Motu or Focusrite soundcard w/ Reaper?

[Mafia]

Hello!

I am looking for a soundcard to use live with Reaper (windows 10, 64 bits, only usb)

I need 8 out.

I found two good choices, according to the internet: the Motu ultralite mk3 hybrid and the Focusrite Scarlett 18i20.

Did someone have an experience using these two devices?

Thank you very much for your advices,

Benjamin

[Greedy]

I have the 18i20. Don't know anything about the MOTU other than reading the product description and a few comments on gearslutz.

18i20 has eight combo xlr/quarter-inch ins and preamps, the MOTU has two xlrs and 6 1/4" ins. 18i20 has an extra headphone jack, and has two xlr ins on the front vs one front xlr for the MOTU. May or may not be important to you.

Focusrite interface owners get access to their plug-in collective - a new free commercial plugin offered every month. Seem to be good freebies, YMMV. Also you get a choice of one free AK instrument - Concert Grand, Studio Upright, a Rhodes, or a CP-70 (I think). This a fantastic freebie.

I have the 1st gen 18i20, had it over a year, it's been great, no issues, but I don't use it live, it stays parked in my basement. The mk3 looks like it might be a little more rugged, but that's just a guess. The Focusrite 2nd gen retails for $100 less than the MOTU.

[jerome_oneil]

I have the 18i8. I love the control software (that sets up the mix for the interface) and having the ADAT and other digital connection points is nice, too.

The aforementioned Plugin Collective is pretty good, but it's not always free stuff. This month, for example, was 25% off of a Fabfilter EQ and DeEsser. The EQ looks fantastic and gets good reviews, but I don't have a need for it even at 25% off the $179 retail.

No experience with the MOTU stuff, although guys that own it tend to like it.

[Mafia]

Thank you Greedy and Jerome !
It seems my choice will go to the focusrite thanks to your advices !

[trevlyns]

another big plus for Focusrite. I also have the 18i8 but have also used the Scarlett Solo and 2i2. Prior to that I had an older Saffire LE. I'll never change brand!

[Mafia]

Thank you Trevlyns! Good to know

[MrBongo]

MOTU have solid drivers and higher quality preamps

[drumphil]

The second gen focusrite scarlett interfaces have decent round trip latency, but not quite as good as the new motu interfaces.

Get 2nd gen if you are going with focusrite, or the MK4 if you go motu.

Neither are actually that exceptional on round trip latency compared to RME.

See here for focusrite figures at various buffer sizes and sample rates, on windows and OSX:

https://us.focusrite.com/scarlett-in-depth

Motu claims 1.6ms round trip, at 32 samples buffer, 96K, but they don't specify if it can do that in windows as well as OSX. I imagine the results would scale from there to be slightly lower than focusrite at higher buffer settings.

Focusrite claim 2.74ms at 32 samples 96K in OSX, and 3.22ms in windows.

As for how much system load they can take at these settings compared to each other, I have no idea. I know that MOTU interfaces I've used are stable at high loads.

[Mafia]

Thank you all for your answer, it's much clearer to me now