Equipped with the renowned ESS Sabre32™ DAC technology, and delivering the same superb analog audio quality and proven, award-winning performance as their flagship 16A audio interface, MOTU's 8A provides you with all you need to turn your computer into a powerful 24-bit/192 kHz digital audio workstation.
It connects to any computer or iPad™ via Thunderbolt, super-speed USB 3.0, AVB Ethernet, or USB class-compliant firmware. Optimized MOTU drivers work great with all your favorite audio apps, delivering industry-leading, ultra-low round-trip latency (RTL) performance – as low as 1.6ms at 96 kHz over Thunderbolt, with high-performance DAW hosts.
Housed in a compact and rugged enclosure you can take anywhere, it provides 8 channels of pristine analog I/O, as well as a front-panel headphone jack, combined with 8 channels of ADAT optical digital I/O, for a total of 34 simultaneous audio channels.
Connect all your studio gear, including synths, keyboards, drum machines, and effects processors. You can record, monitor, route, and process all of the live inputs with no latency and no comuter processor strain. Extensive routing features let you patch ins to outs, or route inputs to multiple destinations. Powerful DSP delivers large-console-style mixing with 48 channels, 12 stereo busses, and 32-bit floating-point effects processing. Add Classic Reverb™ with lengths up to 60 seconds. You can further sculpt your sound with 4-band parametric EQ carefully modeled after British analog console EQs. Choose between 2 forms of compression: conventional compressor and the Leveler™ – an accurate model of the legendary LA-2A™ optical compressor that provides vintage musical automatic gain control.
After recording and mixing in the studio, unplug the 8A from the computer and take it onstage for use as a stand-alone mixer with effects. Control everything over Wi-Fi® from your favorite web browser running on your laptop, tablet, and/or smartphone.
Through AVB/TSN Ethernet, connect another MOTU AVB interface (sold separately) for more I/O — or connect to an expanded MOTU AVB network with multiple interfaces and computers.
The 8A delivers exceptional sound quality, state-of-the-art operation, and rock-solid performance, from studio to stage.
MOTU 8A Features:
- Superb analog audio quality and high-end converters — Renowned ESS Sabre32 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 or iPad™ with Thunderbolt, super-speed USB 3.0 or AVB Ethernet. Class-compliant firmware and Industry standard drivers work with any audio apps.
- 34 simultaneous audio channels — 8 x 8 balanced analog with dedicated main outs, 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 groups, access to 32 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 AVB 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 5 MOTU interfaces using a MOTU AVB Switch (all
- 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. Eight channels of ADAT at 44.1/48 kHz, 4 channels of SMUX at 88.2/96 kHz or stereo TOS Link (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.
- Audio Desk — Includes AudioDesk work station software for Mac and Windows with 24-bit recording, sample-accurate editing and 32-bit mixing and mastering.
MOTU 8A Specifications:
- Sample rates: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192 kHz
- Analog inputs:
- 8 x ¼" TRS line inputs (balanced/unbalanced)
- Max level: +24 dBu (range -96 to +22)
- Analog outputs:
- 8 x ¼" TRS line out (balanced, DC coupled 5v)
- Max level: +20 dBu (range -4 to +20)
- 1 x ¼" 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 ¼" TRS stereo phone (assignable)
- Front panel:
- 1 x ¼" 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 (W x D x H, enclosure only): 8.6" x 7" x 1.75" (22 x 17.75 x 4.5cm)
- Weight: 2.2 lbs. (1.0 kg)
