Focusrite Clarett 2Pre Focusrite

Better. Faster. Easier.
Excellent sound is the quality Clarett owners love most. With up to 119dB dynamic range, superbly low noise, precision 24/192 conversion and two specially-designed mic preamps with a unique analogue “Air” effect, Clarett 2Pre simply sounds great, easily out-performing other interfaces in its class and beyond. Meanwhile, its astonishing 1.67ms round-trip latency* simplifies your workflow and lets you use your favourite plug-ins in real time.

Two New Clarett Mic Pres with extra ‘Air’
The mic pres have been designed especially for the Clarett range, with plenty of gain, yet low noise and distortion. In addition, they include a special “Air” feature that switches in an analogue model of the classic transformer-based Focusrite ISA mic pre. The Instrument inputs also feature extra headroom to handle the loudest pickup.

Precision Digital Conversion
Clarett features Focusrite’s class-leading 24/192 conversion: with up to 119dB dynamic range, Clarett offers the cleanest way yet to get music in and out of your DAW.

The clarity of Clarett
The Clarett range is acclaimed for its sound quality. It’s due partly to Clarett’s specially-designed mic pres with the unique “Air” effect, adding air and clarity especially to vocals and acoustic instruments. Plus Focusrite’s precision digital conversion, carefully balancing noise floor, dynamic range, frequency response and distortion for the best possible sound to and from your DAW.

We invited audio engineering professionals to a blind listening test at Riverside Studios in Berlin to compare the sound of Clarett to that of the Apollo 8p, from Universal Audio, makers of the Apollo Duo; and the Apogee Ensemble. What did they discover? Watch the Thunderbolt Interface Shootout and find out!

Plug Straight In
Do not underestimate the quality of the Clarett range DI. This newly designed instrument input allows for even the hottest of guitar pick-ups to be recorded without clipping, and the performance specifications easily match some of the finest dedicated DI’s on the market. Coupled with the low latency environment, now you can get the most out of recording through your favourite amp sim and guitar effect plug-ins in real time.

Revolutionise your Workflow
Clarett’s ultra-low round-trip latency completely transforms your workflow. If you’re used to having to build two different mixes – one using input monitoring to overdub, the other using the DAW for playback – the good news is that now, one is enough. Build your mix on the DAW and use it whether you’re overdubbing (monitoring the input you’re recording with the new Focusrite Control software mixer) or playing back, with all your plugins in place, all the time. Use your favourite plugins while recording too – whether it’s reverb on a vocal, a guitar amp simulator, or even virtual instruments live on stage.

Intuitive, Easy to Use Software Mixer and Sweet Sounding Plug-ins
Focusrite Control is a brand new software mixer designed for easy configuration of monitoring and routing setups. Simple and intuitive to use, Focusrite Control offers a traditional mixer workflow and allows immediate access to internal hardware functions. Also included is a sweet sounding plug-in collection comprising Softube’s world-class Time and Tone Bundle, with TSAR-1R Reverb, Tube Delay, Saturation Knob and Drawmer S73 Intelligent Master Processor. This is complemented by the Red 2 & Red 3 AAX, AU & VST Plug-in Suite, which accurately models Focusrite’s classic Red range equalizer and compressor hardware.

 ‘Gain Halos’ help keep levels in check
The front panel inputs include Focusrite’s signature “Gain Halo” – an illuminated ring around the gain control that lights up green when there’s signal and red when it’s too high. There’s a main monitor knob plus a high-power headphone output with its own volume control.

The ins and outs
Clarett 2Pre offers 10 audio inputs and four outputs, including two front-panel multi-function inputs and a headphone output, plus four rear-panel line outputs (one pair doubling the headphone feed). There are also eight channels of ADAT-format digital input – ideal for adding eight channels of digital mic pre.

Clarett OctoPre lets you add eight additional ‘Air’-enabled mic/line preamps – including two front-panel instrument inputs – each with a switched insert for outboard processors, and eight line outputs. Mic pres and A-D/D-A conversion are identical to the rest of the Clarett range. Clarett OctoPre connects to the ADAT light-pipe ports on your Clarett interface – or any system with ADAT I/O. Feed the mic pres to the analogue line outs to drive a live board while you record via the digital outputs. Or drive them from the ADAT inputs to add eight more DAW channels to an analogue mix.

User Guides
Sometimes you just need to see how adding new equipment to your setup is going to work. Find out just how easy it is to get the benefits of Clarett 2Pre, along with some example setup examples and diagrams here.

 Tech Spec
Supported Operating Systems

Please visit our OS Compatibility Checker for more information on supported operating systems.

Thunderbolt cable sold separately

We always quote ‘real world’ performance figures (measured to the AES17 standard). Some companies choose to quote chipset performance, which is misleading, and here’s why.

THD+N
0.001%
Noise EIN
–128 dBu (A-Weighted)
Maximum input level
+18 dBu
Gain Range
57dB

Line Inputs
Frequency Response
20 Hz – 20 kHz +/-0.1 dB
Dynamic Range
118 dB (A-weighted)
THD+N
0.001%
Maximum input level
26dBu
Gain Range
57dB

Instrument Inputs
Frequency Response
20 Hz – 20 kHz ± 0.1 dB
Dynamic Range
116 dB (A-weighted)
THD+N
0.001%
Maximum input level
+14dBu
Gain Range
57dB

Line & Monitor Outputs
Dynamic Range (Line Outputs)
119dB
Dynamic Range (Monitor Outputs)
118dB
Maximum Output Level (0 dBFS)
+16 dBu, balanced
THD+N
0.0007%

Headphone Outputs
Dynamic Range
116dB
THD+N
0.0008%
Maximum Output Level
+16dBu