Focusrite Forte Console Studio

Reviews ISA ONE - One Classic Single-Channel Microphone Pre-amplifier with Independent D.I.

Musictech – Issue 64 – Jul ‘08 - Review Quotes

'This preamp is clean, pure, and transparent, but, like all fine preamps, it can make recordings sound better than ‘reality’.'

'With 80dB of available gain to play with just about any microphone you want and its neutral but ‘enhanced’ sound quality makes it a general-purpose tool rather than a preamp you can only use for those ‘special occasions’. It can also solve monitoring issues as well as providing a fully independent second channel for DI duties.'

'Some engineers maintain that the closer you can get the preamp to the mic the better, so in this respect the ISA One is ideal.'

'Why Buy? Pristine sound quality, Versatile connectivity, Impedance switching, Excellent metering, Huge gain level, Low noise, Onboard monitoring, and competitively priced.'

Amazona.de - German Webzine – Jul ‘08 - Review Quotes (Translated from German)

'All the Legendary superbness of an ISA for less than 1.000,-€ unimaginable to date.'

'Thanks to excellent technology and switchable impedance it's a perfect match to any mic.'

'Legendary, well engineered'

Soundcheck.de - German Webzine – Jul ‘08 - Review Quotes (Translated from German)

‘The ISA One emerges as a candid pre-amp which gains the signal in a natural way without changing the original character of the sound.’

‘In no time at all the ISA One is ready for use; it keeps all promises regarding sound. The results in recording session tests have produced crystal clear vocals, even with the proximity effect the sound is consistent and differentiated.’

‘The same can be said for the ISA Ones performance with acoustic instruments, guitars keep their natural brilliance in high frequencies and low frequencies remain firm and clear.’

‘Our overall impression of the ISA One is that it has a warm sound which stands head and shoulders above the rest of other audio interfaces for use with your computer.’

‘Focusrite's ISA-One is an all-round solution in the studio, which enhances every signal. Backside connections leave nothing to be desired and feature a connection to every plug in use.’

‘Thanks to a couple of options, all types of mics are realisable. The ISA One is unbeatable in use with different mics.’

Resolution - Volume 5 – Jul/Aug ‘08 - Review Quotes

'The look and feel of many of the front panel controls will be utterly familiar to anyone who has used other units in the ISA range, and the core of the unit is very straightforward.'

 'The DI section remains active and has it's own dedicated balanced output on the rear of the unit. This means that a DI source could be recorded via this output, while the pass-through is sent to an amp. A mic on this amp could then run through the mic pre, which feeds its own, separate output. In this kind of situation, the metering provided is quite comprehensive.'

'In use, the sound of the unit will yield no surprises to anyone who has used other devices in the ISA range. The mic pre is quiet, clean and nicely neutral with just a touch of HF brightness.'

'The switchable input works well too, with the lowest settings able to pull some additional LF weights out of dynamic and ribbon microphones.'

'The DI stage impressed me as much as anything else - my current favorite is a Radial JDV, and the ISA Ones DI matched it in most respects.'

'As a solution to minimum signal path recording of guitars it works well particularly for recording both a DI and mic feed, and if you're short on decent headphone foldback amps, it has it's uses here too.'