Before I go off on a tangent about MOTU, let me praise it for its only noteworthy achievement: It has a hell of a marketing team that is incredibly talented at tricking customers into thinking that MOTU products are worthy of purchase.

Now that I've told you what I like about MOTU, let me tell you what I don't like about it. First, their products and drivers are finicky and unstable. For example, their original 896 firewire interface wouldn't even work with firewire cards containing the NEC chipset(http://www.motu.com/techsupport/technotes/document.2001-04-06.9305665162/view). Given the fact that there were only three major firewire chipset manufacturers at the time, MOTU had no excuse for making that blunder. Many of its customers (myself included) had to go out and buy another firewire card. That's only one example. Check out (http://www.ampfea.org/pipermail/idm-making/2004-July/000632.html) for others.

Second, MOTU's technical support is absolutely godawful. Check out (http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/Data/MOTU/Micro-Lite-01.html) for just a few examples of the reports customers have been making about MOTU's technical support. Use Google to find others.

But don't take everyone else's word for it; try it for yourself. Go to MOTU's homepage, where you can find MOTU's (non-toll-free) customer service number. See if you can get through. I've been trying for the last hour to no avail.

Third, MOTU's converters are subpar, especially compared to the converters on units made by Lynx and RME. Their products sound fine, but not great. They certainly aren't worth the price.

Finally, let me ponder publicly why anyone would buy a MOTU device when you could spend a little more and get a rock-sold, (and much better sounding) card from Lynx, a company whose technical support is unbeatable. When I called Lynx to inquire about their LynxTwo card, I was immediately transferred to the company's owner! How's that for tech support?

Let me be clear that I have no ill will toward MOTU; I certainly don't wish to damage the company's reputation. However, given the number of postings in this forum regarding MOTUs products, it is clear that the public doesn't have all the information it needs in order to make informed decisions about hardware purchases. I hope that this posting will spur a discussion about MOTU, its products, and its customer service (or lack thereof).