PrefaceThis website lists many audio interfaces that will work with cakewalk products and that cover a wide range of needs or desires. The 4pre is one of them. Only you can determine what you need. Hopefully the following will help you focus on organizing your requirements and goals.
My understanding of how to use the 4preThe Motu 4pre audio interface is designed for those that like to experiment with recording. The 4pre is meant for an individual or duet. Other uses posted have been to use it as a playback device, sampling instruments, measuring room acoustics, and adding more inputs to a mixer.
What I see that the 4pre has to offerThere are 4 analog inputs, one S/PDIF input, and 4 stereo outs. The stereo outs can be switched between 2 sets of analog speakers, 2 headphone outs, and a digital S/PDIF out. This device was introduced in 2011 and it bridges the transmission technology from FireWire to USB 2.0 having both available. The controls are analog with multi-function pots and led lights. Alternatively, the included CueMix software provides a digital interface for pointing, clicking and sliding. Sampling is 24 bit with sample rates of 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz, or 96 kHz. There are no midi connections and expansion is via the S/PDIF connectors. See the motu website for other details you may be interested in.
What I like about the 4preThe preamps provide a strong signal that is not colored by designed in effects. I clearly hear all my on pitch and off pitch notes, the first selling point for me. Each preamp has its own pad and phantom power switches, giving great flexibility in use of microphones, DI boxes, etc. for simultaneous recording of multiple signals from the same instrument. This was the second selling point for me. Many other interfaces gang their preamps in groups of 2 or globally. The drivers provide low latency over a range of platforms. This was the third selling point for me. To their credit, Motu had 4pre drivers available on their website for Windows 10 immediately upon its release. Among other things, this told me that the 4 pre is a viable interface for several years to come.
What I have experienced so far using the 4preI have measured the Round trip latency of on two different laptops and one custom build in conjunction with the 4pre. A recorded pitch from one track was played while recording that sound into another track. The time difference between corresponding peaks was determined using the formula below and presented in the table.
(number of tics delayed x (1000 ms/sec) x (60 sec/min) = number of milliseconds
(120 beats/min) x (960 tics/beat)
Manufacturer Model & CPU SamplesTo Buffer CPU Frequency Windows Revision DAW USB TYPE Round Trip LatencyToshiba L645D 64 @44.1kHz 2.4 GHz 7 SP1, 32 bit Sonar 2.0 7.5 milliseconds
AMD Turion II P540 Pro 3.0HP 15 64 @44.1kHz 2.16 GHz 8.1, 64 bit Sonar 3.0 1.56 milliseconds
Intel N3540 PlatinumGigabyte x99m & 64 @44.1kHz 3.8GHz 10, 64 bit Sonar 2.0 3.56 milliseconds
Intel 6800K 1703 rev. Platinum 3.0 1.56 milliseconds I did not experience any conflicts when using the 4pre, CueMix, Windows 7, and Sonar Professional 3.0 on the Toshiba laptop. I did experience a conflict in the custom build between CueMix and Sonar Platinum. I can use the 4pre and CueMix by themselves on the custom build with no conflicts. However, when I have Sonar running, and continually leave CueMix open and running, the CueMix interface becomes unstable with time. The symptoms are: the CueMix knobs turn by themselves, the window collapses and restores itself, then the audio from Sonar drops out. If I do nothing, eventually the 4pre acts as if something else is controlling it and various output LED’s will light up. Then there is a shrill static output. The time that it takes for this to happen is anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. The work around that I have found is first, disable the Windows service "Motu ZeroConf". My understanding is, this is for OSC touchpad controllers, which I do not have. Secondly, I do not leave the CueMix program on. This work around made it through 8 straight hours of 4pre and Sonar use, three days in a row, so I call that validated. Although this experience was annoying, I have to put it in perspective. After reading many of the posts on this site as well as from other sites, putting together an audio system that performs can be a hair pulling, tedious process, with each system having its own quirks. That is why some choose to pay a professional to worry about it, and come up with a system for them. So this is what I know and think about the 4pre. Hopefully this will help you in your choice of an audio interface. I plan to have some fun with mine.
post edited by pb7r47sz - 2017/05/22 01:33:39