Review: STEINBERG MR816X

This one I almost liked! It's nicely built, pretty big and definitely made for rack installation as it needs a lot of space on the table. You can feel the quality of the hardware "made in Japan". Neutrik jacks (sadly without xlr cable lock), good buttons and potis. Power supply comes with long cables and an On/Off switch - seems durable as well. The latest software was stable and reliable for the testing period and I had no software problems on my mac with snow leopard. I missed the MIDI connections. This is boring as it's essential to my workflow. Two headphone output jacks can come in handy. It has pretty clear mic preamps I could work with and a good overall sound and converter quality. But still my Motu Traveller MKI provides more clean gain and is easier to set up for stereo recording. I like digitally controlled gain more than "just" potis - it's not possible to control the gain via the software. Switches would be even better sound wise (and no problem as we record digital) but it's not very common. You can bypass the mic preamps of the MR816 by using the insert jacks for channel one and two in the back of the device. Price is 650 Euros and that's ok. I rate this little big thing a 7/10.