The MOTU 8M is part of a MOTU's new range of high end Thunderbolt audio interfaces. Each of the new MOTU interfaces feature AVB networking, connectible with each other through cat-5e up to 5 units giving room for expandability at very low latency. The MOTU interfaces also features a DSP engine running 32 bit floating point processing, 12 stereo busses and DSP effects based on vintage hardware.

The MOTU 8M features 8 pristine mic inputs with individual mic preamps, these offer adjustable 48V phantom power and -20dB pad. All of the gain levels on each of the inputs can be adjusted either on the front of the panel or through web app control software from your computer, tablet or smart-phone. All the mic / guitar inputs on the 8M offer V-Limit protection, a hardware limiter that prevents digital clipping, allowing recording up to +9dB above zero with no digital clipping.

The preamps on the 8M offer 53dB of gain which can be adjusted in 1dB increments, with the control provided by digital rotary encoders and graphic feedback given through the large backlit LCD screen. The 8M is also equipped with a 48 channel digital mixer, the inputs can be received from anywhere, whether it be from the 8M's inputs or through your host computer software.