I’ve been wanting to take my voice and music recording to the next level for a while now, but I’ve had a lot of trouble deciding which audio interface to get. Well, I’ve been testing this MOTU 828x and I think I’ve found the answer.
The MOTU 828X is an audio interface with 28 inputs and 30 outputs — all in a lightweight, slim rack-mountable case. The MOTU came with rack-mounts attached to the case, but since I don’t plan on mounting it in a rack, and also because I’ve been carrying it with me on trips, I removed the rack-mounts with a hex-wrench.
The case itself is very rugged — it’s made from an aluminum alloy metal that’s lightweight yet very durable, so I can carry the MOTU with me in a bag and I don’t have to worry about damaging it.
As for inputs and outputs, I don’t think I’m going to outgrow this system any time soon. On the front are two combo-style mic/guitar inputs with preamps, and on the back there are 8 balanced analog in/out, XLR main outs, 16 channels of ADAT optical (8 channels at 96 kHz), plus S/PDIF, word clock and MIDI. This is great — I’ll be able to connect whatever gear I want.
One of the reasons I chose the MOTU as my audio interface was because it comes with support for Thunderbolt, giving me more bandwidth and connectivity flexibility with some of my other peripherals. It also comes with USB support, so it can also be used with Windows and pre-Thunderbolt Macs. Note however that while the unit does come with a USB cable, the Thunderbolt cable is not included.
Another big reason I chose the MOTU was because it has on on-board digital mixer — so I can mix channels, apply effects, apply compression — I can offload all of that processing from my laptop. Also, the audio interface and mixer are in one case, which simplifies setup and travel.
Anyway, here’s a video review of the MOTU 828X:
There are a lot more features with this interface than I can cover in this review, so I’ll just wrap up by saying I love this audio interface — it’s durable, portable, flexible, expandable, and allows me to produce high-quality audio files easily.
Pricing and availability: MOTU 828X (aff)