Scored on 43 verified owner verdicts, from 562 comments read across 1 community
TL;DR
Most owners rate the M2 as a clean-sounding, dependable interface, and the large level meters come up again and again. Several have run theirs for years without trouble and say it has enough gain for a low-output mic like the SM7B. The recurring complaint is pops, crackles, and dropouts on some computers, which owners have worked around with older drivers or larger buffer sizes. Guitar players also note the inputs run hot enough that the gain has to sit near zero.
72% of 43 verified owners recommend the M2, based on real owner verdicts aggregated from Reddit, enthusiast forums, and YouTube.
562 comments reviewed · scored on the 43 clearest verdicts
72%
Recommend
31 owners
7%
Neutral
3 owners
21%
Don't recommend
9 owners
Last 6 months:67% recommend(18 recent verdicts)→ holding steady vs older reviews
Source
Breakdown
Score
N
Counted in the score
Reddit
72%
43
Reviewed, but not counted — and why
No clear verdictiGood-to-know notes — setup, tips, and things to watch for. We use them for the pros, cons, and who it's for, but they don't reflect a definitive opinion on the product, so they're never counted in the score. See the 'Good to know' section below the quotes.Setup, tips & quirks
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54
The headline score reflects owners (Reddit, enthusiast forums), independent lab tests, blogs with no affiliate links, and YouTube owner-comments when they line up with owners. is shown for perspective but kept out here — hover the i for why.
What owners like
Clean, quiet sound on inputs and outputs
Large, easy-to-read level meters
Stable and well built, with owners reporting years of trouble-free use
Enough preamp gain to run a low-output mic like the SM7B without a booster
Drives headphones and has separate RCA and TRS outputs that work at the same time
What owners flag
Pops, crackles, and audio dropouts on some computers, often needing older drivers or a larger buffer to fix
Inputs run hot, so several owners keep the gain at or near zero to avoid clipping
Headphone output can distort at higher volume for some owners
Who it's for
A great fit if
Home recording and podcasting with a dynamic mic like the SM7B
A desk setup that feeds headphones and powered monitors from one box
Streamers and gamers using an XLR mic
Guitarists with hot pickups who want headroom at low gain
Look elsewhere if
Buyers who do not want to troubleshoot drivers or buffer settings
People who mainly want a headphone amp for loud playback
Anyone wanting a button to switch between outputs
Synthesized from what M2 owners say — not a spec sheet.
Common questions
Why do some M2 owners get pops, crackles and dropouts?
It is the recurring complaint on this interface, and it lands mostly on Windows. MOTU lists a Windows driver as required and the Mac driver as optional. Owners describe constant cracking and popping, audio dropping out after a reboot at 96 kHz, the same fault on Windows 11, and one blames swapping away from the supplied USB cable. The fixes owners settle on are an older driver build or a larger buffer.
Does the M2 do loopback for streaming?
Yes. MOTU says the M2 driver provides loopback channels to the host computer, so computer playback can be routed back in and mixed with the live mic or guitar inputs inside host software for streaming or podcasting. There is also a MON button for hardware direct monitoring, which sends live input to the speakers or headphones without passing through software first.
What is the best-in-class audio claim based on?
Two measured figures MOTU publishes. The first is 120 dB dynamic range on the main outputs, credited to ESS Sabre32 Ultra DAC technology that also drives the headphone output, and the second is -129 dBu EIN on the mic inputs, which MOTU credits to its preamp circuits instead. The speed claim is separate, 2.5 ms round trip latency, stated at 96 kHz with a 32 sample buffer. 72% of 43 owners recommend the M2, backing the clean, quiet sound, while latency is where their reports diverge.
Can the M2 drive an SM7B without a booster?
Owners say yes. MOTU gives each combo input its own preamp gain and independent 48V phantom power, and an owner running an SM7B reports no need for a Cloudlifter. The same gain range cuts the other way for guitarists: owners with hot pickups keep the knob at or just above zero, one of them finding takes harder to match because the guitar volume cannot sit fully open.
Is the M2 bus-powered?
Yes, MOTU lists it as bus-powered over USB-C and compatible with a USB Type-A adapter, while iOS needs the adapter kit and a powered USB hub. The connections are two mic, line and Hi-Z combo inputs, two balanced TRS outputs with two mirrored RCA outputs, a headphone output with its own volume, and MIDI in and out. Owners use the RCA and headphone outs at the same time.
How does it compare with the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2?
Owner scores favor the M2, 72% of 43 against 60% of 53 for the Scarlett 2i2. The M2 adds a full color LCD meter display, which MOTU claims no other interface in its class has, plus RCA outputs beside the TRS pair and MIDI in and out, and an owner who has used both calls the preamps cleaner and the converters better. The driver trouble sits on the MOTU side of that ledger.
Top quotes, sourced
562 reviewed · 43 shown
Sentiment
Sort
Reddit▼ don’t recommend
“I recently got the M2 (it's supposed to be the 2021 or 2019 revision) and have a lot of problems with it with constant cracking and popping and losing audio, lagging etc.”
Reddit▲ recommend
“I also went through different source gear, a Burson PM2, an iDSD Diablo and a MOTU M2. I honestly can't tell the difference at all between the three when listening at my prefered volume level.”
Reddit— neutral
“i had the motu m2, and while it was fine for the most part, the bass would distort if i increased the volume,for low to medium volume it was perfectly fine”
Reddit— neutral
“After more testing i find myself tracking around 128, 64 still has occasional pops..”
Reddit▲ recommend
“I've been using this interface since 2020. Having pre amps with graph visualizers was the most important thing for me and my microphones, so I definitely recommend it.”
Reddit▼ don’t recommend
“Something similar has started happening to mine in the last couple of days also. I usually have mine set to 96 khz, but now after every reboot I get audio dropouts like the cpu can't keep up.”
Reddit▲ recommend
“Ive been on a Motu M2 for about a year now and theres plenty of headroom (even with no pad) with the knob zero'd out on the itnerface with my fluence equipped guitars”
Reddit▼ don’t recommend
“Owned an M2, was torn between the SSL2+ like you… Sold the M2 after realizing my Focusrite Scarlett 8i6 was the best of the bunch…”
Reddit— neutral
“I can get good tones out of neural plugins with the motu m2, but I need to have the knob on the interface at zero or just above it which seems like standard practice unless I'm mistaken. The only annoyance I have is that I can't have the volume pot on my guitar cranked all the way up, so repeatability between takes when recording can be a little bit off.”
Reddit▲ recommend
“I do enjoy having dedicated RCA and TRS outs so I don’t have to use adapters for the Magni or unplug when I want to use my monitor speakers which is the main reason I got the Motu… and the gain meters hehe.”
Reddit▼ don’t recommend
“mine started crashing when I only dared to look at a different usb cable that wasn't Motus proprietary one”
Reddit▼ don’t recommend
“Horrible latency, been using it since 2021 find something else. Terms of sound quality it’s good 7/10”
Reddit▲ recommend
“I was happy with the little I tried. I use it daily for playback and it works great as long as I use a recent kernel (currently I'm running 5.18.16). Very rarely audio gets locked and I have to turn it off/on.”
Reddit▲ recommend
“So far, haven’t noticed any issues. Sound quality is great, no latency to speak of, all ins and outs are dead quiet, even crank all the way up.”
Reddit▼ don’t recommend
“Same issue here, with the MOTU M2 on Windows 11, audio pops and crackles.”
Reddit▼ don’t recommend
“I'm facing the same issue and I can't single out the cause either.”
Reddit▲ recommend
“I've had an m2 for a few years, light use.. but it's never given me issues outside of playing cyberpunk (had to change sample rate to correct)”
Reddit▲ recommend
“In my experience the m2/4 has been one of the best interfaces for guitar, exactly because of the reason the gain can go low enough.”
Reddit▼ don’t recommend
“i'd pick the SSL2 (i have a motu m2)”
Reddit▲ recommend
“I can say this one is pretty nice. Has good drivers for headphones and I don't need to use a cloudlifter with my SM7B.”
Reddit▼ don’t recommend
“I've been having this same problem.”
Reddit▲ recommend
“The MOTU is rock solid and extremely accurate. My favorite interface out of the five or so I’ve owned over my life.”
Reddit▲ recommend
“Both are stable workhorses but I have to say M2 for the build quality. The metal knobs are always enjoyable to use.”
Reddit▲ recommend
“I just bought the M2. No issues driving the 6xxs, it also outputs to both RCA out and headphone out simultaneously.”
Practical notes owners raise — setup, quirks, and issues to watch for. They don't say whether the person likes the product, so they're not counted in the score, but they inform the pros, cons, and who it's for.
Redditⓘ good to know
“This doesn't power speakers. It sends a signal to monitors with their own power source. If your Edifiers plug into the wall for power, this will send a clean audio signal to them.”
Redditⓘ good to know
“I can check on Windows in a second but I own two M4’s and a M2. When I run them the M4 and M2 with MOTU’s drivers in aggregate on macOS at 48KHz/128 samples I’m getting 3.1/3.3ms of latency”
Redditⓘ good to know
“Theoretically M4 is a bit better. There were some people reporting problems with some M2s distorting the inputs when headphone amp was cranked to the max.”
Redditⓘ good to know
“If the audio interface is powered via USB, try disabling the power-saving feature for USB ports.”
Redditⓘ good to know
“I can hear more detail and soundstage breadth on my planars but that’s sort of a given since they’re harder to drive and getting a lot more power. Very little difference on IEMs other than having to keep the power wheel turned down.”
Redditⓘ good to know
“Are your drivers and firmware also up to date for your computer, specifically the motherboard? I had weird issues with audio cutting out briefly and flashing the motherboard to the latest BIOS fixed it. Some kinda USB controller issue I guess.”
Redditⓘ good to know
“If you are using it in OBS, you have to select force mono in advanced audio setting for your mic. Works perfectly!”
Redditⓘ good to know
“On the Motu M2 if you press and hold either of the monitor buttons it will switch to stereo monitoring ch1L-ch2R”
Redditⓘ good to know
“Make sure everything in your windows settings, and in the app you are using, are configured correctly. Plugging in an XLR microphone should only be 1 channel, but it will be in mono, not stereo. Make sure you don’t have a setting on that you shouldn’t and vice versa.”
Redditⓘ good to know
“No. It's headphone only but you can plug a mic into one of the channels on the interface.”
Redditⓘ good to know
“Ah sorry, forgot to update that I found the issue. Turned out to be a faulty 3.5 to 6.35mm adapter. Realized It when I went to pull it out the motu m2 and it started sounding clear when I put pressure on it. Switching to a spare I had on hand fixed the issue. Thanks anyways.”
Redditⓘ good to know
“I feel like a lot of people are giving you shit for this, but not a lot of advice. You bought an audio interface that lives more in the production realm. It’s not going to be plug and play. If you want plug and play go with elgato. You need to run the MOTU into some sort of DAW. I believe the MOTU comes with Ableton.”
