i luv it

just gat it today hooked it up iam very impressed

Best FireWire Interface ive seen for price

The first week i got this it got 80 hours of use. In 80 hours of intense tracking I experienced zero problems. Also it sounds great. Motu did a great job on the 8-pre and it is something I would recomend to any engineer big or small.

Excellent solution for portable audio

I work at a 100K watt radio station in Chattanooga, and we recently purchased one of these units. We had two M-Audio Delta 1010's burn out on us within a few months of each other and decided to ditch them in favor of something a bit more expensive and higher quality. I did a lot of research and have found MOTU to be the utmost quality in both price and performance.

I have used both ProTools and M-Audio alternatives, and I have to say you just CAN'T beat the combination of performance and ease of use you find in the MOTU hardware.

The 8pre is no exception. After several months, this unit has NEVER given us a single problem. The sound is phenomenal, the individual phantom power is awesome. We've used this unit to record orchestra concerts and ensembles as well as day to day radio production of interviews and voice tracking.

This unit shines in pretty much every light. If you are looking for an interface to start out with, don't look any farther.

As a former ProTools user, I have to say I will never go back. Using MOTU hardware in combination with Cubase 4 is a final solution. ProTools is seriously under fire here. The software is multiples more efficient and easy to use. This combination cut our production time by nearly 60% over the comparible ProTools setup.

I really can't say enough good about this unit. Buy it!

Im in love with the 8 pre

Another great product from motu !

1. easy setup
2. preamps sound great
3. a breeze to use
4. works like a charm with my mac book pro
5. built like a tank

wow im going to buy another soon !

Ideal interface

After a quick install on a budget Compaq, I got a bit of "pink noise" blasting thru the MOTU. This only happened initially (system getting used to new drivers, no doubt). Since then it's been smooth sailing.

The 8pre looks great, is built to last, performs well every time (noise demons banished), and sounds like you'd expect a MOTU to sound.

It has every feature I need, the sound quality I want, and it does its job well every time. This makes it the perfect audio interface (if there is such a thing).

Dependable quality = total satisfaction.

Great interface for the money$$$$

I used this piece at a recent mobile recording gig for an acoutic duo. I would have normally taken a laptop/preamps/interface, but this was both preamps and an audio interface in one which kept the gear and weight of everything to a minimum. I had such a great experience with this that I plan on getting two more to be able to record 24 inputs mobile easily. I've been using motu products for a least 10 years now and I can say that I will continue to use their great products.

love motu sound

Love the sound of this interface, it definitely delivers quality and precision for its price.

Really Nice

For the price I was seriously surprised by the quality. This was exactly the type of interface I was looking for and was so happy when I found it. The preamps are all nice and clear, the level meters rock and having phantom power for each input is such a sweet touch.

If I had to complain about one thing it would be that it's hard to ride the knobs while recording, you have to be real careful so that they don't jump to much. Not a big deal.

I would recommend this to anyone.

Awesome!!

I've tried a TON of different firewire interfaces, and I could'nt find one that gave me what I wanted...the 8Pre is awesome! Been using it for 2 weeks now, not one problem at all....dependable, reliable, and it sounds incredible!!!! Works seemlessly with Cubase SE 3!!! For the price you can't beat it, and it's a genuine MOTO to boot!!!

If your in the market for a mid-priced unit, this is the best you can buy......! Period!

A great starting point

While it makes for an excellent firewire interface on its own, the real highlight of this device is its ability to act as a A/D converter and link through ADAT optical to another device. This means you can update your primary interface to a higher end MOTU device, or one of dozens of other ADAT capable interfaces, and rather than making the 8pre obsolete, you can connect it digitally and expand your new system by an additional 8 preamps!

I have the occasional "white noise" glitch when working through windows audio (thus the 4.5 rating) however I have never have that problem using ASIO in my DAW software. A good buy. Highly recommended.

Great

This unit is awesome, especially for the price. the preamps are pretty clean, could be better in the mids, but really are a steal at this price. great interface too, works really good with Logic 9. Buy this unit, you will have no regrets.

works as advetised ... or better!

Purchased this unit used ... I was at least the 3rd owner. (The last owner was having latency issues, but I suspect it was his computer/software.) This 8pre had no box, instructions, cables, or software. It took about 1 1/2 minutes to download drivers and get it working perfectly with Logic Express. Microphone preamps are clean, but lower gain than I would like. The toggle switches on the front panel are stiff, but I generally leave the phantom on (even with dynamic microphones) and since I only record legit acoustic music, the -20dB pads stay off as well.

Also, VERY IMPORTANT ... the 8pre's phantom power supply will power several Earthworks microphones at once ... the voltage only drops 200mV when using 5 microphones, requiring 10mA each. VERY FEW pieces of gear will do this! Trust me, I've checked of bunch of equipment on this point! Hat's off to MOTU's engineering.

I'm going to track some "big band" stuff soon (may need the pads!), so I'm impressed enough with this unit to purchase a 2nd new one (from Sweetwater, of course!), and get 16 channels to play with ...

The MOTU 8pre is a real steal for the price ... I don't know if MOTU makes the 8pre on "this side of the pond" ... but I see no indication that it's imported.

Buy it, especially if you use Earthworks microphones.

MOTU 8pre SO FAR SO GOOD!

I first bought the Firsestudio from Presonus, recommended by sales clerk at local store, couldn't get it to sync w/ my macbook. Returned it and went with M-Audio Fast Track Pro 4 x 4 Mobile USB Audio/MIDI Interface, no luck and frankly it only has two channels available to record thru at one time. Lastly and thankfully I went talked to the right guy, appearantly Apple is ahead of the powercurve in comparison to the majority of manufacturers in interfaces. So MOTU is the only reall worthy and troublefree interface available for my Macbook, I can't really compare to the other interfaces previously mentioned because I coulnd't connect. Nevertheless what I have experienced was blissfull to say the least. I couldn't be more impressed and satisfied with my MOTU and I've only just begun to use have of the features and software. I'm on the Mac highway, i.e. Macbook-2GB MEMORY, 250GB RAM, OS X.5.2, 160GB EXTERNAL HD , Logic Pro 8 and MOTU pre 8. You can't beat the value!!

Look out Firepod

I was close to buying a Firepod, but since this just came out I changed my mind. The pre-amps are very clean and the reliability of this interface is great. Though this doesn't have the analog outs the Firepod has, it does have ADAT in and ADAT out, which actually gives it more ins and outs than an Firepod if you take advantage of them. Also, this interface is a great stepping stone, because you can use it by itself as a A/D converter. The analog meters are great unlike the whimpy clip lights on the Firepod. If you want a SOLID interface with room to continue to grow, go for the MOTU 8PRE

8pre or FireStudio

I originally bought the PreSonus FireStudio Project for my home hobby studio. After several weeks of problems due to incompatability with my MacBook, I returned the FireStudio and reluctantly bought the 8pre as a 2nd choice. No problems with compatibility, set-up, or sound quality from the 8pre. In comparison the 8pre offers only L/R moniter outputs and lesser quality mic pres compared to the FireStudio Project's 10 output options and reported class A pre amps. The 8pre offers ADAT and a nicer peak LED display along with a cleaner rear mounted set of 8 pre amps. Personally I like the front mount pres for quick hook up on the FireStudio Project better, but I like the fact that the MOTU has ADAT. Overall the sound quality of both units is very good for the price. Bottom line? MOTU 8pre works great with my apple computer and recording software!

I like it

This is my first interface ever. I'm glad I waited until recently to finally purchase one because the 8pre is everything I always wanted and even has features I didn't know I wanted! The XLR/TRS combo jacks for one, and the -20db pad is also a convenience I hadn't expected to be so useful. It acts as a midi interface for my piano/controller and I can run all my mics and even direct lines with inputs to spare. Plus I just love the front display and headphone/monitor control. My only complaint is I would've preferred buttons over switches for the pads and phantom power (though switches are better than nothing!)

Works like a charm

I just got it and have used it for about 20 hours of recording so far. All Eight pre's sound great and are really quite, the only time i get any noise is if i crank the gain up to 95-100%. I so far have used it to record, violin, cello, harp, clarinet, piano, and a female choir using my Rode NT5. Everything sounds beautiful and very rich and full. If your looking at the Prosonus Firepod, which i did, i would recommend this one simply because the front panel level monitors make your life so much easier. with the Presonus you just getting a little red light when you clip (which is to late). With the motu you always know exactly how much signal is coming through your interface. Very helpful.