This is my second Focusrite Clarett 8Pre. The previous unit just stopped working one morning about 45 minutes before my brass session. It was probably 10 to 15 years old, no warning it just stopped recognizing the inputs and outputs with my computer. The new unit has the same things I liked and the same things I didn't like. The sound is clean. I'm happy with the A/D converters. I do not like that the mic inputs are on the front labeled 1 & 2, I know that is for the keyboard and guitar players in home studios. But the back where I plug in my mics 1-8 starts with 3. So my headphone feed reads Channel 1 is input 3, Channel 4 is Input 2, etc.

The Focusrite setup is very confusing. Terminology is very confusing, but then this is an English product and all the videos I have seen have guys from England narrating. Hard to understand.

I have been using Focusrite interfaces for over 12 years now. I started on the 18i20 Scarlett 2nd gen and then moved into these Clarett units. I have the full rackmount 8pre for my home studio, as well as the Clarett 4pre for on the go with my laptop. I have been using the 4 and 8 pre units for over 4 years now. I absolutely LOVE them!

I run these units on Windows 11 and have NEVER had issues with any of the drivers. When using this interface as my main PC speakers while NOT recording, certain application will cause some static in the sound and I will have to adjust the buffer sample to get it back to normal, but these instances are very rare and only happen with non recording tasks.

When using an SM7b vocal mic with a C1 Cloudlift, turning on the air mode on the pre-amp just sounds awesome. It ads just enough highs on the mic that it sounds brighter. My band has recorded and released several singles in the past 2 years using these units, and our mixing engineers tell us that everything sounds great and is well tracked.

you won't be dissapointed with these units.

I've been using Focusrite interfaces on Windows based OCs for well over 15 years now. The only time I ever had an issue with one was when it was losing sync with the computer, and the Focusrite team patched the driver within days

I have used the Clarette 4 and 8 USB pre units paired with Windows PC desktop and laptop running Reaper as my daw for the last 6 years to record all of our band's official releases. No issues, fantastic sound for the price point.

We have our tracks recorded at 48k and with our computer hardware that we run, we can track with live plugins on without any pops, clicks, or latency issues with buffer settings at 64 or 92 (depending on the plugin load we currently have running).

Love these units. Highly recommend!

Worked great for 4 years. Now each time I turn it on, there's this clicking noise and it won't stay on.

I have had this interface for about 2 years now. I had 2 Scarletts (3rd gen). When I switched to this, it was enough of a change that I won't ever go back to a Scarlett now. So, sound quality IS noticably better.

Other pros compared to Scarlett interfaces.

1: The knobs feel as if the take more strength to turn. (in a good way) Quality knobs that feel good to turn.
2: The 2 headphone jacks sound better yet again. So good, my DT-770 pro's rumble when turned up high and they don't distort. I have to worry about my hearing. You should too if you get this. I believe this interface won an award for the headphone outputs.
3: During the time having this, I have used it on both Macbook and PC and they both have no issues with it. Thunderbolt port takes it no problem. No issues with me while using ableton.

Cons worth mentioning
1 : Like other reviewers have said, the pres aren't high enough for some mics like the SM7B. Many other mics work fine. NT-1 is fine, Apex was ok. It's not specific to dynamic or condenser so much. You just need to know which mic needs more boosting with a preamp. (cloudlifter is a preamp!)
2: The word clock is out only
3: I had issues trying to connect this to my 18i20 when I had it and focusrite support couldn't help. (It might have been me forgetting the word clock, I forget now, but because it was too much of an issue, I just want to avoid adat whenever I can now. (This was all through PC)
4: No AES/UBU
5: Outputs are not dc coupled, so it won't talk to modular gear.

Although I have been using this for synths, it might be more suited for drummers who want better than the Scarlett series.

I am pretty happy with this interface, I'm actually having trouble deciding where to go from here. I don't know what I want to upgrade to. Mostly because I haven't heard it.

Should have tested one before pulling the trigger, input gain is low even when turned all the way up in the trim knobs, i thought having pre's was supposed to enhance the input level and sound quality but not the case and i didn't mean to buy a whole new interface to have to add cloud lifters in every mic input the whole purpose was to have an interface with pre amps that worked as it should or i would have gone alot cheaper with a different approach very disappointed. Sweetwater said i was doing something incorrectly when consulted about this but obviously had no idea because it is well documented that this is a thing these interfaces do so that was disappointing as well. Unfortunately out of the return period when i finally got to use it i cant return it so im going to have to bite the bullet and sell it for what i can get.

Just received this product and replaced my 15 year old AVID MBOX PRO Firewire Interface
The additional channels, quality sound, and near zero latency has made my new studio setup fantastic
I have recently setup my studio above my garage and along all the other fantastic products from Sweetwater.
I am Rocking in the free state of IDAHO
I have include a couple of pics from the new - Attic Studios

This audio interface replaced a 15-year-old Presonus Firestudio Project. I had some reservations about moving from Firewire to USB but so far this unit has performed flawlessly. I'm using Studio One Pro 6.5 and I've had no issues with recording, playback, or using my plugins. I'm looking forward to using some of the plug-ins that Focusrite included with the unit.

Matt (my sales engineer) and the team at Sweetwater continue to be the best in the business!

Have an Ensemble Firewire from apogee that when I upgraded my OS it died. Apple doesn't support FW any longer. So I thought bummer...but that was a blessing in disguise. This New interface is so clean and good I wish I did this months ago --- everything just tracks better... maybe it's the tequila .....but if you need to upgrade, buy this product. Love the AIR feature too

I took my time in finding the right audio interface. I decided on this model for a number of reasons but the quality out of the box to the controls to the incredible sounds are enough for me. But wait, here's the fun part. When you register your product, you get access to more free (not demo's) plugins than you can imagine. The plugins actually pay for the unit. That was a surprise for me and an added bonus.

you don't need to look any further, this is the unit. Don't fall victim to what everyone "Thinks" is popular or part of a special club that if you don't use "Brand X" you're nothing. Well, this will prove them wrong.

I upgraded from an aging Scarlett 18i20 and am very happy. Sounds great and has been solid so far. I'd give it five stars except for three issues. One, the Focusrite Control iOS app won't connect to my Wi-Fi, and is therefore useless (Focusrite Control itself on the PC is solid though). Two, the gain controls could have been more sensibly stepped - 75% of gain is squeezed into the last 20% of the pots, makes level matching a little tricky. Three, I can record a max of 17 channels at one time at 48k - 8 from the 8Pre, 8 from my Clarett+ OctoPre via ADAT, and one from my ISA One via SPDIF. Or I can use both channels from the ISA One, but then I must kill one of the other inputs. To be fair, I can't find where it says that the 8Pre can use 18 inputs at once (like the Scarlett can, allegedly), nor have I gone beyond basic troubleshooting steps, so maybe I'm missing something somewhere. Aside from that, even my old ears can tell that the preamps are a definite step up or three over the Scarlett.

The recordings I'm getting from this unit sounds fantastic. Might be not be perfect for small project studios. Low output microphones will almost certainly need a quality preamp. However, if you have the bucks, the Claret plus a pre will do a fantastic job.

I've used this Clarett 8 ( superior to the Scarlet) for a couple of years now with vocals, live acoustic instruments, MIDI triggers, DI lines, Garage Band, Logic Pro, Ableton, and it's always very clean super low latency.
Apple products work like a charm with it. All the channels I need and then some. If I ever upgrade it it'll be a larger studio !

This is an upgrade from my MOTU 828mk3. Got tired of the lack of support or driver updates. Needed a more stable interface that also allows me to change buffers inside of PT without having to shut the session down first. The Clarett+ seems to have an accurate sound also. I just got it and haven't mixed with it yet, so take my review with a grain of salt. It was easy to install and has a similar routing option as the MOTU, so I had things up and running within a hour

I just received the unit yesterday so I haven't done any recording with it yet but I swear the outputs are much clearer and the frequency response is amazing. I don't usually do reviews but I had to mention this. Ill update this as soon as I record some tracks. So far, LOVING IT!

After a few hiccups with the drivers for Windows 11 everything has been flawless. I upgraded from my Clarett 4pre to the Clarett+ 8pre and I love it. My recordings are crystal clear and the AIR feature is awesome on just about anything. Eventually I'm going to connect the two interfaces together for even more mic pres and inputs.

Crystal clear in and outs, no additional noise, and as a long-time Focusrite fan, it simply works and does it fantastically. I would recommend this to anyone and everyone.