldnt invest in any product from them, not now. Too many cases of companies that dissapear leaving users with expensive paperweights.
i partly agree, motu makes good cards... but yes there is motu, presonus, echo and the lot and then there is RME and then... benchmark, metric halo, lynx, etc. (i totally agree about the built, we had motus next to other cards in my old company a 828, V4HD and a 8pre to be precise next to RME FF 800 a 400 and one metric halo ULN2 and the motus where the weakest in any respect, especially built, knobs etc.)

it is of no question as soon as someone can afford an RME card to get it. full stop. next level above are the ones i mentioned already. everything else is underneath.
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Re: RME or MOTU

Post by SubFunk » Mon Feb 08, 2010 3:16 pm

Cryptic UK wrote:Only thing with the 400 is that its 400:)
So could i daisy chain my firewire 800 hard drive with it and the mac without problems. how are you connecting it to your MBP?

This worked with my firebox.
this is OK in theory and does work well with the firebox (firebox user at home, here), but the RME cards are a bit fussy in that respect and like to have there own firewire bus, i know people that do it and it's fine... but i don't give you a guarantee with an RME card it will...
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Re: RME or MOTU

Post by Tarekith » Mon Feb 08, 2010 3:21 pm

Cryptic UK wrote:Only thing with the 400 is that its 400:)
So could i daisy chain my firewire 800 hard drive with it and the mac without problems. how are you connecting it to your MBP?
I just connect it via FW400. It's more than fast enough for anything you'd use the FF400 for, so I don't see it only being 400 speed as an issue at all. They make a USB version of the FF400 now too. Only difference between it and the firewire version is that the USB version can actually get slightly lower latencies. Though I never go anywhere close to that low anyway, so no biggy to me.
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aqua_tek
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Re: RME or MOTU

Post by aqua_tek » Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:18 pm

Be warned that the RME drivers are showing a lot of issues with Snow Leopard... at least in my case, with the Fireface 800.

Whenever I connect the FF800 to my macbook pro, it is NECESSARY to do a reboot. Otherwise, when I launch live and select the FF800 as the audio interface, I get a kernel panic. Once the reboot is done it works fine. However, this was NOT happening with Leopard. It was extremely stable with 10.5.

Also, Whenever the FF800 is plugged in, it somehow interferes with the Airport performance... to be more specific: Airport is rendered completely useless.

And I know it's minor when compared to the kernel panic issue, but still a nuisance, since I don't only use my FF800 for Live. I also use it for general stuff, like internet streaming, etc. An interface shouldn't be limited to just online use. This was also NOT happening with Leopard. Matter of fact, it was not happening with earlier versions of SNOW leopard. Looks like a recent OS update may have screwed this up. Quite baffling actually.


These two issues aside, which I'm sure may be fixed through another driver update, and based on my previous experience with it Pre-SL, the Fireface is great. Great hardware, great converters. Definite improvement in clarity over my old, trusty, MOTU ultralite.

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Re: RME or MOTU

Post by GrooveNinja » Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:32 pm

I found that the Fireface UC did not work with certain versions of the MacBook Pro. There is a thread about it on the RME forums. It seems to affect the unibody MacBook Pro with the ExpressCard slot. Essentially, I could not record with the UC because there would be periodic noise and distortion.

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Re: RME or MOTU

Post by zalo » Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:36 pm

i use the FF400 with a MBP and at 48khz i get a 96 sample buffer size no pops or crackles, on my imac i get 80 samples

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Re: RME or MOTU

Post by Hidden Driveways » Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:42 pm

Tarekith wrote:The RME definitely sounds better
It all boils down to that. Driver issues are prone to come and go with any computer interface choice.

A thread like that cannot exist without reminding people that the Fireface UC cannot run on bus power. It needs an AC adpater at all times.

Damn. I was dead set on getting a MOTU Traveler, but Sub Funk has me second guessing this decision AGAIN. Oi vey. This never ends...

Now I want the FF400. :x But hell, if the FF400 needs it's own FireWire bus then that means I need to pay big bucks for a 17" MBP with an Expresscard slot so I can use an external 7200 RPM drive.

::emoticon for shooting myself in the head::

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