Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 (1st Gen) USB Audio Interface

A really great piece of recording equipments. I got it at an amazing price of $138 thanks to Amazon. I use it to play and record bass guitar into GarageBand and it sounded great it GarageBand. When you first plugged it, your computer may not immediately recognized it and you need to plug and unplug it for several times. I remember I did that before my Mac and Garageband finally recognized it properly. But that's just for the first time. The next time I plug and unplug the unit to my Mac, it immediately recognized i. There might be some sort of device recognition or firmware installation during initial plug that is why it took some time. But overall definitely not a big issue. All knobs and controls work perfectly. Nothing flimsy at all. I am not sure why there are some people who encounter that but my unit works perfectly fine. Another great thing about it is that it works with USB only without any need of external power. It is a big thing for me because I have so many devices which need power source (computers, 3.5" ext HDD, game consoles, monitor) that I don't want to add another. I also saw some reviews said that the device has input lag. It does not really happen to me. I am using Garageband as my DAW (Focusrite provide a DAW but I never use it because I am not used to it) and I don't really experience any sort of lag in most of my usage. One lag that I experience is when I do not shut down my Mac for a long time. I suspect there is a memory utilization problem that causing the lag to happen. To fix it, just restart Garageband and everything works normal again. Overall I would recommend this whether you are a beginner or intermediate recording musician. The build quality is great, the scarlet color is eye-catching, and the sound is clean.

I got this and within 30 minutes it failed on me. I had to send it back. I was contacted by Focusrite support to fix the issue but when I get a new product I don't want to have to deal with it failing less than a day from when I get it. It would be one thing if it was DOA cause stuff happens but the fact it was working perfect then 30 min later was dead makes me think that the unit is a ticking timebomb. I will be curious to see if anyones device reaches the 2 year mark, and I can almost guarantee this won't last you 5 years. Might as well pony up and get a babyface for $650 that will last 10+ years. It will work out to be the same with all these low budget failed devices.

I read many reviews from several websites, and the consensus was that this was a grat USB interface.... Yet, there were several reviews that told horror stories. So here is what I have experienced: 1. Super fast delivery from AudioDeluxe. 2. More difficult to set up than I had hoped for. The USB driver sownload from the Focusrite website was easy. BUT the so-called Scarlett scarlett-mixcontrol-1.2 software was CRAP... I was NEVER able to get it to work. All I got was "No interface connected" even tho it was. 3.FORTUNATELY..... this gem works great without the crappy software. I use it with Cakewalk Sonar and it shows up right away as an ASIO device. 4. I found out that the latency issue with MIDI is not so much an issue of the midi software, as it is the buffer for the PLAYBACK DEVICE. if you set it low enough to get a good sound without cracking or breaking, any MIDI interface will have good latency. 5. I use my 2i4 for MIDI and audio. And the audio sounds perfect.... not hum or noises.... unless you are too close to the computer box or an external AC device. Keep it away from your other electronic stuff and PERFECT. 6. I like the abilityy to mix in the headphone monitoring between then source coming INTO the 2i4, and the computer DAW output (which is the cause of latency in hearing what you have input. So I can mix just enough of the previous tracks with what I am recording now to get a good blend. 7. Last, ...well what I hae read about "customer support" from across the pond is true: THERE IS NONE!!!!!! The day I received my 2i4, I was stuck with a problem, and I e-mailed them using their OWN WEBSITE..... that was over a week ago, and they have never replied....... You are on your own. BOTTOM LINE, I AM VERY HAPPY WITH MY USB INTERFACE..... LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENS OVER THE NEXT YEAR!!!! P.S. what someone complained about the "fingerprint marks" that are easily and permently left on the cook candy apple red case..... it is true but who cares??????? Someone also complained that the buttons were weak and flimsy...... I guess if you are a gorilla, maybe. I am not the most delicate man, nor I am a brute.... all I can say these knobs and buttons are equal tyo anyother audio equipment I have used....

Class complian--Works in linux. I can get 6.8ms total (input+output latency), that's 0.3ms latency as reported in software. The volume control only affects channels 1&2 and there's no software controls for the hardware volume (minus 1 star for that). The input gain controls don't seem to have the right log curve, so the gain control is useless in most of its range, making adjustment tricky (minus 1 star for that). Plugging in headphones does *not* disable output to the speakers, which is strange, but not impossible to deal with. Overall, this is a good USB audio interface with very quirky front panel controls.

I bought this unit to use as part of my laptop DJ setup: I route outputs 1/2 to the main speakers, and outputs 3/4 to my headphones for monitoring the mix; I use input 1 for a crappy un-powered microphone; and input 2 sits empty. Having successfully played out with the 2i4 for four separate 5 hour-ish gigs, I'd like to share my thoughts on this product from the perspective of an in-the-club performer (rather than an in-the-studio producer or an on-the-stage musician). Pros: 1) The physical build quality on this thing is excellent. It feels good in the hands, sure, but the real test for me has been its performance on the road: on its second time out, I accidentally dropped it from about four feet off the ground. It survived that fall (with just a small ding on the metal casing) and proceeded to rock the house for the next several hours without a single hiccup. Oh, and it survived having half a beer spilled on it, too - though I wouldn't expect this kind of luck a second time. 2) This thing outputs plenty loud for almost any club environment you are likely to find yourself in. Also, I know some folks on here think the headphone output (the 1/4" jack in the front of the unit) isn't loud enough. Those folks are either noise junkies, have headphones with terrible isolation, or are suffering from some kind of hearing loss. Trust me: the headphone volumes are more than adequate for monitoring even in a loud club environment. 3) Not that my usual clientele (i.e. drunk dancers) really care or notice, but to my ear the sound quality seems pretty good. The lows come out punchy (not muddy) and the highs don't sound tinny, and that's really all I care about as far as my mixing is concerned. 4) Solid USB device drivers (I'm using a windows 7 machine): good latency, no audio stutters, and no dropouts. Enough said. Cons: 1) The large 'Monitor' dial on the front of the unit controls the output volume for lines 1/2 *ONLY IF* lines 1/2 are outputted via the balanced TRS (1/4") connectors on the back. If the the RCA connectors are used, the dial will do diddly squat. This is a limitation that is not well noted in the product description. (UPDATE: This is no longer an issue with the latest device drivers!) 2) The unit is a bit bulky/heavy for a traveling soundcard, but this is really just a personal quibble (I already have tons of kit to lug around). Heck - some might even think the larger size makes it look more "pro." Overall: The 2i4 has met or exceeded all my needs as a DJ: it's sturdy, loud, and reliable. I can't speak to its value as a production tool (where the sound quality is the deciding factor), but as a performance tool I can't think of a better USB-based option on the market at this price point. Seriously, forget about those Native Instrument cards (s***ty drivers), and forget about those Numark cards (muddy dynamics) - just get the 2i4 and get on with the show.

Nice little box. I really only needed one XLR and one 1/4" input, but really wanted MIDI IO for the future. This was the lowest priced unit in the Scarlett lineup that included MIDI, though it came at a $200 price point and the extra ins. No real complaints - it's a good price for what you get, but it would be cool to see something like the Scarlett Solo with a MIDI IO option on it at a different price point. Does not come with software discs - you must register the unit at the manf website using the unit serial and a voucher code which will create an account for you and then provide you with download links + activation codes for all the software that comes with it. The process was pretty painless and only took a couple of minutes. Unit itself feels heftier than you might think for being in a light aluminum housing and being powered purely off a USB line from the PC - it feels pretty solidly made. After setup it does produce a nice clean / noise free dry signal, was picked up just fine in my DAW (Reaper), and after lowering the default latency for the device through DAW settings, had terrific low latency on a decent PC (Win 7 Pro 64 bit, i7 processor, lotso RAM). And you don't have to worry about another wall wart to plug in. Only con: Both of the combo XLR / quarter inch jacks refused to let go of a 1/4" plug inserted into them without a great deal of force. XLR cable plugged into the same inputs inserted and released just fine, but the 1/4" required a great deal of effort to initially remove (as in I was afraid I'd either snap off the plug inside the unit or worse, break the unit itself). They seem to be releasing ok after several inserts/removals as if the jacks loosened up slightly with use, but having never used one of these combo jacks before I'm unsure if that's normal on first use, or I just managed to get some incredibly evil inputs on mine.

So I have been wanting to get a Audio Interface for awhile. I have been needing something with multiple outputs for moving to a completely computer based DJing in the future. As a plus getting away from onboard audio and the headaches from that is just the icing on the cake. After doing some research I came to the choice of this product. The hardware is pretty impressive out of the box. The case is made out of aluminum which gives it a nice quality feel and durability. I am not worried about it falling apart at a show or on the road. The dials are made out of plastic and are perhaps the only cheap feeling thing on the entire product. While they are plastic I don't get the feeling they are going to fall off or break any time soon. The inputs and outputs are both solid with balanced 1/4 TRS and unbalanced RCA on the back along with a standard MIDI input and output on the back with a USB 2.0 A to connect to your computer. I am happy to say that it works flawlessly in both Windows and OSX with no driver issues. The two inputs on the front record solid, clear audio with no sync issues. The headphone port also can drive my headphones quite nicely without the need for a additional headphone amp. If you are a looking for a nice, solid Audio Interface for both at home and on the road you can not do much better than this.

UPDATE: Piece of crap. This thing has gotten very little use in the past two years and its now nearly useless. Turns off and on for about 5 minutes when you first plug it in. It does this in two different computers. Also headphone jack is screwed up - I have to wiggle it to get proper sound. Also it no longer works with condenser mics. Not sure when this problem began since I've only used dynamic mics over the past two years. But I'm in a quieter environment and tried my new Rode Nt1 and it doesn't work in the focusrite. The Nt1 works fine in my Dbx 286 and Shure X2U. Quality audio equipment should last many years. Never buying focusrite brand again. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ I have had only a single problem with the product. The inputs randomly stop while recording / monitoring as if the driver simply stops working. This will happen within a few seconds or as long as 10 minutes. It will stop working no matter what I try to record with - Reaper, Sound Forge, Izotope RX4 and I have to restart the software in order to get it working again. In Reaper luckily there is a fix. Go to Options - Preferences. In Preferences Go to Audio - Devices. There make sure that ASIO and Focusrite USB 2.0 Audio driver is selected AND check the box that says "Ignore ASIO reset messages (needed for some buggy drivers)."Without the Reaper fix I would have sent this thing back and given it 1 star. Luckily Reaper is my DAW of choice. Otherwise it is a well built device with nice clean gain for microphones. Surprisingly it even works well with dynamic miscs that require a good amount of gain. I've used it with the Electro Voice RE20, RE320, and the Shure SM7b. Surprising because the 2i4 only has 55db of gain and ordinary you'd need a mic pre with 60 db of gain for the SM7b and Re20. There is barely enough for the Sm7b that requires the most gain - you'll have to crank it all the way up and still add some gain in your DAW. But absolutely no hissing - very clean. Extremely low latency. I have the 2i4 running recording at 1 ms of latency. Barely noticeable when you monitor the recording live and processed. Of course you can always switch to zero latency monitoring unprocessed if you like.

This is a very good audio interface and the mic preamps are amazing. I have used this interface for recording vocals and instruments like keyboards. We can even connect the keyboard to the pc/mac via the interface which has midi ports also. The noise levels are very low and the overall design and feel of this focusrite product is really cool! A must buy.

I have been in need of an audio interface for quite a while in my home/project studio and through much searching and researching I thought that this interface looked like the one for me. I was definitely not disappointed as this audio interface is the epitome of quality. First of all, it is very aesthetically pleasing with it's nice red colour and and sleek design. The main body of the interface is metal which you don't often get in interfaces of this calibre and it also makes it feel extremely sturdy and strong. The buttons and knobs feel very well made and move with extreme smoothness and without any wobble which, for me, just screams quality. The addition of two sets of phono outs, balanced outputs and a high quality headphone out make it extremely useful when plugging multiple speakers or headphones into it. In the product description it says that it has two of Focusrite's award winning preamps, and this is definitely true! Paired with my Rode NT1a this interface sounds brilliant. It also has phantom power which is a definite must in any audio interface. My only gripe with this interface was the usb cable that was packaged with it. It was a high quality cable it just wasn't long enough for my needs however this is a very easy thing to fix and does not take away from the fact that this is 5 star product. Wel done Focusrite. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a new or first interface as this really is the best one you can buy for the money.

È arrivata un giorno in anticipo sulla tabella di marcia contando che è partita dall'inghilterra, inscatolata tutto sommato bene e la tracciabilità del pacco è stata impeccabile. La scheda è perfetta, sia esteticamente (molto bella in alluminio spazzolato rosso) su OSX è plug & play e l'ho testata con Logic X, Pro Tools 11 e Reaper. Vede tutto senza neanche un problema, ho testato i convertitori Focusrite su tutte e 3 le daw suonando una chitarra con pickup attivi e i tasti PAD su ogni canale sono la manna dal cielo per le sorgenti più "villane" che la 2i2 non ha Idem per il microfono, un suono davvero cristallino, testato sia con shure 7B che con rode nt2. Non ho riscontrato alcun problema di latenza con nessuna sorgente in ingresso, che era la mia paranoia principale dovuta dell'alimentazione USB 2.0 della scheda scegliendola rispetto alla sapphire FireWire. Compratela ad occhi chiusi, roba da pro a costo da rimanerci male, provare per credere. Con MacBook abbinata é davvero fantastica. Focusrite é qualità e lo dimostra ogni volta spazzando via ogni altra scheda a questo prezzo.

Sin duda esta interface de audio es una compra recomendada, tanto por sus prestaciones como por su calidad. De hecho actualmente tengo un interface superior de la misma familia de Focusrite. Desde entonces ya no quiero saber nada de tarjetas de audio internas. Destacar sobre todo, su baja latencia en los previos para micrófono y auriculares. Si no requieres de más prestaciones o por ejemplo un mayor número de entradas, esta es sin duda una excelente compra muy recomendada.

My favorite audio interface for my computer, the conversion is impressive to digital. I took this one over the 2i2 because of the midi input if i ever need and for the price difference why not. My previous setup was with blue icicle and got the shure X2u after to replace it - the shure was a nice improvement to me. This one beat them no contest in either the form factor (very easy to monitor - headphone control) - don't have a 10 feet long mic or a mess on your desk. The build and finish - very slick looking and compared to picture is not pink at all but a deep rich red. The quality - sample rate, distortion, you name it; it sound a lot better over the range for me. Very satisfied with my purchase, i recommend to anyone.