MOTU UltraLite AVB USB / AVB / iOS Interface Reviews

I bought the original 1st-gen (firewire!) Ultralite back in 2007, and after many years of studio use finally upgraded to this version in 2020 -- which looks to be the 5th(?) generation! It's just as awesome as the original -- tons of inputs and outputs, high quality XLR and mic preamps, and excellent ADC/DAC quality. It "just works" on my Mac. Of course this latest generation is amazing, because it contains a mixing board entirely implemented within internal software/hardware. The device has an onboard web-server that shows you a web page that basically looks like a classic Mackie Board, where you can mix every input and output, and even includes on-board EQ, compression, and reverb. This all happens *without* using a DAW -- so you can process and mix and directly monitor everything with anything that has a web browser (laptop, tablet, or phone.) Really impressive.

My only complaint is that setting up the "internal routing" of which inputs get sent to which outputs can be extremely confusing. Your best bet is to just use a 'default' config. After some delicate tweaking, I really found myself wishing I could save custom routing/mixing configurations to disk somehow, but that feature seems to be missing. :-(

This hits the nail on the head and is exactly what I needed. It has plenty of I/O along with DC coupled outputs to connect my modular synthesizers to CV Tools on Ableton Live. Pair that with a very solid build quality, and fairly stable drivers (a little buggy at first but you quickly work the kinks out of your system adjusting preferences after a few days) and I was sold.

The ESS Sabre32 converters in the 2019 update are amazing. Aggressively transparent, and they show all the details I was missing before. Honestly, and surprisingly, I prefer this interface to an Universal Audio Apollo I formerly had. Very impressed, especially for the price. Great experience ordering from Sweetwater, as always.

I had put off trying a MOTU product for many years, to be disappointed that I hadn't made the move sooner! The features and quality compare to many higher end units in this category. Also with the "stand-alone" mixer control feature saves me from bring an additional mixer out to a gig to mix additional gear. I am currently using the Ultralite as a companion unit for my "road" rig. The interface is perfect and doesnt add any additional latency when running a boat load of Vst's live. With my custom 1U 3.4Ghz 8 core pc running a plug-in host, iv'e been able to run 11 instance combinations of Keyscape, Ominsphere and Kontack with a 256 sample bus size with 40% cpu load!!

Product works as advertised - fantastic. Great and timely delivery from Sweetwater. Very pleasant experience. Will order again.

The UltraLite AVB meets my needs for an audio interface with lots of 1/4 connections. Both the USB and AVB (Ethernet) connections work. Keep in mind that you'll need an external AVB router if you want to use Ethernet both for local use as an AVB interface and network use via the iphone app.

I've been using it for a few weeks -- I'll update the review after I've used it for 6 months.

While this unit is awesome for what it is, consider the MOTU 1248, which adds a Thunderbolt interface, among other features. As a Mac use this would be awesome. However, I've been able to get some screaming AVB/Ethernet throughput, so I'm set with the UltraLite.

Great service and support from Sweetwater, as always.

This is a perfect unit if you need something more than just an interface. This week I am using it as a digital mixer for a retreat I am leading worship at. Connect it to a set of powered speakers and a Sub and you have a killer system directly connected to Ableton and you can control with your iPad. It does everything I would ever need it to do with plenty of inputs. If you run out, you can connect it with the other avb family members.

Sound quality is top notch. No need for me to bring an acoustic preamp anymore. The only thing I wish would be included is possibly some better visuals for eq and effects opposed to just knobs, but that's just me being picky. Still blown away for just an interface and worth 5 stars.

This is definitely an *incredible* audio interface / mixer and I highly recommend it for someone who needs a lot of I/O in a small footprint. It's not tiny - it's about twice the size of an Apogee Duet, but amazingly compact for a 10 input, 12-output device with 8-track ADAT optical expansion capabilities and MIDI in/out! There are TONS of features and options. The built-in processing is tremendously useful, and the mic preamps are great. Add a $200 Behringer ADA-8200, and have an 18-input, 18-output wirelessly controlled mixer with built-in effects! Add another AVB interface using the Ethernet port for insane amounts of I/O. Rock solid connection over wifi. Plug a wireless router in and use it as a stand-alone mixer with wireless control! The built-in reverb is not super amazing, but it's useable and the built in EQ, compressors, gates, and LA-2A levelers on the input and output channels are definitely a HUGE plus! Keep in mind, this thing is NOT BUS POWERED over USB. You MUST use the included wall wart adapter to run it.

This is an incredible audio interface with great preamps for the price. I am not going to add much to what others have said about the sound quality.

However, I would like to make a recommendation: If you will not frequently use the AVB audio networking a lot, I would strongly recommend you to get the UltraLite mk4. Do your research about AVB first. Here's why:

1) Because of AVB, this device can only be upgraded connecting the interface to your computer via ethernet cable. There's no other way. The device can not be upgraded via the USB connection.
2) On Mac, I sometimes see one audio interface (UltraLite AVB), and sometimes two with the same name. There's no way to distinguish between them unless go do to Audio/MIDI Settings. Same applies to Pro Tools and Logic. Sometimes I see UltraLite AVB and UltraLite AVB 2 (on PT there's not even the number ''2''). One device is for the actual sound card and the other is the AVB. The moment you select AVB by mistake, programs go nuts (unless you really know what you are doing).
3) Because of the double audio interface property, my Mac will sometimes randomly select the AVB, and all I hear is weird distortion. This is mostly easily fixed by unplugging and then re-plugging the MOTU, but on a recording session, this can create a bit of a problem.

Other users might have had different experiences with the AVB, but to summarize: If you are not really thinking about using the AVB functionality (which is great for large setups), get the mk4. Input-wise, the AVB has 2 guitar inputs. I don't know how well the regular inputs of mk4 work with guitars. Again, do your research and decide wisely. In any case, both interfaces will make a great addition to your rig.

I needed to replace the interface for my surround-sound lecture in a hurry, and I was able to use the default interface presets and output equalizers (for speaker tuning) almost right out of the box. The only thing that tripped me up for a few minutes was that Analog Outputs 1-6 are patched by default to outputs 5-10 (Phones Out and Main Out are on 1-4).

I just wanted to chime in here, and say that I took the plunge and bought this box. I used it a live session at church last weekend, and also in my studio. It sounds really really good! Very detailed and the da compares favorably to the Audient ID22. I love the ID22, but I needed more physical inputs on an interface with the same audio quality, and this doesn't disappoint at all. I was skeptical due to a lot of Motu bashing I've read, but must say that I was very pleased with the sonics of the ultralite avb. I didn't do any scientific results with latency, but I was able to run multiple tracks with plugins at 128 buffer size, with no hiccups, and was able to playback sessions that I could previously only open with firewire interfaces - with the exception of RME UFX, and Audient ID22 (usb interfaces). With this sounding this good, it has me seriously thinking about the high end AVB boxes. BTW, I'm running windows 8.1, and Pro Tools 11.

Also, I had a question about the converters, and I emailed customer service. I literally walked away from my computer and minutes later, my email notification went off, they responded that quick. I actually had a nice conversation with the rep. Reminds me of the good ole days when companies actually dealt with customers. The rep told me if I every have any problems (none so far that I couldn't figure out on my own), that I could contact him.

This interface is great. The feature set is exactly what I needed, and the web/networked based mixer is just phenomenal.. with routing matrixes, sub-mixes, built-in compression and reverb.. it's one of the best mixer softwares I've ever seen for an interface, web-based or not. And the fact that you can monitor and manipulate your mix while walking around on a tablet, or even let musicians adjust their own monitor mixes.. it's just fantastic.

Despite all the plusses. And there are a lot. There is one major downside - the interface claims to be USB2.0 class compliant, which generally means it should work with any computer you plug it into. This is a truly wonderful feature and something I value in interfaces, but the problem is that it's not actually class complaint.. depending on what machine I've plugged it into I've had differing results.. for example on a Linux machine I've had different results, sometimes it's been unusable. It's a bit of a shame because this interface could become the go-to interface for anyone looking to do serious audio on any platform if they would only sort out the USB class compliance issue.

I've had this thing since it first came out around 2016. It was a major upgrade at the time but randomly turns staticky and I have to reset it. It happened since I first got it but I traveled every week for the first two years and returning it and waiting for a replacement wasn't an option back then. It's small enough and powerful enough to put in your laptop bag when traveling and the onboard DSP with limiter, compression, reverb etc is a huge plus especially with zero latency are awesome. Now I'm local and keep it on my desk. Got a Mac Mini M1recently but the new OS Big Sur doesn't seem to work with the USB Connection for the Discovery Tool even after updating the firmware and software. My work around is plugging the LAN in and typing the IP to open the MOTU Discovery Tool. Think it's about time for an upgrade, maybe an Apollo X or AVID Carbon but at this price point 600-700 for the AVB and compact size I highly recommend this unit for anyone to upgrade or looking for something on the go.

First off, thanks to Sweetwater for helping me out with this great audio-interface. This unit was purchased to replace my old Motu 828 MKII FW400 interface (which still works great after 15 years). I was a little concerned about going to USB2 but after reading an article in Sound On Sound about this I realized that for my purposes, USB2 (coupled with advancements in Motu's drivers) would be more than enough. To test this, after the interface was up and running I was able to have over 50 tracks of audio while recording 20 tracks simultaneously in a project running 24/44.1. My iMac is a 2011 model with 8 gigs of ram and not exactly a fast machine by todays standards. This is more than enough for my use since I mainly record guitar for other people's projects.

Getting my head around the incredible routing possibilities in this product took some work. I did read where some users got really frustrated but once you "get it" it's fairly straightforward. Kudo's to Motu's tech support. They were very helpful and patient and even did a screen share to help me. Part of my issue was that when I originally downloaded the drivers there must have been some issue. I reinstalled the drivers and everything worked much better.

Though I typically use Great River and Summit Audio preamps as well as a Distressor into line inputs for most recording I decided to check out the Motu's new mic pre's. They are much better than the mic pre's in my old 828 and sound great. Super clean and high headroom. They are not as complex as my outboard pre's because they are not designed to be "colored". The big surprise for me was the onboard compressor in the 48 channel mixer. It is really a fantastic sounding unit and great for tracking and dialing it in is quite easy.

A couple of things that I find a little puzzling are when you route two channels as a stereo input the trims are not combined and need to be set independently. It always worked the other way in the 828 Cuemix. The other little thing and maybe I haven't figured it out is that there is not an easy way to identify when you are overloading an input. Because I often have a number of inputs active it can be hard to figure out where the clipping is coming from. With the old 828 you would see the LED's peaking red and could easily figure out which channel was the culprit. There are no changing colors on the AVB and there doesn't seem to be an indication in the software mixer.

Overall the unit is super flexible, quiet and very clean. There is something to the new Sabre DAC. Motu has really upped their game.

Hi, I have been using Ultra lite AVB Motu for one week and it looks like excellent .
Sweetwater tech team helped me to begin with it . I could not explain why I was unable to use it at first,
but, from the moment we could solve the connexion issue everything is perfect .