You will be happy if you buy one! 
by Mike West from El Paso, Texas, September 2008
Music Background:  Recording Engineer, Pro Musician

I have heard allot of mixed reviews on this pre amp... Honestly those who gave it a bad or poor review are most likely amateur engineers who dont have a clue what they are doing... This pre amp is amazing!! It has tons of options for a generally low cost and sounds just like the old isa 110 in allot of ways... The VU meter is handy as well as the AD Card outs.. The pre has tons of gain and the switchable transformer options can change the tone greatly... Hands down its a bad *** little pre amp... it even has headphone outs on it!! It can also record a mic and a direct instrument signal at the same time... kind of a 2 in one box! But the DI I am not a big fan of... it sounds stale and I think that focusrite could have done better with the DI. I wish the pre amp had dual gain staging so you could control the output as well. That way you could overdrive the pre amp and see what cool tones you might get... and still control the output gain... this device you cant control the output gain like a UA Solo 610 or 110 can. But its amazing on vocals and super intimate... and for guitars it just brings them to life... Its a definite "go to" pre amp for guitars... Sounds decent on kick drums and snares as well... Go Buy One... you will be pleased... I have used this on a major cd and the result was fantastic!!

  Even better than I expected 
by Still Rockin' from Pacific NW, August 2008
Music Background:  Recording Engineer

The ISA One sounds close-in and intimate, especially on vocals. It is incredibly quiet (on par with pres costing twice as much) with gain galore. The bottom line here is simply that the ISA One has "that sound" - period. People ask me all the time - how come their final mixes end up sounding flat and lifeless. Some of it is technique but the other part of the equation is the equipment. The fact that another reviewer was able to get any improvement at all through his Roland VS all-in-one-box-studio (which in my NSHO never sounded all that great to begin with) is a testament to the excellent design of the ISA One.

Clients expect to see Avalon and UA (which I also have) in the studio - but when it comes down to the sound on vocals, almost every time singers will choose the ISA - even over tube gear.

Tracking through this pre will dispel the myth that you gotta have tubes to sound "phat" - you don't. All said and done, this is one of the best mic pres available under $1500. For the $799 street price, it delivers more than I expected. Thanks Focusrite!

  great legandary preamp 
by michael pitterson from ny, August 2008
Music Background:  song writer,singer/guitarist,and have worked in professional studio for a few years now.

writing this review to give it some justice. I always loved focusrite products,they are the only company fighting really hard to be in the top of the leadge, and there marketing team definately done a good job all the time. I personally own a highend 2 channel DAW home studio for easy access to work on my recording. i use 2 avalon 737sp,apogee rosetta 200,running through digi 003 and yamaha ns monitor.The isa one sounded just the same as an isa preamp, i have bought it to the studio to compare with a isa428, and is the same.Beatiful, clean,analodge warm sounding pres,and is definately one i will use alot to add more colour to my recording. I owned a universal solo610 in the past but sold it, nothing wrong, just that its not versatile enough for my situation. they are coloured pres using tube, and i never liked it on acoustic guitar, no way, but on voice is ok, and is only a one channel preamp whereas the isa one is one preamp plus a di.smile here, thats the feature most recording musician need for, say bass gtr, eletric gtr,etc. If anyone have done any research, UA solo610,or 110 aint the same pres as the ua610 pre.Anyway,for the previous person who gave it a 2 or 3 rating, i notice he /she uses a roland vs....which may be where the problem is, i use a high end AD, and the difference btw any pre is very clear, not subtle thing. overall, isa one is a winner,and beat all the competition for one channel pres!hat off for the focusrite team.

  Just What I Expected 
by David J. from South Carolina, USA, June 2008
Music Background:  Songwriter, Independent Producer/Engineer

I own a Focusrite Green Voxbox, as well as an Octopre, and the ISA One is in a different league. In fact, I'd have to say it's closer to our API's in terms of frequency detail and gain.

There are so many features packed into this single unit, that you don't realize the value until you start using it. Independent DI, variable impedance (four stages for pre, two for DI), insert bypass switch, amp output (so the unit can also be used as a reamp box), etc. Add the optional a/d converter and you have an even greater weapon.

Anyhow, I was going to wait to write this review after I had some more time invested in it. After reading the prior review, I felt a comparison to the UA Solo unit wasn't on par. The ISA One has many more usable features AND sounds great (loads of detail and transparent in a non-sterile sense). With the variable impedance and gain structure, you can really shape the sound. I certainly recommend one for mobile and home setups. Oh, also works fantastic with ribbon mics!

  Not quite what you'd expect 
by soul fuel music from denver, June 2008
Music Background:  professional singer, foh technician and recording engineer

I'll start by saying I love focusrite pre's..Reds, Greens, Octopre's, and Saffire Pro26! However....this does not live up to he expectation of single channel perfection. We heard very little difference from this to the Roland VS2400 pre's using a Rode NT2000 and a Mojave MA200. Maybe a bit of clarity on the upper end but not much. We compared it to a Universal Audio Solo 610 and ahhhhh thats was what we were looking for. Not this time focusrite..sorry. Nice case though!

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