Initially I have had 880 Pro (250 ohm) but I'm currently moving to 1990 Pro (250 ohm), as well as planar magnetic cans - Audeze LCD-X (20 ohm) and HiFiMAN Sundara (37 ohm), which in theory are less difficult to drive.

I'm increasingly picky when it comes to headphones and I was never satisfied without an external amp. Even with knob to the max M4/Scarlett/etc. don't have enough headroom for me. It's not only the volume which is not enough, you can feel it's not driving the cans fully. And even if it feels this way for you (which you will surely reconsider after testing out a real amp), it's always recommended to have your external amp set at around 10/12 o'clock and likewise on the sound interface, to provide ample headroom which you cannot have with simply the interface and a 250 ohm headphone (unless you have a very powerful audio interface like the newest UAD Apollo Twins for instance, which provide a very powerful dynamic range of 127 dB).

I'm using the latest gen JDS Lab Atom Lab (1W @ 32ohms), which is simply perfect for 99 USD. You can spend a bit more on a Schiit Magni/Heresy 3+ (1.2W @ 32ohms) which a lot of people recommend too, but personally I prefer the clean/transparent sound and dead flat frequency response of the JDS, which in this price point is the best package for my use. JDS Lab is also known for their faulty QC and customer service. I won't get into more details but you can consult www.audiosciencereview.com > forum where they test every single amp extensively.

https://jdslabs.com/product/atom-amp/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ents-of-new-jds-labs-atom-headphone-amp.5262/

It's already got more power than you'll ever need.

After that as an upgrade going for a balanced amp you can spend more (around 350/400 USD) on a Monolith AAA or THX AAA 789. But the difference in the Atom and AAA/THX 789 is practically inaudible to a human being and balanced isn't useful for most people. If you have a large budget go for the AAA/THX 789, if not I would personally stick to the Atom.

https://www.monoprice.eu/products/m...lifier-featuring-thx-aaa-887-technology-eu-uk
https://drop.com/buy/drop-thx-aaa-789-linear-amplifier

The real upgrade after that is to go for the RME ADI-2 DAC FS, clearly the finest and purest sound according to everyone in the business, but will cost you north of 900. Its internal power supply stages and precise regulators use an ultra-low noise design as to not degrade performance through the power rails. Its operational amplifiers maintain the highest SNR, the lowest THD and high slew rate under any and all conditions. Its entire analogue circuit design is completely symmetrical and balanced across the whole circuit, and is DC coupled. Thanks to the ‘Extreme Power’ design, you’ll enjoy 1.5 watts of output power per channel. The two headphones outputs are completely separate, featuring balanced operation and boast the same 120dBA signal-to-noise ratio as the ADI-2 Pro FS’s line outs.

https://www.rme-audio.de/adi-2-dac.html

After that you have even more expensive options (1'000-3'000), but I'd say that's useless for us.

 

Last edited: Dec 11, 2021

for your detailed reply.

 

I"m a die-hard MOTU DP user, but I"m not a fan of their hardware. Drivers are always sketch and tech support is non-existent. I did have an M4 and there was more drop-outs in my audio than a continuation school.. Save up your moolah and get an RME Babyface FS and you'll never go back.

Going from an M4 to a Babyface is like going from a dirty computer screen to 4K. no shit.

 

Found these also, if anyone is interested to read for more information on the MOTU M4: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...analysis-and-few-in-house-measurements.17819/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/motu-m4-audio-interface-review.15757/

 

Well of course, that's like comparing apples and oranges LOL

Still, the Motu and Audient are the only entry-level interfaces that will get you access to the same sound quality of the more expensive models.

Lastly you're lying, I never had any issue of stability/drop-outs or anything with the Motu (unlike the Scarlett or Audient, which I owned before), and it's the best rated interface in this price category on the internet (forums, reviews, etc.). With macOS anyway, I never used with PCs.

 

Yep like I said above audiosciencereview is the most reliable source as they test out each product extensively and independently.

 

I had the M4 and absolutely loved it. I am on PC as well. No issues whatsoever

I recently needed more ins and outs so I got the Motu UltraLiteMK5 and love that as well.

I see someone earlier posted that Julian Krause review of the M2. That guy is one of the best reviewers on interfaces and that video should be all you need to know how it compares to other interfaces in the same ranges.

I can promise you or anyone, Motu interfaces are absolutely fantastic!!!

 

Absolutely, Julian Krause is heavily praised on audiosciencereview indeed I've discovered his videos last year and he's definitely on my top 3 YouTubers list when it comes to interfaces, amps and headphones. The German no-bullshit approach!

Btw how do you like the UltraLiteMK5? I went for the M4 because I needed something basic, if I were to upgrade next year I'm tempted by the RME Babyface FS (because I don't like the AUD ecosystem, even though they're great interfaces, RME seems to be a winner, I only got amazing feedback from the top artists I know and use RME widely in the industry). How would you rate the UltraLiteMK5 after using it though? Thanks.

 

I love it. I have absolutely no complaints with it. I ended up buying some rack ears for it so I could put it inside my rack case. The software it uses is called CueMix which is pretty nice as well. Just a ton of mix options and DSP effects. I do miss the beautiful color LCD level screen of the M4 (the UltraLiteMK5 is monochrome) but I mostly track levels in my DAW. I would have been just as happy to stay with the M4 had I just not needed more inputs/outputs.

No doubt about RME Babyface. I know they are supposed to be great interfaces. I just needed more 1/4" ins/outs, and even then, its still more than I wanted to spend.

This being my second Motu interface, unless something goes really wrong in the future, I plan to stick with them. The drivers are fast and rock solid on my machine.

 

Yeah RMEs are fucking awesome, no doubt about that. My first 'real' sound card after the good old Sound Blaster Live in like 2000, was a PCI RME Digi 96/8PST. That thing was rad, hardware monitoring, never any dropouts or sync issues. I never did get any of the add on cards for more I/O though and just ran my Mackie's stereo outs into it. Switched to my first MOTU device, the original 828 right when it came out (2001 or 2002?), and played 'guinea pig' with the first firewire interface AND OS X at the same time haha. Replaced that with the MK2 when it came out in 2004 (they improved the monitoring A LOT), and finally replaced that with an 828X last year. They have been absolutely rock solid from OS X 10.1 all the way up to MacOS 12. Never a hassle with driver installs (except the initial Big Sur driver which 'fixed' itself), the interfaces just do their jobs and they do it very well. RMA might have some higher end conversion or something, but I seriously don't think its worth twice the price of a MOTU interface. Nowadays the 828X has a Ferrofish Pulse attached to it, so along with my Soundcraft, I can do full 24 channel mixes in or outside of the box with all my hardware. At this point, MOTUs track record is perfect for me, Ill probably be one of their customers for however much longer I have on this earth.

 

I think it's almost miraculous that MOTU offers drivers supporting 9-year-old (even older?) legacy products like the Hybrid line. Like, I've got an Ultralite MK3 Hybrid that works just fine in Big Sur and all DAWs there.

 

after reading countless reviews online (and the comments here of course), i finally pulled the trigger on the m4 this morning. it is supposed to be delivered by thursday. whatever happened to amazon prime's two-day delivery btw? for a while i was getting one-day delivery. still better than fed-ex i guess. i ordered a new monitor from dell on the 4th and was promised delivery by the 7th. it literally only had to travel about 300 miles from southern california to the central coast it went from carson to los angeles on day one, and then sat there for three days before bouncing around socal for a few days and then in one day went from socal to norcal (more than 100 miles past my house) before finally arriving at my doorstep on the 10th.

the good thing about ordering from amazon is that i have until january 31 to initiate a return at no cost. that should give me plenty of time to decide if i want to keep it.

 

You're lucky to have found the Motu at all, not only because there's currently a big shortage of certain manufacturing materials including in the music industry, but also because let alone covid the Motus were already harder to find (outside of the US anyways - I got lucky myself here in Switzerland, my local store for some reason had some stock, but otherwise I would probably have ordered on Thomann and waited 4/6 weeks). And also it's Xmas frenzy times.

Have fun!

 

It was the same for me. I phone called 5 different shops and only one had it. They said I am lucky cause they had only 5 arriving after an order they did.

By the way unless I am wrong they just released new drivers yesterday:
(It says 14/12/2021 on their website.) For others who have driver issues, try to update them and hopefully it might solve some of your problems...

 

Last edited: Dec 15, 2021

Yes I upgraded a few days ago, we couldn't find any change log on the website or in the official gearspace forum thread, but anyway, I updated.

 

don't want to jinx it, but installation was a snap. and it seems to be working perfectly so far. i did update the drivers and i have the latest software. tested the audio with my ath-m50x headphones and my nearfield monitors and everything sounds awesome. haven't tested recording yet.

 

it is bus-powered only and the usb-c slot seems like you do not want to abuse it. my 828 is the same as the desktop Motu , but that is in a rack. if you can get past little drawbacks like that, or the output #, to make them more "budget"; it is a nice 200$ range interface.

 

I have the impression that MOTU spends more time on peefectionizing mac drivers than that they care about windows.

 

the usb-c slot is only on the m4 itself. the cable that the supply has a usb-a on the other end, and the color implies that it is only rated for usb 2.0, but it the manual they tell you that you can also use a usb 3.0 slot. so i think they are a little bit deceptive when they call it a usb-c device. even usb 2.0 can easily carry all of the traffic generated by 4 ins an 4 outs, but i was hoping for the high-speed data throughput of usb-c to help minimize the latency. that would be my only "complaint" so far with the m4

 

There's a new update for MOTU M4 again... (17 December 2021)
Link: https://motu.com/en-us/download-center/download/474