Sturdy lightweight construction. Compact size. 20 channels with 4 mic inputs.
This product is no longer available at zZounds.
Shop our website for related products:
(In most cases, a product is unavailable because it has been discontinued by its manufacturer.)
63 People rated this product : 6 out of 10
|
8 People wrote reviews |
Read all Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU) Traveler Portable Firewire Audio Interface reviews... |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 10 out of 10
|
![]() |
zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us. |
Feature:
Remember that if you want this to be powered off the bus, then it must be a 6-pin firewire that connects to your computer's power supply. Desktop Mac and PC users should be fine (PC users can always get a PCI card). If you are stuck with a PC laptop that only has 4-pin, then you are out of luck and must either plug the traveller in or plug the 6-pin firewire pcmcia card in. Fortunately, if you must have true portability, the traveller supports xlr 4-pin battery packs, which I am purchasing.
I will say I wish this had more xlr instrument inputs as I am a drummer and I like to record each mic as its own track, which amounts to at least 6 mics. For now, I must use another mixer to convert or simply use xlr-1/4-inch converters.
I also wish that this product worked in Linux. All MOTU needs to do is release the appropriate specs to ALSA developers. I'm a multi-platform guy and this thing rocks in Windows or MAC. I just wished I could invite Tux to the party.
Quality:
It feels good and I have yet to destroy it in my outings.
Value:
A tad expensive for this beginning studio guy but I feel this is a good entry point product if you are serious about recording.
Desirability:
Portability is cool. Problems with many people's laptops aside, the ability to bring your laptop and this anywhere, bust it out and record is quite cool.
Sound:
Perfect. I will admit that this is my first piece of true professional recording gear (I previously used sub-pro sound cards that maxed out at 44100 Hz for recording), but this sounds MAGNITUDES better. I'm re-recording all my songs and each one sounds better by far than it did before, especially now that I am able to record each drum mic individually.
Ease of Use:
Quite intuitive, but as expected, making the mixes from the front face knobs is tedious and confusing at first. To remedy this, they would have to make more buttons and that would just be no good. I like it the way it is.
Support:
Haven't had to call support yet, so I don't know.
Overall:
A very good start for my studio. It's portability features simply mean more ways it can be powered than simply plugging it in and that it's not too heavy or long (front-back). If you were to not buy this strictly on the count of your laptop not providing the right kind of port, I say just get a battery pack. Firewire-powered devices will drain your laptop anyway. This is my new favorite toy.
Submitted: 3/11/2006
Style of Music: Industrial, Dark Ambient, Folk, Rock, New Wave, Techno, Noise
|
3 of 3 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?
|
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 9 out of 10
|
![]() |
zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us. |
Feature:
A tad expensive, but really brilliant in terms of tweakability! You can save multiple mixes with their various cooresponding parameters and pull them up instantly, very nice! You can even name them whatever you like, and the screen changes to indicate specifically what parameter you're changing and give you a detailed readout (sort of like the Remote25 only for audio.) Really I was actually a bit confused thinking there were only 4 audio ins, but there are actually 10 total inputs, 4 pre's and 6 line-ins, which is great considering you can use the Traveler as a portable digital mixer!!
Also to note, my particular unit did come with a PSU as well as a firewire cable, and I had no trouble powering it just from the FW cable when it is connected to my Apple desktop.
Quality:
Hmm, the unit body itself is solid and pretty compact and heavy duty. But...I'm a bit worried as the knobs are a bit 'sticky' (hard to turn) despite being very small and plastic feeling. Hopefully they just need to be broken in or something. Plus, (this is a major worry for me) when you depress the knobs near the screen, or 'click them down' as it were, to enter a parameter, the screen appears to literally bend down and move in, like you're pressing on a plastic blister-pack. Reeeaally going to send in that warranty card this time...
Value:
The mix matrix is great, well worth the bit of extra cost for me at least as I don't currently have a traditional mixer. I wish the buttons were a bit more study feeling, and the screen-depression issue is making me a little nervous, but all in all I'm really glad to have opted for MOTU quality, its so much less of a headache than dealing with a cheaper and less widely tested interface. I'm also very happy that everything works out of the box, despite being a very new product. Well worth the extra $100 or so above the 828MKII, a truly portable mix/i/o solution.
Desirability:
The display and mix matrix, the whole editing system is very cool, much like the old Emu Command Stations midi editing. I've never seen such an intuitive interface so begging to be tweaked, this vs. NO screen on the Digi002R. Rather nice looking overall, buttons feel, though do not look, a tad cheap perhaps. Still though, the screen, the screen is such a cool idea and so handy!
Sound:
I don't have a ton to compare it to right now, but it sounds as clear and clean, certainly as nice, as the Digi001/002R. Other than that, its a pretty straight forward interface, 4 pre's are nice.
Support:
I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Plus the website was easy to get the latest drivers from and they had very clear installation instructions in OSX.
Overall:
I'm happy, its serving its exact purpose right out of the box. Audio is clean, and midi is flawless (thank you MOTU!-no more headaches!) I've not tried it with a laptop or live, though I have no doubt it would perform flawlessly as an interface or even as a mixer. Seeing as its made to be toted, I wish it were a tad more sturdy, specifically the screen, but the unit itself is nice and solid. I only wish I had opted for this sort of professional interface sooner instead of wasting my time with cheaper products that were simply not as perfectly suited for DAW work.
Submitted: 2/24/2005
Style of Music: Industrial, Rock
|
1 of 1 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?
|
|
Read all Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU) Traveler Portable Firewire Audio Interface reviews...
Additional Images:







30-Day 100% Satisfaction Guarantee Applies On This Item - Buy it, and if it isn't just right for you, return it!
"zZounds is the top online store for musical equipment! Best prices and easy to deal with and always fast on shipment! *****" - customer on December 21, 2008
Free Catalog |