Focusrite Clarett 8Pre

The most obvious new feature of the Clarett range is its use of Thunderbolt, the latest connection technology for computer peripherals. Currently the Clarett interfaces only work with Mac OS X 10.9 and above, but Focusrite is working on compatibility with Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 and should have beta drivers available soon.

The advantage of using Thunderbolt for multitrack audio can be summed up in one word: latency. The faster your connection and the higher the bandwidth, the lower your latency. Focusrite claims a round trip latency of 1.38 milliseconds for the Clarett interfaces.

The other big innovation in the Clarett series is its newly designed preamps. According to the Focusrite website, this is a “low distortion, ultra-linear design”, with a self noise of -128 dB EIN. Focurite use the adjectives “clean, open and transparent” to describe the sound. Overall I concur with this assessment.

Beyerdynamic DT 1770 Pro

Headphones from Beyerdynamic have been popular for many years, especially in recording studios. With the DT 770 Pro, now thirty years old, Beyerdynamic has set a price-performance standard that many other manufacturers have emulated. 

Particularly striking is the very good bass response: on the one hand, the DT 1770 comes down very low, on the other hand, it does not over-emphasise the slightly higher bass. Ultimately, it provides a catchy, voluminous bass – absolute class! The heights and mids are also tuned as I like them. Beyerdynamic is known for its silky heights and that’s what the DT 1770 Pro delivers, along with finely resolved mids. These sonic qualities remained even when I used the DT 1770 Pro on mobile players or notebooks: the influence of the headphone amplifier is not to be underestimated, but a very good headphone can make a very good impression on even mediocre amplifiers. Amazingly, it also played loud enough on these devices. Beyerdynamic calls this driver technology “Tesla 2.0” and it is responsible for not only the precise sound, but also the high efficiency.

Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro

The premium version of the renowned DT 990 PRO studio headphones: The Beyerdynamic DT 1990 PRO is a high-end headphone with an open system and is an uncompromising recording tool for mixing and mastering in the recording studio. Equipped with the latest TESLA technology and the highest quality components, these headphones are also convincing as audiophile high-end headphones for HiFi audio.

As with the DT 770 PRO, Beyerdynamic now also offers the DT 1990 PRO studio headphones, a modernized premium version equipped with the latest TESLA technology. With its open design, the DT 1990 PRO is primarily aimed at professional mastering and mixing in the recording studio.

The A8X adds to the AX-Series as a unique model because its power and radiation characteristics allow it to be used as both a nearfield and midfield monitor. It represents a particularly attractive entry-level model for midfield monitoring which offers transparent reproduction of higher frequencies, clear mids and an excellent transient response.

The extra large, front-positioned bass reflex ports are perfectly matched with the bass/midrange driver that has a 1.5″ voice coil. Thus the A8X can play very low registers with a powerful punch, and the greatest possible precision. The 150 Watt PWM amplifier for the midrange speakers in conjunction with the 50 Watt A/B tweeter amp enable the A8X to generate impressive maximum sound pressure levels of 120dB per pair at one meter.

Adam Audio A8X

The A8X adds to the AX-Series as a unique model because its power and radiation characteristics allow it to be used as both a nearfield and midfield monitor. It represents a particularly attractive entry-level model for midfield monitoring which offers transparent reproduction of higher frequencies, clear mids and an excellent transient response.

The extra large, front-positioned bass reflex ports are perfectly matched with the bass/midrange driver that has a 1.5″ voice coil. Thus the A8X can play very low registers with a powerful punch, and the greatest possible precision. The 150 Watt PWM amplifier for the midrange speakers in conjunction with the 50 Watt A/B tweeter amp enable the A8X to generate impressive maximum sound pressure levels of 120dB per pair at one meter.

Adam Audio A77X

The A77X is a horizontally designed monitor that combines all of the technical innovations in the AX-Series. Due to its powerful, compression-free sound reproduction and excellent radiation characteristics, it is suitable both for nearfield and midfield monitoring.

The special feature of the A77X is its 2 1⁄2-way system. Both 7” woofers start to work together at 38 Hz and at 400 Hz one woofer fades out and only the second woofer continues to operate in the midrange up to 3 kHz. This prevents interferences and possible phase cancellation in the critical midrange. Even though frequency transitions and potential distortions lie outside these areas, the human ear is particularly sensitive to midrange frequencies.

Especially noteworthy in the A77X is the extremely wide stereo foundation and brilliant stereo imaging. Treble and mids are reproduced with three-dimensional realism and the lows are, as expected from a double woofer design, massive without compromising on precision.

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