MOTU 8A

Equipped with the renowned ESS Sabre32™ DAC technology, the 8A delivers the same superb analog audio quality and proven, award-winning performance as MOTU's flagship 16A audio interface, giving you everything you need to turn your computer into a powerful 24-bit/192 kHz digital audio workstation.

The 8A connects to any computer or iPad™ with Thunderbolt™, super-speed USB 3.0, AVB Ethernet or USB class-compliant firmware. New optimized MOTU drivers work with all your favorite audio apps, delivering industry-leading, ultra-low round-trip latency (RTL) performance as low as 1.6 ms at 96 kHz over Thunderbolt with high-performance DAW hosts.

Housed in a rugged, compact enclosure you can take anywhere, the 8A provides eight channels of pristine analog I/O and a front panel headphone jack, combined with eight channels of ADAT optical digital I/O, for a total of 34 simultaneous audio channels.
Connect all of your studio gear, including synths, keyboards, drum machines and effects processors. Record, monitor, route and process all of these live inputs with no latency and no processor strain on your computer. Extensive routing features let you patch ins to outs, or split 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. Further sculpt your sound with 4-band parametric EQ carefully modeled after British analog console EQs. Choose between two forms of compression: a 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 on stage for operation as a stand-alone mixer with effects. Control everything over Wi-Fi from your favorite web browser running on your laptop, tablet and smartphone.
Through AVB/TSN Ethernet, connect another MOTU AVB interface for more I/O — or connect to an expanded MOTU AVB network with multiple interfaces and computers.
From studio to stage, the 8A delivers exceptional sound quality, state-of-the-art operation and rock-solid performance.

General

• Display: 1x LCD
• Channels of I/O    
• Analog / Digital:
  • 16 Input / 18 Output at 48 kHz
  • 12 Input / 14 Output at 96 kHz
  • 8 Input / 10 Output at 192 kHz
  • Thunderbolt / USB 3.0 / 3.1/3.2 Gen 1:
  • 128 Input / 128 Output at 44.1 kHz
  • 128 Input / 128 Output at 96 kHz
  • 64 Input / 64 Output at 192 kHz
• Maximum Sampling Rate: 192 kHz / 24-Bit
• Number of Microphone Preamps: No
• Built-In Microphone: No
• Expansion Slots: No

Signal Processing

• Pad: No
• Gain/Trim Range    
  • Headphone Outputs:
  • 128 dB
  • Line Inputs:
  • -96 to +22 dBu
  • Line Outputs:
  • -4 to +20 dBu
• High-Pass Filter: No
• Solo/Mute: No

Connectivity

• Analog Audio I/O:    
  • 8x 1/4" TRS Balanced/Unbalanced Line Input
  • 8x 1/4" TRS Balanced Line Output
  • 1x 1/4" TRS Headphone Output
• Digital Audio I/O:    
  • 1x TOSLINK Optical ADAT / S/PDIF Input
  • 1x TOSLINK Optical ADAT / S/PDIF Output
• Host Connection:
  • 1x Thunderbolt/Mini DisplayPort
  • 1x USB-B
• Host Connection Protocol    
  • Thunderbolt 2
  • USB 3.0 / 3.1/3.2 Gen 1
• USB (Non-Host): No
• Sync I/O: No
• Network I/O: No
• MIDI I/O: No

Performance

• Maximum Input Level: Line Inputs: +24 dBu
• Maximum Output Level: Line Outputs: +20 dBu (Balanced)
• Headphone Output Power: 80 mW
• Dynamic Range:
  • Outputs:
  • 108 dBA
  • Line Inputs:
  • 117 dBA
  • Line Outputs:
  • 123 dBA
• THD+N:
  • Headphone Outputs:
  • -100 dB
  • Line Inputs:
  • -110 dB
  • Line Outputs:
  • -110 dB

Digital Audio

• Sample Rates: 44.1 / 48 / 88.2 / 96 / 176.4 / 192 kHz

Compatibility

• OS Compatibility:    
  • macOS 10.8 or Later
  • Windows 7
  • Windows 8
  • Windows 10
• Processor Requirement:    
  • Mac: 1 GHz Intel
  • PC: 1 GHz Intel Pentium
• RAM Requirements: 2 GB, 4 GB Recommended
• Storage Requirements: 500 GB
• Required Hardware:
  • Available Thunderbolt Port or USB-A Port
  • Available AVB/TSN Ethernet Port, Thunderbolt Port, or USB-A Port 
• Internet Connection: Required for Remote Control

Power

• Power Requirements: AC/DC Power Adapter (Included)
• AC/DC Power Adapter: 12 to 18 VDC at 1.0 A (Included)

Physical

• Dimensions: 8.6 x 7 x 1.8" / 21.8 x 17.8 x 4.4 cm
• Weight: 2.2 lb / 1.0 kg
• Package Weight: 4.75 lb
• Box Dimensions (LxWxH): 15 x 11.4 x 5.4"