Can some guru sort out a MOTU META please - i know not how to!!
I,ve seen numerous posts here on groupdiy regarding MOTU products , and how to improve them.
I don't know how to create a META for all these threads but it may be worth compiling so that a cross reference can be built.
What i've seen: (across the motu product range: HD192/24io/2408/896 firewire variants as well as 828 etc)
Convertors seem to be good - apparently same as used in protools HD192 - can anybody do a direct comparison and provide a useful "comparison".
Everybody is talking opamp replacement - but is it just opamp or the associated passive components around these opamps as well?
Seen a thread regarding moving the psu external to improve on noise floor.
Seen a thread where (i think!) sowter 3575 10k:10k where used on inputs to improve sound.
Seen all the blacklion blurb including opamp upgrade and improved clock with lower jitter.
Bearing in mind that the MOTU range has been around a fair few years, colleagues (with "good" ears - not me!) have reported improvement after upgrading from motu to more recent products such as prism orpheus and recently uaudio apollo reporting
"a much more ""tighter/solid/fuller/wider/etc/etc/etc""sound" compared to their older motu units.
These guys have been around a long time mastering/composing/engineering all genres of music, so i do respect/accept their judgements!
I've yet to see inside more modern units as above mentioned to compare component usage - has anybody compared "better" units?
I am absolutely clueless on the digital side of things, could it be better dsp? - algorithms etc - in which case the analogue interfacing would have less bearing!
I'm a motu user - got an 896HD firewire and a 24i/o pci rig and i've had access to and compared against a blacklion modded 24i/o (opamps and clock).
Also worked in a studio with 192/24i/o and 2408 rig clocked with a big ben master clock. The blacklion sounded tighter in the midrange - less smear probably due to the clock. the big ben clocked rig sounded even fuller. All subjective - especially with my hearing! - but i did get my pal to blind test me on multiple takes between the big ben rig and internal clock - i got full marks on the big ben rig!
I've recently been asked to repair a stock 24i/o - the "big end" has gone faulty (dsp/computer interfacing - not the analog or psu stuff)
What i understand from the official repair agent - but don't quote me - for a set fee, depending on model - the boards or the whole unit will be swapped out - so you'll be losing any mods to the analog side - i'll enquire about modded units - they may not repair modded units - even if the mod standard is high!!
The units are great bang for buck - especially the 24i/o - but you may want to consider the problems with modding if the unit needs the "big end" repairing!!
Thankyou if you read to end of this post!!
