MOTU and Digidesign

[umesh]

Hi,
I was wondering the difference in terms of sound quality and usability of a home studio setup between
(a) A Digital Performer 3 software setup using MOTU interfaces VS
(b) A ProTools LE software setup using Digidesign hardware e.g. the Digi 002.

I am trying to find out this from users that possibly used both and can offer advice based on sound quality and value.

I want to set up a personal Mac based studio, and I know that it will be either one of the two above, but I can't seem make up my mind. If anyone can offer an unbiased analysis (based on functionality. no. of tracks, and value in the long run) I would be very grateful.

Umesh

[hdgray]

I'm weighing up the same question. One thing I might offer is to see if Digi is still offering a FREE version of their ProTools LE software on their site. If they do, you can at least play around with it to get a "feel" for how their software looks.
The MOTU 828 looks like an interesting alternative: I like the fact that it stands separate from the computer, with only a firewire cable connecting: No PCI cards.

Other than that, I haven't much to say: I'm listening in, hoping to catch some good info.

[DimitriDL]

I was trying to read up on reviews of Digi 001 a while ago while deciding if I wanna get the system. There were mostly two types of comments about it:

1. "THIS IS THE BEST INTERFACE EVER!!! FANTASTIC!!! I HAVE PRO TOOLS!!!"-like

2. "It's allright but it doesnt's sound as good as my XXX"-like (where XXX can be substituted for their interface).

I made a conclusion that as far as hardware goes, it probably is overpriced for what it is (being named "Pro Tools"). So I got an Echo Layla 24.

One of my other reasons was the following:

When you buy a product in the sub-$1000 range from a company like MOTU, Echo or M-Audio, you basically get "the best they can do." You get "their" top-of-the-line, which means they've put their full potential into the product. This means that if two months down the road after a product is released there is an opportunity to rewrite the driver in a better fashion, THEY'LL DO IT. If there is anything they can do to increase the performance of their product through upgrades/extensions/drivers, THEY'LL DO IT.

On the contrary...

When you get something like Digi 001 or 002 from Digidesign you can be sure that it's PURPOSELY downgraded in functionality and performance. This means that they will NEVER let you use their low-end hardware to its full potential. Instead, they will play all kinds of tricks on you in order to get you to upgrade to a 24 MIX system. Consider the plugin incompatibility alone.

[bombastique]

Dmitri - I think you're off the mark on your comments. While Digi purposefully will not put all the features of their high end product into their low end product, you'll find that, since they KNOW how to make a high end product, what you get in the low end actually benefits from that know-how.

Digi, like any other company, is a business - they have to make money, just like everyone else. If you don't like their product, their are plenty of other choices out there. For the money, though, I think products like the Mbox and 002 are hard to beat.