RME 9652 or Motu mk3

[IronBone]

I acquired a d8b a few months ago and after doing some research through this forum and the web, I have decided to obtain 3 DIO -8 cards to incorporate this board into my setup. I have noticed some of the users studio specs and posts about certain gear, and I am curious if anyone had a preference between these two interface options? An RME 9652 sound card or a Motu 2408 mk3? Or opinions. If it helps, I am running Sonar X1.

[FrankH]

As someone who has used both units with the D8B, I think I can give you an educated opinion.

Both work with the D8B just fine. I preferred the 9652 but had to replace it with the 2408 because I bumped an old Mac that was PCI-only up to a newer model that was PCIe only. The 9652 would no longer work as it is PCI-only.

If your computer supports both PCI and PCIe cards, you could use either I/O unit. If your computer supports only PCI, you could still use either unit...but you'd have to order the older PCI-424 (or possibly the PC-324) interface card for the 2408. Depends on your computer model. Read this for more info on the cards:

https://www.motu.com/store_products/hardware/pcie-424

The 9652 takes up two card slots and has two MIDI ports and WC connections. A major plus if your board is equipped with an Apogee WC card. Its software control is done through TotalMix. Complicated UI but incredibly detailed and feature rich.

The 2408 has no MIDI I/O. You'll need a separate MIDI I/O unit if you use an external MIDI controller. Software control is done through CueMix. Less complicated but more than adequate for the job of communication between the DAW and the D8B.

Both systems sound excellent. I was never really able to hear a discernible sonic difference between the two.

As to obtaining DIO8 cards....I'd suggest OPT8's instead. No flipped phase problems and they are strictly Lightpipe interfaces....something that both the RME and MOTU are as well.

As to how these interfaces will work I/O and transport -wise (MMC/MTC) with Sonar...that's up to how well Sonar's MMC/MTC interfaces are designed. You'll need to investigate that yourself.

So....as far as I'm concerned, it really just boils down to price vs features. 2408/PCI-424 has no MIDI but can be configured to work with PCI or PCIe card slots. 9652 has MIDI but is PCI only.
Both play(ed) extremely well with the D8B using Cubase on a Mac

[IronBone]

Awesome! Thanks for all the detailed info. I am still working on finding an affordable apogee WC card. Unfortunately, I didn't do quite enough research on the board as I probably should have, whereas it only came with 1 I/O card, and I'm still not sure if there are any fx cards installed. Sounds to me like the RME may be more of a complete package considering the midi option.

[IronBone]

So, having decided to go the RME route... Does anyone have a preference between the Digiface interface w/ pci card, or the just the dual slot pci card? I'm a little skeptical of the digiface because of the firewire connection...