Ableton Forum

Ok Ableton forumites - tell me what I should buy.

My current audio gear is basically a Yamaha MG12/4 mixer. What I need right now is an audio interface. I've narrowed it down to either a MOTU Ultralite, or a MOTU Traveler. I want to record guitars/vocals/drum samples/wierd sounds at home, and be able to take a traveling audio rig with me to jam and record with friends. I probably don't need all the extra stuff that the Traveler gives you, but you never know.

In Australia, a Traveler goes for $1500. An Ultralite goes for $1000. (AUD)

Tell me what you would buy. If you were me. Which you aren't. But pretend you are.

Oh, and if you have a good reason why I should get either one, tell me why!

I'd got with the ultralite, just because it's compact and the features are almost the same as the traveler.
And it also costs 500 bucks less.

Hi,
yesterday I go a Traveler, because of the following reason:

I want to record vocals, guitar and acoustic piano at the same time and so
I need 4 mic in.s

If you want to record guitar and vocals at the same time you need 2 mic ins, if you want to do it better you need 2 mics (amp, DI) for the guitar, so the ultralite won´t fit.

So how many mic ins will you need at the same time?
Elec

ultralite! i recently purchased one and it's been problem free me. but if $500 more isn't really an issue for you, then go with the traveler. you never know you may need the extra features it offers. either way you'll get a great audio interface.


psize

traveler is great, but had more features than i needed to pay for... i have a few small analog outboard mixers (not digital, so no need for wordclock), and a tube mic preamp, so i didn't need the extra 2 mic pres. i can't imagine ever needing 192 kHz sample rate, i use 24/44.1 and it's totally adequate for my purposes....

i saved money and space, and i LOVE my ultralite, it's rock solid, sounds great, and has very low latency...

Is there any difference in the quality of the converters between the two? I'm thinking that the 4 pres in the traveler would be REALLY handy.

Convertors are identical. Another problem free Ultralite user here, and I'm on XP even

If the converters are identical, I take it that the only reason the ultralite can only do 96k is that it has a lower horsepower DSP? Not that it's really an issue for me, but I have read a lot of literature which argues that 192khz converters sound better at 44/48khz then converters which are capable of less.

If the Traveler had 4 pres I'd get that with no questions asked, but only 2 pres could be a real pain when I'm "on the go". Hmmm. Any other suggestions/thoughts? I think I'm gonna go for the Traveler at the moment.

dude, stop obsessing. YOU CANNOT HEAR A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TRAVELER AND AN ULTRALITE AT 24/48!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have an Ultralite and it sounds amazing. Better than my EMU 1212M, which is 24/192. It sounds GREAT. If you don't need the extra I/O's then get the Ultralite.
Some of you people that get into digital audio can be so obsessive about stuff that doesn't even matter. Like c'mon, "should I spend and extra $700 because my 192 Khz interface will sound better at 48k than my 96Khz interface?"

Stop and listen to yourself....

sometimes people I know are willing to spend a shitload of money just to say " I have the best technology, the top-of-the-line"
when I see people never touch half of the shit. It just sits in their "studio" for show......like a museum or some shit. It impresses girls and gear-heads, but not me.

If you are rich, go for it. Blow your dough. The preamps on the Ultralite are fine for me, also. It's a great unit, very reliable and VERY SMALL AND LIGHT. I mean light. And it looks really cool too.

FWIW, I like the sound of my Ultralite, but think my 1820m was still a bit better. Not for long though, the Ultralite is going to Blacklion soon to be modded:

http://www.blacklionaudio.com/

not me, I've done side by side comparisons and I think the MOTU has a lot more depth, more three-dimensional-sounding. The EMU is very sharp and clear, but I notice a difference and prefer the MOTU. Just my opinion. Maybe the 1212M and 1820M are different....?

err_fatale: I'm interested greatly by what the differences are since I'm an electrical engineer. I like to know what I'm buying! I also like to know the technical ins and outs and what does and doesn't sound better.

I fully understand why gearheads shit you. They shit me too. That doesn't mean I'm not entitled to learn about something I'm about to spend $1000 on.

Anyway, I guess the question I really should be asking is: are there any small portable preamps that I could carry around with an Ultralite to get a few more mic channels? I have my Yamaha mixer (I know they're not great pres, but they are pres nonetheless) but that'll hardly fit in my bag.

BTW, even Bob Katz says 192 Khz is not very practical, especially for the average bedroom (or living room) producer. It simply eats way too much CPU and disk space. Besides. I dare you to say you can hear a difference between 96k and 192k.

If you say you can, you are so full of shyte.

If you are super obsessed, wait for the RME fireface 400 and get that, or hell just get the Fireface 800.

I don't think I was clear. I don't want to use the converters at 192Khz, but I've read that the converters themselves sound better compared to converters only capable of 96khz. I don't know enough about sigma-delta AD converters to know why this is exactly, but I've read pretty convincing arguments.

Anyway, I think this point has been done. Any thoughts on the portable mic pre?

the preamps on the Ultralite are fine for me, but I don't use "vocals" often. Just mostly vocoded stuff, or stuff that gets a lot of FX anyways, so......

the ultralite is a great unit, it sounds great, has everything I need and is lightweight and the price was decent. That's my opinion. You won't be disappointed if you get one.