Clarett focusrite ?

[Chango]

anyone use the new line of mic pre clarett from focusrite? I need a new mic pre now that my saffire pro died. but if I do get a clarett I have to add a thunderbolt port into my desk top PC. AMD 8150 * core gigabyte motherboard firewire

[gak]

I don't think focusrite makes TB for PC yet. Not sure of that.

Also, I think TB for PC is really dicey.

guessing you need more inputs outputs than this?

http://babyface.rme-audio.de

Hard to find in stock but the drivers are really good (better latency than the saffire 14 pro I had) and believe it or not, sounds much better.

[ScuzzyEye]

Yeah, no Windows drivers for the Clarett range yet. I'm running my Saffire PRO40 over a Thunderbolt port with a TB to FW adapter. It works way better than it did with Firewire (the Via chipset is to blame).

TB on PC is fine, but adding a TB port is nearly impossible. You need a motherboard that's designed for Thunderbolt from the start. Thunderbolt is basically PCIe over a cable with DisplayPort packetizing. So there are a lot of moving pieces that have to come together for it to work.

[Chango]

Clarett uses TB for there new line. so If I buy one I have to spend for a TB port to use it on my pc. I just want to know if its worth it.

[Chango]

what about this?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... &gclsrc=ds

[gak]

Again, double check that the drivers work with PC.

I'm not the foremost expert, but I've heard enough wishy washy comments about PC/TB that you need to take extra care and make CERTAIN they are compatible (the last time I checked on the focusrite site, the Clarette wasn't even PC compatible yet)

[ScuzzyEye]

See that black connector toward the back of the card? That'll connect to a special header on the motherboard. That's what makes the whole thing work. Any board that has been designed to have support for a Thunderbolt add-on will have a similar header. I did add a TB card to my Asus board, but Asus made a similar card, with the same type of connector. Unless Gigabyte made a card for your board (I don't know if there are an AMD boards with TB support at all), it's not going to work.

This is the card that works with my board, you can see the out-of-band cable running down to the board in one of the photos.
https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboard-Acc ... boltEX_II/

[Chango]

I see....Thanks ScuzzyEye.

[mcatalao]

I don't care about thunderbolt as i'm never going to use anything other than pcie internal stuff (unles of course for field recording). I found the light with RME Raydat and external ADAT converters. Never had such a stable device.

Running outputs trough presonus Central Station into 2 monitor sets + Headphones. I have this setup for about 5 years, and i expect it to last another 5 (maybe 10!!!). And it allows me to upgrade my pre-amps without having to upgrade the interface.

'm now eying a nice ISA two, or some red API 500 to add to my racks! I already have a nice TLAudio 5052, a Focursite Octopre, an Maudio Octane, and the ominous Behringer ADA8000 (wich i only use for A/D and D/A).

[selig]

I can't speak to the PC driver issues…
I saw these interfaces at AES, and will be writing a review for the 2 channel version. Advantages are SUPER low latency plus added MIDI. I'll have a chance in a few weeks to report more for those who are interested.

[SteveDiverse]

I don't know about thunderbolt on windows, but there were lots of issues with firewire on windows and audio interfaces.

Specifically, the intel firewire chipset was the only one that provided 100% firewire compatibility and was the only one many audio interfaces worked on.

So before laying out the cash for a tunderbolt port, make sure the chipset will work with the audio interface in question.

[ScuzzyEye]

So before laying out the cash for a tunderbolt port, make sure the chipset will work with the audio interface in question.

While Thunberbolt is replacing the same niche that Firewire filled, they are completely different beasts. There isn't a Thunderbolt chipset, per se. It truly is an extension of the PCIe bus (with packetizing to allow detection of errors and multiple devices on one port, plus explicit hot-plug support). The only way that a TB to FW adapter even works, is that it's a Firewire chipset inside a cable. I'm sure it'll be possible for someone to design an out-of-spec device on the cheap. But right now things work with Thunderbolt the way expansion cards work with the motherboard. You don't worry about compatibility there, if it plugs in, it works.

[SteveDiverse]

So before laying out the cash for a tunderbolt port, make sure the chipset will work with the audio interface in question.

While Thunberbolt is replacing the same niche that Firewire filled, they are completely different beasts. There isn't a Thunderbolt chipset, per se. It truly is an extension of the PCIe bus (with packetizing to allow detection of errors and multiple devices on one port, plus explicit hot-plug support). The only way that a TB to FW adapter even works, is that it's a Firewire chipset inside a cable. I'm sure it'll be possible for someone to design an out-of-spec device on the cheap. But right now things work with Thunderbolt the way expansion cards work with the motherboard. You don't worry about compatibility there, if it plugs in, it works.

Thanks. I didn't realize that about TB.