New Focusrite ISA C8X Audio Interface

Focusrite Red 8Line Thunderbolt 3 Audio Interface with Dante

58x64 Thunderbolt 3 Audio Interface, with 2 Red Evolution Mic Preamps, Thunderbolt 3, DigiLink, and Dante Network Connectivity
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Item ID: Red8Line
Focusrite Red 8Line Thunderbolt 3 Audio Interface with Dante
Price:$3,699 and 99 cents
Special Financing - Ends Aug 2, 2026. $103/month with 36 month financing*

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Focusrite Red 8Line Thunderbolt 3 Audio Interface with Dante
$3,699.99
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Focusrite Red 8Line Thunderbolt 3 Audio Interface with Dante
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Price:$3,699 and 99 cents
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Top-tier Conversion with Thunderbolt 3, DigiLink, and Dante Connectivity

Whether you use the Focusrite Red 8Line as a Thunderbolt 3 audio interface for your DAW, as a front end for your Pro Tools | HD recording system, or as an I/O device within your Dante digital audio network, you’ll be amazed at what you hear. The Red 8Line is equipped with top-quality converters with up to 121dB of dynamic range, plus a pair of Focusrite Red Evolution mic preamps for world-class input quality. Ample analog I/O is available, including dedicated monitoring outputs for speakers and headphones. And with connectivity options including Thunderbolt 3, Dante, DigiLink, ADAT optical, and S/PDIF, the Focusrite Red 8Line is one of the most versatile professional audio interfaces you’ll find.

Pristine Red Evolution preamps

The Red 8Line’s software-controlled Red Evolution mic preamps deliver 63dB of gain, so you can use your favorite low-output ribbon microphones. Also onboard is Focusrite’s famous Air effect, which emulates the sound of the company’s acclaimed transformer-based ISA preamps. If you’re looking to bring out the breathiness of a vocal or enhance the presence of an acoustic guitar, Sweetwater is sure the Red 8Line will delight you.

High-end converters with parallel path summing

Focusrite spec’d the Red 8Line with its high-end conversion system that features parallel path summing, in which two matched converters run in parallel to optimize the S/N ratio. The converters operate at up to 24-bit/192kHz sampling and boast a dynamic range of 119dB (A/D) and 121dB (D/A). Noise and distortion? Not here! With a ruler-flat frequency response of 20Hz to 35kHz (±0.2dB), the Red 8Line delivers a miniscule 0.0008% THD+noise.

Thunderbolt, DigiLink, and Dante — connectivity you need

The Red 8Line is designed for the modern studio. Dual DigiLink connectors give you a direct connection to Pro Tools | HD systems and Avid interfaces. Dual Thunderbolt 3 ports with incredibly low round-trip latency let you daisy-chain your displays or hard drives. Working in a Dante network environment? The Red 8Line is equipped with the Brooklyn II Dante chipset, offering up to 32 Tx and 32 Rx flows with an amazingly low 0.25ms latency across the network.

Includes an exclusive software bundle

Your new Focusrite audio interface comes with a killer software bundle headlined by a 3-month Avid Pro Tools Artist subscription and Ableton Live Lite. Focusrite has also partnered with Splice to give you a free 3-month Splice Sounds subscription when setting up a new Splice account. Splice Sounds offers millions of high-quality, royalty-free loops, one-shots, and presets, with new releases daily from your favorite sound designers, artists, and producers. Artists are using Splice to create all kinds of music, from chart-topping pop and Grammy-winning albums to underground mix tapes and cinematic scores. Making studio-quality productions has never been easier when you buy a Focusrite audio interface. Along with this, you also get the Focusrite Hitmaker Expansion, which includes:

  • Antares Auto-Tune Access
  • Softube Marshall Silver Jubilee 2555
  • Native Instruments Massive
  • Landr Studio (plus 5 free masters)
  • Brainworx bx_console Focusrite SC
  • Focusrite Red 2 & 3 Plug-in Suite
  • XLN Audio Addictive Keys
  • XLN Audio Addictive Drums 2
  • Relab LX480 Essentials
  • Fast Balancer

Focusrite Red 8Line Audio Interface Features:

  • Audio interface with Thunderbolt 3, Dante, and DigiLink connectivity
  • 2 Focusrite Red Evolution mic preamps, with acclaimed Air effect for sweeter highs
  • High-resolution 24-bit/192kHz converters with parallel path summing
  • Dual Thunderbolt 3 ports enable easy daisy-chaining
  • Dual DigiLink connectivity to Pro Tools | HD systems and Avid interfaces
  • Dual Ethernet ports for Dante audio-over-IP networking
  • Vanishingly low round-trip latency
  • Focusrite Control software
  • Focusrite Red plug-in suite
  • Free Brainworx bx_console re-creation of Focusrite’s ISA 110 and ISA 130 modules

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Tech Specs

  • Computer Connectivity: Thunderbolt 3
  • Form Factor: Rackmount
  • Simultaneous I/O: 58 x 64
  • A/D Resolution: 24-bit/192kHz
  • Number of Preamps: 2
  • Phantom Power: Yes
  • Analog Inputs: 2 x 1/4", 2 x XLR (mic), 1 x DB-25 (line)
  • Analog Outputs: 2 x 1/4" (monitor), 1 x DB-25 (line)
  • Digital Inputs: 2 x Optical Toslink (ADAT), 1 x Coax (S/PDIF)
  • Digital Outputs: 2 x Optical Toslink (ADAT), 1 x Coax (S/PDIF)
  • Headphones: 2 x 1/4" TRS (stereo)
  • Thunderbolt: 2 x Thunderbolt 3
  • Data I/O: 2 x Ethernet (Dante)
  • Network: Dante, RedNet
  • Other I/O: 2 x Mini DigiLink
  • Clock I/O: In/Out (word clock), In/Out (loop sync)
  • OS Requirements - Mac: macOS 10.12 or later
  • OS Requirements - PC: Windows 10 or later
  • Rack Spaces: 1U
  • Power Supply: Standard IEC AC cable
  • Height: 1.73"
  • Width: 19"
  • Depth: 13.4"
  • Weight: 10.67 lbs.
  • Manufacturer Part Number: AMS-RED-8LINE

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Reviews

Niche Perfection
Does exactly what it's supposed to do with a stable and unhurried grace. A solid and dependable studio center.
Powerful and sleek and beautiful-
Love it.
Music background: Score mixer/Dx edit/film
Apollo owners perspective
I come from Universal Audio Apollos. I'm not an engineer. I don't claim to have a golden ear. My friend has this interface and what made me fall in love with it is when I heard various mics run through those preamps. They are incredible compared to the Apollo granted the Apollo has modeling which is a feature I rarely used.

Beyond the preamps there is Dante. Yeah if you want you can just get this and hook it up thunderbolt and even daisy chain a few devices. But I also got the rednet control. Dante is very complex and the support from focusrite worked with me over several days to get it set up with a few emails a day was slower but I should have called support instead of email. I mean in this era of expensive thunderbolt cables that only go so far Dante enables you to have an interface controller 50 feet from your interface or whatever length you get your Ethernet cord. Incredibly flexible for an expanding studio.

I purchased some satellites from ua so I can still use the plugins in my productions. Daisy chains from the back of the red 8 line perfectly. Highly recommend this interface.

But Dante is something to shy away from if you're not extremely patient setting up your interface or just not good with tech. You're going to need one of those skill sets if you want to set up with Dante.

The conversion I would like to say is better than the apollos but I haven't done an A B test as soon as I hooked up the red8 line I haven't plugged the apollos back in. So take that with a grain of salt.

If you're like a lot of the recording engineers here at Sweetwater, then you probably grew up with stories of the legendary Focusrite Forte console and its ISA preamps. Our relationship with Focusrite is extremely tight, and we regularly enjoy everything from the inside scoop on new gear to fish and chips when they stop by Sweetwater. While Focusrite still produces the classic analog preamps, EQs, and compressors we love, our Sales Engineers are just as excited to introduce our customers to their remarkable RedNet network audio platform, and we have worked with Focusrite to outfit studios, churches, venues, and schools with this awesome technology in action. From everyday audio interfaces to full system designs, if you want Focusrite gear, Sweetwater has you covered.