8A™
Thunderbolt™ / USB3 / AVB Ethernet audio interface with DSP and mixing

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.

Feature

• 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 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 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 five MOTU interfaces using a MOTU AVB 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.