M-audio ProFire 2626 or MOTU 828 mk3?

[djmadmanly]

i have the focusrite saffire pro 26 io, built like a tank, verry high quality preamps that deliver pristine sound, runs great with windows xp, fiew bugs, i switched back from vista, it would not work with vista verry well at all, crashes every 5 mins. xp is fine.

[denekawa]

i had all sort of drivers problem with m-audio on the mac(fast track pro crashes osx EVERY time i plug it in) and really really cheap hardware built quality(2 410 and a solo died on me)
never had issues with motu on the mac side(i guess they are a mac friendly company even today)
any word on the mk3 standalone? and mackie control use in said standalone? (gonna buy one in teh next week, already have a buyer for the traveler)

I purchased the Profire 2626 in August of this year. It replaced a MOTU 2408 mkIII I had used for quite some time. Immediately, I noticed that the sound of the preamps alone made it worth the switch. I use a Mac and it was rock solid on Leopard. It took 16 weeks for the drivers to come out for use with Snow Leopard. Call this extra precautionary if you like, but the drivers have been solid for the short time I have had them installed. I run it with Digital Performer 7.01 and I think that this combination of DAW and audio interface is one of the best combos for the money available on the market today. Grant it, I have only been using sequencers and digital audio based sequencers since the mid 1980's, but at this point I am most happy with this system of any I have had purchased previously and there have been a few in this price range. I still use the MOTU Midi timepiece AV for the Midi stuff so I can't comment on the reliability of the midi aspect of the unit. It's latency is the same or better than any MOTU interface I used previously though and locks well to both video and audio in DP 7.01 and direct monitoring of input is a breeze to access.

I don't know what you are using as a DAW but if it's Pro Tools you won't be happy with an MOTU interface, or at least I wasn't for the limited amount I used it. That being said, MOTU PCI interfaces have always worked well for me in all 3 incarnations from the mkI up to the recent release, but I used some version of DP or Logic with it. MOTU appears to have worked hard to integrate both platforms to whatever end.

The preamps and drivers in the 2626 are what sold it for me though. I advise you to rent both units if you can and try them side by side. You will be amazed at the difference in clarity that the Profire has over the MOTU interface. I am using an iMac so results may vary with other systems, but from what I have read on M-Audio forums and MOTU forums, folks are equally as happy with either as a purchase. Another feature I like about the Profire is the DSP mixer and 2 built in front headphone jacks capable of separate mixes. As well, assigning phantom power to channels can be done from the front panel, something MOTU should investigate as well as the 2 TRS line ins on the front panel. You are bound to find those handy. Like I said it works seamlessly for me with MOTU's DP 7.01 on an iMac. Aside from waiting for the driver release, I'm very happy I made the choice I did for an audio interface and I feel I made the choice of the best of both worlds from these two great companies.

I might add that using USB for audio is a bad idea all around compared to firewire and you will be hard pressed to achieve any semblance of a professional result from that platform in general, no matter what interface you choose. If that level of consistency is not an issue for you, you may as well go purchase a Line 6 USB interface and wail away. They are all about the same as the USB port is not technically capable of sending/ receiving large files like audio/ video like a firewire port is.

After 2 months now of using the M - Audio in Snow Leopard with Digital Performer (now at 7.02) I am extremely pleased at the results. My initial observations regarding the Profire 2626 were accurate and I am pleased enough to actually recommend it to friends and professionals who require the best they can achieve working within this budget range. Anyone should be very happy with this audio interface as their system A/D - D/A work compliment. Best of luck to you and season's greetings to all!

[denekawa]

i had all sort of drivers problem with m-audio on the mac(fast track pro crashes osx EVERY time i plug it in) and really really cheap hardware built quality(2 410 and a solo died on me)
never had issues with motu on the mac side(i guess they are a mac friendly company even today)
any word on the mk3 standalone? and mackie control use in said standalone? (gonna buy one in teh next week, already have a buyer for the traveler)

I purchased the Profire 2626 in August of this year. It replaced a MOTU 2408 mkIII I had used for quite some time. Immediately, I noticed that the sound of the preamps alone made it worth the switch. I use a Mac and it was rock solid on Leopard. It took 16 weeks for the drivers to come out for use with Snow Leopard. Call this extra precautionary if you like, but the drivers have been solid for the short time I have had them installed. I run it with Digital Performer 7.01 and I think that this combination of DAW and audio interface is one of the best combos for the money available on the market today. Grant it, I have only been using sequencers and digital audio based sequencers since the mid 1980's, but at this point I am most happy with this system of any I have had purchased previously and there have been a few in this price range. I still use the MOTU Midi timepiece AV for the Midi stuff so I can't comment on the reliability of the midi aspect of the unit. It's latency is the same or better than any MOTU interface I used previously though and locks well to both video and audio in DP 7.01 and direct monitoring of input is a breeze to access.

I don't know what you are using as a DAW but if it's Pro Tools you won't be happy with the MOTU stuff. That being said, MOTU PCI interfaces have always worked well for me in all 3 incarnations from the mkI up to the recent release, but I used some version of DP or Logic with it. The preamps and drivers in the 2626 are what sold it for me though. I advise you to rent both units if you can and try them side by side. You will be amazed at the difference in clarity that the Profire has over the MOTU interface. I am using an iMac so results may vary with other systems, but from what I have read on M-Audio forums and MOTU forums, folks are equally as happy with either as a purchase. Another feature I like about the Profire is the DSP mixer and 2 built in front headphone jacks capable of separate mixes. As well, assigning phantom power to channels can be done from the front panel, something MOTU should investigate as well as the 2 TRS line ins on the front panel. You are bound to find those handy. Like I said it works seamlessly for me with MOTU's DP 7.01 on an iMac. Aside from waiting for the driver release, I'm very happy I made the choice I did for an audio interface and I feel I made the choice of the best of both worlds from these two great companies.

[bva]

[quote="spikey"]I have used MOTU on PC's for [color=blue][i][u]years[/u][/i][/color], and I have had very very few issues. 99% of the time I have had no problems at all. I have used both the card in the pc and the firewire versions. Both are good performers and both were stable for me. Hope this helps. 8)[/quote]

I have MOTU 828MKII firewire card. I was using this card on my Vista 32bit system for a while without any problems. Just recently I loaded Windows7 32bit (clean install) and tried my MOTU card with the latest drivers. For some reason the card start making some crackling noise at random times along with the random blinking green lights all over the card's display. After I revert back to Vista, MOTU card start working without problems. Based on the behavior, it seems like a driver problem. Contacted MOTU support, but the final answer from them was: "This is not a known issue with the 828mkII running in Windows 7". Very disappointing. I start to plan to move away from MOTU. Maybe to ProFire 2626, but I need to know if it's going to be stable with Windows 7. If not then RME FireFace 800.

[hibidy]

One thing about motu, they sure know how to own up to an issue

Er, sadly, maudio is no different.......

All I can say is when I tested the RC of windows 7, my profire 610 worked really well (so did the traveler I used to have though too) and that was before using any win7 drivers.