Ableton Forum

4am wrote:the computer i've ordered has an expresscard slot
so i'm probably going to order the expresscard

Well, if the computer has PCIe slot then it's no brainer: after all, MFII is still one of the bests out there.

4am wrote:the computer i've ordered has an expresscard slot
but no thunderbold
i found that not so useful for the moment
as there are only few, and very expensive devices supporting thunderbolt.

do you have suggestions on an alternative audio interface that should be:

- less expensive than an rme
- good quality
- 8 line inputs and outputs
- mid in and out
- solid
- sexy

i'm unable to find anything filling this criterias

so i'm probably going to order the expresscard

Yeah sounds like a plan, you could always check ebay for a second hand expresscard sold by somebody upgrading.

4am wrote:the computer i've ordered has an expresscard slot
but no thunderbold
i found that not so useful for the moment
as there are only few, and very expensive devices supporting thunderbolt.

do you have suggestions on an alternative audio interface that should be:

- less expensive than an rme
- good quality
- 8 line inputs and outputs
- mid in and out
- solid
- sexy

i'm unable to find anything filling this criterias

so i'm probably going to order the expresscard

MOTU USB line-up...

excellent candidate!
it would cost me 150 euros more than the expresscard for the rme
and i would have a second, new, audio interface
how does the motu ultralite compare to the multiface II in terms of audio quality?
i'm going to make some research now...

I only can give you a warning, you'll never find a driver support like RME, not with MOTU, not with M-Audio or Focusrite, etc..

I have had them all and none of them can rudimentially reache the quality of RME, especially the drivers. The drivers are the essential thing with an Interface. You will have crashes with Ableton and your OS with badly programmed drivers. And 2 years after buying the driver support will stop and then you have badly programmed drivers and old drivers as well.

Do your worst, but remember that.

not true.. I've had a MOTU interface for almos 6 years.. always updated drivers..
solid as a rock..
(although not as 'sleek' and snappy as the RME interface.. it's the next best thing imo)

4am wrote:excellent candidate!
it would cost me 150 euros more than the expresscard for the rme
and i would have a second, new, audio interface
how does the motu ultralite compare to the multiface II in terms of audio quality?
i'm going to make some research now...

been using my Ultralight for 5 years without any trouble, as for the sound it's really clear both on the playback and recording side.
But i think you heard a fey guys using it, like dr. Nojoke, storlon... (:

Happy to see that you finally found a new computer by the way.

I have not used a Motu interface before, and I have read many posts with people having issues with midi & usb drivers.

http://www.amazon.com/review/RR12LV3VJQ ... 2LV3VJQCDX

Seems as though they have updated the drivers since (this review is pretty old ).

I know a couple of guys that have been in the same situation & gone for a presonus saffire pro 40 and have been very happy with the results.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SaffPro40 $499 @ sweetwater.

It is a dilemma. The rme expresscards cost so much. It's a pitty.

I've been exceptionally happy with my original MOTU Traveler. I picked it up back in 2005 as a floor unit for a good price. It's been exceptionally reliable and durable... used it 3-5 nights a week playing out for over 4 years.

The preamps are pretty damn transparent, the latency is sick... ableton reports around 3ms at 192k and It's an overall stable unit. Plus its bus powered. My only complaint is that for a period of time (a few years ago) a few iterations/versions of the midi driver felt kinda sluggish. Its better now. The new version of the Traveler has DSP dual FW/USB... tempting to upgrade but can't justify cause my original still gets the job done.

I am also currently using an RME UFX at the studio I work at. It's a damn good unit but we had some problems with BSODs on Windows when closing out of Pro Tools. Seems rock solid on Mac though (go figure)

well..good news..
out of curiousity wondering if I can use the MFII on my desktop..
I've purchased this for 8 bucks:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PCI-TO-CARDBUS- ... 2575812214
...
and it works perfectly on my Win8 desktop!!! (so far so good)

not all Motherboards have PCI..
in this case you might want to try this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HWTOOLS-CB242A- ... 2a2b3a3ed9
worth a try before splashing 500$ for the RME solution