Great value - very practical for today's world! 
by Nate from Miami, FL, September 2007
Music Background:  Recording engineer, drummer

If you're one of those people like me who's just looking for a quality pre-amp without all the added fuss of EQ's and compression (since with do that with plug-in's anyway now...), check out this diddy.

I've had great results with it on drums, vocals and acoustic guitar. It provides instant "fatness" when recording guitar cabs (which I like), and the variable impedence feature is always fun to try on everything.

For connectivety, I have a good Mogami snake that I use to connect the pre-amp out's to the 1/4" inputs on my Mackie Onyx, which then goes straight into my PC.

Focusrite ISA 428 
by DAK from Honolulu, Hawaii, April 2006

I have two of these ISA 428 units. These are my "good" pres. My other units are a couple of Octopres (a clear step down). The ISA's are full sounding and make any of our mics sound full and loud. Especially with the variable impedance. Emphasis on loud. In comparison, the Octopres sound thin and "cleaner" (though nobody has complained nor do I expect them to). I haven't really used any other pres except for our old Mackie 24-8bus which sounds not as full or loud as the ISA's but "fuller' than the Octopres. We use the ISA's and Octopres for location multi-track hard disk recordings for a weekly music TV show with a Mackie 24/96 HDR. Haven't tried the converters yet but have them. I like the variable low cut filter but we try to record everything pretty much flat. Unit is very heavy and runs very hot. Don't like the knobs. Looks good in the racks (people always look and ask). Clients "who know" are impressed and surprised by the sound. A very experienced engineer who brings his Neumanns to some of our gigs recommended this unit to his friend after hearing it our rig (he sometimes mixes the audio tracks in post). Good value especially with the meters, the Lundahl transformers, inserts, analogue and digital outs. Wish it had firewire. Got the first unit about 2 years ago.

Focusrite ISA 428 
by Anonymous from East Haven, CT, February 2005

Excellent preamp. Purchased it last week and used it to record a vocalist and pianist in concert a few days later. I used an AKG 414TLII on the vocalist and two shure SM81s on the Steinway and the results were great. Clean sound with a lot of presence but very smooth not that in your face fatiging sound. Highly recommended.

Focusrite ISA 428 w/AD card 
by Ryan Patterson from Toronto Canada, February 2005

I bought this unit with the optional AD card last month and I have been very satisfied with the sound. Clean and clear, but very smooth. It doesn't have the midrange presence of a Neve and it isn't ultra smooth like a Manley. It is more on the clean side, but not as much as say an Avalon. The switchable impedance is nice, and and the adjustable high pass filter sounds really nice. So far as I can tell the AD card sounds good, but I have yet to really put it through the ringer. I like the fact that it adds 8 extra analog inputs onto my 002R, without having to purchase either an external AD converter, and that the converters are better than the 002R. The metering is also great, both the analog VU meters and the segmented LED digital meters.

Focusrite ISA428 
by LeRoy Gibbs II from Tulsa, OK USA, January 2004

Excelltent front end! I use it going into my daw and the sound is incredilble! Just the right flavor before conversion. Also the ability to change impediance gives even more tonal creativity. Would recommend to anyone desiring to upgrade the quality of their recordings.

Write Your Own Review!
We all love gear, and we all love talking about gear with our friends and bandmates. Why not share your thoughts with the hundreds of thousands of customers who regularly visit Sweetwater.com? Write your own customer review on this product! To begin, just Click Here!