The MOTU 848 combines Thunderbolt™ 4 and USB4 connectivity with four transparent mic preamps, driven by the same ESS Sabre32™ DAC found across MOTU's range for 125dB dynamic range and low harmonic distortion. The included 40Gbps USB-C cable negotiates the fastest link a host can support, with backward compatibility for Thunderbolt 3, USB3 and USB2, and Thunderbolt or USB4 hosts see up to 256 channels of computer I/O at up to 96kHz. Daisy-chain up to six Thunderbolt devices without losing bandwidth for video or storage.
The four mic inputs deliver –114dB THD+N, 118dB dynamic range and –129dBu EIN, with individual preamp gain, pad and 48V phantom power remote-controllable from computer or iOS device, plus hi-Z guitar inputs on the combo jacks for DI tracking and re-amping. Mic inputs 3-4 add dedicated send/return inserts for outboard compressors, and a 64-channel mixer with 26 aux busses plus main, reverb, monitor and solo buses handles routing with 4-band double-precision parametric EQ throughout.
An integrated Milan™ AVB switch daisy-chains multiple 848 units over standard network cabling, each transmitting and receiving 128 audio channels with latency fixed at 2ms, even across 100-metre runs. Monitor Group control extends to twelve analog outputs for 5.1 or 7.1.4 Atmos setups, with A/B/C speaker select and talkback for fast control room switching. CueMix™ Pro handles every setting and mix from macOS, Windows or iOS, while loopback channels route computer output back in for streaming or podcasting.
Features
- ESS Sabre32 DAC with 125dB dynamic range, low distortion
- Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 connectivity at up to 40Gbps
- Four mic preamps at –114dB THD+N, 118dB dynamic range
- 60 simultaneous channels via 28 inputs, 32 outputs
- 64-channel mixer with 32-bit floating point precision
- Integrated Milan AVB switch, 128 channels per unit
- Monitor Group control across up to twelve analog outputs
- CueMix Pro control for macOS, Windows and iOS



