MOTU 8A 16x18 Thunderbolt / USB 3.0 Audio Interface with AVB Reviews

Kudos to MOTU for the web interface. I was surprised at how well it works across multiple devices. Monitoring through the interface has no perceptible latency. The supplied mixer and effects are great. Extremely sturdy build quality. Outstanding sound.

I've been clinging to analog and analog-style devices (RADAR/Mackie HDRs) for way too long and finally made the leap to Mac-based recording. Most interfaces come with mic preamps and, over the years, I've collected several Neve's, UAs and other really cool pre's with all the variety I want/need. I asked my well-versed and very capable sales engineer, Paul Lea what I should do. He asked a few questions and based on our chat, he pointed me to the MOTU 8A. Once some installation glitches were resolved (all based on my inexperience with the technology), this little beast is amazing. And I KNOW I haven't used 1/5th of its capabilities (routing capabilities, effects, etc). This allows me to use all my pre's and other outboard gear with my dinosaur Mackie 32*8 as if I was still in analogland. And it sounds great. I'm hearing clarity that was missing in my other hard-drive recorders with more depth and more headroom. If you're stuck like I was, I couldn't recommend this unit more. And, as always, many thanks to Paul and the Sweetwater crew.

Lots of ins and outs for my synths, stable drivers with consistent updates and best in class convertors. Very highly recommended.

This thing works flawlessly on my mac mini tb2 connection. 96k 24bit around 4ms latency (unnoticeable when live tracking in DAW) Very good sound quality. I was using allen & heath firewire zed r16 which sounded good, but 2010 technology. This interface is a huge upgrade in sonic quality because of high quality converters and modern drivers/connectivity. Headphone output sounds really nice.

I've used the thunderbolt and usb3 and they both work about equally well on my mac mini. I have not used this on PC but I'm sure it works fine as MOTU makes good drivers. Uses web browser for configuring. Web interface is clean and easy. The on board web mixer is nice but I don't use it, however I have played with it and the reverb and compression sound very good. You can route this to your DAW but its a little tricky. The internal routing can route anything to anything. You have to have it networked to upgrade the firmware, wont do it over tb alone.

This works well with a 16 channel mixer because you can use 8 channels for tracking inputs and 8 channels for return stem mixing.

My setup is: 16 channel allen heath analog mixer
channels 1-8 audio sends out of my mixer inserts 1-8 into the 8A 1-8 inputs
channels 9-16 get audio back from 8A outputs 1-8 (8 stems from my DAW)

This allows me to mix in analog which has improved the loudness of my mixes. I could never get enough level in the digital mixing realm but with each of my tracks on their own analog channels on my mixer I can crank my tracks and get proper mixdown levels. No more quiet mixdowns. The trick is When mixing down you have to get your analog stereo mix back into the computer, which means another interface just for mixdown/mastering or utilize 2 of the inputs on the 8A as stereo mix return. Just don't arm that at the same time as your other inputs or you can create a feedback loop.

I may get another 8A because you can network them and they can work as a single 16 x 16. They also make a 16A which I'm sure is just as good but the expand-ability is nice.

All MOTU gear I've used over the years has been SOLID. I have used MOTU before on tour for night after night where the half the show (backing tracks playback) was relying on the MOTU unit. And it never failed, over 100 shows.

I would use this in the mid-level home studio, small commercial studio, or for live multitrack playback. There are more expensive options with better sonic quality like Apogee or UA or Lynx but for under $800 this gives a pro quality result. DEFINITELY far better than Berhinger, Presonus... don't bother with their interfaces.

My use of a sound interface is a little different than typical audio engineering. I am an amateur radio operator and amateur musician.

The main focus in my choice of the 8A is for interfacing my PC to multiple radios and software defined radios for analog audio from 10-4000 Hz voice and AFSK digital modes to SDR IQ signals to the PC for panadapters and demodulating. I also use it for my single (purchased along with the 8A) Shure SM7B mic for the mic input of the various radios. Typically the audio is fed either to the PC via the PC speaker line in or via (also new AKG K712) headphones for both radio and music audio, but the 8A can take PC input on the Windows sound channel 1-2 as the PC output setting in order to listen to PC audio via the headphones or (depending on the digital communications application software) other direct channels for the AFSK digital modes.

The 8A's onboard web browser control interface is very nice! It allows me quick access to the inputs and outputs and with the range of filters and compressors available in the mixing as well as the auxiliary and group sends, each radio has its own or even multiple inputs on the mixer that allow different "pre-set" filter settings for the various modulation modes used for voice or data to cut high frequency noise or boost the low or mid-range voice. It also lets me split the mic into several inputs again with various filter/compression settings for the different voice modes from a wide FM range to single-sideband modes where I use a "ragchew" conversational flat (SM7B through) response and a "DX" (long distance contacts) setting with a low shelf and emphasis on the 1-2k range for added punch on the SSB signal.

I found that using the Thunderbolt interface is best (Windows 10 PC) as I had some glitches with USB 3 staying connected, although I believe that is a problem with my PC and not the 8A. I have many devices connected to USB and before adding the 8A one of the other USB 3 devices has had the same connection problem, that is my basis for the determination that the 8A is not at fault. Indeed I always intended to use Thunderbolt and the USB 3 use was only temporary while I acquired and installed the Thunderbolt 3 PCI card for my motherboard. The USB 3 cable was an important factor, I used two different brands as the cheaper of them just wouldn't get a 3.0 connection. And while the Thunderbolt connection will allow you to access the onboard software controls, that would sometimes get lost after long periods of being connected to the browser so I find that the ethernet LAN connection via my router is the best way to have "always on" web browser control.

The sound via Thunderbolt is outstanding and glitch free and I nominally run at 96k for the bandwidth of the IQ panadapter view and other SDR and so the audio. The 192k works well too but for the types of use right now I don't deem it worthwhile just for the benefit of the frequency span of the panadapter, 96k is a good balance between the digital and the audio needs.
With a buffer of 256 samples on the 8A and Ableton Live 9, Live 9 reports a latency of 3.33 ms each way for a total of 6.67 ms.

Having described how well the 8A works for an amateur radio operator, from the perspective of music audio at least as coming from the PC as CD or internet music audio or the output of my Ableton Live 9 "productions" (I use quotes because I am a novice at that) into the headphones, the sound is fantastic.
With no real intentions to use the 8A for music when I was purchasing it the fact that I also purchased my first MIDI controller/keyboard at the same time for use with the Ableton Live software, is certainly leaning me toward at least the use of the Shure mic via the 8A for the musical work that I am learning to do. The work was initially geared toward helping my wife produce Pre-K through 1st Grade audio teaching tools/clips for her teaching job but Im sure it won't stop there!

So why the "WOW! Blown Away" rating? I have had (for amateur radio use as described above) a M-Audio Delta44 and a Focusrite Sapphire PRO 14. Typical PC sound cards don't have enough I/O for a serious ham. The Delta44 was a nice start to find that music audio sound interfaces are great for amateur radio. The Focusrite which is just one year old now, raised the bar with the ability to do some routing and mixing but I quickly outgrew the number of I/O. The MOTU 8A seriously raises the bar up high with many versatile I/O with performance and controls that make it an outstanding sound interface for my use.

Hopefully I was not too wordy and the review describes all of the important points. I'm afraid that the actual music audio production/engineering that you may be looking for is not covered in this review but I hope that this review of the 8A as a sound interface is useful to both musicians and amateur radio operators.

I bought it because of it's USB 3.0 drivers. I lost countless hours trying to make it work, to no avail. I contacted support, and they told me it does not work with ASMedia USB 3 boards / drivers. Unfortunately these boards are extremely common - all of the Asus / Intel Z270 motherboards use these drivers. So it's a false claim that it works on USB 3 systems, it may work on some, but clearly not all.
I have to use it with USB 2.0 instead.