MOTU Audio Express Reviews

4.6/5.0 based on 7 customer reviews

Write your own review for this product

Sort By Date Sort By Rating

Customer Reviews

Russ McLamb
from Canton, NC USA
August 27, 2012Music Background:
Voice Over dude

Awesome!

I was in the market for something that had firewire and usb connectivity and it had to sound clean. I don't do music I'm a VO guy so I didn't want anything that "colored" the sound. For my purposes the Motu Audio Express fit the bill perfectly. In use it's been flawless. Running it on two systems Windows 7 and Windows XP. Installation was simple and didn't have a bit of problem.

Tao Mokoda
from Louisville, KY
February 22, 2012Music Background:
Swimming in the Ocean of Tone

Very Impressive Interface!

This is my first experience with an audio interface, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I am very impressed by the MOTU Audio Express.

First, it's very solidly built, with a thick metal chassis. In fact, it's so solid that if I were to ever stop making music (HA! fat chance), I could use it as a jack stand for my SUV in a pinch without a second thought! The buttons are all tight, no wiggling or feeling like they might pop off and all inputs grab nicely. Overall great quality look and feel.

From a setup perspective, loading drivers and having my DAW see all its inputs and outputs was a breeze, although never having used an audio interface before, I did have to consult the manual in order to understand a few basic concepts, nothing major though. It's a plus that it can connect via either USB (2.0) or Firewire.

The sound is amazing and being able to record audio (vocals or instruments) with latency so close to zero it's not even worth mentioning was what blew me away! The line input sound is very clean and uncolored. The mic pre-amps also are extremely clean and I'm sure they are neither adding nor removing anything tonally. Just crisp and clear and noticeably better than recording into my 24-track hard disk recorder with the same mics.

Now, the controls are minimalist by design, meaning the few buttons have several functions depending on what mode you're in and if you've pushed any of the buttons (they are both rotary and pushable). Because of that, this baby can do more than it may seem just from looking at it. It's a bit confusing at first, but the learning curve is pretty steep (contrary to popular usage, a STEEP learning curve actually means something is EASY to learn).

As I said, I have never used an audio interface before, but if some negative fate were to befall this one, I don't think I would hesitate to buy the same thing again, unless at that time I needed more inputs or something. You can certainly get less expensive interfaces, but I doubt they'd match the quality and performance of this one, and I think you'd lay a LOT more to get quality and performance that would be noticeably better.

Hawk Reynolds
from Atlanta, GA (USA)
June 8, 2011Music Background:
Semi-Pro Singer Songwriter/Musician

Outstanding!

The Motu Audio Express is a great value . It is built like a tank and the sound quality beats everything I have owned . It's made in the US! I use Presonus Studio One Pro with no issues. I loaded the Audio Desk software that came with it and it seems to be a good software,again the quality was crystal clear and the plug-ins were a nice add on. I have not tried the USB but the Firewire works great for me.
I am using a new Imac desktop.I have been playing music for 46 years and recording my own music for 10 years. I'm now 54 years old
This product was not on my radar but thanks to the pros at Sweetwater I have a great product that sounds amazing.
My Rep not only did he email me but he called to make sure everything was good! Why would you buy anywhere else when you get free support and service second to none?.WOW! and they are hear in the US not in a another country reading from a card! OUTSTANDING!

Lorenzo
from Austin, TX
December 1, 2011Music Background:
Musician, Recording Engineer in training

So far so good

Ive only had it for a few weeks. Its got a ton of features, great functionality, and profesional grade sound quality (minus tube preamps of course). My only gripe is that the interface controls are a bit awkward, but thats to be expected from such a small unit with so few physical knobs and buttons. Other than that, its probabaly the best audio gear purchase Ive made to date.

Tim
from Wisconsin
April 25, 2011Music Background:
Pro Musician/ Hobbyist

Motu and Motu Drivers are the Best

Purchased the MOTU Audio Express to replace a Presonus AudioBox that I and Presonus could never get to work on my i7 Windows 7 laptop. I own a MOTU 828mkIII that I use on a i7 Desktop so I know MOTU makes great products and drivers. The Audio Express drivers installed perfectly and the Audio Express worked flawlessly in both USB2 and Firewire modes from the begining. Sorry Presonus your drivers are junk. Congratulations MOTU your entire product line is supreme.

from Lenexa, KS
January 6, 2013Music Background:
somewhere between hobbyist and pro

GREAT!

It's so nice when something just works! Got the unit, installed the drivers, plugged it in (using the USB 2.0 option) and it just worked (Win 7 64 bit, Cubase 7.0.1).

Very rugged construction, and great metering on the front. Knobs are a bit small, but all of the options are supposed to be able to be controlled from the included software as well (I haven't actually tried it yet).

The reason I only gave four stars is that it seems a tad pricey. But then, my experience with cheaper units with comparable features was not good at all. So maybe this is the price necessary for something to just freekin' work when you plug it in.

Kevin
from United States
September 7, 2012Music Background:
Pro musician

Versatile and portable

I'll start with the bad points: the small knobs on the front are somewhat difficult to use, not only because they are too close to each other, but the incremental way in which they adjust exacerbates the closeness. Not ideal, but i guess that's what you trade for portability.
Secondly, i have had software trouble. In their defense, we've all just switched over to the fort knox of all OS systems, mac 10.8 and MOTU is no doubt struggling to fix problems. It has trouble switching from internal audio to external and crashes my brand new computer. However, after a firmwire upgrade it is much better, but not perfect.
It takes some reading to use. It's not terribly intuitive, but it made sense after I got the hang of it. It is a small unit, so they have to do something to squeeze all those features into a half rack mount.
Okay, now some good points:
MIDI
lots of ins and outs for a portable device. Sounds fine to me. I do wonder what the apogee sounds like, but i just cant afford that.
96k capability
firewire OR usb (only works of buss power from firewire. Check your type of firewire. I needed a 6pin to 9 pin. it comes with 6 to 6.