Hi guys. I am having a real problem and it has caused my recording process to be stopped completely.

After trying every method, I eventually got my new ASP880 to sync with the Clarett interface once, after getting help from Focusrite on their live chat. They only got me able to get it to work via one Toslink cable though and with ADAT selected as the clock source in Focusrite Control.

However, the unit died for no reason and would no longer power on before I could even get to record one session with it.

I had it replaced, but now I cannot get it to sync at all, no matter what method I use.

Eliminating the obvious, I have two Toslink cables and neither works in the way it did above, so I think it's very unlikely that both cables somehow got broken in the same way at the same time.

I have tried connecting with one toslink, two toslinks, one toslink and wordclock (BNC), two toslinks and wordclock (BNC) and all of the above with the 75 ohm termination switch both pressed and depressed. I have tried all those combinations with every setting in Focusrite control too. I have set the clock source to internal, ADAT 1, ADAT 2 and wordclock (although the last one is probably pointless since I am not using an external clock), with all those above combinations of connections. Obviously I didn't bother with SPDIF because I am not using that physically.

I have tried every possible setting in Focusrite control.

The only way I can at least get the green light on the Audient to stop flashing and think that it is sync'd and Focusrite control to show it as sync'd is by using the wordclock cable and setting the sync source to Internal in Focusrite control, however this contradicts the previous way I got it working (based on Focusrite's advice), which was setting it to ADAT 1 instead of Internal and NOT using the BNC wordclock cable. In addition, even though it shows as sync'd, still no audio reaches the Clarett from the Audient anyway.

The other problem is, I can't get much help on this. I am in Hong Kong, so by the time I make overseas calls to them and the amount that would cost, I might as well have just bought more expensive gear instead by the time I go through all that. Also, when I tried calling I couldn't get through to either manufacturer anyway. E-Mailing back and forth would be a confusing mess and could take forever, that's if I even get a reply, so this would waste too much time, so the only way I have been able to get help is Focusrite live chat (Audient doesn't have a live chat) and even then it's only if someone happens to be online.

I am sure this is a simple matter, but I have tried everything I can think of in every combination simply cannot get a signal to pass from the Audient to the Focusrite no matter what I do. I hope I am just making a dumb error that can be easily resolved because I have wasted a lot of time on this issue and it means my whole rig is unusable until I resolve it.

Any ideas are welcome. Thanks!

PS - Just to clarify the obvious, yes, all mics plugged into the Audient are passing signal and can be seen on the Audient. They just never get from there to the interface.

Can’t help directly but those toslink cables can be pretty fragile. I’ve been in similar situation and the problem was a broken fiber cable. Can the focus rite pass digital audio from itself to itself? That could at least eliminate bad cables as the culprit.

I had thought of this, but I do have two cables so it's highly unlikely they've both gotten wrecked at the same time, considering they're also new.

Regarding the latter part, how would I do that?

Thanks.

Not sure if this is what you meant but I tried to do ADAT out to ADAT in of the Clarett (into itself) and it seems to sync in Focusrite control when ADAT is selected as the clock source (which is what I have been trying to do with the Audient). However, I don't know how to make the audio go in on itself. The point is though, it shows sync in Focusrite control, whereas it doesn't when using the Audient with the same method.

Where you able to make it work? Just got an OctopreX and a Audient ASP 880.. can't get it work either. Very frustrated

No. I had to give up. They told me to return it, but it was the third time there had been a fault and it takes a month each way to receive a replacement. I had lost too much time and work already so I just had to accept I can't use it for the very thing I bought it for and just use them as normal preamps into the interface inputs instead of ADAT. I had to also buy a UAD 4-710d just to have some ADAT channels instead. On the bright side, the 4-710d is pretty awesome and I wouldn't have forked out the money to buy it (quite expensive) if I hadn't had that problem.

Very strange situation!
I was hoping to buy audient asp880 to expand my focusrite clarett 8pre but don't know any more.
Hope someone will come up with solution for this or I'll (and probably other potential buyers) have to buy different gear. Same as "konkon" did..:(

Yeah, basically the same thing I wanted to do, aside from the fact I have an 8preX instead of an 8pre but I think they are almost the same. In the end I couldn't use the Audient for that purpose at all. It's still a good 8 channel pre, but the original point of it was the adat so that it added channels instead of just using up the ones I already had.

ADAT is pretty strait forward.
Problems usually lay in master / slave settings of the clock.

Well yes, it should be and it worked instantly with the 4-710D, however the Audient unit simply doesn't work.

sorry to hear but it's NOT been my experience: i've seen a few of these preamps in several smaller studios - the units most likely stem from different production runs and none of the studios had any issues...

anyway, the midas xl48 imo is on par with the audient if you're looking for an inexpensiv alternative.

I've also seen audient 880 + 4-710D combination in one drum recording studio. That combination worked very well for recordings we made there. That's why I was planning to by audient to expand number of pres on my clarett. I could by clarett octopre for that purpose but I wanted to have "different" sounding pres at my arsenal...

Sometimes Audient's ASP 880 ADAT socket is a bit too big and the optical cable does not have a good connection ( it doesn't firmly, hence the sinc.lock it is not stable).
To check that (weather it locks or not) push/hold gently the optical cable's end firmly towards the input of the Audient 880. Maybe that will at least expose the problem with synchronisation (the green light should stop blinking).

Same problem here.

Happy user of 8 Pre X. Got an Audient ASP880 and I wasn't able to make it work good with it.

My main problem was that I was getting a very dirty and distorted signal coming from de Audient. Re-tried everything several times and made sure the problem wasn't coming from the 8prex or the cables. Spent two days trying to make it work properly and couldn't.

Tomorrow I will pack it and return it. Will get a Clarett Octopre instead.

It's a shame, cause I've read plenty of good stuff about the Audient, but I also read loads of comments about the unit failling in different ways. That is sad.
In the other hand, I've been working for 3 years with the Clarett 8preX and never experimented a single failure. The unit is rock solid, the drivers are super stable and very user-friendly, and it sounds great. Pres are good, converters are amazing for the price.

Now I'm ordering the Octopre, which seems more compatible with my interface and it's got a very nice price.

Because of this thread I bought the clarett octopre instead of audient 880.
I knew what I will get with clarett, even dough I was hoping to get some "different" sounding pres with audient.
So I started to connect octopre with my clarett 8pre interface and it took me about two minutes to set everything up.
Since then, no worries!
Everything works as it should.

Hey, I have not been on GS for awhile. I see. Well I did keep the ASP880 just because I couldn't afford to have any more delays, but I had to buy a 4710-D as well and use the ADAT on that, then just use the ASP880 as normal inputs that use up my interface's channels (not ADAT expansion). So it kinda defeats the point of having it, but anyway, I had to get past the gear trap and get on with actual recording.


Yeah I ended up with this combo but just accepted that 880 ADAT was never gonna work and couldn't afford the time delays to keep sending back and getting replacements.

I wonder if this could be what my problem was. Then again, why would neither socket work. I gave up in the end anyway, as stated above. I mean the unit is good aside from the fact it doesn't do the main thing I bought it for. Haha.

Then again I tried all kinds of juggling around like you described at the time and nothing work. I literally spent weeks trying to get the ADAT connect and on the phone with both Audient and Focusrite before deciding that time delay is causing more problems than a bit of money so just bought the Universal.


To be honest I could've saved some money by doing that in the first place. On the other hand, I suppose the preamps in the 880 are better? Then again maybe I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Although the 880 does have the DB25 inserts thing, which is useful.

Anyway I want to like it and do like it even as I use it now (without ADAT), but I have to be real and state that it was a disappointment that the number 1 reason I bought it was ADAT and that was the thing that never worked. I mean, for what it is, great value, but just that one issue.

Is any of you using the Clarett 8preX as the master on a Windows 10 PC at 96khz ?