MOTU ships redesigned 16A audio interface

MOTU has announced that it is now shipping a complete redesign of its popular 16A rack-mounted (1U) audio interface for macOS, Windows and iOS.

The 32×34 16A connects to a Mac, PC or iPad with 40 Gbps Thunderbolt 4 or USB4 — another industry first for MOTU — with low-latency, high-performance drivers to deliver 66 total channels of I/O, 64-channel mixing with effects, and 128 channels of AVB network input and output.

Universal connectivity with Thunderbolt 4, USB4, USB3, and USB2

With superb analog performance driven by renowned ESS Sabre32 Ultra DAC technology, the 16A connects to a Mac, PC or iOS device with the included 40 Gbps Thunderbolt-compatible USB4 C-to-C cable (compatible with Thunderbolt 3, USB3 and USB2) for up to 256 audio channels (128 in and 128 out). Class-compliant firmware and industry standard drivers work with any audio apps and deliver roundtrip latency (RTL) less than 2 ms (at 96 kHz with a 32 sample host buffer). A second Thunderbolt port connects additional computer peripherals, such as a 2nd monitor, hard drive, USB hub or Thunderbolt dock.

Front Panel

On the front panel, two large, bright 3.9-inch full-color TFT displays provide luxurious, high-resolution metering for all analog and digital I/O. Custom meter configurations, such as “Analog Only” can be chosen from front-panel menu controls. The Headphone output has both an independent volume control and source select knob, for convenient selection of any signal for headphone monitoring, including analog or digital inputs or outputs, mixer buses, host audio channels, or even network channels. By default, source signals are chosen in stereo pairs, but users can press the Mono button to listen to an individual channel (split to left and right).

Rear Panel I/O

The 16A rear panel provides 16 balanced TRS analog (line-level) inputs and outputs and two banks of 8-channel ADAT optical I/O. Equipped with ESS Sabre32 DACs, the analog outputs deliver a measured dynamic range of 125 dB with -114 dB THD+N. All inputs and outputs can be calibrated with boost or trim in precise 1 dB increments. All line outputs are DC-coupled, so they may be used for voltage control of modular synthesizers from a host DAW. Also included are BNC word clock I/O (with optional Thru), two Thunderbolt 4/USB4 Type-C ports, and two AVB Ethernet ports.

Flexible networking

The 16A features an integrated AVB switch with two Gigabit Ethernet ports, allowing users to daisy-chain as many as eight 16A units using standard network cabling, with full access to all units from the host computer. An external AVB switch can be added to expand the network further with multiple interfaces, computers, and ultra-low network latency, even over long cable runs (hundreds of meters). Each 16A can transmit and receive 128 audio channels to and from the network, with hundreds of audio channels streaming among devices and computers on the network. The 16A is compatible with previous-generation MOTU AVB devices.

Mixing and effects processing

Powerful 32-bit floating point DSP delivers 64-channel mixing from any sources: the physical inputs on the 16A interface itself, audio channels from host software, audio network streams, or even mixer outputs. Accessed in the included CueMix Pro app, the mixer provides 26 aux busses, plus main, reverb, monitor, and solo buses. All mixer inputs and output buses provide 4-band double-precision parametric EQ and a compressor at all sample rates up to 96 kHz. Additionally, all input channels include a High-Pass Filter and Gate. Users can control recording sessions with CueMix Pro’s “Talk” button and “A/B/C” speaker select buttons to quickly compare mixes on up to three sets of studio monitors.

Patchbay routing

Using intuitive, virtual patch cords in CueMix Pro, users can easily route any source signal to any destination. Sources include analog or digital inputs on the interface, computer channels, mixer bus outputs, or audio network streams from other devices on the network. Destinations include interface outputs, host software inputs, mixer inputs, or any other device (or computer) on the network. Users can even split any single source (or stereo pair) to unlimited multiple output destinations.

Included Software

The 16A ships with the CueMix Pro App and low-latency Thunderbolt/USB drivers for macOS, Windows and iOS, MOTU Performer Lite workstation software for macOS and Windows, and 6GB of loops and sounds from Big Fish Audio, LucidSamples, Loopmasters and MOTU.