Focusrite Clarett 8 Pre X
 

OK, I just got one. Connected it up in place of my trusty 003R+. Eleven Rack connected via SPDIF, just as before.

First impressions; WOW! I have done some listening testing, because after all, that is what most of us do more than anything, listen.

Even on tracks recorded with the 003R, there is a clarity that wasn't really there before and imparts no color in playback that I can detect. It just seems to ME to sound better.

Eleven Rack into the Clarett is equally good. I recorded some short riffs on some things that I'm working on, and again, WOW. I even recorded DI into Eleven MKII and no issues for me with latency. Thunderbolt seems to be very fast. (Actually the 003R connect to Thunderbolt via the Firewire adapter was much faster than it was connected to Firewire on my PC).

I have to record some acoustic guitars and vocalists later this week, and am looking forward to testing out the AIR setting.

FC control.....a little strange to me but it certainly isn't insurmountable. I'll get a handle on it quickly enough.

I don't tend to gush, promote or even recommend much, but I do like this unit so far.

IMHO this is what the 00X R family should have morphed into.

Re: Focusrite Clarett 8 Pre X
 

Keep us posted as you use it more. I am trying to decide between the Clarett and the Apogee.

Re: Focusrite Clarett 8 Pre X
 

I just picked up a Clarett 4Pre. The sound is incredible. The pres are top notch both with and without the Air function on, but the Air function is pretty dreamy.

I'm coming from a Scarlett 6i6, which I already thought was great at its price point.

Re: Focusrite Clarett 8 Pre X
 

I just got a Clarett 2 pre and have to say, this thing sounds great. I needed it for voiceover work and it has exceeded my expectations. I would use the Eleven rack on my MBP and record scratch VO while recording the video in my daw. Then go back and re record the VO on my HDN system and outboard gear. I am using an SM7 which requires a ton of gain. I still have to crank the pre volume most of the way up, but it's surprisingly quiet. The free plugins don't make me sad either.

Windows TB drivers are in progress for it as well so it will far more flexible for me when they are done.

Re: Focusrite Clarett 8 Pre X
 

Yes, I have to agree. I have since recorded several acoustic guitar tracks, a few vocals, and some shaker and tamb since I have put it in my rack. This thing really does sound good, and once I got a handle on the FC mixer software, monitoring and recording through plugins, latency is not an issue, so far anyway.

I also really like the RED EQ and compressor too.

So far, so good.

Re: Focusrite Clarett 8 Pre X
 

I'm continuing to be impressed by this Clarett 4Pre I recently picked up.

The preamps, Air vs non-Air mode, is just wonderful. They are both really, really good. It's just a matter of, do you want warm, or do you want a little brightness added to it. Neither is bad. I've even recorded some acoustic guitar thinking Air was on, being really impressed, then realizing I never turned Air on. Re-tracking with Air on, it wasn't better, just different. It's definitely not over the top or harsh in any way, which is always my fear with these things. One man's air is another man's ice pick.

Latency is also pretty great as advertised. Don't go into this thinking you can track at any old buffer size without latency, because that's just not possible, but 32 and 64 are both pretty much impossible to feel the latency. It starts to creep into your feel at 128, and at 256 is starts having an affect as expected. And 512 and above, you should obviously not expect to monitor in real time if performance could be affected.

I took some measurements in a double loop back test in Pro Tools 12, 44.1kHz. MacBook Pro i7 from 2011. Here are the realtime latency results I got...

Buffer - latency
32 ---- 2.85ms
64 ---- 4.30ms
128 --- 7.23ms
256 --- 13.00ms
512 --- 24.64ms
1024 -- 47.82ms

Re: Focusrite Clarett 8 Pre X
 

I've only seen some promo videos, so I can't quite tell how the preamps sound.

Do they sound unhyped without "air" mode engaged? Or is it still hyped in the opposite direction? I'm willing to give Focusrite interfaces a second chance, but not if the preamps are fairly neutral.

Re: Focusrite Clarett 8 Pre X
 

Agreed! I should have stated that I am tracking with the buffer @ 64. If tracking guitar through 11R, I just set FC mixer to monitor the digital input, so latency isn't a factor there.

I have only had a couple of odd things happen with PT since using it. Twice after closing the session that I was working on, I would exit PT and I'd get a message saying that PT had quit unexpectedly and a report would be sent t Avid. I had already closed everything and was quitting PT anyway.

That's the only issue so far. I trashed prefs, etc. and it hasn't happened since, but who knows.

I am very pleased with mine so far.

Coming from the 003R the improvement in the sound is every evident to me. More detailed, is the best way I can describe it over all. Not brittle bright, and not a brown kind of warm either, IMHO.

Again, THIS is what should have been the next step in the 00X line up. Lots of connectivity, fast, and very good sounding.

Re: Focusrite Clarett 8 Pre X
 

Guys, do those latency numbers look good to you considering this is Thunderbolt? I'm getting 5.6 ms when doing hardware loopback (analog output 1 cabled to analog input 2) with my USB 2.0 interfaces with Pro Tools at 44.1 kHz and 64-sample buffer.

Edit: updated as per CEntrance Latency Checker.

Re: Focusrite Clarett 8 Pre X
 

I am way happy with the pre's at this point. I have been using them for VO and way happy. From my experiences so far, they don't sound hyped. I actually haven't even tried the air mode yet.

I am a bit confused by the last line of your post ;-)