FOCUSRITE Scarlett 3rd Gen
When it comes to releasing interfaces, Focusrite doesn’t tend to hang around. Whereas some companies will release one or two models every couple of years or so, Focusrite has core ranges which it updates, so you get half a dozen models and a couple of bundled packages all released at once with something, as they say, for everyone. The Scarlett range is, the company says, the best-selling range of interfaces the world has seen, but I do have to admit some confusion over the company’s other ‘rose’ flavoured ranges and where each one slots in with one another, so here is my attempt at a (hopefully) brief explanation.
The Scarlett range is the main USB entry point to Focusrite interfacing, boasting models for everyone from the beginner onwards. The iTrack range is the lightning-cable-equipped range of interfaces specifically tailored for mobile iOS recording, featuring such models as the iTrack Dock and fabulous cuboid iTrack One Pre. Clarett is Focusrite’s range of interfaces for Thunderbolt. It would seem, then, that the differences between Scarlett and Clarett would simply be down to Scarlett’s USB v the faster Clarett Thunderbolt interfacing standard. I say ‘would’, because Focusrite now has the Clarett USB range for super-low USB latency. You might then be asking what the differences are between Scarlett USB and Clarett USB and this comes down to better mic pres and other audio specs on the Clarett range – more on these later. Finally, there are the Reds,
