new IoHD lookalike … sort of

[Arnie Schlissel]

Regardless of how you feel about the quality & functionality, MOTU continues to lead the HD I/O market in flashing lights. I’m surprised they haven’t pushed this in their press releases…

Arnie
Post production is not an afterthought!
https://www.arniepix.com/

[Ed Dooley]

Back when I was a kid, it was all about bells and whistles. Time moves on. 🙂
Ed

[Colin Mcquillan]

HAHA [Ed Dooley] ” It didn’t stop them from ads showing a MBP hooked up to the MXO either. (Insert grumble here)”

Yeah I bought one…. after waiting over a month for an update that wold make it work on my nvidia MBP, i sent it back. And I’m glad i did…

The mxo2 on the otherhand does look nice!

Colin McQuillan
Van BC
Octo 3.2, 8gig, 8800GT, 2×23″ ACD, 2TB G-Speed eS, Kona LHe, JVC DT-V24L1UA, Mackie 1202-VLZ3, KRK Rokit5’s….
MBP 2.4, 4gig , 2xLacie Quadra 500gig….

[Tom Brooks]

The MOTU doesn’t seem to claim ProRes “in hardware.” So the encoding and decoding must be done by the CPU, no?

[Walter Biscardi]

[Tom Brooks] “The MOTU doesn’t seem to claim ProRes “in hardware.” So the encoding and decoding must be done by the CPU, no?”

Yep, which means lots of processor power to handle ProRes with this box.

Same is true for the MXO2, it won’t do any conversion to ProRes either and not sure if it will convert to DVCPro HD, DV and DV50 like the Io HD can.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.

STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
Read my Blog!

[Ed Dooley]

But the MOTU does hardware acceleration of DVCProHD and SD. This from their site:
>>>>Hardware-accelerated DVCPro capture/playback — provides hardware-accelerated capture and playback of industry standard DVCProHD/P2, DVCPro50 and DVCPro25 video streams to/from Final Cut Pro and Premiere Pro<<<< The MXO2 doesn't do hardware accelerated capture. They do Hardware upscaling for FCP Dynamic RT segments. As I see it right now, the IOHD wins for hardware based ProRes capture, the MXO2 wins in portability, the V4HD wins in hardware based DVCProHD, they all do hardware up/down conversion. And the MOTU wins for numbers of lights. 🙂 Ed [walter biscardi] “Same is true for the MXO2, it won’t do any conversion to ProRes either and not sure if it will convert to DVCPro HD, DV and DV50 like the Io HD can.”

[David Smith]

Have you ever evaluated the V3HD yourself Walter? You have repeatedly bashed MOTU here on the COW, but I only see anecdotal reasons in your posts. I own two of these units and have been very satisfied with them. I know another company that owns seven of them and they are quite happy with the product.

I really like the fact that I can bring timecode directly into Final Cut Pro without any additional hardware. A fact that I’ve mentioned in several threads when people erroneously report that the IO HD can’t do that because of a problem with Final Cut Pro.

I really like the fact that MOTU has been very responsive to customer input. Re-designing the unit with a quieter cooling system, for example, and offering free replacements for units with the original design.

I really like the fact that I’m being offered a free upgrade (limited time) from the V3HD to the V4HD.

I find the anti MOTU, pro AJA bias to be rather odd. As I’ve stated in the past, I own products from both companies. I like both companies. I have had both good and not so good customer service from both companies. I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase a product from either, based on my own, real experience with products from both companies.

So I’d really like to know: Have you, yourself had bad experiences with the V3HD or with the MOTU company?

Regards,
David Smith

[Walter Biscardi]

[David Smith] “Have you ever evaluated the V3HD yourself Walter? You have repeatedly bashed MOTU here on the COW, but I only see anecdotal reasons in your posts. I own two of these units and have been very satisfied with them. I know another company that owns seven of them and they are quite happy with the product.”

I don’t have to, enough people I work with have tried it for me. In ever case, the unit has been sent back. You’re the first person I’ve heard of that can even get it to work properly and reliably.

[David Smith] “So I’d really like to know: Have you, yourself had bad experiences with the V3HD or with the MOTU company?”

Again, I don’t have to, I’m getting the information first hand from the folks who have tried it. In one particular case a local company asked my advice of the MOTU vs. Io HD. I explained that MOTU is an audio company and I would not consider a video conversion product from them, especially after looking at the layout of it and seeing the specs. They purchased the MOTU. With AJA’s strong background in video production and the “real” realtime conversions, I recommended AJA. One month later they replaced it with the Io HD.

If the Matrox MXO2 lives up to its billing, that looks like a great product too. The MOTU boxes are just not something that I would consider for our uses nor can I recommend them at this time based on the information I have received.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.

STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
Read my Blog!

[Nathan Ruyle]

Perhaps you could elaborate a bit.

“I’m getting the information first hand from the folks who have tried it.”

What happened in these experiences that others had? Did the box crash, drop frames, explode? Not much of the information beyond the obligatory Motu sucks is coming through. Your main point seems to be that an audio I/O device manufacturer can’t make video I/O boxes based on principle? Someone should tell Avid. It’s “first hand” “reviews” like this which make the peer reviews of products on forums often dubious and almost always tedious.

My experiences with Motu product as a whole has always been excellent. Their audio interfaces are incredibly dependable with rock-solid drivers. I’m certainly willing to entertain the idea that their first jump into the video arena had problems. I seem to remember many people having issues with the IOHD early on as well or every other 1.0 device/driver that comes down the pipe.

With the new version of the Motu box out, it could be helpful to know what plagued the 1.0 interface in order to evaluate present or future products. Anyone have any actual pro or con experience with this box that they can elaborate on with specifics.

[Walter Biscardi]

[Nathan Ruyle] “What happened in these experiences that others had? Did the box crash, drop frames, explode? Not much of the information beyond the obligatory Motu sucks is coming through. “

It did not operate as advertised. Many issues trying to capture / edit / output. Many issues with FCP crashing. Too much time troubleshooting the equipment and not enough time working.

Every person I know who tried the MOTU has switched to the Io HD and not a single one is upset they made the switch. They are now able to work without addressing hardware issues.

[Nathan Ruyle] “Your main point seems to be that an audio I/O device manufacturer can’t make video I/O boxes based on principle? Someone should tell Avid. It’s “first hand” “reviews” like this which make the peer reviews of products on forums often dubious and almost always tedious. “

My main point is why would I purchase a video I/O device from an audio company? If I want a video device, then I would look at AJA for FCP and Avid if I wanted an Avid product. That would be like purchasing FCP just to do sound mixing when you’re better served getting ProTools (also an Avid company)

AJA makes broadcast centric video devices and have been for many years. The products have been used in major HD and SD broadcasts for years. That’s the product I want in my shop. Not an audio company that wants to add video features to their boxes.

[Nathan Ruyle] “My experiences with Motu product as a whole has always been excellent.”

So then you’re using this Video I/O product successfully in your shop? Or are you talking Motu devices in general, meaning the audio devices? I’ve heard nothing but great things about their audio products. But saying that their video product must be good because of their audio reputation is dubious at best.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.

STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
Read my Blog!