Hi guys,

I know I started this thread a while back in spring and I really took the time to decide which card to buy.
I finally stopped my choice on Focusrite Scarlett 18i20G2. I bought it from Sweetwater and am expecting it this week.
I stopped my choice based on Focusrite reputation first, then the quality of their pre-amps and for the number of I/O vs the price. I was going to go with the 6i6 but for the price difference I decided to go with their flag ship and take full advantages of all the I/O for my external gear.

I am looking forward to play with my new toy.

As I mentioned in my original post, the next step is a pair of studio monitors. I have stopped my choice on 3 flavor of KRK Systems but I will start a new thread to ask you guys your opinion.

Thanks

 

Last edited: Nov 12, 2017

@safran5020
What goes around comes around.. Now I need help with my mobile setup and I'm thinking of getting the Scarlett 6i6. If you happen to read this, I'd like to know if you are satisfied with yours. Are the drivers ok? (btw, what OS are you using..) I don't need many I/O, and the drivers are supposedly equal for all the Scarlett range, with the Focusrite Control software equal for 6i6 and above (would like to know about this "control" software too)
Keyboardist too here - so the thing that i care the most about is latency. A guy on g-slutz forum is doing what I think is a good measurement of various cards (round trip latency + effectiveness), and 6i6 is clearly the fastest thing I can get for ~200$/€ atm.. So, how do you (or anyone w/ this one) find it in the "real world" situation?

Any info much appreciated

Edit: didn't want to start a whole new thread for this one...;)

 

I'm using presonus studio 192 8 channels and is almost zero latecy, and it comes fx for each channel but the down side is the midi instruments, specially synth pads the audio sometimes crackdown. But for recording audio is great and you can use the interface for live too.

 

4 x MIDI IN/OUT on a USB 2 chain. 75 Semolians. And you don't waste a USB audio channel making room for the MIDI on whatever you do buy for audio. ESI M4U XT. Thomann stocks it in Europe. Handles the entire MIDI spectrum perfectly including clocks and wierdo control messages.

+1 Presonus 192.

 

Hi, Matt

I am under Win 7 Ultimate SP1 32Gb RAM, Intel i5.

I am indeed satisfied with my Scarlett, it sounds great and have no latency issues. I use Sonar Platinum and stand alone instruments and external gear. I had drop outs at first due to a specific BIOS setting but it is solved now thanks to @taskforce (see this thread if you ever have the same issue : https://audiosex.pro/threads/windows-10-ltsb-vs-windows-7.32414/page-5#post-299105 )

On an other hand, I don't like the Control program, I hate the GUI and it seems to have an issue with the balance control. To reset it to perfect middle, I often need to toggle back and forth from stereo to mono then back to stereo. Also the program crash on exit. I contacted Focusrite and it is a known issue that should be solved in a future update.

I think you're making a good choice.

 

Hi, and thank you so much for all the information! A bit disappointed about the control software - but I was somehow expecting that.. that's why I asked. Hopefully they'll fix it. Unfortunately Focusrite is a bit slow when it comes to software side..

I was looking at the Presonus 192 too. But that card is almost 3x the price. Not willing to pay that much for my mobile setup (for the price difference +200, let's say, I can get a decent mic). I usually record just the guitar player/vocalist, one at the time. And the 192 comes at the very bottom as far as real round trip latency is concerned, meanwhile 6i6 (the whole Scarlett line) gets beaten only by FW and/or expensive interfaces (like RME Baby and above).
There is no-nonsense comparison (if anyone interested, read how it's done):
Low Latency Performance

I think at 200 $/€ this one is a no-brainer. Like the layout (2 separate headphone outs in front, one for me, one for the performer - these are the things that come handy). Even if it fails, it would not be the end of the world at this price (maybe it dropped because the Clarett USB-Cs have come out ;-)).

Thanx again

 

Last edited: Jan 18, 2018