MOTU 8A

Equipped with renowned ESS Sabre32 Ultra™ DAC technology, the 8A has the same award-winning analog audio quality and proven performance as MOTU's flagship 16A interface - packed into a mobile half-rack enclosure.

34 simultaneous audio channels You get 8 x 8 balanced analog, 8-channel ADAT optical and independent headphone out for 16 inputs and 18 outputs. The optical ports also support stereo TOSLink (optical S/PDIF).

SUPERB ANALOG AUDIO QUALITY AND HIGH-END CONVERTERS:

Renowned ESS Sabre32 Ultra DAC technology delivers 123 dB dynamic range and the same proven, award-winning audio quality as MOTU's flagship 16A.

ULTRA-LOW LATENCY AND PROVEN, HIGH-PERFORMANCE MOTU DRIVERS:

Round-trip latency (RTL) performance as low as 1.6 ms at 96kHz over Thunderbolt with high-performance DAW hosts.

MOBILE OPERATION AND UNIVERSAL CONNECTIVITY:

Connects to your computer with Thunderbolt, super-speed USB 3.0 or AVB/TSN Ethernet for up to 256 audio channels (128 in and 128 out). Class-compliant firmware and Industry standard drivers work with any audio apps. Connects to iPad with a standard camera connection kit (adapter).

34 SIMULTANEOUS AUDIO CHANNELS:

8 x 8 balanced analog, 8-channel ADAT optical and independent phone out for 16 inputs and 18 outputs.

DSP MIXING AND EFFECTS PROCESSING:

Flexible 48-input digital mixer with 7 stereo aux busses, 3 group sends, access to 64 network inputs, and DSP effects, including reverb, 4-band EQ, gate and compression.

32-BIT FLOATING POINT PROCESSING:

The 8A's mixing and effects DSP engine delivers virtually unlimited headroom and the utmost in sound quality.

MODELED VINTAGE EFFECTS PROCESSING:

Classic reverb. Compression modeled after the legendary LA-2A compressor. EQ modeled after British analog console EQs.

FLEXIBLE MATRIX ROUTING AND SPLITTING:

Send any input to any output, or multiple outputs. Includes routing to and from the computer, plus any devices on the audio network.

STAND-ALONE OPERATION WITH WIRELESS CONTROL:

Connect an Apple Airport or other Wi-Fi router with a standard Ethernet cable for wireless control of device settings, powerful 48-channel mixing and DSP effects.

WEB APP CONTROL FROM ANY DEVICE:

Control everything from your favorite web browser on a laptop, tablet and smartphone connected to your local Wi-Fi network.

SYSTEM EXPANSION:

Add a 2nd MOTU AVB-equipped interface with a simple CAT-5e ethernet cable. Connect up to five MOTU interfaces using a MOTU AVB/TSN Switch (sold separately).

AVB/TSN AUDIO NETWORKING:

Build a network with multiple interfaces and computers using standard AVB/TSN switches and network cabling, with ultra-low network latency, even over long cable runs (100 meters point to point). Stream hundreds of audio channels among devices and computers on the network.

OPTICAL I/O:

Connect outboard digital processors, digital mixers or other gear. 8 channels of ADAT at 44.1/48 kHz, 4 channels of SMUX at 88.2/96 kHz or stereo TOSLink (optical S/PDIF) up to 96 kHz.

COMPREHENSIVE METERING:

The full-color LCD lets you view all signal activity at a glance with detailed metering for all analog and digital I/O. Access hardware settings from a simple and convenient menu.

AUDIODESK:

Includes AudioDesk workstation software for Mac and Windows with 24-bit recording, sample-accurate editing and 32-bit mixing and mastering.

Sample rates: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192 kHz

Analog inputs:

8 x 1/4" TRS line inputs (balanced/unbalanced)

Max level: +24 dBu (range -96 to +22)

Analog outputs:

8 x 1/4" TRS line out (balanced, DC coupled 5v)

Max level: +20 dBu (range -4 to +20)

1 x 1/4" TRS stereo headphone

Digital I/O:

1 bank (8 ch) of ADAT optical at 1x sample rates

1 bank (4 ch) of SMUX optical at 2x sample rates

Switchable to stereo TOSLink (optical S/PDIF)

Total I/O:

16 inputs / 18 outputs (34 total) at 1x sample rates

12 inputs / 14 outputs (26 total) at 2x sample rates

8 inputs / 10 outputs (18 total) at 4x sample rates

Computer I/O:

1 x Thunderbolt 2 (Mac and Win)

Thunderbolt 1 & 3 compatible

1 x USB 3.0 (Mac and Win)

USB 2.0 and iOS compatible (class compliant)

1 x AVB/TSN Ethernet (Mac only)

Requires OS X 10.11 or later

Computer I/O channels:

Thunderbolt (44.1 to 96 kHz): 128 in/out

Thunderbolt (176.4 to 192 kHz): 64 in/out

USB 3.0 (44.1 to 96 kHz): 128 in/out

USB 3.0 (176.4 to 192 kHz): 64 in/out

AVB/TSN Ethernet: 16 to 128 in/out

depends on host computer speed

Headphone:

1 x 1/4" TRS stereo phone (assignable)

Front panel 1 x 1/4" TRS headphone output

1 x digital rotary encoder

- main/phone volume

5 x switches

- menu navigation

160 x 128 pixel RGB LCD for level meters / menu nav

Power switch

Power:

External 12-18V DC power supply

1.0A max

- tip pos or neg

Dimensions and weight:

(width x depth x height, enclosure only)

8.6 x 7 x 1.75 inches

22 x 17.75 x 4.5 cm

2.2 lbs / 1.0 kg

Mac System Requirement

1 GHz Intel-based Mac or faster

2 GB RAM; 4 GB or more recommended

Mac OS X version 10.8 or later

Available Thunderbolt, USB or AVB/TSN Ethernet port*

A large hard drive (at least 500 GB for recording)

*AVB/TSN Ethernet audio interface operation requires OS X 10.11 or later

Windows System Requirements

1 GHz Pentium-based PC compatible or faster

2 GB RAM; 4 GB or more recommended

Windows 7, 8 or 10

Available Thunderbolt or USB port

Available Ethernet port for firmware updates

A large hard drive (at least 500 GB for recording)

Web App Support

Any web client platform: Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android

Any web browser: Safari, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Explorer, etc.

Web client must be connected to the same network as the MOTU interface by wire or Wi-Fi.

Included Software

MOTU Discovery App for Mac & Windows (finds connected MOTU interfaces)

MOTU Discovery App for iOS (available from Apple App Store)

MOTU web app (served from the hardware itself)

AudioDesk 4.0 for Mac & Windows (separate download)

Operating Systems

For computer audio I/O: Mac OS X 10.8 or later; Windows 7 or later

For web app control: Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android