I put this on TGP. Pasting here in case anyone is interested.
Bottom line, if you liked Saffire, the Clarett is much better thought out, better sounding, and a lot of bang for the buck:
Focusrite Clarett 2Pre - Initial Review
Registration: 7/10
First thing was to register it. It didn't accept my information the first 2 times online when I filled out the Bundle serial number part, but the third time it took to the information and registered it as a product I own. Slightly frustrating but I stuck with it and it worked eventually. it's a confusing series of jumps and kept forcing me to re-sign in then complained I was already signed in and that my Bundle ID wasn't recognized when it was exactly right. I typed it in the first 2 times and the 3rd successful time was just a copy/paste of the second attempt.
Installation: 10/10
Then I downloaded the software and installed it. All installed fine on the iMac.
Impressions of Unit's Solidness: 10/10
My impression of the Unit is one of hardiness. It's heavy and metal and compact but not a crowded interface. Way more solid than any other unit I've held under $1200. When you toggle the Instrument/Microphone or Air ON/OFF setting you can hear a physical click from within the unit. No chip there. Solid switch happening. Impressive.
Design: 9/10
So it's design is very well thoughtout and pleasing if you like RED, lol. I like it, easy to find in a sea of black rack mount gear.
Initial Hookup: 2/10
I then hooked up everything. No sound. I played with the Focusrite Control software (square black icon that says FC in Applications) I checked all the cables, verified the signals, no sound. I could see the Control software showing signal, but nothing coming out to the Headphones or OUPUT 3, 4 to my Monitors. So then I did what I used to do on the Saffire: Factory Reset
Well **** hit the fan. The iMac blew out so quickly I thought lighting struck it! It then turned black and then a weird screen came up saying something caused a problem with the computer and I should hit any key to reboot. I did this and it rebooted (I have an SSD so it rebooted in 10 seconds) and all comes up and the Clarett 2Pre is now working properly. The greyed out Hardware Inputs now were functional looking and I could hear out Headphones and Outputs, etc.
This was VERY weird to say the least, but hey, it worked. The tutorial video just said that the Control software would, maybe, update the firmware. I saw no such thing happen (the video waffled on this issue, saying you might have to, you might not) but at that point, no sound until Factory Reset was done, which was not in the video. So the video didn't help, nor did I see anything in the manuals to suggest doing what I did to get it to work.
As to the low grade, this comes from a few things. One is, nothing in the manual prepared me for this, or had a response to it. But mostly, anything that causes an iMac to crash is RARE. Personally, I've not seen it in 3 years. Additionally, for initial setups of Audio Hardware, my prejudice is that a unit should be factory defaulted to just be an open mix setup where you hook it up you hear SOMETHING out of the Headphones! Maybe others won't have this issue. I just report here as it happened. In the end, no permeant damage, all works.
Manuals: 8/10
Clear, good visuals, nice link references. Troubleshooting links you to an answerbase on the website. I couldn't find what that weird cable connection with a seeming 'K' on the back does. Just labelled along with the Power On/Off. The Control manual appears well done.
Videos: 9/10
Well done, even if none off these addressed my issue. If i can "fix" something, I figure it's part of the intuitive-ness of the software/hardware, so no harm, no foul.
No Thunderbolt Cable: 8/10
Frustrating, but I understand why they don't include one. This is more Apple's fault for putting micro devices in their stupid wires and not expecting units to handle the protocol. Focusrite's defense is correct: they can't make one cheaper than third party alternatives. But they CAN partner with third-party and offer it in the box. (hence my 2 off for lack of business partnering) Would OWC not allow their cables to not be bundled with Focusrite? After all, I doubt Focusrite made their own power cord. Who does these days? If they did, it would surely have their name stamped on it so I wouldn't have to mark it myself so I never get it mixed up with another wall-wart!
Sound: 11/10
This is largely why you buy these things and it doesn't disappoint. Kills the iMac's sound. Edges out Apogee which I really dig. This was noticeable clearer, more presence, more depth. As Advertised here! And all I heard was the D/A converter so far. A/D will come on the weekend.
Control Mix Software: 9/10
I HATE software interfaces between my hardware and DAW. But if I gotta live with it, this software is a radical improvement over their Saffire Mix Control software which was a quagmire for me. Never got used to it. Rare is it a company that can take Software 1 that is not well thought out for fluidity and clarity for the user, then produce Software 2 that very much is. This is a great one and probably could only be accused of being TOO simple! But I'd rather start there and add on as consumers make high demand requests. K.I.S.S principle at work here.
Summary So Far:
Some frustrations which are to be expected. Crashing my computer is a no-no, that requires a paddling on the rump. I'll withhold judgement until I see it again.Overall it appears to be a bang-for-the-buck device with professional sound quality, construction, and software control. Compared to the Saffire 24 Pro DSP I have, it seems like these two products were made by two entirely different companies. So this is quite the effort and upgrade on Focusrite's part.
NEXT:
This weekend I'll get to the Meat and Potatoes of this unit:
- Microphone hookup, phantom power
- Instrument
- ADAT for KPA
- Latency and DAW monitoring
- AIR
- setup to Reaper (not supported in the install video)
- setup to Logic Pro X.
From what I've seen so far, I'm encouraged it will be as advertised, keeping my fingers crossed.
Out of the foothills, next to climb the mountains!