I am looking to add more inputs to record live drums and I am torn on which one of these to get.  I have the Motu MK3 and I love the way it works so I wanted to keep it in the family of products but a respected professional recording friend of mine who uses Sonar X2 says get Roland Octa-Capture, also I have played gigs with him using the Octa-Capture so I know how it works live.  If you can think of a better piece of equipment please feel free to share, thanks for the input
 
http://www.zzounds.com/item--MTU8PREUSB
http://www.zzounds.com/item--ROLUA1010
 

I have used a MOTU 24io for several years with no problems and great results. It is designed for use with a hardware mixer with sends and returns so it is quite bulky to carry around for remote jobs. It doesn't have many sync features. Just word clock. I felt the need to move on with something more up to date and decided on the brand new Roland Studio-Captures. 16 ins, 10 outs, midi in and out, Spdif digital connectors. I got two and sync them for 32 ins and 20 outs. I am extremely happy with them other than the auto shutoff issue that the Octa-Captures suffer from. I got a great price for two at Guitar Center. Maybe you should check them out. With these interfaces I have been able to dump the hardware mixer as well.

Sidroe
I have used a MOTU 24io for several years with no problems and great results. It is designed for use with a hardware mixer with sends and returns so it is quite bulky to carry around for remote jobs. It doesn't have many sync features. Just word clock. I felt the need to move on with something more up to date and decided on the brand new Roland Studio-Captures. 16 ins, 10 outs, midi in and out, Spdif digital connectors. I got two and sync them for 32 ins and 20 outs. I am extremely happy with them other than the auto shutoff issue that the Octa-Captures suffer from. I got a great price for two at Guitar Center. Maybe you should check them out. With these interfaces I have been able to dump the hardware mixer as well.

Thanks I will research Roland Studio

Sidroe
I have used a MOTU 24io for several years with no problems and great results. It is designed for use with a hardware mixer with sends and returns so it is quite bulky to carry around for remote jobs. It doesn't have many sync features. Just word clock. I felt the need to move on with something more up to date and decided on the brand new Roland Studio-Captures. 16 ins, 10 outs, midi in and out, Spdif digital connectors. I got two and sync them for 32 ins and 20 outs. I am extremely happy with them other than the auto shutoff issue that the Octa-Captures suffer from. I got a great price for two at Guitar Center. Maybe you should check them out. With these interfaces I have been able to dump the hardware mixer as well.

Is this what you were referring to?  http://www.zzounds.com/item--ROLUA1610

Yes! Sorry it takes a while to get back. I just bounce in and out some days. Try Guitar Center. I got a stupidly low,low price on two. They run in sync. Check the Roland website for a detailed look. There are some videos on YouTube as well. Let me know what happens. Good luck!

BTW, I forgot to tell you that to run them in sync you have to use a USB hub if your computer doesn't have enough ports. And read the installation instructions very closely. I didn't have a problem with the install but I missed the hub part and ended up troubleshooting for hours until I finally realized I had to have the hub. The hub is a necessity on my laptop but my desktop has plenty of ports.
 

How do the Roland Studio capture mic pre's sound compared to the Motu?

The MOTU has been a reliable workhorse over the years and sounds great! But in the case of the SC, the pre's do seem to be tighter sounding and a bit cleaner in the upper frequencies but that could be due to the software mixer that comes with them. There is a nice built in comp on every channel along with a nice noise gate. Phantom power also. If they would stick a nice eq on every channel you would have a really nice digital mixer for gigs on your computer without relying on any software DAW. Hey, Roland! Are you listening. Maybe the next upgrade?

I read a post where someone was concerned about the convertors being the same ones as in their old digital hardware recorders. I have a friend of mine who uses two of those 24 track models and the quality is like night and day. If they are the same convertors they must be doing something software wise because the SCs sound light years more open and cleaner. It would be interesting to know if they are the same convertors.
 

I didn't plan on getting a MOTU as it was out of my budget (as a bedroom producer) but a deal on ebay reached into my wallet. Really happy with my little MKIII hybrid. I think MOTU's underrated - they're not 'sexy' like some brands, but they're clean, loaded, very well built, and very competitive in their price range.