Among the most functional devices of Focusrite company there is a Thunderbolt audio interface Clarett 8Pre with 192 kHz and 24 bits work mode, 18 inputs, 20 outputs and 119 dB dynamic range. On its frontal panel there are : 2 combined XLR/TRS 1/4″ jack microphone/instrumental Hi-Z/linear inputs; phantom power +48 V enabling buttons for inputs 1-4 and 5-8; gain control knobs for 8 inputs with instrumental mode indicators for first two ones and Air function activity for all of them. Then follow : Thunderbolt connection, MIDI connection and device blocking signalers; screen, showing signal levels and clipping of 8 inputs and 2 main outputs; Direct Monitor switch and mute buttons with volume control; 2 TRS 1/4″ jack monitor headphones outputs with volume control knobs; as well as power button with indicator.
On back panel of Focusrite Clarett 8Pre there are : power line input; TRS 1/4″ jack digital coaxial S/PDIF input and output; MIDI input and output; Thunderbolt port for connection to computer; optical digital TOSLINK input and output; time synchronization connector with other devices; 10 linear outputs ( 1st and 2nd are main ); and 6 more combined XLR/TRS 1/4″ jack microphone/linear outputs. Analogue outputs are balanced, all inputs are unbalanced. Microphone inputs of Focusrite Clarett 8Pre have following characteristics : THD+N 0.001 %, dynamic range 118 dB, noise level -128 dB; first two parameters of linear inputs are 0.005 % and 118 dB; of instrumental inputs are 0.001 % and 111 dB, accordingly. Dynamic range of monitor outputs is 117 dB, linear 119 dB, THD+N of both types is 0.0007 %; the same parameters of monitor headphones outputs are 112 dB and 0.0008 %, accordingly. Device’s sizes are 482.5 ( width ) x 43.9 ( height ) x 291 ( depth ) mm and mass is 4.35 kg, its body is made from aluminum with red color.
Focusrite Clarett 8Pre works only in Mac OS X 10.9 and newer with support of Core Audio interface for interaction with modern DAWs : FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER, Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase and others. Manufacturer promises support of Windows in near time. With it following programs are supplied : Focusrite Control ( mixer and device control panel ), 1 GB of sound samples Loopmasters and Focusrite Red 2 and Red 3 plugins package; also package with Focusrite Clarett 8Pre contains : power line cable, disk with drivers, warranty card and user’s guide. All in all, audio interface is great and has high-level characteristics and large amount of connectors, it is designed for use in large studios and is a great solution for them. For small studios and in-home recordings there is ability to look on USB audio interfaces of Steinberg, Behringer, Focusrite, Roland, ESI, M-Audio, Alesis and other manufacturers production, with the same characteristics and components quality, but with smaller connectors amount and much lower price.
