MOTU Track 16 (Dec 2012) USB & Firewire Interface For Mac & PC

[chrisNova777]

MOTU have brought their expertise to bear on a new desktop audio interface, the Track 16.

MOTU Track 16

Since Apogee introduced their Duet, the idea of a small yet highly specified desktop audio interface has caught on with other manufacturers. RME's Babyface showed that a compact and stylish box could also pack serious potential for expansion; thanks to the wonders of digital I/O, it can record up to 12 audio tracks simultaneously, yet it still fits comfortably into a largish coat pocket. The latest manufacturer to offer their take on this concept are Mark Of The Unicorn, whose Track 16 looks to be a direct competitor to the Babyface and to Apogee's Quartet.

The Track 16 itself is a smartly designed black box, about the size of a small but thick paperback book. The upper surface houses a large assignable rotary control, 10 buttons, and four pairs of LED ladder meters. One end proffers a single quarter-inch input for guitars, a stereo mini-jack line input socket, and a headphone output duplicated in both sizes. The other end houses optical sockets for ADAT In and Out, a standard square USB socket, and a Firewire socket; this is in the nine-pin format sometimes called Firewire 800, though the Track 16 is a Firewire 400 device. In the centre of these is a D-Sub connector through which the rest of the I/O reaches the Track 16.