Feature:
It's a very simple piece of gear, but it does what it should do. It's powered from the USB port so there's one less cable knotting up the back of your rack. Also, they managed to pack in a useable USB cable (ie: not one of those tiny 3 foot jobs, this has plenty of length.) There are no switches or dials of any kind, and it could have done better with at least a power switch. If you want to turn it off the only option is to unplug it or shut off your computer.
Ease of Use:
A real no brainer. I'm running it on a Windows XP PC and it was simply install drivers, plug it in, and go. I've used it on Cubase, Reason, and Sony Acid Pro and it has always performed transparently.
Quality:
I've used mine for 4 months now in a studio environment and it's never let me down. The case is plastic, so it might see some wear if you took it on the road, but it seems strong enough. Front and rear MIDI jacks are all solid.
Value:
At the end of the day, good bang for your buck.
Manufacturer Support:
The only support I have used from MOTU is the download pages on their website. The downer here is you have to sign up for a password to their support section and their e-mailer has a very hard time getting past any kind of spam filter. I had to turn off the filter on my antivirus program AND at my ISP's side before I could receive the confirmation message. If you're listening MOTU, what are we gonna do with your drivers? Just let us download them!
The Wow Factor:
This can address a rack full of multi-timbral synths over 128 MIDI channels. All the synth geeks will drool, but really there's not much here. Nice flashy lights on the front panel show data activity in and out, good for troubleshooting AND adds a little to your rack lightshow if you're into that. It's really just a simple, practical product that makes my day a little easier.
Overall:
This device is pretty much it for me when it comes to MIDI interfacing. It does the job well, I would replace it if it died, and the ports are already full to maximum so I would consider buying another one if the need arose. If you're looking for a MIDI to DAW interface and can't fit your gear in a 1 or 2 bus box, I feel this is a more than adequate option.
32 of 32 people
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Value:
I chose this particular product for two things: plenty of ports and a relatively old device that's been around for about a decade that would have all its bugs sorted out.
Unpacking the box I noticed one strange thing - a driver CD. My question was why would a MIDI device need its own drives when OS distributions have included a universal MIDI driver for ages? Unfortunately, MOTU MIDI Express 128 is no standard MIDI device and does need its own proprietary drivers. This would not be such a big deal if the gentlemen from MOTU ever bothered releasing the device spacifications so people could write Linux drivers for it. That did not happen apparently
The product is highly overpriced. The circuity needed to operate 8/8 MIDI ports would easily fit to the area of a thumb. If you decided to make the thing yourself you'd spend about 15-20€ on parts + whatever the case is worth. Paying such premium, I expected at least basic compatibility.
Overall:
Sending the unit back tomorrow.
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