Although it usually gets the most attention, video editing isn’t the only pro-level content creation that benefits from Thunderbolt. Audio does too, and MOTU is all-in with a new lineup of peripherals that prove that point. The company’s new 1248, 8M, and 16A ($1,495 each) audio interfaces all take advantage of the super-fast standard, helping musicians and audio engineers lay down their tracks.
1248 is a 48-channel mixer, with “four mic inputs, two dedicated hi-Z guitar inputs, 8 x 12 balanced analog with separate main and monitor outs, 2 x 8-channle ADAT optical, and RCA S/PDIF (with sample rate conversion), for a total of 32 inputs and 34 outputs.” So, yeah, there’s a lot going on there. 8M offers eight mic preamps, plus 48-channel mixing, and AVB audio networking. Then there’s 16A, with 16 analog inputs and outputs, plus the same number of channels as 8M. If you understand what all that means, you probably know which of these devices is right for you; it may even be all three.
