Introducing the MOTU 16A^®

A complete redesign of its popular 16A rack-mounted (1U) audio interface for macOS, Windows and iOS.

01 April, 2025

The 32x34 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 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 you 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 you 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. You 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, you 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. You 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.



Feature Highlights

• The world’s first Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 audio interface.
• 32 x 34 full-rack unit with DSP, mixing, effects, and networking.
• Luxurious metering with two 3.9-inch 24-bit RGB LCD with precision metering for all I/O.
• Superb analog audio performance driven by ESS Sabre32 Ultra™ DAC Technology.
• Ultra-low latency and proven, high-performance MOTU drivers (~2 ms RTL with a 32 sample buffer @ 96 kHz).
• Universal connectivity with included 40 Gbps USB-C cable (compatible with Thunderbolt 3/4, USB4, USB3 and USB2).
• 66 simultaneous audio channels (32 inputs and 34 outputs).
• DSP-driven 64-input digital mixer with 32 busses and DSP effects (reverb, 4-band EQ, gate, compressor & HPF).
• Patchbay routing and splitting with intuitive, virtual patch cords to easily route any source signal to any destination.
• 2x Gigabit Ethernet ports support AVB daisy-chaining and networking with standard CAT-5/6 cables.
• 16x 8-channel AVB streams in/out (128 audio channels in/out) with variable stream size (1-8 channels) per stream.
• Wi-Fi control from CueMix Pro™ app on multiple mobile devices.
• Network management features (discovery and control for multiple devices on the network).
• Precision boost for all analog inputs and trim (cut) for all analog outputs in 1 dB increments.
• Control room features include Talkback and A/B/C monitor select via CueMix Pro™ software.
• Flexible headphone output with independent volume control and source select knob.
• 16x balanced, DC-coupled 1/4-inch TRS analog outputs with measured 125 dB dynamic range.
• 16x balanced 1/4-inch TRS analog inputs with measured 120 dB dynamic range.
• 2x banks of optical digital I/O (16 ADAT channels at 1x sample rates) with optional stereo TOSLink on Bank A.
• Word clock in/out/thru.
• DC-coupled TRS outputs can be used to control modular synthesizers from a host DAW using control voltage (CV).
• Support for 44.1 to 192 kHz sample rates.
• 1-rack U form factor built with rugged steel construction.
• USB audio class compliant for plug-and-play operation on macOS and iOS (no driver required).
• Loopback for mixing host software output with live 16A inputs for streaming and podcasting.
• Flexible front-panel metering with meter views for analog I/O only, digital I/O only and all channels.
• CueMix Pro™ app to control mixing and settings from your Mac, PC or iOS device.
• MOTU Performer Lite workstation software included.
• 100+ instruments (in Performer Lite).
• Over 6 GB of included free loops, samples and one-shots from industry leading libraries.