When MOTU released the new MOTU 828 Gen 5 audio interface several months ago, it almost felt too good to be true – at least on paper. But MOTU has consistently delivered strong value ever since the debut of the original MOTU 828. With this latest model, they appear to have gone all out. While at first glance it might seem like just another 8-in/8-out USB audio interface, a closer look reveals just how serious MOTU is with this release. It’s in the small details where the MOTU 828 Gen 5 begins to stand out above everything else in its class – at least in my experience.
I bought a unit for the Vintage Digital studio a few months back and have used it daily ever since. One of the first things that drew me to it was the coloured display on the front panel. It’s bright, sharp, and clear, offering immediate visual feedback on routing, levels, sample rates, and more. It adds a real touch of class to the unit.
What really struck me though, was the build quality as soon as I took it out of the box. MOTU has always built things well, but the MOTU 828 Gen 5 feels a cut above. The casework is precisely engineered, the front panel is solid, and the knobs feel substantial – possibly ALPS pots, though I can’t say for certain. Nothing feels cheap or compromised, which is more than I can say for some higher-priced interfaces I’ve used lately.
So it looks great and it’s built like a tank, but what had me most enthusiastic was the inclusion of high-end ESS converters. These converters not only sound excellent, but MOTU has also managed to engineer all 60 inputs and outputs to be usable simultaneously – something most competing interfaces at this price point simply do not offer. Focusrite, take note. There’s nothing worse than purchasing an interface with loads of I/O only to discover you can’t use it all at once. Achieving full simultaneous I/O requires more converters, which adds cost – but MOTU has somehow delivered this capability without inflating the price, and they deserve recognition for it.
In terms of performance, the converters sound superb – detailed, clean, and largely noise-free on both input and output. But it’s not just about the converters. The analogue stages before and after conversion are just as important, and here too, MOTU has done an outstanding job. The MOTU 828 Gen 5 holds its own against just about anything out there, and I wouldn’t hesitate to put it up against interfaces costing much more.
Let’s talk numbers. The line inputs deliver a dynamic range of 120 dB, while the line outputs reach an impressive 125 dB. The microphone inputs and headphone outputs both offer 118 dB of dynamic range. Total Harmonic Distortion plus Noise sits at a very respectable -114 dB. These figures speak directly to the audio quality of the MOTU 828 – clean, detailed, and superb across the board.
Over the past three months I’ve used the MOTU 828 Gen 5 with MOTU’s own Digital Performer, Harrison Mixbus 32C, and Universal Audio’s LUNA. It’s performed flawlessly with all of them. On a day-to-day basis, I also use it with Roon Labs’ music player, and again with no issues at all.
More recently I added an SPL MixDream Mk2 to the studio for 16-channel summing. However, since the MOTU 828 Gen 5 has only eight analogue outputs plus two main outputs, I’ve only been using half of the MixDream’s available channels. Wanting to expand my setup, I considered adding a second MOTU 828 and aggregating them to get sixteen analogue I/O. In the end, I opted for an Arturia AudioFuse X8 Out, which I connected via the MOTU 828’s ADAT outputs to gain the extra eight channels I needed – until today.
Today MOTU announced the new MOTU 16A, a Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 audio interface with sixteen analogue inputs and sixteen analogue outputs. That got me thinking: what if I combined the MOTU 16A with the MOTU 828 Gen 5? The total cost of both units in Australia is around AUD$4,000 – or about US$2,500 in the United States. That’s an absolute bargain for a studio looking to expand I/O capacity at this level of quality, whether for outboard gear, a summing mixer, or both.
For comparison, look at the price of the Apollo interfaces – the Apollo x8 and Apollo x16 would cost close to AUD$18,000 here in Australia, and nearly US$7,000 in the US. These prices make the MOTU combination look absurdly affordable. Do they compare sonically? In my opinion, yes. If you’re already tied into the UAD plugin ecosystem, you’ll probably stay with Apollo. But if you’re not, then MOTU has just opened the door to significant savings – without compromising on quality.
So let’s take a moment to consider the MOTU 828 and 16A combination, and just how versatile and fully featured this setup really is. On its own, the MOTU 828 provides 60 simultaneous audio channels – 28 inputs and 32 outputs – including analogue, digital, and loopback options. The MOTU 16A adds another 66 audio channels, with 32 inputs and 34 outputs.
This includes sixteen analogue inputs and sixteen analogue outputs, along with dual ADAT optical connections that allow for a further sixteen channels of digital expansion. Between the two units, you’re looking at a powerful, scalable system with exceptional routing flexibility. The front panel of both units also includes a stereo headphone outputs, rounding out a package that’s hard to match in terms of I/O count, audio quality, and value.
Let’s not overlook the connectivity advantage that both MOTU units offer compared to devices like the Apollo interfaces. Both the MOTU 828 and MOTU 16A feature full-sized TRS connectors for all analogue inputs and outputs. In contrast, the Apollo x16 uses DB25 connectors, which can be a real headache for many users. DB25 to TRS or XLR breakout cables are not only expensive if you want decent quality, but the cheaper options often compromise on sound and build.
With MOTU, you can use standard TRS cables or TRS to XLR leads, which are far more readily available, more affordable, and easy to make yourself if needed. This makes the MOTU units not just more convenient, but also more cost-effective when building or expanding your setup.
These MOTU interfaces feature TRS ins and outs, far more convenient than DB25s used by many interfaces.
Conclusion
Many home recording musicians still convince themselves that owning an Apollo interface is the only way to be ‘serious’ about making music, believing that anything less simply isn’t capable of producing high-quality demos or finished records. That mindset is, at best, outdated, and at worst, rooted in ignorance. The landscape has changed dramatically, and today, exceptional audio quality is more accessible than ever. It’s time more people recognised that.
MOTU deserve full credit here: the 828 is an outstanding audio interface, and I have no doubt that the 16A will match it in sound quality. Together, they form a powerful and professional setup that competes with, and in many ways outperforms, much more expensive alternatives. And they do it for the price of the Apollo x8 alone in the USA and for significantly less here in Australia.
