Yea, I got the mail too!

Good for you! And I hope it lasts.

Keeping my fingers crossed…. Was already set on the RME Fireface 802, great interface with way better driver support, but I probably won’t like the TotalMix software (I don’t like manuals)

Some people are really the artists I can understand many considered attributes for selection of an interface, but I was always surprised, when I've heard that. Manual is the first thing, I usually walk through before purchasing some any new thing for a studio. Even for Clarett is good to know its possibilities, description of I/Os etc.
All DSP mixer control programs are essentially based around the simple usage pattern regardless of what graphical UI is around that..
Where (target physical out), what (contributing sources from live inputs or DAW) and how much (some kind of fader or knob).. there's not much space for inventions there and if someone manages to control physical mixer or DAW mixer, which is kind of pre-requisite to any work with audio and computer, then I'm pretty certain, this shouldn't be problem.

Anyway to each his own and good luck with Clarett, hopefully this last beta will fix particular iMac issue.

Michal

We'll see. I went that path as you know and I haven't looked back. Compared to my old Apogee Duet it was like lifting a veil on the sound from my monitors. So there's clearly a difference in D/A.

I hope it works out for you.

As for Total Mix it took a few days to get used to, but generally it's an easy interface to learn. But there are so many functions I am not using.

My old interface was also an Apogee Duet, with the Clarett same kind of experience. Listened to a blind test A/B between Apollo and RME (forgot the link) Almost everybody had the results reversed. RME much warmer and open sounding Apollo had almost a low cut filter. Almost regret that they fixed the Clarett

Total Mix is probably also a bit overkill for me...

Where did you get the updated drivers? I checked their site and even contacted support with no reply.

Focusrite support send the driver. Sometimes it takes a while for support to answer

How is it working for you? No dropouts?

No dropouts, working like it should.

That´s good to ear, i´m having dropouts randomly since day 1! confused
Is your system similar to mine? I´m running on am iMac 27" late 2012 3,2 Ghz i5!

No... It's iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015) 3,2 GHz Intel Core i5

I had an issue with the 4PRe changing from 4 channel to 2 channel analog output. Contacted Focusrite and they have followed up multiple times.
Looks like the cause was the Mini going to sleep and Focus Control not seeing the Clarett for a minute or so. Think this is resolved. Just changed setting on Mini to not go into sleep mode.
The customer support is very good from my limited experience.

Customer support is great but the iMac/thunderbolt problems are still not resolved, had to send it back in the end....

The issue is most likely the TB chips. FireWire the same issues. Some licensed chips always suffered from with communication.
The chip used in my late 2011 Mini, 2.5 Ghz i5 seems to work fine with a 4Pre.
The RME is a great interface.

ah, a reason to join gearslutz!

my experience with the clarett 8pre. this article almost scared me into inaction (well, into just sending interface back before it could bite me in $@#).

I have the new driver, but was getting significant clicking and popping. just got the unit week or so ago. i have both mac and pc thunderbolt computers. The unit is set 48 khz sample default.
After not getting the answer i needed here i searched focusrite site, and others. this is what i found. long story short, multiple solutions to try and fix my crackle.

I changed sample rate to 44.1, that worked. In fact, I changed it back to 96khz, and the clicking/popping didnt come back.

Not using as my main sound driver (using through DAW) in mac, that worked at all sample rates.

Messing with power save, etc, some of that stuff worked on pc.

Still messing with mac power settings, but since messing with sample rates worked im not to anxious to get that done. and i can get higher sample rates in DAW no problem (i dont really care about high sample rates with playback/DJ/most applications, for all that i hang out at 44.1khz). I am calling about PC today though cause it looses signal still, but i expect issues with beta firmware stuff.

I am keeping interface. latency, or lack thereof, is awesome. preamps awesome. ill post again if audio issues return, so far so good. I need a second interface to replace my backup/b-suite unit (an outdated presonus firestudio), considering getting another one of these if the WINDOWS driver become consistent and audio stays perfect. Or maybe just get UA interface for peace of mind (diversity), but im happy.

Focusrite site quote. . . .

"We have recently been made aware of some problems with Clarett interfaces when used in conjunction with the latest update to El Capitan (version 10.11.5) and later (including macOS Sierra) and a particular iMac Model (Model Identifier: iMac 17,1. iMac Retina 5K, 27-inch, Mid or Late 2015).

NOTE: It appears that once a system has been updated to 10.11.5, reverting to an older version of the OS from a backup does NOT appear to rectify the problem.

If you're unsure which specific Mac model you have, you can find this information by clicking the Apple Logo in the top left corner of the screen, then going to About This Mac > System Report. The 'Model Identifier' appears in the Hardware tab.

This issue tends to affect all sample rates above 44.1kHz, but you should get clear audio when playing back and recording using 44.1kHz.

We are discussing this issue with Apple as a matter of priority with a view to finding a solution as soon as possible. As soon as we have more information on this matter we will update this article."


and my mac is 2011 ,i7, 17 inch macbook pro, PC is a custom Sager/clevo build (thunderbolt 3 with apple adaptor, decent sound card, plenty of cpu/ram etc).

Knock on wood, i think i found the solution apple and focusrite are looking for. change to 44.1 and then go back to whatever rate u want.

I too am having this issue with my Late 2015 27 inch iMac 4.0 Ghz computer. I'm working on Pro Tools 12.7 using the Sierra operating system. You, spend good money on an interface and its not even working correctly. Ridiculous. The situation is very irritating. Even in 24k/44.1, I hear pops and spikes that gets into my recordings, not as often, but it definitely comes. Back. Sucks to say to an artist whose paying engineer that they need to do the take that they nailed, all over because the interface keeps acting out.

Has anyone heard if anything else is being done about this?

Getting same issue, using the updated driver and that's pretty much made zero difference. I'm going mad though, I've no easy way to tell if there's a static fault or if it's a driver fault, it's not like i have another easily acceptable sound card. Pulling my hair out here as the Clarett 4pre was bought (at great expense) to fix a prior pop / click issue.

Hi all,

Just to chime in here, this issue has been fixed by Apple as part of macOS Sierra 10.12.4, more info here: https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-...e-with-my-iMac

Best,
Jack // Focusrite Technical Support

It's really great that Focusrite got this fixed, but damn! it took a long time.

Right now I'm so happy I returned it almost a year ago. Think, I could've spent all year troubleshooting and not making any music.

I too am coming to the end of my patience with the Clarett. I'm on Windows and i've owned the Clarett since the back end of 2015. I cannot put up with the constant digital noise coming out of my right speaker (the left speaker has it but not as loud). I believe a lot of the issues i have with crashes in my DAW is due to the Clarett.
The last Windows driver was the beta that was released in Nov 2016. I think its time to cut my losses, sell it on and invest in a new Soundcard. I need a low latency device that has 8 ins, MIDI in, ADAT connectivity. My PC has a Thunderbolt 2 add in card (Asrock) but i think i don't want to risk another Thunderbolt device that i end up being a beta tester for. My Asrock z170 OC Formula PC has USB 2, USB 3 and USB 3.1 connectivity. Any recommendations guys? Do RME have a card that will meet my needs?

I'm having a very strange issue with my Clarett 8preX, which I purchased last fall. I haven't been able to find a single mention of this anywhere online so far...

Basically, when I switch on the "monitor control" for outputs 1&2 so I can use the built in volume knob on the front of the unit, the volume setting never actually settles in one spot, even though the knob is at rest. It constantly flutters at a high rate of speed between, for example, -16db / -17db / -18db... up and down, between 2 or 3 adjacent db settings constantly. The problem is that it passes artifacts through the audio output, little glitches matching these high speed fluctuations exactly! You can see the fluctuations perfectly reflected in the db setting portion of the output meter in the Focusrite Control software, which is what clued me into what is going on. Otherwise, I'd still be tearing my hear out trying to figure out where this noise was coming from!

At first I had my interface hooked up to an analog console, and I had the monitor control feature turned off. When the monitor control is turned off in Focusrite Control, everything sounds perfect. Turn it back on and poof... artifact city. Super glitchy, no way anyone can work that way. I just missed this for a few months because I had the monitor control turned off.

I've read about "pops and clicks", which is not what I've experiencing, and updating to the newest Sierra etc. (which I've done). I've trashed Prefs, etc... Nothing helps.

Very strange, I'm not sure what to do... Everything else about this interface is awesome but this is a deal breaker if it can't be fixed...

BTW, I'm on a newly purchased 2014 Mac Mini, i7 dual core. Almost as maxed out as can be, 16gb RAM, 3ghz processor etc.

If you're saying, there is "digital noise" present and especially if it doesn't have uniform level at both speakers, then at the first look it seems to be rather hardware unit or setup issue (like some ground loops, bad shielding).
As you're mentioned constant nature of it, it doesn't look like some driver problem.

What I'd recommend.. is to definitely contact Focusrite support to do usual troubleshooting steps and sequentially exclude possible causes.
If it doesn't really help, then return it.. End of 2015 isn't so long ago, and in many countries they provide 2y warranty, so maybe it can be applicable to your problem.

With regards to seeking for alternatives, I'd recommend to look at some shop at particular budget and feature category (typically it's possible to filter according to input count, bus.) first, get couple of acceptable models and then search here for each one. Almost any interface or product line-up on the market has its own thread thread here, where you might find additional information. Of course you can make another "I'm seeking for an interface.." thread, which will be bit better place for other interfaces Q/A than Clarett thread.

Hmm.. to me it looks like malfunctioning front panel knob or some problem with circuitry around it.
The knob isn't analogue pot, but digital encoder, which should send discrete value to DSP. It's completely equivalent to software fader at particular output in Control UI. So if you disable monitor control (the knob), move this fader and it will be clean, then its very likely related to the mentioned front panel encoder.
Then probably verify it with Focusrite support and settle about repair or warranty replacement with your dealer.

Michal

Thank you Michal

You're welcome, hopefully you'll be able to resolve it to your satisfaction. Good luck!

Michal

Purchased from Sweetwater, so at least I can start there...

Sorry,

Too many problems to take the chance, it was the set of features and form factor I wanted in an interface, but I don't have time for troubleshooting BS,

I guess I'll go UA Apollo although I really wanted the full connectivity and the UA doesn't have it.

The market was wide open for this type of interface, Focusright could have dominated,

They blew it, big time, I would have trouble ever trusting them in the future.

As far as I'm concerned the Clarette is dead. RIP

I too had worries before buying the Clarett after reading some stuff here on GS, but I figured if it didn't work on my system I could just send it back...

Anyway I got the Clarett 8pre for mobile work and so I could have something at home, I use it with a 2011 13inch macbook pro ( not sure what OS is on it) and a 2016 macbook air running El Capitan and it's been working flawlessly.

I haven't had any driver issues and the support from Focusrite is maybe some of the best I have experienced ( support was not for the Clarett but for another product ), I got an answer in like 20 minutes whereas some other competing companies take days to get back to me.

I think sometimes these threads have to be taken with a grain of salt, as for every person with a problem, there are probably 10 for whom the interface is working just fine. I have 2 buddies that ended up getting the Clarett after hearing it with my rig and they've been working away with no issues. Maybe I just got lucky, or maybe I bought it once Focusrite's drivers were fixed ( I've had it for 6 months ).
It does seem like the first users of interfaces act as Beta testers for the software sometimes, I remember buying the brand new Lynx aurora 16 in 2006 and having issue after issue with the drivers and most people now rave about the stability of Lynx drivers, but man those first couple of months were rough, I lost a lot of time and had quite a few unhappy clients...( ultimately everything worked fine and I had the AES16-Aurora rig for 5 or 6 years with no hiccups ).

As far as sound goes, the Clarett is great, particularly for the price as the RME802 and the apogee Element are twice the price and the UA apollo cost 3 times more.
To me it sounds just as good if not better than those interfaces, and I've had or used them all extensively.

So you know, if it fits your needs, just try it. Every store now gives 30 day money back guarantee so if for one reason or another it doesn't work on your system, pack it up, send it back, move on, get something else and make music.

Let me say thank you right away to any kind soul who reads this message.

Short story: iMac 5K 2017 i7 processor 4.2 ghz with 32gb ram

My Focusrite 8Pre is causing Logic to randomly "hesitate." This is not an audio pop or click. It is a hesitation where the metronome stops and any note on information is missed in midi tracks. Kontakt is the plugin and Spitfire Audio Chamber Strings seems to cause the most trouble.

I've been through every option in the interface, Logic, Kontakt and nothing helps.

I have bald spots from tearing my hair out.

Any suggestions?

Thank you, again!

Hi @ Tim_T

Sorry to hear that you're having some problems with your Clarett 8Pre.

There were some problems with Claretts on the particular Mac model you've mentioned, however Apple fixed those issues with an OS update. Please see this article from our Help Centre: I'm getting clicks and pops when using my Clarett/Red interface with my iMac – Focusrite Audio Engineering

If you're already using an operating system that's later than macOS 10.12.4 then the issue you're having is likely different to the one outlined in the article. If that's the case, please get in touch with us directly (if you haven't already) and we'll do all that we can to help get to the root of the problem: Submit a request – Focusrite Audio Engineering

Best,
Jack // Focusrite Tech Support

Did you get your issue with Focusrite worked out? I noticed a new update on their site that fixed a minor glitch in my audio from my Focusrite Clarett 8pre just not connecting to Monitors, and getting no sound. Basically did the most recent driver/firmware update (whatever it’s considered) and then went to my Focusrite Control App and Reset To Default and it cleared up that issue. Although it’s only resetting signal from preamp to to monitors and (2017 MacBook Pro I7 16gb setup I use, which is a non SSD just 1TB Fusion drive, usually put most my “space-saving” files on External Drive). Anyways, either the update or the reset did the trick and it won’t affect any audio units you have downloaded so that may be a good thing for you or no help at all. Just wanted to give some info on an issue I was able to get corrected. Hope all is back to normal