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

Product Information

With the Clarett+ 8Pre's exceedingly low round-trip audio latency over USB-C, you can record and monitor in real time with your favorite DAW plug-ins. Monitor and track within your software without any noticeable delay and unlock the real-time processing power of your DAW. This is “modelled on” the Air mode in Focusrite’s ISA430 MkII input channel, and although it’s switched in software, actually changes the behaviour of the circuit in the analogue domain. Its eight premium preamps are all connected via ‘combi’ XLRs for mic/line inputs, with six on the rear panel and two more on the front panel (which also have high‑impedance JFET instrument input modes).

The Clarett USB range certainly brings that high-quality sound to those lacking Thunderbolt connectivity and also brings low-latency recording and the Air feature too. With mics plugged in, the Air circuit gave a unique sense of analogue character and colour to our flat-response small diaphragm condensers when capturing stringed instruments. I’m not sure why, but the Clarett+ 2Pre is claimed to achieve a slightly better result than its predecessor at 119dB (A‑wtd).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. There are optical In and Out sockets supporting up to eight–channel audio transfer using the ADAT protocol, plus separate stereo coaxial S/PDIF In and Out, MIDI In and Out, and the ubiquitous BNC word clock input.

On the A‑D side of things, the new Clarett+’s dynamic range figure remains much the same as the previous model. Incredibly low A-D converter distortion lets you capture signals with more clarity, for greater transparency and sonic accuracy. In some ways, the most radical change that the Clarett range introduces compared with previous Focusrite interfaces concerns the software utility used to control them. Expand via ADAT to add eight inputs and outputs using Clarett+ OctoPre, and connect to MIDI and S/PDIF equipment to maximise your creative potential. Relay-controlled analogue circuitry on each preamp replicates Focusrite's ISA110, swapping impedance to to 2.Meanwhile, bare-bones monitor controls work well for the most part, but it’s strange that there’s no button to check the mix in summed mono or A-B monitoring between different speaker sets. I posted what mics I'm using, they're all high sensitivity, but with the gains at 9/10 they could only light the bottom LED. In this way, consumers give each other guidance We enjoyed the refreshing simplicity of the control software, despite the tab switching to get to the Air buttons. Great if you're close miking drums and amps, but if you want to accurately set higher gain it can be hard.