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

The unit’s front panel carries physical controls for phantom power (switchable in two groups of channels 1‑4 and 5‑8), preamp channel gains, headphone volumes, and the dedicated monitor section (with its own volume control and dim/mute buttons).

In the clarett, the potentiometers are designed to operate that way, with most of the gain near the end. The technical improvements brought about by this substantial redesign are such that Focusrite thought the product name warranted enhancement too, hence Clarett+. The magic starts as soon as you plug your microphones in — the mic preamps feature Focusrite's switchable Air effect, which gives your microphones the air and clarity of an ISA transformer-based mic preamp. The word clock input is joined by an output, and there’s a second pair of optical sockets, upping the 8PreX’s total channel count at base sample rates to 26 inputs and 28 outputs, all of which are available simultaneously.gain of this unit is given as +57dB but good luck if you want to use anything approaching that, as it will be in the very last travel of the pot. Now — effective on purchases from 1st January 2018 onwards — the warranty period is 36 months from the date of the original purchase. Other highlights include the Red 2 and Red 3 compressor/EQ bundle and the choice of one instrument from the Addictive Keys sampled piano collection; we selected and really enjoyed the Modern Upright for adding organic chordal sounds to our mixes.

It’s perhaps a shame that it’s not variable, as it does make rather a drastic difference to the sound. Every new Focusrite Scarlett, Clarett+, and Red interface comes with an unbeatable range of tried-and-tested studio tools from some of the biggest names in the business. I suspect the factory reset might have fixed the gain scale problem, but strongly doubt it would have added any gain.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.

To save some pennies Focusrite uses linear potentiometers here where logarithmic (or is it exponential? Both plans include the Complete Plugin Bundle, which contains over 75 plugins including dynamic and EQs, effects and emulators, reverbs and delays, stompboxes, and virtual instruments. Sticking with tried-and-tested USB-2 for maximum compatibility, the new 8Pre comes boxed with not one, but two different USB cables.It is for all this that I am considering the possibility of getting an RME Fireface UFX II and killing 2 birds with one shot: having better preamps and converters to record and the Totalmixfx for monitoring with the infinity of routing that it gives me and the possibility of inserting effects in real time without using the pc. We had earlier reviewed the 2-input version upon its release, and are now putting the 8Pre through its paces as the 8-input format is an attractive prospect to those wanting to move beyond recording one or two channels at a time. Users might need to invest in a suitable in-line booster for this type of mic to be on the safe side when using one with the Clarett+. This New interface is so clean and good I wish I did this months ago --- everything just tracks better.