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MOTU M6 Audio Interface Review

Rate this audio interface:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 5 3.5%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 47 33.3%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 82 58.2%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 7 5.0%

  • Total voters
    141
Once more you are not understanding the nature of testing. My intent is to level the playing field to get all devices, if possible, to capture at their full dynamic range. And this is near 0 dBFS with 4 volt input. If the only way to get there is by using the trim, I will do that.

As I said, I personally do that with my interface, setting my compressor to maximize the dynamic range by getting close but not exceeding 0 dBFS.

By your logic, the trim control should not be there.

what do you actually mean by trim? the knobs on the front?
they control the pre-amp gain for mic and instrument inputs. line signals don't need gain.
input 1 and 2 are rated as up to +10dBu afaik. you sent 14dBu and applied additional gain to it. so we have a situation where the specs say it will distort because the signal is too hot.
now +18 shouldn't distort according to specs on the dedicated line-ins.

about you wanting to maximize dynamic range: does this make sense? where is the noisefloor of this signal you are feeding from your compressor?
it doesn't make sense to add gain in the analog domain to this signal. you take care of this in your DAW
 
with that beeing said. the specs are indeed confusing as they should clarify that TRS inputs from 1-4 are rated up to +10dBu
 
What happens when you plug the M6 into a Linux system?

In the past, MOTU has had terrible Linux support. Has this changed?

these new cheap devices don't have nothing onboard, so they don't need a driver at all:

their pro-devices are probably still problematic
 
What happens when you plug the M6 into a Linux system?

In the past, MOTU has had terrible Linux support. Has this changed?

I've tested over a dozen audio interfaces on various Linux distros, including the MOTU M4, and as long as they were class compliant, then they worked fine. So I can confirm the M4 works well on current mainstream Linux distros out of the box (such as Ubuntu, Linux Mint, etc.), and since the M6 is also class compliant, I would expect it to do the same.
 
their pro-devices are probably still problematic
Yes, it depends entirely on what functionality you want to get out of the devices... for example, the UltraLite Mk5 is technically class compliant, and will show up in Linux, but you'll obviously miss out on the advanced native driver functionality. That may or may not be important to someone, obviously. Suggest to buy from a place you can return it to and test for oneself to see if the functionality is adequate. But for the simpler interfaces like the M-series, they're pretty good on Linux IMO.
 
Yes, it depends entirely on what functionality you want to get out of the devices... for example, the UltraLite Mk5 is technically class compliant, and will show up in Linux, but you'll obviously miss out on the advanced native driver functionality. That may or may not be important to someone, obviously. Suggest to buy from a place you can return it to and test for oneself to see if the functionality is adequate. But for the simpler interfaces like the M-series, they're pretty good on Linux IMO.

there might be hope: https://interfacinglinux.com/community/linuxaudiosofware/motu-cuemix-5-for-linux/

personally I am glad I don't have to deal with Linux anymore lol.
after 16 years or so I went back to Win11 and never looked back
 
there might be hope: https://interfacinglinux.com/community/linuxaudiosofware/motu-cuemix-5-for-linux/

personally I am glad I don't have to deal with Linux anymore lol.
after 16 years or so I went back to Win11 and never looked back
Very cool! Thanks for that link. Nice to see them making an effort like that.

As for Linux for pro audio production, I hope to move my studio over to Linux one day, but as it is right now, I am just in a holding pattern and using it on the side, so I keep a Linux DAW for testing and experimentation. The potential is all there, lots of excellent native apps and plugins, etc., just not everything I personally need yet. So for now it's just a distant hope. :)

My main DAW work is on Cubase and Nuendo on Windows 11. Cubase/Nuendo 14 have been an outstanding upgrade, best in years IMO, very impressed by what Steinberg has done recently. I've got many other DAW apps, but this generation from Steinberg is the complete package for what I do.

Anyway, I don't mean to go OT. Thanks again for that link.

And back to the M6 -- I anticipate those interested in Linux will have no problem taking advantage of it.
 
there might be hope: https://interfacinglinux.com/community/linuxaudiosofware/motu-cuemix-5-for-linux/

personally I am glad I don't have to deal with Linux anymore lol.
after 16 years or so I went back to Win11 and never looked back

Very cool, thanks for sharing!

Another thing that works well is using nginx to forward to a Mac or PC on the same network. I have my UL Mk5 connected to a raspberry pi and use Cuemix on a Mac laptop, just need to enter the IP address or host name of the raspberry pi in Cuemix and it acts like the UL Mk5 is connected to Mac.

I agree with others that the M series works well with Linux but also has no software. In my experience the AVB was bad news on linux and would result in channel swapping / bit crushing, even if just being used as a dumb multichannel DAC.

Michael
 
Thanks for all your answers regarding current state of MOTU on Linux.

While browsing some of the links, I realized @amirm needed to trademark or copyright the name "audio science" :)


Too bad there's not more interfaces like this for Linux https://github.com/NielsMayer/mudita24 (shameless plug)
1747333635737.png1747333659351.png
 
What happens when you plug the M6 into a Linux system?

In the past, MOTU has had terrible Linux support. Has this changed?
Depends a bit on your audio backend, but I have Pipewire as the backend, and can confirm that all of the inputs display correctly, and audio output and input through Microphone input #1 works fine.

I had no problem using the M6 with the REAPER DAW.
 
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