[LAU] M-Audio M-Track Eight

[Will Godfrey]

On Sun, 21 Jan 2018 12:44:33 +0100
Ralf Mardorf <ralf.mardorf at alice-dsl.net> wrote:

>On Sun, 21 Jan 2018 10:49:18 +0000, Will Godfrey wrote:
>>Anyone got any experience of this unit. It looks very good (on paper),
>>seems to have been in production for about 4 years, and is a very
>>attractive price from the usual suspects.
>>
>>It appears to be class complient, and unlike many others doesn't have
>>a lot of internal routing and effects. This suits me fine - no obscure
>>windows only software controls!  
>
>Hi,
>
>in this price range I would go with the Presonus AudioBox 1818VSL or
>Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 2nd Gen. Actually I first ordered the
>Presonus , but returned it, because of issues with my iPad and then
>purchased the Focusrite. As already pointed out by several other posts
>to this list, the audio quality of the Presonus as well as of the
>Focusrite can't compare to my RME PCIe card, but both work out-of-the
>box as class compliant devices with Linux. Usually I'm not using it
>with Linux, it's aimed for usage with my iPad, but I tested both devices
>with Linux. The Focusrite could be used with lower latencies than the
>Presonus, but both could be used without issues using all IOs at the
>same time, including the SPDIF and ADAT IOs. So assuming you should own
>a good ADAT device, even the semi-pro audio quality of the Presonus or
>Focusrite IOs doesn't matter. Unfortunately I only own an ADA8000 just
>providing fair to middling audio quality. Can't you order the M-Track
>Eight and return it to your dealer, if you shouldn't like it?
>
>Regards,
>Ralf
>
Hi Ralf,
I abandoned the idea of using a PCI-e card as the only one I could find that
had the I/O I wanted and supported Linux was eye-wateringly expensive. I wasn't
going to take the chance of trying somthing cheaper with no assurance that
there was an effective driver for it.

The Focusrite was my first choice for USB, but the 2ndGen ones supposedly need
to have the control program run before they can be used. As I have only Linux
machines that's not possible.

The Presonus looks OK-ish, but I'm not keen on having *all* the inputs on the
front - I would want 6 inputs permanently plugged into synths. Also it's the
oldest design, being at least 6 years old, and doesn't appear to have individual
channel level indication (just activity).

The M-Audio one seems to tick all the boxes, but what I don't know is what it's
actual performance is like, in particular reliability and latency.

-- 
Will J Godfrey
http://www.musically.me.uk
Say you have a poem and I have a tune.
Exchange them and we can both have a poem, a tune, and a song.