Anyone have any experience with MOTU interfaces/preamps or more so newer MOTU AVB type interfaces working with Sonar? I'm upgrading my recording resources and looking at the MOTU 8M to start, it seems quite impressive for, expansion, virtual 48 channel mixer/routing  and I/O speeds, (Thunderbolt and USB2).
Also I'm not sure about their preamp reputation, or what qualifies as being "prestine" in preamps they refer to having, anyone know about their preamps?
 
 
  

I am using a MOTU UltraLite MK3 and I love it. My guitars sounds good when recording. Low latency too. I don't know it that is of any help, cause UltraLite is a older card.

Jarsve
I am using a MOTU UltraLite MK3 and I love it. My guitars sounds good when recording. Low latency too. I don't know it that is of any help, cause UltraLite is a older card.

I have an ultralite MK3 as well and very happy with it. My impression is that MOTU preamps are clean sounding. It's easy to use.
 
 
The 8M being AVB - you're charting new waters there, unless you're planning on going USB with it.
 

As far as I know they haven't upgraded their preamps any.  They are quite muddy and noisy compared to similarly priced options.   Pristine? No.  I had an 828mk2 but found the preamps unusable for any kind of detailed work.  I "traded" it for a Steinberg MR816, which I was much more happy with sound quality wise.  However, MOTU is far better in the driver department than most except RME.  I still think the RME UFX is the cream of the crop under $4000.  

Keep us posted! This new line of AVB / thunderbolt / USB interface got my attention a couple of weeks ago, before I started to do more research on other solutions based on Audinate's DANTE protocol.
 
I thought MOTU had stated that they HAD improve their preamps... but I am not sure about that.

rumleymusic
As far as I know they haven't upgraded their preamps any.  They are quite muddy and noisy compared to similarly priced options.   Pristine? No.  I had an 828mk2 but found the preamps unusable for any kind of detailed work.  I "traded" it for a Steinberg MR816, which I was much more happy with sound quality wise.  However, MOTU is far better in the driver department than most except RME.  I still think the RME UFX is the cream of the crop under $4000.  

Thanks for this, Ive heard all great things about RME, a possible hitch I guess Firewire may not be as common to find in a newer PC these days (which I'm also upgrading). Do you know if USB is really as reliable as some claim when using many I/O simultaneously, say like if maximizing UFX as a mixer and recording simultaneously.  

I run my UFX via USB.   One of the first things I did was record all 30 channels at 192kHz for about an hour. The thing didn't even break a sweat, let alone use up even a fraction of the USB bandwidth at any point.  I even wrote to an external USB hard drive utilizing the same buss.  The latency is comparable to most thunderbolt interfaces as well.  It is all about driver stability.  
 
The only reason to upgrade to thunderbolt for audio is the need to operate more that 5-6 hundred channels at a time, to daisy chain data, video, and audio devices, or the simple convenience of using a single port.  There is no audio data or "speed" performance advantage.     
 
That being said, I am very impressed with the dynamic range of the new MOTU's.  Preamps aside, you won't find converter quality with those numbers below Mytek for anywhere near the price.   I have heard reports of the build quality to be cheap and "plastic-y", though.  Like most modern hardware, it utilizes budget over-seas manufacturing.  There is a trade-off for the price.  I wouldn't take it on the road.  

Thanks Daniel, I appreciate your comments and advice, I guess my of suspicions of USB limitations, or as a toy is somewhat unfounded. While RME UFX may be a little more costly and with only 4 mic pre's, Ill have to add additional mic pre interface(s), it may be worth it in the long run, hate that plasticy look and feel for sure. Hate to bother you more but do you have any experience with Focusrite equipment?  

Focusrite offers pretty good sound/preamps (especially for the cost).
The only "weaker" area is that they don't yield the lowest round-trip latency.
Not horrible... just not as low as RME
If you plan to monitor in realtime thru software based EFX/processing, this is a concern.
If not... Focusrite is a great value.
 

I haven't got a bad word to say about Focusrite...