MOTU Stage-B16 Stagebox

The MOTU Stage-B16 is a network-connected stagebox that lives at the analog edge of your rig — the point where microphones, DI boxes, and playback sources enter the digital domain and where monitor feeds return to the stage as analog signals. Its sixteen inputs and twelve outputs, combined with onboard DSP and dual AVB ports, make it a serious front-end for an IEM rack or a compact playback system. The headphone output on the front panel is a genuine working tool: you can sanity-check a mix or verify signal flow without pulling out a laptop or walking to FOH.

At load-in the numbers matter. Eight of the sixteen inputs are XLR combo jacks suited for microphones or line-level sources; the remaining eight are quarter-inch TRS, which works well for keyboard submixes, playback outputs, or anything already at line level. Two of the twelve outputs are XLR male — useful for the mains or a FOH send — while the rest are TRS. The two AVB Ethernet ports let you daisy-chain or connect to a network switch without losing a port, which keeps cabling tidy when the Stage-B16 is talking to a MOTU interface or another AVB device across the stage. At 35 watts nominal draw in a 2U chassis weighing 3.2 kg, it is light enough that the rack weight budget stays reasonable.

This unit belongs in a rig where AVB is already the transport or where you are building a MOTU-native system from scratch. If your console or interface speaks Dante or MADI, you will need a protocol bridge and that erases much of the value here. Engineers running hybrid rigs with a mix of analog and network I/O will appreciate the flexible input pairing, but anyone expecting straightforward AES67 interop should verify compatibility before committing. The $1,695 price puts it in direct conversation with other 16-input stageboxes in the AVB space; where it earns its keep is the onboard DSP and that front-panel headphone amp, which together reduce your dependency on a laptop for basic monitoring tasks on busy show days.