Motu M4 Audio Interface Review

[JimmyBuckets]

I have been thinking about selling my m4. I bought it thinking it would be dual use as a DAC for my headphone rig, but ended up buying a RME ADI-2 DAC FS. The M4 basically sits there most of the time. I planned on using it with ARTA for acoustic measurements, but also have a Steinberg UR22 mkII. The UR22 mkII isn't good enough to measure electronics but I never really do that. I also have a Clio Pocket that I use most of the time for acoustic measurements. So other than liking the M4...does anyone think I'd be crazy for letting it go? It is a v1 assembled in the USA unit...which it part of the reason I question letting it go.

 

[tiramisu]

If you find the wallet for the RME it is a better device. Up from the M4, I find myself looking at the Ultralite Mk5.
I hear what people have to say about the RME drivers, software, and hardware build quality (all good things) but I can't justify the price for my use case.

If on the other hand, someone would like to send me an RME ADI-2 FS Pro Black edition I would be happy to retire my other audio interfaces. I would love to play with it.
The M4 is hard to beat at its price point for a home studio interface.

 

[MCH]

No, you are not crazy letting it go. It still sells for a good price, is in stock if you ever want to buy it again, and if you want v1, it is not rare in the used market.
What the M4 gives you that the rest of your devices don't is 4 channels... for instance for dub integration.

 

[MCH]

Hello team,
I need to connect a RCA source (minidsp 2x4 HD) to the Motu M4 inputs somehow.
Checking around what i have home i came across these:

https://amzn.eu/d/cveYnEc

The pinout is this:

The idea is to plug these to the front inputs of the motu. I cannot find the pinout in Motu's manual, only the comment "pin 2 hot".

What do you think guys, will this work? Is it safe to try and see or am i risking breaking something?

Thanks for your comments.
Tagging @tonycollinet as my favourite cable adviser!

 

[antcollinet]

Hello team,
I need to connect a RCA source (minidsp 2x4 HD) to the Motu M4 inputs somehow.
Checking around what i have home i came across these:

https://amzn.eu/d/cveYnEc

The pinout is this:


View attachment 217676
The idea is to plug these to the front inputs of the motu. I cannot find the pinout in Motu's manual, only the comment "pin 2 hot".

What do you think guys, will this work? Is it safe to try and see or am i risking breaking something?

Thanks for your comments.
Tagging @tonycollinet as my favourite cable adviser!

Looks good to me

 

[jae]

Does anyone know how the headphone out performs while monitoring the 3/4 line in with the dial set fully to "input" (or playback..?)? Was considering using the Wiim Mini's line in with the M4 as a semi-portable bus-powered streamer of sorts that I could easily move from one location to another. M4 having digital IN would have been killer.

 

[chuckt62]

Does anyone know how the headphone out performs while monitoring the 3/4 line in with the dial set fully to "input" (or playback..?)? Was considering using the Wiim Mini's line in with the M4 as a semi-portable bus-powered streamer of sorts that I could easily move from one location to another. M4 having digital IN would have been killer.

The headphone jack is only CH1/2.

 

[raindoggeorge]

The headphone jack is only CH1/2.

Are you sure about this? I can see in the manual, page 8

7: Connect your headphones here. This signal matches the signal on the MONITOR outputs on the rear panel, but volume control (6) is independent
8. Engages hardware (direct) monitoring for inputs 3-4 on the rear panel. See (10) below for more information

 

[chuckt62]

Yes, the button sends 3/4 input to the monitor mix (1/2). Full left turn, input side allows monitoring input 3/4 at the headphone jack.

 

[cajadas]

I would like to use the M4 at 96KHz, but there's always clicks and pops. Totally useless. I'm about to change intrface because of this.

Any chance an old Ryzen 7 1700X and old USB chipset can be causing this? All drivers are updated. M4's last firmware and drivers too.

 

[Trell]

I would like to use the M4 at 96KHz, but there's always clicks and pops. Totally useless. I'm about to change intrface because of this.

Any chance an old Ryzen 7 1700X and old USB chipset can be causing this? All drivers are updated. M4's last firmware and drivers too.

Having too small buffers configured in the M4 ASIO driver will cause this, so try set it higher.

Try different USB ports as well, as well as disconnect other USB devices for testing. Also try another cable.

I've heard that AMD has had various USB issues over the years related to audio interfaces, so checking that your motherboard firmware is updated is definitely worth checking out. I don't have AMD CPU so others have to chime in.

 

[txbdan]

I would like to use the M4 at 96KHz, but there's always clicks and pops. Totally useless. I'm about to change intrface because of this.

Any chance an old Ryzen 7 1700X and old USB chipset can be causing this? All drivers are updated. M4's last firmware and drivers too.

I have no issues. I've even been doing DAC/ADC measurements at 192kHz recently with no issues at all. I'm on an M1 MacBook Air.

 

[agent_x007]

I would like to use the M4 at 96KHz, but there's always clicks and pops. Totally useless. I'm about to change intrface because of this.

Any chance an old Ryzen 7 1700X and old USB chipset can be causing this? All drivers are updated. M4's last firmware and drivers too.

Make sure your RAM is 100% stable. My Motu M4 get's grumpy (stutter sound/lost audio signal/etc.), when even slight RAM instability is present (even with 100% stable RAM it get's glitchy sometimes, but not to the same extent).
I recommend checking RAM stability with testmem5 (custom config "ABSOLUT by anta777", download link : LINK), or Extreme Linpack (LINK) with 5-10 loops (preferably with 3/4 or 4/5 of total RAM used).
Latter one can cook MBs VRM when CPU is overvolted, so make sure your cooling solution is up to the task before you run it.
They can take few hours depending on settings used, memory capacity and CPU/RAM speed etc. (and PC will be pretty much unusable when they are running).

 

[Trell]

I would like to use the M4 at 96KHz, but there's always clicks and pops. Totally useless. I'm about to change intrface because of this.

Any chance an old Ryzen 7 1700X and old USB chipset can be causing this? All drivers are updated. M4's last firmware and drivers too.

How did the advice given here work out for you?

 

[Lambda]

Any chance an old Ryzen 7 1700X and old USB chipset can be causing this? All drivers are updated. M4's last firmware and drivers too.

Yes. and there is many other possible Hardware and software things that can cause this.
i suppose you have already increased buffer size and checked system latency?

how you do this depends on your Operating system.

 

[Trell]

Yes. and there is many other possible Hardware and software things that can cause this.
i suppose you have already increased buffer size and checked system latency?

how you do this depends on your Operating system.

I'm curious about the posters experience as he has visited this forum after his post.

 

[cajadas]

Thanks alot everyone.

I'm about to test RAM, because I've been using it overclocked from 2666MHz to 3200Mhz (no issues, but can be the cause here).

Yes, I've used all the latency settings and no luck.

 

[Trell]

Thanks alot everyone.

I'm about to test RAM, because I've been using it overclocked from 2666MHz to 3200Mhz (no issues, but can be the cause here).

Yes, I've used all the latency settings and no luck.

I'm asking because I'm curious and not that I don't believe that you have issues with your audio interface as you describe.

From your comment it's not clear that you mean ASIO buffer latency (due to buffer size) vs RAM latency, which is something entirely different that not in any way should cause your pops/clicks/dropouts in general.

 

[cajadas]

Yes, I meant ASIO latency.

 

[Trell]

Yes, I meant ASIO latency.

Yes, changing the buffer size will certainly increase the latency, but from your post that is not the problem as you have clicks/pops/dropouts. RAM latency, not so much a cause of your problems.

What buffer size do you currently have in your M4 driver?