; 31 years ago 1985 founder rupert neve headquarters windsor house turnpike rd cressex business park high wycombe buckinghamshire england key people phil dudderidge website www.focusrite.com focusrite plc formerly focusrite audio engineering ltd. is an english audio equipment manufacturer based in high wycombe england . focusrite designs and markets audio interfaces microphone preamps consoles analogue eqs and channel strips and digital audio processing hardware and software . 1 many but not all focusrite products are manufactured for the company in china . focusrite console 72in 48out with gml fader automation crescente studio setagaya tokyo japan focusrite console 72in 48out with gml fader automation crescente studio setagaya tokyo japan no. 10 plate of focusrite console 72in 48out with gml fader automation sound city setagaya tokyo japan focusrite console 72in 48out with gml fader automation sound city setagaya tokyo japan focusrite console 72in 48out with gml fader automation sound city setagaya tokyo japan focusrite console 72in 48out with gml fader automation sound city setagaya tokyo japan focusrite console 72in 48out with gml fader automation sound city setagaya tokyo japan lexicon 480l larc focusrite console 72in 48out with gml fader automation sound city setagaya tokyo japan contents 1 history 2 key product history 3 references 4 external links history edit founded in 1985 by rupert neve focusrite s first contracts included a commission from sir george martin to build extensions to air studios custom neve consoles initially the vintage recording console in martin s air montserrat studio in the caribbean specifically a no compromise microphone preamplifier and equaliser . 2 the resulting module named the input signal amplifier isa 110 consisted of a transformer coupled microphone preamplifier 4 band equaliser and high and low pass filters . the initial modules were delivered to air montserrat in 1987 and were very well received as a result air london ordered several the following year . the isa 110 was subsequently sold as an outboard system . the isa130 was added to the range in 1988 a single channel comp limiter de esser and expander gate developed by rupert neve and trevor stride . focusrite decided to use these designs as the basis of a complete recording console and the focusrite forte console was developed as a result in 1988 . the concept was simply to produce the highest quality recording console available at the time regardless of cost . the prohibitively expensive design limited the production to just two units however after which focusrite fell into financial difficulties . one console was delivered to master rock studios in london and the other to electric lady in new york remaining in use for many years . the original focusrite logo with its musically inspired italic ff is actually that of the console standing for focusrite forte as well as the musical term fortissimo or very loud . audio industry veteran and co founder of soundcraft electronics ltd phil dudderidge purchased the company s assets in april 1989 establishing focusrite audio engineering ltd and reissuing the original modules along with some new designs . 3 the company also designed a new console the focusrite studio console released in 1990 . focusrite saw a growing interest in the microphone preamplifier eq and dynamics capability of the console and decided to spin those out into a new range of outboard modules so that the technology could be made available independently of the console itself . this became the red range with distinctive red milled aluminium front panels launched in 1993 . over subsequent years focusrite introduced several ranges of outboard audio processors . the blue range aimed at mastering engineers followed then in 1996 the green range a series of lower priced processors was launched aimed at musicians and home and artist owned recording facilities . the platinum range followed in 1998 with characteristic silver fronted rack cases that combined more effective production design lowering prices with more advanced circuitry providing additional features including not only mic pres and processing but also a range of effects . the company also co developed plugins and hardware for the popular pro tools range of digital audio workstation daw systems . at the same time new derivatives of the original isa range were developed providing new features such as variable mic input impedances . the isa range is still in production now with the additional of digital conversion as well as analogue signal processing . the isa design originally included both input and output transformers the latter to allow driving long studio lines but with the advent of on board analogue to digital a d conversion this was dropped from the design . late 2003 saw the introduction of the liquid channel . this unit combines analogue and digital technologies to emulate virtually any combination of classic mic preamp and compressor . at the same time focusrite launched another plug in for pro tools the forte . this emulated the sound of the two key modules from focusrite s beginnings the isa 110 eq and isa130 compressor from the original forte console . in august 2004 focusrite acquired electronic instrument manufacturer novation and became a subsidiary called novation digital music systems ltd. 4 later re dubbed novation a significant step for the company was the addition of the saffire firewire range of audio interfaces the first being announced at namm in early 2005 . this range has continued to expand offering mic line instrument preamps and conversion in a number of configurations and has more recently been joined by the scarlett range of usb interfaces . saffire is also available with real time dsp powered tracking and mixing capability designed for the home studio environment providing compression and eq for tracking plus monitor reverb ; it also includes vrm virtual reference monitoring technology . vrm allows a mix to be auditioned in a several different emulated environments such as living room bedroom studio and professional studio control room with a selection of monitoring and other loudspeakers by listening on headphones . the vrm box is also available a usb headphone amplifier with dsp software for monitor emulation . late 2010 saw focusrite return to the plug in arena with the release of the midnight plug in suite . this utilises powerful dsp technology to exactly model the classic focusrite isa110 equaliser and isa130 compressor even including high resolution front panel emulations reminiscent of the hardware units . the isa110 and 130 modules were created for the fort console in the 1980s . on 12th december 2014 focusrite was floated on the aim market as focusrite plc. 5 key product history edit isa 110 mic pre & equalizer 1987 89 the original isa 110 module was designed by rupert neve to be vertically mounted and fit into the existing rack format of the neve console at george martin s air montserrat studio . it consisted of a transformer coupled microphone preamplifier based around a transformer supplied by lundahl of sweden 4 band equaliser and high and low pass filters and was named the input signal amplifier isa 110 . the design was based on the 31106 eq module designed for the a7971 console by rupert neve incorporating suggestions from sir george martin and engineer geoff emerick . the first modules were delivered in 1987 . the isa 110 was subsequently made publicly available as an outboard system consisting of rack external power supply and isa module which sold for approximately 7 000 us . isa 130 vca comp limiter de esser & expander gate 1987 89 the isa 130 was introduced in 1988 for george martin s air montserrat console . it was again a vertical unit designed to fit into the original isa rack or into a console . developed by rupert neve and trevor stride it comprised a single channel vca based comp limiter de esser and expander gate . focusrite fort console 1988 the focusrite fort console was developed in 1988 as a result of interest in the isa modules . the concept was simply to produce the highest quality recording console available at the time regardless of cost based around the signal path of the existing modular units . focusrite studio console 1990 6 following phil dudderidge s acquisition of focusrite in 1989 and the reissue of the original modules the company re examined the concept of a recording console determined to maintain the original signal path of the fort but employing a revised mechanical design and construction that made it easier to manufacture and install reducing the cost . the result was the focusrite studio console released in 1990 . ten studio consoles were built and several are still in use today . isa 215 dual mic pre & equaliser 1993 launched in 1993 the isa 215 dual mono mic pre and equaliser replaced the isa115 and included two horizontal isa 110 modules with transformer coupled microphone preamplifier 4 band equaliser and high and low pass filters mounted in a case with an internal power supply . the red range 1993 the red range was based on the successful isa 110 and isa 130 products and retained the original focusrite ltd circuit designs . with two exceptions the range consisted of combinations of these basic building blocks . the products featured transformer balanced i o and aluminium cases to limit rfi sensitivity . in addition the range featured solid milled red anodised aluminium front panels that gave them a very distinctive appearance . red 3 received a tec award in 1995 and red 7 following it in 1996 . the blue range 1995 in 1995 focusrite launched a special new range aimed exclusively at mastering facilities with features such as switched position easily resettable controls that could be annotated easily . the blue range as it was called was developed in conjunction with leading mastering engineers . d2 and d3 plugins equaliser and comp limiter 1995 in 1995 focusrite moved into a new area for the company in the form of a collaboration with digidesign now avid audio on the development of two software plugins for the market leading pro tools digital audio workstation environment . these were the first software plugins to not only emulate the processing capabilities of a piece of hardware but also their look and feel focusrite d2 is a high quality digital equaliser based on the focusrite red 2 equaliser whose design can be traced back to rupert neve ; while d3 emulates the red 3 compressor limiter . both are still available at the time of writing april 2013 . these plugins included modelling of a suitably red front panel with controls like those on the physical products plus a large graph display showing how the plugin was configured not something that would have been possible to do on the hardware . the green range 1996 introduced in 1996 the idea behind the range was to make high quality audio processors available to the project studio owner with lower price points than previous focusrite products . it also employed distinctive sculpted green front panels . cost reductions were achieved primarily by re evaluating construction techniques using a single circuit board and surface mount components the latter allowing automated production . some less used features were omitted ; expensive display components such as analogue meters were replaced by leds while in the mic pre area focusrite moved away from the transformer based approach for these units to offer a transformerless electronically balanced design . the platinum range 1998 the platinum range with its silver fronted rack cases managed to reduce price points still further as a result of extensive production engineering and while it retained the focusrite transparency and purity it also provided functionality to allow a range of effects too adding a radical new dimension to focusrite products . designer rob jenkins stated that while previous focusrite products had been aimed at studio engineers the platinum range targeted the recording musician describing them as results orientated with controls named after their effects