TC Konnekt 24d VS MOTU Ultralite

[Getafix]

Hi!

I just sold my Presonus firebox today & am looking to buy something that is a step up from it..

I'm interested in the TC Konnekt 24d & the MOTU Ultralite..They both cost almost the same so i'm wondering which one do you guys think is the better buy? The TC has DSP but is fairly new so i don't know how stable it is..

Which card has better pre-amps & converters? Additionally which one will be give me the best monitoring as well, i'm using Dynaudio BM5A's..

P.S. I'll be using it with a Centrino duo laptop with a 4-pin firewire cable, will the Ultralite still be bus powered or do i need a 6-pin for that?

Thanks for the help..

EDIT:
Just realised i'd already started the exact same thread before but it ended up going in favour of the Fireface 400 which is a little out of the budget right now..

So if you had to choose between these two, which one would it be?

P.S. I've been doing some research & some people advise on steering clear of the Ultralite for the PC..Does anyone have any idea if the ultralite drivers are stable with the PC?

[hv0190]

I bought the Ultralite two weeks ago. It's been working fine right from the start both on my PC (AMD 3000+, 1 Gig Ram, Windows XP 2) and my laptop (Centrino 1,8 Ghz, 1 Gig RAM, Windows XP 2). Drivers seem to be stable, no problems whatsoever - no clicks while recording, no crashes either.
Latency (512 samples): ca. 11-12 ms ... that's roughly the same latency as with my ESI Juli@ PCI-card
After all I've heard about Motu drivers causing problems with Windows I was more than happy to find out that they work fine on my computers - I simply installed the drivers, plugged Ultralite in, and that was it - I started recording right away.
By the way: the manual says that Ultralite can only draw power from a 6-pin FW cable.
Why not ordering one from Thomann and trying it out for two weeks or so? You can always send it back if you're not happy with it and they'll refund the money.

[Getafix]

Hey,

Thanks for the reply..Its good to know that the Ultralite is stable i was starting to have my doubts!

Thing is though i've found a really good price for the Konnekt 8..I've been thinking that i really don't need DSP or those extra i/o's & since the converters & pre amps are the same as the konnekt 24d then for the price i am getting a good deal..

What i want to know is whether the converters & preamps on the Konnekt 8 are any better than the Presonus firebox, which i just sold..If they are of better quality & the two cost the same then obviously the Konnekt would be a better choice..

If i do go the motu way then i feel its maybe better to save up just that little bit more & get a Fireface 400..

In reality though the only thing i want from my interface is to be able to monitor & record at good quality, so maybe the features on the Fireface 400 would be going to waste for now..

Does it make sense to settle for the Konnekt 8 since i don't need the extra features of the 24d & later on upgrade to the FF 400 when the need arises?

EDIT:
Sorry for the dumb question but something missing in the Konnekt 8 are digital i/o's..What exactly would i need these digital i/o's for?

[bassmutant]

Originally Posted by s-cube

Hey,

sorry for the dumb question but something missing in the Konnekt 8 are digital i/o's..What exactly would i need these digital i/o's for?

High end preamps that have better conversion quality to be used with your existing interface. I.e., apogee, etc.

[Getafix]

Ahhh right! Hopefully i won't be needing to use that high-end stuff for a while!

I hate being so indecisive though, just read some people having driver issues with the konnekt which is making me lean towards the Ultralite again!

Research also showed some positive feedback about the Echo Audiofire 8..How would that compare to the Konnekt & Ultralite?

[SuperGroupie]

It does look like the Konnekt 8 has S/PDIF Digital I/O.
So 2 channels should be possible..

[Getafix]

You're right it has digital spdif but no digital adat i/o's..If i'm not mistaken don't you need these in case you need to attach a better pre amp/converter?

[SuperGroupie]

Not necessarily.. ADAT I/O and S/PDIf are both digital interconnects. The main differences between the two (if I remember correctly) are number of supported channels and sample frequency - i.e. S/PDIF can transfer a maximum of 2 channels at up to 192 KHz - ADAT maximum of 8 channels at 48KHz.
So let's say you have a two channel external converter (or preamp + converter). Of the two forementioned interfaces it is more likely to have a S/PDIF connector as the 8 channel capability of an ADAT interface would be wasted, aside from the fact that if the converter itself supports it, S/PDIF as opposed to ADAT allows for 192 KHz Sample frequency.
On the other hand, an eight channel preamp/converter would probably have an ADAT interface, to allow all channels to be transfered through one connector, but at a limit of 48KHz (unless you happen to have 2 ADAT interconnects which you can then combine into an S/MUX capable interface supporting 8 channels at 96 KHz, AFAIK)
This is off the top of my head, so as always, people with more knowledge of this topic can probably elaborate/correct my information. Hope it helps

[Getafix]

Ok thanks for clearing that up..I'm still a newbie when it comes to all this pro high end audio gear so excuse my dumb questions!

Guess that on paper the Konnekt 8 is a really good interface except for the fact that everyone is telling me to avoid TC because they are horrible when it comes to drivers..Some people have owned the powercore firewire for over a year & are still having instability issues..

[DCtoDaylight]

Originally Posted by s-cube

Ok thanks for clearing that up..I'm still a newbie when it comes to all this pro high end audio gear so excuse my dumb questions!

Guess that on paper the Konnekt 8 is a really good interface except for the fact that everyone is telling me to avoid TC because they are horrible when it comes to drivers..Some people have owned the powercore firewire for over a year & are still having instability issues..

You're wise to be thinking about the software side of the equation - you can have the best circuitry in the world, but if you spend hours rebooting and replugging and tracking down odd glitches, it'll make your recording process worse and not better!

I went through the same exercise recently; had a Tascam USB interface fritz on me and wanted something a step up. I was also interested in the Konnekt, but didn't want to buy something that was just starting to ship. In the end, I decided to bite the bullet and go up a level - compared the Fireface 400 and Metric Halo ULN-2, and ended up with the Metric Halo, which I love. Either of those boxes would be a definite step up from the Firebox; to some extent, I think boxes like the Konnect are really giving you *more* inputs rather than *better* inputs.

I haven't ever used their audio stuff (only MIDI interfaces back in the Stone Age), but they do seem to be a good choice at their price point. People argue about the sound quality, but it seems quite decent, and their drivers seem OK. So to answer your original Q, I'd go for the Ultralite!

[Getafix]

The Ultralite is quite overpriced here in switzerland..This means that i have to only pay an extra $100 and i can buy the RME Fireface 400 instead..So i guess it makes sense to go with the FF 400 then...

[Getafix]

Just ordered the Fireface 400 lets see how it stacks up!

[barbital]

The preamps on the Fireface 400 do leave a bit to be desired. I've actually heard them and they seemed to be harsh and brittle in the top-end, and not all that terribly quiet.

The converters, on the other hand, utterly impeccable!

Since you are using PC, you could simply wait for the Konnekt to come out. It isn't that long to wait ;-)

Ben

[gizeh12]

To my ears the Konnekt preamps are the best by far of all Motu's RME's Mackie's Echo"s and Emu's. Ive a to b'd them aswell as the converters. I think the converters sound together with the RME the best off all.

All minor trouble with the drivers concidered i realy think the Konnekt 24 is the most bang for the buck

[gizeh12]

almost a half year later, still major driver issues with the Konnekt, i must recitfy:

Ild go for either the Ultralite or the Fireface 400,, over here in holland the ultralite has dropped in price, so the price gap between ff400 and ultralite is getting bigger.

[Hulk]

TC must have sold thousands of units but now there is "only" a hand full of people complaining about driver issues - remember people with driver issues will be much more active in forums searching for answers than people with working units so it will seem like all K24 are bad but this is not a true picture.

I have had my K24 for 6 month without any problems - preamps and converters sound better than any of my RME stuff (RME ADI converters).
Windows driver are pretty much sorted out I don't know about Mac

I would recommend it