In praise of the Clarett 4Pre and what other interface features extra line ins

[jonljacobi]

For the life of me, I don’t know why more audio interfaces don’t offer extra dedicated line ins. The Clarret 4Pre has two stereo pairs. I find them immensely helpful and they cut down the expense of the interface. Anyone else find it so, or know of other interfaces that offer them?

[BertKoor]

I agree, 4 in 4 out is the minimum, for me at least. Because I have more hardware than just headphones.

What else thereis? Last year I bought a Focusrite Scarlett 4i4. Seems not as much is on the market compared with say 20 years ago.

[cryophonik]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the thread, but there's no shortage of interfaces that have 1/4-inch line-level inputs. UAD, RME, Focusrite, MOTU, Apogee, Presonus, Arturia, Behringer, etc. each offer several interface models with line ins. Not only that, many of the better interfaces also have features that allow you to digitally expand the number of line inputs with something like the Ferrofish Pulse 16.

[jonljacobi]

The 4Pre as it is, has four combo XLR/LIne ins (two support instrument level), plus four line ins on the back. In fact, it’s an 8-input interface with four preamps. That’s what I mean by “extra” line ins.

I see a couple with hi-z, but not a lot with extra line ins.

[cryophonik]

It's probably less common in desktop-format interfaces, but rackmount interfaces often have 2-4 XLR mic inputs and 4-8 additional line-level inputs, for example:

UAD Apollo X6 and X8
MOTU 828, M6, Ultralight
RME UCX and UFX
Presonus Quantum and Studio interfaces

[kritikon]

Nah, pretty common. Presonus are considerably cheaper than Clarets for 4+4 inputs, steinberg do an 8-in version UR for similar (slightly under), I've not looked at Behringer but I'd be amazed if they don't sell an 8-in for far less than any of those. There are plenty of 4-in interfaces (seems like most of them) that have an extra 2 line-ins, making 6 total, for around half the price of that Claret. I'm not knocking Clarets, they're probably great interfaces but they're not anything different from the crowd in terms of inputs.

TBH I find it a little odd that many interfaces concentrate on outputs - quite a few have more outs than ins. Maybe it's just the way I work but I don't see a great need for multiple outs, and I use a lot of hw

[Milkman]

I use an 18i20 scarlett, and Ive compared the preamps... and I have a hard time seeing that the clarett is significantly better. So I keep using the gen3 18i20 + a gen3 6i8 stacked, and Im maxxed out. Have been considering swapping the whole thing for 2x claretts based on the vendor's own description of the improved preamps, but Ive talked to a handful of people who use them who say they cant tell the difference between clarett and scarlett.

Does anyone have any experience there? I just have second hand experience, not first, so I am relying on what others have said. (Ive only heard my scarlets, Ive heard a UAD that a friend had, but I havent heard many others myself)

[cryophonik]

TBH I find it a little odd that many interfaces concentrate on outputs - quite a few have more outs than ins. Maybe it's just the way I work but I don't see a great need for multiple outs, and I use a lot of hw

It makes sense if you’re recording bands and need many different headphone mixes routed from your interface to a headphone distribution amp. But, yeah, I’ve always thought the same thing - seems like most people would have a need for far more inputs over outputs.

[jonljacobi]

I switched to the Clarett 4 Pre because it was Thunderbolt and expected lower latency. It was lower, but not as much as I expected. And while you have to crank the gain pots for some mics, there’s little to no noise. Soundwise, I’ve heard nothing appreciably better. But I used Presonus and others and at this point, when I go back to those recordings I have no complaints.

The only reason I ask is because apparently, Thunderbolt 5 won’t work with the Apple Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 adapter and I might need to upgrade interfaces if I go to a M4 Pro Mini.

[kritikon]

Have to say that that would seriously f**k me off it was me. Don't want or intend to start a silly Mac/Win flamefest but it smacks of typical Apple obsolescence, almost deliberate lack of back compatibility. It's not as if your interface is pocket money either. I guess it is what it is though...

[vitocorleone123]

I loved my 4pre. But it wasn’t enough IO so I got a Digiface+Ferrofish as I didn’t need the mic pres.

The RME drivers are soooo much better, though. No comparison.

[justin3am]

I use a Focusrite Red 8Pre as my main interface. A total of 16 line inputs, with the first 8 inputs switchable between Red series mic pres and line input. While it has two sets of ADAT I/Os, it also acts as a Dante interface, with which I can add an additional 32 inputs and outputs all running at 96kHz.

For a while, I had the Red 8Pre connected to my computer via Thunderbolt, but since then, I've actually found it more flexible to use with the Dante Virtual sound card, so all I need is an ethernet connection to my computer.

[jonljacobi]

I was wrong about the Thunderbolt 5 not accepting the Apple adapter. I just dragged the Clarett 4Pre down to the office and using the Thunderbolt 2/3 adapter it worked just fine on the Thunderbolt 5 port. Yay!

As to the USB 3.2x2, that’s on Intel, not Apple as far as Intel has told me. It seems that a USB drive attached to a Thunderbolt 4/5 port uses the native USB protocol Thunderbolt employs, and that doesn’t implement x2 20Gbps. They do support 20GBps USB4. They seemed to indicate that a Thunderbolt 5 dock that wanted to provide a 3.2x2 port could use the new tunneling protocol.

I’m still waiting for a more detailed explanation and the specs themselves.

[stikygum]

Don't forget the Arturia AudioFuse Studio. It has a shit ton of connectivity, including the 4 pres plus 4 additional line ins. Lots of USB types and even stereo phono jacks. It almost has too much connectivity. Arturia impressed with this one.