Hi,
I'm going to buy a Motu 828 mkII and I would like to know what you think about its pre amps (Do you use them sometimes? Do they sound good? Do they work fine with some mic? And so on...).
I will use a AT PRO37R to record a cello and a Twin Amp, and a Beyer M160 (maybe they are not enough quiet for a ribbon).

Anyway, I would really appreciate any comment about them.
Thanks in advance.

I find the 828 preamps to be pretty decent. They're not as good as any super fancy API/Neve/Hardy/GML/Neotek/Sytek/etc etc. But I've used them for a few things and they've sounded fine.

I use them with a pair of 414s to get ambience when recording live Mission of Burma shows.

I used them for string overdubs on the new Mission of Burma album: AT Pro37R on a cello and maybe a Beyer 160 (I think...or some other ribbon) on viola. There was plenty of gain and low enough noise.

Not my first choice for a mic pre, but perfectly adequate.

best
Bob

Bob

Are you using the original blue graphic 828 or the new Mark II that has way too many controls on the front? I have heard that the newer one does have lower noise preamps, but have yet to use one.

On a related note, does anyone know of a portable Firewire interface that can run entirely from bus power and still do phantom power? I am thinking of getting something to do field recordings with my Tibook, and that would be extremely useful.

Thanks
Chris

Yup. MkII. I thought you were asking about the 828 mkII.

Does the Metric Halo FW interface do phantom? I hear that those are fantastic sounding.

bob

The Metric Halo does sound a bit brighter than the MOTU (or the MOTU is duller sounding) but most people rave about the Metric Halo because it's not a MOTU. They have a history of driver problems.The problem with Metric Halo is that they're a small company so they have a hard time keeping up with apple. they're product was released 18 months late and still had quirky driver issues.

RME makes a really really great firewire interface called the firewire 800. It appears that, perhaps, an actual musically minded person designed this piece of gear instead of a bunch of lab scientists.

Chris