Control 2802 Recording Console

Focusrite Control 2802 is a small-format analogue recording console and a DAW control surface in one. It forms both the digital control nerve center and the analogue heart of the modern professional project studio.

It's an analog recording console
With an array of superb-quality analog features packed into its compact frame, Focusrite Control 2802 includes capabilities you would expect to find only on large-format consoles. At the front end, eight Class-A microphone preamps deliver clear, transparent performance. Then at its heart is a powerful summing mixer handling up to 32 simultaneous inputs with ultra-low distortion, excellent dynamic range and a frequency response wider than the human ear. There™s a punchy master bus compressor featuring parallel compression for versatile control of dynamics for your stereo mix “ or any other pair of channels. High-end analogue design characterizes the 2802 “ implemented with similarly uncompromised components and build quality throughout.

It™s an Ethernet-based DAW control surface
You can control every major digital audio workstation with the Control 2802. Dual Layer Control Technology lets you flip from analogue fader layer to DAW layer in an instant, accessing fully integrated control of DAW faders, auxes, plug-ins, automation, project navigation “ and more. With Ethernet-based control, your favorite music software is always at your fingertips.

The Control 2802™s motorized 100mm analogue and DAW control faders can both be fully automated. Easily adjust DAW channel auxes, inserts and groups within Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase and Nuendo via a HUI interface. Four multi-function encoders give you precise control while OLED screens provide detailed information on mix elements. Combined with dedicated transport controls, that means more time getting your sound just right, and less time staring at a screen.

If that wasn't enough...
In the box you will find the Focusrite Midnight and Fort plug-in suites. Modeled on original Focusrite hardware designs, these plug-ins allow you to add compression and EQ, helping you take your mix to the next level. Of course the plug-ins can be controlled and assigned to channels from the comfort and convenience of the Control 2802, so there's no need to grab the mouse!

Focusrite Midnight Plug-in Suite
Focusrite™s new Midnight plug-in suite takes two of the most iconic Focusrite modules of all time “ the ISA110 equaliser and ISA130 compressor; models their sound exactly with powerful DSP technology; and gives them elegant, functional on-screen front panels that make them simplicity itself to use. Now you can add that authentic, classic Focusrite sound to your own tracks at a price you can afford. Your productions have never sounded so good.

The ISA110 and 130 modules, created for the legendary Fort console in the 1980s, represent the epitome of Focusrite analogue audio processing, and performed a vital role in the making of literally thousands of hit records “ they still change hands for thousands today. Their new digital incarnation in the Midnight suite for AU, VST and RTAS gives them stunning new hi-def on-screen front panels so realistic you™ll believe you can grab a knob with your fingers. In fact, of course, you can tweak them with a click and a drag of the mouse, or graphically edit the response curves. But whichever way you want to go, behind each exquisite graphic front-panel lies powerful DSP code that exactly models the original analogue processors that inspired the Midnight suite, with all the warmth, clarity, control and incredible sound of those original analogue designs.

A glance at those clear, clean analogue-style front panels and you™ll know exactly how to use the Midnight suite. The controls are simple and intuitive. The meters are responsive and accurate. And the sound¦ these plug-ins sound as good as they look, putting classic Focusrite clarity and warmth under your fingertips.

Midnight EQ helps you manage problems and inspires solutions. It™s a 4-band full-parametric EQ with peaking and shelving plus low- and high-pass filters. High end control up to 15kHz “ just what you need to give a vocal that extra something. +/- 16 dB of gain in each band. Overlapping midranges with fully variable Q. Midnight EQ gives your tracks full, rich bass; a pure, open top-end; and beautiful midrange definition.

Meanwhile Midnight Compressor brings you control at your fingertips. It features compression ratios of 1.5 to infinity, adjustable attack and auto/manual release and simple, clear metering that helps you keep an eye on gain reduction, threshold and input/output levels. Input and makeup gain settings help you get the gain structure just right for perfect control. Vocals are right there, with a warmth and naturalness you™ve never quite been able to reach before. Bass lines gain a solid, firm foundation that makes you think the guy™s still in the room. Suddenly your tracks sit perfectly in the mix, you'e on a roll and your hair™s standing on end. Know the feeling? You will.

The Midnight modules deliver incredible power, flexibility and a gorgeous sound that launched a thousand hits. If you'e looking to take your tracks to the next level, you need the best: in the past, maybe that step was beyond your reach. But now the power to give your productions that extra edge is within your grasp. Step into Midnight, from Focusrite. And don™t look back.

Focusrite Fort Suite
The Focusrite Fort Suite is a channel strip RTAS and HD-compatible plug-in for Pro Tools based on the now-legendary Focusrite Fort recording console of the mid-'80s (original price for Fort console: $1.5 million).

Utilizing virtual vintage modules, Fort Suite brings Focusrite™s sonic signature to Pro Tools through sophisticated modeling of the ISA110 EQ and ISA130 dynamics processors (including compressor, de-esser, and noise gate), the key modules from the acclaimed Focusrite Fort analog console. It also includes surround modes as well as graphical representations of EQ, compression, and related module curves. And its interface components closely resemble the ISA series modules treasured by audiophiles the world over.

Along with offering a host of powerful processing tools including a six-band EQ and a multi-channel compressor, gate, and expander, Fort Suite also features a sidechain input and frequency filters for the dynamics processors.

The Fort Suite can perform both as a channel strip plug-in and as individual ISA110, ISA130 dynamics, and ISA130 compressor plug-ins. In addition, the ISA130 compressor supports all Pro Tools surround formats.

Bringing it all together
That™s it in a nutshell: the Focusrite Control 2802 brings together a compact analogue mixing console with large-format console quality, and a superb, automated, multi-DAW control surface “ plus the ability to flip between the two in an instant. The Control 2802 from Focusrite; in control of your sound.