MOTU 896Mk3 Hybrid Review – Not Your Regular Audio Interface

Design:
Features:
Performance:
Value:

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MOTU is one of those brands that isn't that popular in the mainstream, but has its own fan base among professionals. If you want to know what MOTU has to offer, just check out MOTU 896Mk3 Hybrid. It's among the best audio interfaces under $1000, and for a good reason.

Design

When you dwell into the segment of the market where MOTU 896Mk3 Hybrid resides, you will quickly notice that utility is much more important than aesthetics. As a matter of fact, aesthetics come at a distant last place in the order of things. MOTU 896Mk3 Hybrid is a rack mount unit that can be used on a desktop as well. It comes in a very sturdy and durable chassis, which looks like it could survive an apocalypse. The front is where all the good stuff is at. We are talking controls and metering tools for the most part. MOTU broke that standard rule in the industry and placed all of their inputs and outputs in the back of the device. This is probably due to the fact that MOTU 896Mk3 Hybrid was intended to be used on a rack. With its solid build quality, you are looking at a very durable package.

Features

The features found in MOTU 896Mk3 Hybrid not only make it one of the more powerful units on the market, but also one of the more unorthodox ones. Everything starts with the USB/Firewire hybrid system that allows you to use either a true Firewire or a high speed USB 2.0 connection. MOTU has designed this interface to act as a standalone mixer, as itis packed with on-board effects, EQs and more. There is also a full analytics suite presentas well. You can scope the audio, access a full spectrogram and more. In terms of inputs and outputs, MOTU has 28 of the former and 32 of the latter. Eight of these come in formof the standard XLR/TRS combos, and are equipped with both a pad and phantom power power. Last but not least, the max resolution you can expect to see is 24-bit/96kHz.

Performance

Once you mount everything and plug in your devices into MOTU 896Mk3 Hybrid, you will find out just why it is so well respected in the music production community. This thing is much more than just an audio interface. All of the on-board features make it a proper studio tool that can easily help you find tone profile for each of your instruments and vocals. The core performance is guaranteed by a set of great preamps. MOTU went with their best units for this occasion, which is something everyone can appreciate. With that said, it takes some time to get used to the controls. There is plenty going on when you fire this interface up. It might take you some time to figure out what every feature does and how to access it. However, once you do, your recording sessions will gain a whole new dimension.

Conclusion

MOTU's 896Mk3 Hybrid interface is definitely one of the stranger models on the market.With that said, it is also one of the most powerful ones. It is a tool that belongs in a professional studio, but it can very well be the force multiplier you need in your home.

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