This.

Who would go to 192kHz on a 200-400€ interface? If you get to the point where that is your standard sample rate, you'll have a different budget altogether. You can make great mixes-mastering on 44.1-48 and most do btw.

afaic showcasing rates like that is just a marketing tool with little day to day application.

also +1 for the ssl. I got it a few months after release and haven't been disappointed a single time!

 

hey, I saw a digi 02 or something recently way way cheaper than that. racked up nicely, 192 and you could use it with protools 10 or whatever they use on pc still. for like 75$ someone like you would *get* it to work, even for fun. why not, for almost free...

 

I use Windows and have always thought that MOTU stuff was sexy, but my operating system it is more like Mortuary Of The Undertaker compared to my RME Really Marvelous Engine which I never have had a problem with unless you count the USB extension cable fiasco that I created (do not EVER try that).

 

I'm personally very frustrated with my M2 as I never managed to have it working on my labtop with W7.. It is working on W10 on my music computer so I kept it but everytime I'm somewhere with my labtop just giving power to this shit, recording with a looper, I'm a bit mad...

I will definitely change it but I should say that with W10 it's fine.. except you should considering go straight M4 as you finally always need those extra inputs, and outputs too for reamping or stuff like that..

 

I bought a motu M2 to travel with my Asus I7 laptop. No problem and the sound is very good for this price. The midi din plug allows to have only one cable on the PC and works very well with my little Arturia keyboard. This is always a good thing.
I just changed the original cable which is crap in my opinion by a usbc to usbc cable.
The drivers have just been updated.
Beware of crappy cables. Very often I buy new ones on the sound cards I buy.

 

I used one for something like 6 months. The only real complaint I had about it, was the cable. Junk. Also, they can begin to pick up radio/etc interference if the connection between the cable and port develops any play. That port is meant to be "visually clean" or something, but it's pretty budget.

 

It's news to me that people are having problems with MOTU. I've had an M2 for years and never had a single issue with it. It's become my favorite entry-level audio interface.

 

I'm on Windows 10 21H2 Home and I bought a MOTU Ultralite mk5 a month ago...
Pristine sound, incredible dynamic range, the specs and sound quality is stellar.
But the drivers... Oh boy.

In the best days at least twice per day the interface gets completely silent out of nowhere and until I switch back and forth the Sample Rate or reboot the interface it doesn't accept any incoming audio for playback.

This only happens with audio streaming from browsers and music apps, not a single problem inside the daw.
I'm in constant contact with them to try to solve this issue but so far no luck with any possible shenanigan we could try...
It's a shame.

If I don't get solved this thing before the end of the year, I'll have to save up for the latest RME product and invest on that.
My experiences with the M2 and M4 weren't the smoothest, despite the amazing specs.

 

Some help from Motu
https://motu.com/techsupport/technotes/troubleshooting-windows-audio

 

It seems that they take no responsibility for a bad driver and that any issue is all on the user's end which is a fail.

 

Agree with you. Need to be a geek. It could be a nightmare for beginners.

 

Yes it's a pretty budget especially for long and good thunderbolt cables or good USBC. But I hate hum, crackles, fuzz, glitches, radio or phones interferences. It's the same story for pedalboards and external gear.

 

For people who are running Windows 7 and struggling to get it running, this is what I had to do (from memory because it's a while since I did it):

1.) Search for the last version that's certified as working with Windows 7. It's quite an old version, but that doesn't really matter because it's actually really stable.

2.) It's not just click and install your software. Attempting to do that was getting me nowhere. I had to:

a.) Plug in the MOTU.
b.) Reboot your computer
c.) Open your device manager
d.) Open Sound Video and Game Controllers
e.) Right click MOTU M series and install or update the drivers the old fashioned way -- by going to the folder where you downloaded the driver to and installing it like it was Windows XP in the 1990's.
f.) You'll still have an unrecognized M2 in Other Devices in your device manager. Don't worry about this. It still does everything it's supposed to do.

I also had the thing where it goes silent from time to time. It was generally caused by a mismatch between the Sample Rate that's set in hardware, and what I had the Sample Rate set to in software (generally in the DAW, but sometimes in Windows itself). Since setting them all to the same sample rate, I haven't had any problems with this.