Expanding Clarett 2 Pre - ADAT advice

[Chambo]

Hi, I need a bit of advice.

I have a Focusrite Clarett 2pre, but I need to use some more inputs. I can see that you can use ADAT to expand the (8) inputs/outputs.

Is there anything out there that people can recommend? I'm not going to be buying new, so I'm more than happy with older kit that works. I use a Mac

[James Perrett]

A used Focusrite Octopre is probably the best value for money or maybe an old 8 input Firewire interface that will work as a preamp in standalone mode now that few computers are able to use Firewire.

Personally I'd rather go for one of the Audient 8 channel preamps but even used ones are not cheap (though very good).

[fatbenelton]

I'm thinking of a new interface so my Scarlett OctPre Dynamic might be up for sale.

In any case can heartily recommend the Focusrite ones as being great value for money. I hear great things about the Audient ones too. One thing to look out for is to understand whether it's just extra audio in's or in and out you require.

For example, the standard Focusrite OctoPre and the Audient ASP800 are both great for getting audio into the computer but not out. If you want audio out via the interface back to the analogue domain (for example for effect sends/return or external summing) then you need to make sure it has ADAT in as well as ADAT out.

***EDIT - can see the Clarett 2 pre only has ADAT in so you can ignore the above! Anything with an ADAT out can put an extra 8 channels into your interface.

[Chambo]

Thanks, the older stuff looks great, it's just finding it!...and knowing what it is

[Chambo]

I looked at the Focusrite stuff and it looks reasonably priced, I noticed that Arturia has just brought https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/arturia-audiofuse-8pre Also saw the https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/production-expert-1/2020/1/10/presonus-announce-new-quantum-2626-interface-high-end-performance-without-a-high-end-price which looks reasonable.

So I'm not sure wether to just get a Focusrite and hook it up to the Clarett, or look at getting rid of the Clarett.

With small interfaces I get it, but with some of the bigger bits of kit I'm out of my league. I suppose there's also better bits of kit used for the same price as the Arturia and Presonus too.

[Watchmaker]

went I went through similar, I selected the Audient ASP800 as my additional both because the feature set is hugely flexible and the preamps are gorgeous. The ASP800 allows you to insert directly to the A/D convertors which is great if you want to route either processing or analogue pres without additional plumbing. db 25 connectors, but that's what patch bays are for!

I do all live drums through it now.

[Martin Walker]

went I went through similar, I selected the Audient ASP800 as my additional both because the feature set is hugely flexible and the preamps are gorgeous. The ASP800 allows you to insert directly to the A/D convertors which is great if you want to route either processing or analogue pres without additional plumbing. db 25 connectors, but that's what patch bays are for!

I've been through a similar process since buying my new Fireface UC, and came to the same conclusion - the Audient ADP800 will be the one for me when I need to expand, largely because of its excellent audio performance and the flexibility of its two instrument inputs.

If you want more colour options then ART's TubeOpto 8 might be a slightly cheaper option, as it offers starved valves and both gain and output levels for each channel, so you can up the gain and down the output level to 'drive' them into pleasing distortion - possibly good option for synths for instance!

Good set of measurements/feedback/comparison on ASP800 and TubeOpto 8 here:

https://www.tedlandstudio.com/copy-of-t ... ass-part-1

Martin

[James Perrett]

The ASP800 allows you to insert directly to the A/D convertors

According to the SOS reviews it is the ASP880 that allows you to insert directly to the A/D convertors rather than the ASP800. It is still a very useful unit though.

[Chambo]

Thanks for all of the help, its really useful to hear about people's experiences and how they use kit

[Hugh Robjohns]

The ASP800 allows you to insert directly to the A/D convertors...

The model numbers can get confusing -- all those eights! But I think you mean the ASP880 (or possibly the older ASP008). There is no way to access the A-D converters directly in the ASP800.

The original eight-channel rack-mount preamp was the ASP008. https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/audient-asp008

That was replaced with the ASP880 which was functionally very similar, but with a few design tweaks, the most significant being direct access to the A-D converters.

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/audient-asp880

And then came the less expensive ASP800 which had two full-featured preamps (with HMX and Iron controls) and six basic ones:

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/audient-asp800

[CS70]

Some time ago I was looking at an ADAT or AES/EBU 8 channels of conversion, and found both an Apogee Ensemble and an 8 channel Onyx firewire interface which could be had for little money.

What made me hesitate is that if you don't have the relevant hardware interface (firewire or, in case of Apogee, a mac) , then you're stuck if the interface for some reason loses its "standalone" routing setting. And I didn't..

But if you have an available firewire (or mac) computer that you can use to access the control panel of these interfaces should the need arise, you can really have a lot of conversion for very little money with a bit older units..

[Chambo]

Some of these look really cheap, especially as people are moving over to Thunderbolt. I suppose the only issue is getting up to date drivers if you want to use it as your main interface. The Focusrite and Motu equipment is really cheap! Like the look of the Apogee with the additional outputs.

[MrWolf94]

The ASP800 allows you to insert directly to the A/D convertors

According to the SOS reviews it is the ASP880 that allows you to insert directly to the A/D convertors rather than the ASP800. It is still a very useful unit though.

+1 on the inserts. It’s literally a patch bay but no tediously frustrating process with always have to check and change I/O’s. I’ve used inserts for 1176’s, 500 LB/modules and they are so much better than any manual patch bay. Now if we’re talking digital patch bays like a Flock I’m actually a big fan of and just feels like something that should’ve crossed over by now anyways. I mean every EDM inspired DAW like Reason etc has custom patching options. It just seems silly to me that we’re still using different colored cables and marking labels like it’s 1957.

[uselessoldman]

I think the questions you need to ask yourself is what level of quality are you after and just how many inputs and what sort mic/line/instrument do you really need or might need in the future. You obviously started out with what is a nice starter audio interface, but are you wanting to now go upmarket or just expand you options. Is it going to be used only at home or possibly mobile, live? Once you have established some basic criteria you can start to further focus in on your options and budget

The cheapest expansion I would recommend is the Behringer ADA8200 cheap and cheerful, ADAT 8 in 8 out BUT do not get the older ADAT8000 it has well known power supply issues !!

But do you want to expand your little box or replace it with something that has everything in one unit? It really does depend on what you hope to do in the future. AS for firewire issues, its not an issue so long as there are proper official windows 10 drivers, firewire works over thunderbolt so is futureproof - for now and probably many years to come.