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Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU) Traveler Portable FireWire Audio Interface

Sturdy lightweight construction. Compact size. 20 channels with 4 mic inputs.

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"Good product." submitted March 11, 2006

By a customer from thehappybuttons.com
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Musical Background: Band Member, Recorder, Music Software Programmer
Music Style: Industrial, Dark Ambient, Folk, Rock, New Wave, Techno, Noise
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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. 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. 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. 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. Manufacturer Support: Haven't had to call support yet, so I don't know. The Wow Factor: 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. 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.
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"Great Interface, nice features, screen, midi timing,+mine came w/ PSU!" submitted February 24, 2005

By a customer from buckeye-express.com
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Musical Background: Recording Student
Music Style: Industrial, Rock
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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. 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. Manufacturer 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. The Wow Factor: 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! 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.
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"Get one!" submitted January 1, 2006

By a customer from rocketmail.com
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Musical Background: R&B
Music Style: R&B
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Sound: Very good product. For someone migrating from Windows to Mac and from Emu 1820 to Traveler, I have two things to say. Signal routing on the Emu is friendlier and a simple thing like being able to mute my monitors on the Emu, is extremely useful. This feature is not available on the Traveler. Both Cards have got extremely clean sound. Feature: Came with PSU, firewire cable and software. Knobs on the front are very useful. Feels solid enough for me Quality: Can't fault them Value: Well researched product, great sound, worth the money Manufacturer Support: Send them an email and you definitely get a response! Keep it up guys The Wow Factor: Sexy Overall: Very long. Motu is just one of those companies you can trust. Their DP4.6 is easily one of the top sequencers available.
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"MAC users look no further. Attention PC users!" submitted March 31, 2005

By a customer from osivnik.com
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Sound: Excellent sound from all the outputs. Feature: Every in/out standard you can immagine in all bit/sampling rates. A true swiss army knife. The minor drawback is that you can't use ADAT and S/PDIF at the same time, since they share the optical ports. Also coax and optic S/PDIF are not independent. The side jacks for MIDI and power are hard to reach if the unit is mounted in a rack. The unit is for sure a MAC design, since you can not use it on PC Laptop without an additional power adapter. This is a big minus, especially since MOTU promotes this feature as a main one. Carefully when you buy the adapter: The manual says it will work with 9, 12 and 18 volts, but I found out that it works fine just on 12V. Also the provided recording software is MAC only. Quality: It is enclosed in a metal chasis but the front has somehow plastic feeling. Value: With its 850$ is somehow pricey compared to others, but it also provides that extra features that others don't have. Manufacturer Support: I had some issues with early drivers. The MOTU guys replied me and offered me beta drivers, which now work fine. The Wow Factor: If you don't need all that connectors and standards look for a cheaper unit with less jacks. Overall: An excellent unit with MOTU quality aspecially for MAC users.
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"It's the best overall portable - best preamps - best midi. Period!" submitted December 29, 2005

By a customer from hotmail.com
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Musical Background: Recording Engineer
Music Style: Jazz, Drum and Bass
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Sound: 73db gain on mic pres with precision control and individual phantom on each one. The gain is clean and quiet at the highest levels. These are the only pres on a device like this which can deliever the gain necessary for ribbon microphones. Sounds like a $1200 - $1300 mic pre - so if you have decent engineering skills - good musicians and good mics - you can make a record with it. It can sound as good as most stuff selling on shelves. The focusrite and presonus are the only other passable devices but you have to add mic pres to those - the don't have the gain, quality or clarity. So you just need to find a good mic pre with 73db of clean gain for under a grand - good luck! Feature: The best "all in one" solution on the market with midi (motu midi!) - firewire bus powered - talkback - 4 separate mixes. Quality: It is like a tank - it feels great - very solid. I was really impressed with this thing. I have to buy it now. Best portable "all in one" I've used so far! Motu are bastards! Value: I always think things should be cheaper. I'm a cheap bastard. It's a great value. You would be hard pressed just getting a dual preamp of it's quality for the price, let alone 4 with all the features! Manufacturer Support: N/A
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"window user beware...." submitted November 29, 2005

By a customer from charter.net
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Musical Background: composer
Music Style: soundtrack
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Sound: when it work, the sound quality is quite good. however, The unit would randomly plays clicking, popping, and weirding hummings for no reason at all. makes recording almost impossible. Feature: great and flexiable routing. Quality: The case is well made, the front have a slight plastic feel, but overall solid. Value: If it works 100% as advertised it's great, but as of now it's useless... can't even use it as a patchbay due to the random popping and clicking... Manufacturer Support: Phoneline's ALWAYS busy! Email support took over a month and didn't offer any help to my problem. If MOTU can't do window support right, they should stick to doing MAC!!! The Wow Factor: I am returning mine for a fireface 800.... Overall: If the unit worked as intended free of random popping and clicking and actually lets me record I would've kept it...
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"Traveler has found it's home! No more wandering around looking for a new soundcard." submitted November 20, 2005

By a customer from hotmail.com
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Musical Background: Hobbyist
Music Style: Electronic
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Sound: The sound is very clean and detailed. I A/B compared to a Fireface and the MOTU is equal in sound. Feature: Having a volume knob on the front of my soundcard is important to me. The Fireface is lacking this. The Traveler has enough i/o to support every popular format. All of it can be used simultaneously. Quality: The chassis is metal and has removable rack ears. Everything seems solid and well built. Comes with a long firewire cable and a power supply. That is great as most companies tell you "optional" power supply. The manual for the Traveler is fantastic although 99.9% of people can get up an running without it. Value: Excellent value for money! Manufacturer Support: The whole reason I bought the Traveler is because MOTU was so helpful with my pre-sales questions. They responded to every email I sent. The Wow Factor: This is a well designed interface and it does everything it is advertised to do. This is a champion product! Overall: I plan to use this in the studio and on the road.
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"No PSU???" submitted February 2, 2005

By a customer from hotmail.com
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Feature: Doesn't come with a DC power supply! You might think "OK - I'll just use the firewire on my laptop", but laptop firewire's usually 4-pin firewire so there'll BE no power! And then you think "Fine, I'll get a 6 pin PC card for it" - but as far as I know they don't provide power either. What were they thinking? Do people travel with desktop computers these days? Ship it with a PSU, dammit! Imagine the disastrous out-of-the-box experience, MOTU! The Wow Factor: I want it more than anything (as long as it's got a power supply).
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