Focusrite OctoPre MkII Dynamic launched
By Paul Dakeyne
| Posted in Music Technology
The Focusrite Octopre MkII Dynamic today leads the breaking news from NAMM, replacing the original silver Focusrite OctoPre with all new black livery and a host of new features.
The previous and quite ubiquitous OctoPre has graced many a studio as a professional’s ‘go to’ workhorse for a rack of eight quality mic pre’s with an assortment of ADAT/AES and SPDIF connectivity. Okay, the new 2010 version looks great, but what internal and operational improvements make up this new kid on the block?
The original opto based compressor controls were found to give a give an inherent ‘effected’ sound so this time around, Focusrite engineers plumped for a new single-dial VCA compressor on each channel. Using two modes, ‘normal’ and ‘more’, the behaviour of the compression process can now be tailored more smoothly and accurately to specific sounds or instruments. Both these modes use a soft-knee progressive compression curve, modelled on the manufacturer’s (now ‘retired’) iconic Red compressor (also utilising a similar RMS side-chain).
The lack of a limiter in the new OctoPre Dynamic MkII should not worry potential purchasers. Rob Jenkins, Focusrite’s Product Strategy Director, assures us that “The unit has been designed with clip prevention in mind but not at the expense of audio quality”. This was evidently achieved by calculating the theoretical maximum microphone level and the mic pre designed accordingly so as not to clip, even with a placement next to a snare drum at very high volumes. With this mic pre-design plus the very tolerant ADC input, chances of clipping are highly improbable, bordering impossible.
The specs of this greatly improved machine are listed below, but what of the real world applications of the OctoPre Dynamic MkII? Well, the eight individual pre-amps (with compressors on each channel) boast an excellent dynamic range and enough gain control for just about any studio recording scenario. Considering its Mic-Pre/Compressor combination, it will certainly find a place in live stage racking too with the natural, but loud signals flowing into the engineers desk.
Finally, the all new model is really going to breath life into some classic ADAT machines, sitting perhaps neglected in project and Pro-Studio’s worldwide. The OctoPre Dynamic’s ADAT i/o will certainly boost a users channel count as well as providing analogue monitoring from the units digital feed. We at Musical Notes think this is a great British company thinking intelligently and carefully about what their users want as legacy products evolve – as usual, Focusrite have again scored a bullseye!
OctoPre Dynamic MkII Key Features
- Eight award-winning Focusrite pre-amps
- Eight ‘single-dial’ Focusrite Compressors
- VCA-based, feed-forward compressors are based on the character of the celebrated Focusrite Red 3
- Compress transparently or compress with effect
- The classic soft-knee design achieves beautifully transparent compression that caresses your sound. Focusrite’s unique “More” switch doubles the ratio to deliver ‘compression with effect’
- Built-in eight channel 24-bit / 96 kHz digital outputs
- Make the most of your interface’s ADAT input for tracking, with eight channels of analogue to digital conversion via ADAT, boasting a ‘real world’ dynamic range performance of 110dB
- Built-in eight channel 24-bit / 96 kHz digital inputs
- Switchable from the front panel, digital to analogue conversion via ADAT provides analogue monitoring of any digital ADAT feed, as well as the ability to clock from any ADAT device
- State-of-the-art Clocking Solutions
- Internal clock delivers a jitter performance of +/- 20 PPM. For external clocks, industry-standard JetPLL™ jitter elimination technology is employed
- Two high-quality instrument inputs
- OctoPre MkII Dynamic’s first two channels feature DI’s, ready for you to plug in your Guitars and Bass. No expensive external DI required
- Five LED input metering on every channel
- Fast-acting five-LED input meters provide clear reference of input levels, helping to avoid analogue or digital clipping
Tags: Compressor, focusrite, mic preamp, octopre dynamic mkII