Focusrite ISA One Desktop Microphone Preamp Reviews

I have been searching for several years looking for a pre-amp. My previous tries with pre-amps include, one almost catching fire, one given to me that was half broken, one sold to me that had buttons sticking. I almost settled for a lesser pre-amp that was meeting the bare minimum.

Then, my industry colleague/friend let me borrow his ISA One and told me the history about the unit and the specifics to focus on via the Focusrite brand.

I needed a solid pre-amp that had a strong threshold to noise ratio as all the others failed. I recorded multiple instruments for a video game soundtrack (Mandolin, Aslatua Kashaka shakers, Penny Whistle, Tambourine and even shipping blocks). Once the soundtrack released, it has won three awards for Best Soundtrack from two award organizations.

So, I would say this is the award winning pre-amp for the "On the Peril of Parrots" Soundtrack. Thank you Focusrite for bringing such great quality in a mobility form.

I've had this Preamp for a while now and it makes the perfect Preamp for my two Neumann mics (TLM-102/103) and my Sennheiser 416. Its warmth is the perfect foil or support for the mics, depending on the mic's frequency response. The granular control over the amplitude level is incredible. It's size allows for easy transport if you want to bring it on the road when we are supposed to be taking vacations (Experience speaks!). Yes, it looks like a Geiger Counter. But that's character :-) Read the manual for more of what you can do with this wonderful module!

This thing is absolutely amazing.

After much debate, I decided to purchase this preamp above the others in its price range due to the fact that it was basically a versatile DI combined with a well-reviewed preamp and it seemed like it would cover all of my bases. This was my first "real" preamp purchase (having used old Behringers and ARTs). I was a little worried that I was getting into "snake oil" territory by spending a bunch on a preamp but my fears were put to rest when I put it through its paces.

The first thing I tried was using the "ISA" setting on the preamp and recorded my acoustic via my old Oktava mic. Comparing it to a recent recording I had done using my old preamps, the ISA one had much more detail and presence to my ears. I then tried recording bass using the built in DI and compared it to old recording and I detected a sense of "fullness" and clarity that was not there before.

I then decided to re-record parts of one of my songs that had electric guitar and bass once I was done, I noticed that the song was "starting to feel like a blanket had been taken off of it". Tracks seemed to be able to "better stand on their own" without me needing to EQ the piss out of the them and there was a general sense of "forwardness" in each instrument that I hadn't been able to get with my cheaper preamps.

As of this writing, I've had this device for nearly 4 months and it still works as great as the day I got it. If you're looking to help your tracks be their best, I'd recommend the ISA One. It sounds great, is built well and has been reliable so far. Thanks, Focusrite!!

This pre can will give you more than what it's worth!!!
Color no but impedance switching!
Insert send an return!!
Amazing di!!!
Gain for days!!
Ok so the review.
Please understand this is a Neve build so you have to think analog -18! I almost never have to move the gain only trim! Plays so well with insert especially compressor pre or post.
Is this going to do it for you no but will allow you to do anything you want get any sound you want if you Know how to mix! Honestly I don't see the need to have more than one notch of gain insert or not!
But if you want to pick up every detail trust me it will you will hear the TV across the house that you can't hear with the headphones off lol hit the gain 30-60 lol!!!
You get to hear the microphones caracter an push an pull with tubes between gain an trim to get the right saturation. TLM 103 ,102, 87, 49 OMG! Rode nt1 akg 214 or honestly any mic under 400 even the blue mics bottle an bluebird it's a real hit or miss because like I said earlier you honestly hear the caracter of the mic! Rode nt1,214, bluebird way to hyped in the top yes desser but compared to rode k2 or akg 414 or avetone 12 Taylor swift mic 500$ up sounds like the big boys when you watch the pros interview or namm this pre amp sounds like a record with good mic place ment an good performance!!!!

I switched to this preamp for my AKG C1000 condenser mike, and it sounds much cleaner and open than my other very high quality amplifier. I run this into my Scarlett 18i20 to provide a very open and clear voice track. I love the control capabilities and flexibility, and the DI instrument input is brilliant! Thanks!

Richard Whittington is my sales engineer. I am a music teacher doing audio engineering with my students, as well as my own studio thing at home. I and don't often write reviews, as I want to use a product for some time before I comment. However, I am extremely pleased with the build quality of the ISA One, the headroom, the quality of sound I'm getting, and that I can use its quality DI for a guitar or other instrument at the same time I use the mic input independently, on separate tracks. I use the ISA One along with a Clarett 8PreX. My recordings have significantly improved using this preamp. I purchased some high end mics this year and the ISA One excels in complementing those higher end mics. There is a lot more detail in my recordings, the result being that my mixes are sounding great! Highly recommend this preamp, and it's a great bang for the buck. Thank you, Focusrite, I am really impressed with your company, your philosophy, and your support. You have a loyal fan here. And, thank you, Richard, my sales guy.

Excellent recommendation from my personal sales engineer Jonathan Casarow. I was looking at another device and this was something that I had not even considered so, compared to what I intended to buy, the ISA One is actually of much greater value. Many thanks to him and the Sweetwater team for many years of great service, thoughtfulness and invaluable advice.

I just wanna say out of all the preamps I could have picked while I was starting my home studio, Im glad I picked this guy! I fully believe that for the sound, features, and price , there is not a better preamp on the market! I love the preamp, it very clear, but has just enough saturation to make it not sterile! I also love that you can select 4 different impedances and it has lots of gain on tap, enough for most dynamic and some ribbon mics! I love that it has a DI and a really nice one at that! I love running my bass through this DI or an acoustic guitar! It retains the bottom end unlike alot of DI's that just sound thin! I have an Avalon U5 and I actually prefer the Isa's DI for some recordings! At the end of the day this is a pro preamp that could be at home in any studio, but If you are a singer/songwriter that just plays guitar and sings, this is the Preamp you should be looking at! down the road you could get more preamps, but Im glad Im building my studio around
this awsome lil dude!

I am astonished at the clarity and transparent quality of this device. When I recorded with this preamp hooked in, I was amazed at its ability to amplify a dynamic mic input by a factor of 100-200 WITHOUT coloring the sound! Thanks Bowen for suggesting the ISA One to me!

I have used the on board pre's from our audio interface for the last 5 years. While they didn't sound bad, I had always wondered if getting a high quality external preamp would improve our sound quality significantly. I didn't want to spend this kind of money and get a 5-10% increase in quality; I wanted to be blown away. And my wish came true!!! Wow!!! First off, the signal to noise ratio is SO much better than what we were using previously... I record audio books for a living, so a quiet signal chain is crucial to our success; there are no guitars or drums to mask that hiss!!! This thing just made cleaning that noise out with noise reduction plug ins a thing of the past!!! Secondly, the actual sound quality of the preamp is pristine. I feel like I am finally hearing the true sound of my voice for the first time. Finally, the impedance selector is something I didn't know I needed until I had it. It allows me to change to tone of our mic to suit our other voice actors. Speaking of mic's, I use this with an SM7b, which is a notorious gain hog. I used to have to run a cloud lifter to get the gain up enough to make it usable. The cloud lifter is now acting as a door stop.

This preamp is super transparent and clear. I paired it with my AKG C214 and it has taken my recording to a whole other level. Sadly, I sold it, but I will be getting another one real soon. Recommend it others!

The ISA One is, first of all, a very good and a very transparaent, mic pre and DI. The ability to blend both at once is tremendous (rather like the RND 5017, but much handier, as you'll see). I find myself usng it just to monitor other, less equipped, mic pres, just to use the excellent built-in headphone amp (don't underestimate this utility), when I'm looking for a different flavor.

Despite the use of top-line Lundahl transformers and its designer (yes, a guy named Rupert) heritage, this isn't a 'color' pre, but it isn't quite the "straight wire with gain", either, as it seems to impart a nice harmonic sheen to every signal that passes through, while leaving it intact enough to stack tracks without issues. Always sounds right.

I liked it so much, that I bought two, and then three, although the third is a gift for a talented nephew who just graduated from music school, and is recording... the first gift I thought of for him, since mine are so useful to me.

OK - the icing on the cake here is, by using the digital option card, which I have in one of my pair of ISA Ones, I can use the "Ext I/P" jack as input from the other, to have two channels of matched ISA bliss going out over a variety of digital formats: AES/EBU, ADAT, or SPDIF (using their breakout cable). The converters are high-spec and go up to any sample rate you'd care about, and sound great (transparent). This is usually how I use my ISA Ones, as a pair. While I have a variety of great mic preamps to use, and I do, these are always involved. I don't leave home without them.

Oh - I didn't even mention the switchable input impedance - so useful, you don't want to use anything without it, ever agan. Helps you match up and get the best out of not just condenser mics, but ribbons (like an AEA R84 or FatHead or Royer) and dynamics (Shure SM7b, RE20). It'll make all your mics sound great.

Very, very highly recommended audio tool. Start with one if your budget dictates, but eventually get a pair, and get one digital card.

i have this lovely preamp about few months and if u find how to get your correct sound from this baby u can feel the wonderful classic soul in your record!
thanks focusrite and sweetwater.

I have been using this piece for about 2 weeks now and I am nothing short of blown away.

I understand that it is a crisp sound but, seeing I produce primarily rock, heavy rock, some metal and Pop this pre helps all my Mics cut like a knife through the mix.

I only wish I had purchased one sooner... A LOT sooner.

I've been working in my project studio for over 20 years and have always looked for the best value products due to a limited budget for recording equipment. I make a purchase when I see professional quality at barely above consumer prices and this ISA One falls directly into that category. This mic pre-amp is fantastic quality for it's price point!

I now am turning to the ISA One as my primary pre for most tracking (knocking my VMP-2 tube pre off the top spot) and it handles everything really well. Really happy I bought it. I also added a Warm Audio WA76 limiter recently (another pro-quality piece at a consumer price) and the two together are giving me tracks that are top notch.

I amazed at the difference. My wife just bought this for me as an early Christmas gift and now she can't get me away from the studio. Truly the difference maker in my setup. My vocals have never sounded more fuller, and cleaner. A must have.

This is the difference in a project sound and a pro sound... seriously. Mics I have used for 20 years have totally new life. Not because they sound totally different, but because they sound perfectly right, sitting snugly in the mix like my cat on a pile of clean laundry. There is a reason the circuitry here changed the recording field forever. If you're not quite ready to buy this, it should only be because you're saving up for two of them!

I love this guy. It has to be the most versatile pre out there. It sounds good on everything. When I track, this is the last thing before my 192s.

This is an excellent clean mic pre. If your looking for tons of color, this pre isn't for you but if you want to record what you hear, the ISA one, is the one.

I use the ISA one to record acoustic guitar and it gives a great sense of "air" to the recording. As a Bass DI or a Guitar pre the ISA one shines. I never used to use amp sims as I wasn't happy with the sound. It turned out my problem was the preamp. My amp simulators never sounded so good. Remember, its much harder to clean up the "dirt" from a recording than to add it in later if needed.

If you want a "no color", "record what you hear" preamp,at a very resonable price the ISA One is it!

I've owned this preamp for about 2 years now. Its 1/3rd of what I call the "Preamp Holy Trinity", the three types of pre's any engineer should own. Transformer based, transformer-less, and tube. This is the transformer based pre. You can think of this as a relative to a Neve preamp. This preamp can be a little harsh on sibilance, which is pretty common for transformer based preamps. Having said that, this preamp excels on anything you need to capture with an airy open sound to it. It makes acoustic instruments shimmer with a ton of presence, which helps things stay up front in the mix (something that's difficult for tube pre's to do). It stacks really well, you can run all your tracks through this and they still won't muddy up too much. In fact there seems to be a nice cumulative effect with this preamp, the more you run through it, the more character your recording has. And the real shocker about this pre IMO is how amazing the DI sounds for bass. I have Radial's with custom transformers, and a few other great preamps to run through and yet the DI on this one does it right. It keeps the high end content of the bass right where you need it, making it a lot easier to mix in a dense mix and still be able to tell what the bass is doing. I was very shocked when I found out how good the DI sounds. I'm so impressed with how well this pre has performed that I'm going to sell it to upgrade to the whole channel strip ISA430.

I thought I'd share my experience with my isa one and maybe it will help someone else.

I have a projectmix io as my interface which annoyingly doesn't have a pad on the inputs. Mix that with the fact that the isa one doesn't have an outPut volume control it means the Main out of the isa one is too hot for the ins. It is impossible to not clip. Even pushing main out to balanced line in (without the gain boost on the mic input).

To correct this, I go from the headphone out on the Isa one to a line input. This allows you to control output volume. However, doing this without also plugging in the output on the isa one into a mic input created an unusable amount of noise. I'm sure this is simply my inexperience, however with this all hooked up it sounds clean and amazingly quiet.

I should mention that I have a DBX compresser / de-Esser / gate -expander plugged into the insert of the isa one. The DBX 286s specifically.

This combo is fantastic for me and my ear.

For the price, the Isa one is just awesome!

Hope this helps someone else :)

Sounds great and is extremely flexible. The flexibility has come in handy many times. I mainly use it to play trombone with FX, and I can use the dual meters to balance FX and dry volume easily. Being able to leave the left meter as the pre-insert level even with the insert engaged makes it possible to use the insert button to route the sound through FX and still monitor the mic gain, plus you can duplicate the output from FX to the external input on the back and monitor the return from FX on the right side. It's easy to set the levels of new FX sounds with the side by side meters. The headphone amp sounds good. I haven't used the DI much, but I thought it sounded fine. The build quality is fantastic and I love the portability.

I looked at preamps for a long time. I always read people saying things like "It helps my tracks sit in the mix better." and that they could "hear a difference". Now I see what they mean. I couldn't tell you that this sounds different or more clear than my MOTU ultralite's preamps... But when I listen to my finished mix, it definitely does sound clearer and just right. It's an obvious difference but I can't tell what is different. It just sounds better.

i read the first 2 reviews and i was quite scared about buying one of this. since i own a focusrite voicemaster pro i thought i would be better not to get one. but i got around a used isa one the price was good so i went for it. i love it very clean and my mic sounds waaaayyyy better than it did with the VMP. what i'm doing now is using the VMP for compression expansion and eq

After some extensive research, I recently purchased the Focusrite ISA One and the UA Solo 610 from my good friend, Mark Bruhn, at Sweetwater. What this did was give me a very nice and well respected Solid State Transformer based preamp and a very nice and well respected Tube preamp for not a whole heck of a lot of money (per se ;-).
I'd recommend the ISA One to be anybody's first preamp as it is so versatile, it sounds really great and the price is outstanding. The mic preamp itself has 4 impedance settings with the 110 being my favorite. Adding the DI and other goodies is just icing on the cake, especially at this price point. If they'd only make it (and the UA Solo 610) as a rackmount unit ;-)

I LOVE my Focusrite ISA One! This unit has made a huge impact on my recordings. The sound is clean, clear, and detailed. It was exactly what I needed to take my recordings to the next level. A big thanks to Nick Schenkel my Sweetwater Sales Engineer for helping me to find this amazing pre-amp!

I learned a lot after buying this unit. One thing is that besides monitors, a preamp is the most important buy one can make for a home studio. This amp is not one to color your sound with any character. What I found is that it is crystal clear. I was able to change the sounds of my recording by changing mics, adjusting mic positions, etc, to get the sound I wanted. It picks up the full spectrum of sound that is fed into it and leaves you with plenty of room to eq what you don't want. . My recordings were immediatley improved and I can now hear the individual tracks more clearly and more pronounced.. The impedance matching feature is an amazing feature that will get the best sound out of your mic. Spend your money where it counts. This is an amazing preamp and you won't regret buying it.

The pre is well worth the price. If you are looking for big phat mojo vocals, look elsewhere, but if you want clean, smooth transparent vocals you cant go wrong. It adds this "sheen" to the top end that makes the vocals sound "glossy" (if that makes any sense lol) but really nice i love it, and by the way, im using it with a blue blueberry mic. great combo!

This "little" box rocks. It makes my TLM 102 sound just that much better, especially on the ISA 110 setting. I would describe the sound as full and wet, with the low-end getting tons of love.

If you're looking for a clean but rich sound, pick up this preamp!

Very clear concise vocals excellent preamp I"m very happy

But sometimes, you get what you need. Although I would prefer a rack mount, this does all I ask of it. Fantastic preamp, of course. Digital out with the optional card. Nice big VU meter.

I really like this preamp. It's clear, very low noise floor, tons of gain,and tons of options. I can use it to record both guitar and vocal, if I'd like. If it ain't pro gear, it's gettin' pretty close to it!

I have been involved in recoding in pro studios for going on 20+ years. The best recordings were made using the Focusrite ISA Two. I was so impressed by the sound quality that when I put together my own project studio I had to have one of my own. I purchased the ISA One from Sweetwater a few months ago and I can tell you it is by far the best addition I could have made to my studio. Headroom for days even on dynamic and ribbon mics. The Focusrite ISA one can hold it's own even against my Chandler TG2. The ISA One has become my go to mic pre.

This preamp is awesome for the price point. I read a review that said it does not have headroom, well that is why you adjust the knobs and lower it if need be, you do not have to record loud in the digital world. Any who, this is a great piece of gear. Get a good solid gain that has headroom with this in your recording. If you have Pro Tools take the recording and tweak with your clip gain to your desired volume and enjoy! If you are serious about your work and do not have a huge budget my advice would be to no go with the 100 and 200 buck options and buy this. If you have to save some more cash then it is worth it. If you have the 1k budget get a UA Solo 610. You wont be disappointed!

Pristine vocals. Whatever mic you're using will sound more detailed and less muddy through the Focusrite ISA One. The only downside is you'll probably want to re-record the vocals on your old tracks after hearing the clarity the ISA One brings to your mix. With a good condenser mic and the ISA One, your vocals will sound brighter even without eq, compression or effects! Add to this a solid build quality, moderate price, and the tremendous amount of low noise gain this preamp delivers, and you have a great choice for your home or pro studio.

Really blown away with the quality and features of this preamp. The ability to use both the DI and mic pre together is really a unique feature. I also love the impedance selector, I used this with a Shure SM7B and it really came to life. I doubt I'll use the headphone cue system, but it's a nice added feature. I don't think I'll be purchasing the A/D card, so I can't speak on the quality of that.

Sound wise, this is a pretty transparent sounding pre, with tons of clean gain, even with the gain cranked. As other reviewers have said, if you're looking for a colored pre, look elsewhere. This thing just does what it's supposed to, and has exceeded my expectations.

The ISA ONE has the power make a dead mic very lively. It is very stylish and has all thats needs for a powerful rich vocal or instrument sound. I have the ISA 220 and now at my second Voice Over studio the ISA ONE. Focusrite preamps has a very unique sound and if you compare it to others u would hear it. These preamps give your vocals a vintage that vintage yet modern sound. I just Love it.

I got this to use as another color and higher quality pre than my original Firepod. It's just sounds right, not too clean, not too colored and is pretty flexible with the different impedance settings. It is more on the clean side, and doesn't have an input and output for driving but just works so well I wouldn't even want to overdrive it. I use this for everything, especially vocals. Everything I've made with it has been more fun to work on and listen to.

I used to record with a Mackie VLZ mixer, and I always felt good about the XDR pres. I did several projects with them with good results but was looking to upgrade. My main hope for the ISA one was that it would stack better in my mixes. With the Mackie, the more tracks I built up, the harder it was to mix, I had to do lots of EQing and compressing to keep the detail of all the tracks, and even then, it didn't always work.
Out of the box I AB'd the ISA one with the Mackie and the ISA sounded like I took a sock off the mic. I just finished a project using the ISA one exclusively, and am happy to report that it was so easy to mix. Every track stayed "hard" and kept its detail, nothing went mushy. I did almost no EQing and compressing, it just sounded good the way it was. What a difference.
Several other things I like so far about the unit: It is solidly built. The DI is nice for recording bass, miking the cabinet with the other input.
And if I ever need to upgrade, I can get the digital output.
My only wish is that it was stereo.
I was a little bummed that it didn't come with the flight case, but I found that it fit really nicely in an old Pearl kick pedal case I had lying around.

This is a great Pre. Period. the best way I can describe what it does to the voice is to paraphrase what I read a while ago. The sound going through the pre is akin to looking through a glass of water. You can see through it, but there is definitely something going on. My guess is the Lundhal transformer with the circuit topology gives whatever passes through it a 'glossy sheen'.
This is not just an entry level pre into the 'Big Boy' camp, but I would say is absolutely professional in ins own rite. This pre has GOBS of gain..approx. 80db.
Just 4.5, not 5 because the DI input does not sound great to my ears. But that's really nit-picking. If you can't get a good sound out of this pre, then change your profession.

can`t go wrong with unit. Beside the pre, which is very clean, quiet with a focused low-end, all the extra features like cue monitoring ,impedance setting,trim feature and separate DI make it a pleasure to use. Recordings stack well and sound detailed .

Me and my friends do hip/hop pop and downsouth music and this pre is a killer we all have the same setup.... i run a neumann tlm 49 thru the focusrite and it makes the vocals sound crystal clear.... i have confiedence and can say that my recordings have close to a multi million dollar sound.... your mic is important.. and ur preamp is VERY important to boost ur signal up to that line level...if u want a top of the line sound u need good wires.... a decent computer (MAC) good plugins (WAVES MERCURY BUNDLE) a good sounding room you dont want any reverb.... a decent interface with good converters... good monitors... and the reflexionfilter that i have mad my vocals sound better.... its a way to acheive a very very good sound without paying a arm and a leg for studio sessions become ur own engineer and do your homework on different equipment.. mics etc etc.... yungmannytwv@yahoo.com

This is my first review here on Sweetwater, usually I'm too busy to leave reviews when I buy gear, but this preamp is great! I have had/still have a a avalon 737/ M5 Presonus ADL, Grace, UA 110 and 610, Great River ME1nv, a prism orpheus and mytek converters, and some other stuff I cant remember. But this is my favorite preamp of them all. I actually pick this over the others on my voice as it usually sounds just as good or better as the others (microphones make more difference) and the 0 latency monitoring is great-though only mono if you want to listen to what your recording. The DI is ok, but I still use my U5, but i figure the DI on this is pretty thrown in for free, so for what it is its great. The box is wide enough just to fit beside my U5 in my rack but takes up about 2.5 rack spaces and cant be mounted so that's a pain. Overall if your looking for a preamp to record pretty much anything this is a great choice

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!!

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!

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.

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!

I used to hate this preamp. It was my least favorite of all of them. This is in comparison to an Avalon 737SP, a BAE 1073 DMP, SSL Six Channel, Peavey VMP-2,a CAPI VP-26, Chameleon Labs 7602, Camden EC-1, and two True P-Solo's. The problem is, it sounds good with some mics, and not so good with others. I didn't like it with my Audio Technica AT4047. I absolutely hate it with my Miktek M300. (It sounds boomy and lifeless.) However, it sounds nice with my Stam SA47 mkII, Chandler TG mic, Warm WA-67 and Aston Origin mics. It also sounds good with the Spirit. It's worth the money, especially since it also has a headphone amp and send and return jacks. Lots of nice features, but I think it sounds best on the ISA setting. Buy it!

This was a gift and man it's awesome. I'm running my C-214 through it and it makes my vocals sound fuller, up close and expensive.
Perfect addition to the studio!!

ISA One

My venue is simply a home studio. I record directly into a 16 channel Interface with no eq other than compression limiting before I am in the box. ISA is my primary pre for most tracking it handles everything really well. I have Studio Projects, Universal Audio Solo models (solid state 110, and tube 610), DBX, Golden Age, several ARTmodels, and others. I have used Avalon and many others. I find that the ISA-One has multiple alternatives for microphone matching and tone variation, and it is clean and transparent without being harsh. I started with one for Primary vocals and now have four. Two for vocals one for bass and one for kick drum. I occasionally sub another preamp for a different sound but usually use the ISA for my main vocals, which most times would be Tube Mic into the ISA. The only other accessory I use with the ISA is the PRO-VLA (ISA into Pro VLA into interface). I have since purchased additional Pro VLA units and paired each side with and ISA. This setup seems to work out well for me. I did try to put the PRO VLA in the ISA Loop but have found that sometimes I must reverse the polarity,( something happens in the signal chain which reverses polarity), but the signal is still clean. I use one of these units for direct Bass guitar and Kick Drum. I have heard some scoff at this preamp but in my mind, this unit is a pro quality piece of studio gear. It is easy to get a clean signal out of this with loads of headroom in the volume department. I have never had to push this unit. It does not seem to break a sweat. I would not worry about purchasing one of these, as I believe they are a step up from the preamp in most boards and interfaces I have tried. I only wish (as someone else has stated) that they made the ISA- One and the solo 610 in a rack mount unit but then I would have to sell all of these and start all over.

I use it in my Home Studio and it brings out the voice of my artists. One very useful feature is that you are able to insert a compressor or gate when recording out of the studio, most especially in non-ideal rooms.

It is good for a very clean crispy sound from vocal or instruments. If you are looking for a warmer sound, not this one.

I picked up the ISA One to upgrade the front end of my home studio - I'm a guitarist by trade so both a clean micpre for acoustic and DI for electric are crucial for me. The ISA is a fully professional product and is a definite step up from 'prosumer' gear that populates some many bedroom studios these days. I've always believed that a good sounding room and a good set of ears are way more important than the equipment but the gear does make a difference. The ISA mic pre is very quiet and has very nice detail and depth. It's not a pre I would describe as having a lot of character but I think that's a strength here - clear and quiet with a minimal sonic footprint. It has an adjustable impedance selector which yields great results with a variety of mics. The DI sounds excellent, punchy and clear. It makes all my guitar processing plug ins (Guitar Rig, Waves GTR, Digi Eleven) sound much better because I'm feeding them a better source signal. My electric bass tracks also really shine through the DI and seem to sit in the mix much better. Overall the ISA is a welcome addition to my setup. I bought the Bluebird mic bundle (an extra $100) and I think I'll be picking up a 2nd channel soon. The ISA, IMHO, is far superior to a full featured channel strip at the same price point. Tracking through this unit gives me pro quality parts that I can deliver to clients with confidence.

It's really clear for vocals. There are better bangs for the buck. When I plugged in bass to the DI it was surprisingly harsh and unusable...

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!

No headroom, and dull sound. For the price of this you can purchase a UA 610 or even Focusrites Octopre (which sounded at least usable in comparison). Don't let the Neve association lure you.