Both are respectable companies with quality products.

I've owned a MOTU 24I/O for some years now and have no complaints beyond the fact that when I first installed it I had to find a workable PCI slot - to keep it from having IRQ conflicts with the video card...

I can't complain about most Presonus gear either - aside from their joke Bluetube preamps and such - they make some good quality stuff.

Decisions, decisions...

I am just re-learning to record these days. used to work in analog studios a long long time ago. I bought the MOTU 896HD mostley becuse it's layout seemed the most familiar to me... most like a tape machine. I intended and still intend to buy another so between them they will connect to my 16 bus console. old habits die hard!
What you should know about the 896HD is that it does NOT have MIDI or s/pdif. What it does have is a sample rate of 192khz, which the presonus lacks.
Before I bought the MOTU (and the G5) I looked long and hard at the RME cards, which were getting rave reviews. RME now has a couple of firewire offerings which should be looked into although the 8trk version (192k) is $1500 compared to the 896HD at $900ish.
Again, I'm new to digital recording but to my way of thinking it's like like comparing a 2" machine that runs at 30ips with one that only does 15ips. No contest.

By the way I also bought the MOTU DP5 software which I really like so far...
If I actually learn how to work this stuff I could be dangerous! LOL
Anyway, that's my two cents. :)

I have the Firepod and I think it's great for the price. I bought mine for $350. But Honestly expandability is really nice. If I had enough for the MOTU I probably would have bought it because of that.

I have the Firepod and I think it's great for the price. I bought mine for $350. But Honestly expandability is really nice. If I had enough for the MOTU I probably would have bought it because of that.

I have the Firepod and I think it's great for the price. I bought mine for $350. But Honestly expandability is a really nice investment. If I had enough for the MOTU I probably would have bought it because of that. EDIT: I think Presonus makes an expandable interface actually you could check that out too.