Focusrite Platinum Tone Factory Studio Channel Strip

Focusrite are one of the big names in high‑end signal processing, so they surprised everybody when they launched the lower‑cost Green range (the first units of which were reviewed in SOS back in November '96). Their brand‑new Platinum range signals a further decrease in price, as well as being conceptually quite different to what we've come to expect from the company.

The Focusrite sound is traditionally associated with transparency and sonic purity, but while the Platinum range borrows from some established Focusrite EQ topographies, it also provides the means to colour or even distort sounds in musically interesting ways. Focusrite designer Rob Jenkins explains that the company's existing products were built for studio engineers, while the Platinum range is specifically designed for recording musicians. He describes these new units as 'results‑orientated products' rather than purist engineering tools.

The first Platinum unit to be launched is the Tone Factory, a 1U mains‑powered rack unit that combines a class‑A mic amp, variable‑frequency high and low shelving filters, a compressor, a set of instrument‑style tone controls (complete with overdrive and speaker simulator), a 2‑band semi‑parametric equaliser, and a noise gate. It's designed mainly for instrument use, but can also double as a mic channel if required.

Gone is the visual flamboyance of the Green range, to be replaced by a businesslike grained aluminium front panel, sober silk screening and pear‑shaped buttons. The conical rubber knobs used in the Green range have been retained, but in most respects this is a radically different product to anything the company has made before, both cosmetically and electronically.