Motu M6

[artburda]

Motu M6, 4 mic inputs + 2 line inputs + 2 headphone outs and more mixing options. Still no scale on the metering or spdif/adat inputs/outputs.

M6 | MOTU.com

The M6 is a 6-in/4-out USB-C audio interface for Mac, Windows and iOS that offers best-in-class audio quality, best-in-class speed (ultra-low latency) and best-in-class metering with a full-color LCD.

motu.com

 

[Trell]

Still no scale on the metering or spdif/adat inputs/outputs.

I’ve the M2 and find the metering on it pretty but fairly useless.

My RME Fireface UCX II, on the other hand, has very useful metering.

 

[artburda]

I have a M4 and when the metering bar is at 50% it‘s around -12dB, when you start to see a hint of yellow it‘s at -6dB and the red starts at -2dB. So it‘s not totally useless to get healthy levels with some headroom and not clip the mic input.

 

[Cadence]

I was waiting for this sort of interface from MOTU, but the absence of SPDIF/ADAT makes it seem to be a missed opportunity. For instance, the Focusrite Clarett+ 4Pre has them and some more line inputs as well, with a price that is not too distant.

I wonder if the available features were selected to make the interface quite compact and able to be powered through USB-C, which may not have been achieved by adding the missing capabilities. In fact, the mentioned Focusrite Clarett+ 4Pre cannot be powered through USB-C and appears to be more or less 50% bigger in height and depth.

 

[richpjr]

I was waiting for this sort of interface from MOTU, but the absence of SPDIF/ADAT makes it seem to be a missed opportunity. For instance, the Focusrite Clarett+ 4Pre has them and some more line inputs as well, with a price that is not too distant.

I wonder if the available features were selected to make the interface quite compact and able to be powered through USB-C, which may not have been achieved by adding the missing capabilities. In fact, the mentioned Focusrite Clarett+ 4Pre cannot be powered through USB-C and appears to be more or less 50% bigger in height and depth.

It might get too close to the Ultralite-mk5 feature-wise if they added SPDIF/ADAT.

 

[Cadence]

It might get too close to the Ultralite-mk5 feature-wise if they added SPDIF/ADAT.

I think this is a good point. I guess they could have added just one ADAT input and maybe one more line in pair, so that it would have been quite versatile for the price but still different than the Ultralite, which focuses on line inputs instead of microphone inputs.

The reason why I am pointing this out is that, within the M family, it seems strange that it costs double the price of the M4 for a couple of more features. Are 2 additional microphone inputs and 1 more headphone output, with the unbalanced outputs gone, worth ~250 euros?

 

[damex]

i did talk to motu support and decide to purchase motu m6.

one of my concerns was a headphone amp and support told me that it would be enough to power my headphones. they didn't go in to details (i asked about that though).
i use lots of earbuds ranging from 32 to 800ohm and custom 80ohm dt770. i also have access to dt770 600ohm and dt880 600ohm and plan to try to get my own.
so my original decision was to get m6 and external amp if internal amp is not powerful enough. it definitely gets loud enough with any headphones (even 600ohm beyers) i own or have access to. it can get to deafening levels past 50-60% (at 12 to 1 o'clock) of volume knob rotation.

i also did need extra headphone output but not for monitoring purposes. i want to have extra headphone pair connected for a/b comparison and testing in general for earbuds (i adjust/tune/recable earbuds).

i never had a device with 48v phantom power but it feels a bit weak to me since it takes 60-70% (1 to 2 o'clock) on volume knob for acceptable volume level on my cad e50. no noticeable noise even at that volume levels though. is it supposed to be like that?

stock power supply is 15v 1a and seems like it needs power with power delivery (15v?) if bus powered with usb-c -> usb-c. need to check this further. m2 and m4 use up to 5v 0.5a from usb bus and is power starved.

m6 construction is solid, no volume knob is scratchy when rotated (there is some scratchy traction feel if you do really fast scrolls back/forth), some front buttons feel different from each other and 6.3trs jack tolerances (against casing) feel tiny bit different when i pull connector out. i just used to get devices that made/adjusted to perfection and notice that.

in my case motu m6 hit that sweet spot where it has everything i need right now (1x stereo/2channel line in for external media source, 2x stereo headphone output and have powerful enough amp, 1x clean 48v mic input/preamp, 1x instrument level input) and has extra room to grow if i ever need to.

 

[cheapsoundguy]

I was waiting for this sort of interface from MOTU, but the absence of SPDIF/ADAT makes it seem to be a missed opportunity. For instance, the Focusrite Clarett+ 4Pre has them and some more line inputs as well, with a price that is not too distant.

I wonder if the available features were selected to make the interface quite compact and able to be powered through USB-C, which may not have been achieved by adding the missing capabilities. In fact, the mentioned Focusrite Clarett+ 4Pre cannot be powered through USB-C and appears to be more or less 50% bigger in height and depth.

They have the Motu Ultra-lite Mk5 which has all that you want.

 

[AnalogSteph]

i never had a device with 48v phantom power but it feels a bit weak to me since it takes 60-70% (1 to 2 o'clock) on volume knob for acceptable volume level on my cad e50. no noticeable noise even at that volume levels though. is it supposed to be like that?

As someone who's had to set gain knobs to 2-3 o'clock for average sensitivity LDCs on spoken word (and contend with the top 12 dB of gain being crammed into the 3-4 o'clock range), this does not strike me as particularly out of the ordinary.

 

[Construct]

Love my Motu M4, but this M6 is tempting.

Having dual headphone outputs up front would be fantastic. I switch between open headphones and closed headphones depending on how quiet the house is. Moving the microphone input to the rear would also be great for my desk setup.

The only thing that would make this better would be having 2x3 independent outputs: 1 for the line out and 2 for the headphone amps. Then I could use Audio Hijack Pro to assign different EQs to each stereo output pair and never have to switch EQs when I switch headphones again.

It's probably not enough to convince me to drop $400 on this and sell my M4, but I might keep an eye out for sales.

 

[Mixed_Messages]

Do you good folks know if the line inputs 5 & 6 bypass all internal gain stages and hence hit the converters directly ? I have a couple of good preamps like the Great River and some compressors I would like to use and not go through any mic preamps etc not matter how good they have become. The Audient ID24 does this but has no midi. So this may be my device if it indeed does provide a clean signal path into the DAW.

 

[Ellie]

Do you good folks know if the line inputs 5 & 6 bypass all internal gain stages and hence hit the converters directly ? I have a couple of good preamps like the Great River and some compressors I would like to use and not go through any mic preamps etc not matter how good they have become. The Audient ID24 does this but has no midi. So this may be my device if it indeed does provide a clean signal path into the DAW.

Those inputs do exactly what you described, but it doesn't matter either way. You won't hear a difference that isn't just in your head.

 

[bequietjk]

Have you had any of these shipped to you? Has anyone offered? @amirm