FocusriteScarlett2i24th Gen USB Audio Interface for Recording, Songwriting, Streaming and Podcasting High-Fidelity, Studio Quality Recording, and All the Software You Need to Record

Scarlett 2i2 4th Gen USB - I love it. I am using a long line of multiple 2i2 devices from Gen 1, Gen 2, Gen 3 for years. I am happy with all of them. Very good built quality, plain, low noise, low distortion. They all meet manufacturer specifications. No inflated claims like some manufacturers do. Each model had some tiny glitches that did not affect my experience. So my expectations are high on 4th Gen. A box arrived quickly. I opened it and realized a box has no protecting layer to soften shocks, blows during transportation. Just over box inside of almost identical, only slightly larger box! This experience was not a good welcome to me. I believe such packaging of any electronics reduces product reliability. Didn't you see how sometimes drivers drop packages on concrete floor? So I almost feel like getting used product, am I too sensitive about it? Alone in my opinion such product should have some shock absorbing layer of foam material or air bubbles sheet?After opening a box I see a piece of paper printed with miniature characters. Microscope could help... But no guidance here how to get the first steps. Only warnings in very many languages. As I would need all this, very high priority to manufacturer but not to me! I think this excellent product has new functions that a purchaser is not familiar with. It would be highly beneficial if a a small hard card size like 2-3 business cards shows briefly what happens when each of new controls used. OK, I can find it in pdf user manual, but I don't want to print user manual for one of 15 models audio interfaces I have. So I will work with audio recordings while scrolling through pdf file, at least till I am familiar with all this product offers. After such observations I wish to get to recording... And pdf file does not tell clearly up front that utility program is actually a driver. I have to spend time to learn it. This is the very first item to perform after purchase, but info is written among other content, not up front. I want to install utility program but no info provided if 2i2 Gen 4 should be connected or not, during installation. I learn here I should go to the internet, manufacturer' webpage and get information how to proceed. A suggestion is strong - identify yourself first! So you can get audio recording software. But I don't use the internet on sacred computers. I don't wish to be exposed to Spyware and threats from Microsoft like this one: You paid for our Office Suite, but we make it stop at our convenience under pretense we check if you are the correct user???? So I will to install a driver only, no suspicious activities and forced "updates", no spyware on my precious computer. How do I proceed considering above? I loaded needed file on another computer, copied it to one working with 2i2 Gen 4. It works fine that way. The utility is just sampling rate changing program combined with a driver, at least on my computer. Nothing else. A device works well, nothing wrong. I enjoy it from that moment. I don't need extra programs for musicians.Now most enjoyable part - distortion and noise testing. Both are excellent low, exactly as shown on specifications. I really enjoy low noise that is closer now to that of higher grade Clarett+ noise. Regarding distortion, Clarett+ has specs about 0.0003% while Scarlett 2i2 spec is around 0.001% for all generations 1, 2, 3, 4. Truly excellent product here, amazing performance for $200 and this product is far ahead of other USB audio interfaces I used before. Important to me is the fact it can work with no AC/DC power adapter. Through my career I experienced scenarios that noise reading was lowest if USB audio device was powered through USB cable. Then noise reading was even slightly better if power supply disconnected from laptop. The noise reading was consistently worse if given USB audio interface AND laptop used both AC/DC adapters. The difference could be a few dB but sometimes noise spikes were 10dB and more above noise floor, depending how clean was power line, individual wall outlets. I will check later 2i2 Gen 4 on that noise immunity and will update my review.In terms of reliability, all earlier Scarlett 2i2 I used full time worked a minimum of 5 years. If something wrong happened, it would be in the "abuse" category like frequent plugging, unplugging in, out cables with ESD damage maybe. Or connecting to multiple other devices powered with AC/DC adapters and no isolating transformers between. I am a laboratory user, not a musician, so different considerations, scenarios. Scarlett 2i2 Gen 4 is a great tool now for my audio experiments, audio test fixtures, audio signal measuring / analyzing setups.5 stars, but no 5+ due to less perfect packaging with less perfect protection against abuse in transit.

Amazing, my favorite interface

What an amazing audio interface! Love the gain and crystal clear sound quality. I think it's well worth the cost.

In a perfect world, you would plug whatever you have into a jack in your computer. A big red Record button would appear, you'd hit the return key, and A.I. would adjust the sound to match your favorite artist. I won't live to see this, but you might. For now, we have to tweak and adapt.I have a lot of respect for the people who design Focusrite interfaces. They make them easy to use yet suitable for many different applications. This little box has to work live, in the studio, with mics and amps, with guitars direct, with keyboards, singers, podcasters and so on. These are very different sources, so a person's impresson of a Scarlett may be great or not so great, depending on what they need it for.For me, playing a guitar into pedalboard, then into my older Scarlett 2i2 v.1, any attempt to play naturally, even with low output pickups and multiple compressors, sent the indicators into the red. Focusrite has fixed this with a new feature, "Safe" that works like a charm and without any obvious unwanted effects. Well done! (There is also an auto-level option, but this seems to work the old-fashioned way; it sets your levels so low that of course there's no clipping because even the loudest thing you play is just barely audible.)As for headpone volume, this seems to be a problem with all kinds of audio devices, no idea why. I thought they solved it with the Walkman. If you run into inadequate headphone volume, the only fix I know of is to use lower impedence headphones. I replaced my Beyerdynamic 80 ohm headphones with the 32 ohm version just to squeeze out a bit more volume. The other volume thing is that when you plug your Scarlett into your Mac, GarageBand disables the computer's volume control, so if you want to play along with music on your computer, you have a 3-way loudness balancing act but only 2 volume controls.The audio quality of v.4 is terrific and on a Mac, the Scarlett is plug and play. My new 2i2 v.4 came with an app, but it seems redundant except perhaps to check for updates. The manual is superb--they actually show you what to do with various DAWs, all of which, of course, look different. A very thoughtful bit of work. Finally, the Scarletts have very attractive British(?) designs, reminiscent of the old pre amps made by Quad. I haven't tried every audio interface but if you read the reviews It's obvious that none is perfect and none are easier to use than Focusrite. No wonder they sell so many.

This is my third Scarlett Focusrite 2i2 (it's a long story), but I prefer this brand, because with A/D D/A conversions, you really do get what you pay for. It works with my Dell Inspiron running Reaper DAW, has two ultra quiet preamps (XLR on back), and a HOT monitor output. I won't use any other brand of audio interface for my home practice studio!