Focusrite Clarett+ 8Pre Studio-Grade 18-in/20-out Audio Interface for Established Producers —Eight High-Performance, Low-Noise, Low-Distortion Mic Preamps Capture Audio with Precise Clarity

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My problem isn’t noise, it’s that the preamp gain is significantly low until you reach the high end of the potentiometer taper, and getting decent matched levels into the converters is time consuming and frustrating.

If I were still doing this professionally, I would have sold it (they seem to fetch good value on the used market), and go with something like an Audient EVO 16 (but might be taking a small step down in sound quality.The build quality is superb and is a definite improvement upon the early incarnations of Scarlett interfaces that had rough, sharp edges. I'm complaining about this gain crowding because it's such a disappointment when otherwise the unit does a great job. Eight high-performance Clarett+ preamps - Hear every nuance and capture the clearest and most powerful sounds with preamps that bring masses of headroom, low distortion and ultra-low noise.

There are just level and pan controls for each directly monitored input signal, devoid of on-board effects in the foldback path or indeed any new-fangled loopback options. To my eyes, the 8Pre’s 1U metal front panel is more crimson than claret, but its layout is significantly cleaner and smarter than that of its Saffire or Scarlett predecessors.That translates in the real world to a marginally clearer, cleaner, and more transparent source recording, especially if tracking with generous headroom margins. I suspect the factory reset might have fixed the gain scale problem, but strongly doubt it would have added any gain. The greatly improved D-A dynamic range brings every detail into focus, so engineers and producers can embrace no-compromise audio quality in abundance.

The ADAT output is perfect for sending audio to an external D/A for line output expansion, while the input can be used to bring in eight additional digital mic preamp channels, such as the Focusrite OctoPre MkII, for maximum flexibility. The eight Clarett preamps have been meticulously engineered to bring authentic large-format studio sound to any recording session. Oh, and I should mention the stereo ‘loopback’ inputs, a feature introduced with the Saffire range and inherited by all the Claretts; these allow you to make available the output from stand–alone programs such as iTunes as input for recording in your DAW. So, what's the answer - logarithmic taps, inline heat boosters (so you don't have to turn them all the way on) or pads for the hot water? With every Focusrite Scarlett and Clarett+ purchase, you'll get the new Hitmaker Expansion for free.Every Clarett+ ships with the Focusrite Classic Red 2 and Red 3 plug-in suite, which accurately models Focusrite's classic Red range EQ and compression hardware, and the Brainworx bx_console Focusrite SC, which faithfully captures the sound, feel, and style of the original Focusrite ISA 110 Equaliser and ISA 130 Dynamics Modules.

Hear every nuance and capture clear and powerful audio with preamps that bring masses of headroom, low distortion, and ultra-low noise. If you're like a lot of the recording engineers here at Sweetwater, then you probably grew up with stories of the legendary Focusrite Forte console and its ISA preamps. It’s simple to understand and operate but lacks the complex routing options, on-board DSP and monitor controller functions of some competing devices. I will reach out to Focusrite directly, but this doesn’t feel like a misbehaving interface unless it’s some weird firmware bug, and was curious if anyone else has experience anything similar.We would like to ask a couple questions to confirm that your device is properly set up with your Mac system. speaker system connected to outputs 1–6 — but there’s no provision to set up talkback, nor any way of switching between two sets of speakers. There is “enough” gain to use, however you have to turn it almost all the way up, and the very last 10% of the potentiometer is VERY sensitive and makes it really difficult to gain match a pair of mics. The Clarett+ 8Pre builds on the solid foundations of its earlier predecessor - delivering a premium-grade USB audio interface for Mac and PC. However, it should be pointed out that this beautiful simplicity has been achieved partly by not including features that are available on some competing products.