Fireface 800 vs Motu 896hd

[Drumlea]

Hi all, I posted a thread kinda similar to this in August, but now I'm ready to purchase some equipment. All those months of saving are coming to fruition.

Anyhoo. I'm buying a MacBook Pro With Logic Studio and I'm trying to decide on an audio interface. I've whittled it down to the Ff800 and the Motu 896HD.

My main wish is portability as I can't record drums at home (and I'm a drummer).

I own a Roland MMP-2 with sp/dif and aes/ebu so with the Fireface I would have 6 preamps and with the motu 10. But I was thinking if I bought the ff800 and an RME quadmic I'd have 10 preamps as well.

The reason I'm in doubt is I've heard mixed reactions with MOTU gear and the RME stuff seems to be rock solid, a friend of mine has the ff400 and drools over it.

I'm kinda swaying towards the Fireface 800 but I can't speak on how good it is from my own personal experience. If anyone has any experience or alternatives or ANY input I would be grateful.

Thanks a million,

Brian.

[brandondrury]

There are is a HARDCORE group of Motu fans. I make fun of them on the forum sometimes, but this illustrates that eiter MOTU is good at mind control or they are good at quality control.

Here's the way I see it. You don't buy a Cadillac because you want a reliable car. You can get a reliable car for $20k. There's no need to get a $50k car based on reliability alone.

I would expect the RME stuff to be very well built and probably have better quality control than that of other brands. However, you need to keep in mind that you are paying almost double for the RME stuff in most instances. If you have the cash to blow, knock yourself out. With that said, I know of zero people (no matter how rich they are) that can afford all the recording gear they want. It seems silly to tie up a bunch of cash just because a person is scared of gear breaking. All gear breaks! I have a Soundelux U99 microphone that needs to be sent off. Huge consoles break. It's just an unfortunate part of life. Most big studios have a full time tech on staff.

The big reason I didn't go with RME (besides the fact that it would use up more cash that could be spent elsewhere) was the fact that I'm convinced that all audio interfaces sound the same. I have some high end Mytek converters. The difference between the Mytek, Delta 1010, and Presonus Firestudio converters is very small. No client can tell a difference. Ever!

I ended up going with a Presonus Firestudio. I've been very happy with it. If there is a problem, I'll ship it off to Presonus. If appears to be very reliable box, though. I just can't justify the cost of RME. Maybe they have "military grade components" or something like that, but I can't see how this effects me.

Just make sure you have plenty of cash left for studio monitors and acoustic treatment. Your studio monitoring system (speakers and room acoustics) is the single most important link in the chain except for the song and musicians. If you sacrifice accurate studio monitoring for high end anything (mics, preamps, audio interfaces, converters, etc) you are making a huge mistake. I know. I've done it!

BTW, if you order from Musiciansfriend, there is a coupon at the top of this page.

Brandon

[Drumlea]

Hey Brandon thanks for the reply. I have put about €400 aside for room treatment. I can't do too much as it is a rented house. And from asking around I've decided to go for a pair of Adam P11A monitors.

I was looking at a Focusrite 10 i/o at one stage. It has plenty of preamps for drums and it's €500 in Ireland less than half the RME and twice the preamps for drums.

What you say makes sense. I won't be working commercially, the studio is for songwriting and getting the best quality I can afford without going over the top. Plus there's one or two mics I'd like to buy.

I will do a bit of research on the Firestudio. I've had a bad experience with a Presonus Bluetube DP in the past so that has coloured my opinion. But their products seem to get really good cost/quality reviews.

I better sleep on it. Thanks again for the advice,

Brian.
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That soundcard wizard is brilliant.

[brandondrury]

That's great that you are putting some money into your studio monitoring system. The ADAM monitors always gets great reviews. With acoustic treatment you should be in business. While to get robo big boy accuracy out of your room takes some serious construction, you can drastically reduce acoustical problems with some simple bass traps.

Whatever you decide, just keep your situation, goals, budget, and future purchases in mind.

Brandon

[Drumlea]

Thanks for the advice. I'm sure I will be back for more advice in the near future. Or maybe I can share some of my limited knowledge.

[brandondrury]

Don't be a stranger! Your troubles are just beginning! Trust me!

Out of curiosity, if you order your music gear online, where do you get it? I'm going to be expanding my affiliate program to include European countries.

Brandon

[Drumlea]

I work in a a music store in Ireland so if the distributor in Ireland can get something I go through them.

BUT, Thomann Cyberstore are the biggest online seller in Europe bar none.

[Jeff B]

Hey man what did you end up going with? I'm in the same position right now and I'm leaning towards the Fireface cause used ones go for $800 off regular price

[Drumlea]

Hey Jeff. I've decided to go for the Fireface 800 and a Quadmic. My friend has a FF400 and loves it. I can also source them in Ireland which means if there is a problem I will have no difficulty in returning the product, but I imagine that's highly unlikely.

Having the two units will give me enough preamps for drum kit plus the sp/dif allows me 2 more and the Quadmic is relatively cheap and will give the same sound as the FF800.

I haven't got them yet but by the end of may I hope to have all the mics, interfaces, monitors, software and sound treatment gear I will need.

Hope this helps Jeff.

[brandondrury]

I never really considered snagging an RME audio interface used. Looking back, I probably should have done that. Oh well. My Presonus Firestudio does fine and is the least of my recording problems.

Brandon