ISA 828 incorporates eight of Focusrite’s renowned mic pres in a simple-to-operate 2U enclosure, placing eight mic preamps, instrument inputs and line ins at your fingertips. The original Focusrite mic pre was designed to suit the microphones of the time; today’s model makes one small change, adding three additional input impedances to the classic ISA 110 setting, allowing you to match any microphone, old or new, and access a wide range of sounds, from the character and warmth of a vintage mic to the clear transparency of a modern design.
Each mic pre has the option of mic, line or the front-panel instrument input, with variable input impedance to ensure you are getting the best performance from the source. Up to 60dB of gain is available on the four-position rotary and gain range switches, with a further +20dB of continuously variable trim, meaning a huge 80dB of gain is available should it be required. The high-pass filter has a fixed 75Hz frequency and 18dB/octave roll-off for minimising rumble, stand-borne noise and other low-frequency sounds. An array of 6-segment LED meters show peak signal level for the four mic pres, in addition to the four direct inputs to the optional A-D card. Switchable rear-panel insert points allow the use of inline processors such as compression.