I use this little guy in connection with my DAW and digital piano. I run the piano sounds through balanced cables into the line-in ports for recording, and I also run VST intruments on my DAW that I trigger via USB MIDI from the piano and use this device for digital/audio conversion. I listen through Sennheser HD 595 headhphones plugged in to this and I also have some studio monitors attached using balanced cables.
I purchased this to upgrade from my previous audio interface, the Behringer UF0202. That device worked quite well for this purpose as well but lacked two things: a volume knob, and balanced in/outs. The volume knob thing I could work around, but my current monitors seem susceptible to ground loops (even with a ground lift plug), so I needed to go with balanced cables. I'm glad I did. The balanced cables completely eliminated my noise problems. This was a good purchase. However, I would say to anyone who doesn't need balanced cables and is on a budget that they should consider the Behringer. It's a tiny fraction of the price and it works pretty well. Further, it's class complaint so you don't have to use Behringer's drivers. It's plug-and-play.
I have some good things to say about the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (all about the hardware) and some bad things (all about the software). I've tried using the driver version 2.1, which came with the disk, and the udpated 2.2, which I downloaded from Focusrite's website.
To let you know what I need in an interface:
1. Balanced stereo in/out
2. High quality headphone amp
3. Volume knobs for headphone amp and for the main line
4. Good digital-to-analog conversion
5. Low output latency (input latency not important to me)
I don't use the Mic preamps, which is one of the big selling points of this device.
================ The Good ====================
This box is simple and well-designed. It does what you want, has very convenient controls, and has high build quality. I'm pleased with the digital-to-analog conversion. It has a great big volume knob and another for the headphone amp. It has switches so each input can be a line-in or microphone pre-amp. It has a switch for zero-latency monitoring (of whatever is coming in).
* The headphone amp was of particular concern for me. I use headphones a lot and a poor headphone amp can be quite a problem. The Behringer headphone amp was only ok. Specifically, it has an output impedance of 50 ohms. The rule of thumb for good headphone/amp matching is that the output impedance should be 1/8 the impedance of the headphones--my hd 595's have 50 ohms of impedance. Breaking this rule you get distortions of the frequency response. In my case mostly this meant attenuation of the bass. Most manufacturers don't list their output impedance, possibly because they are embarrassed. Anyway, Focusrite does, which is one reason I trust them a little more. The output impedance is less than 10 ohms--respectable but not amazing. Still not as low as I would need in principle but I can notice an improvement in the bass response in my headphones. There's plenty of extra voltage here too, so I could drive higher impedance cans if necessary. Anyway, good headphone amp. Check.
* Balanced ins and outs work very well, The ins accommodates a 1/4 TRS style in and XLR. The light around them shows when something's actually coming in and shines red when it's in danger of clipping. There's lots of gain available. I have them turned all the way down almost. The outs are TRS style (balanced or unbalanced) and are located on the back.
* I like the look of the box, with a red metal case, and the front and back are sturdy and attractive as well.
* The USB cable is just a type B port. This means you can replace it if it gets damaged or whatever. The Behringer, for example, was hard-wired to its cable...king of annoying.
* It's bus-powered. I actually would have been fine with a wall-wart, but this is even more simple.
I really have no complaints whatsoever about the hardware.
===================== The Bad =========================
The driver for this thing is horrible under Windows XP. I have a clean installation with nothing installed except my DAW software, acrobat reader, and this driver. I mean, my computer is really stripped down. Performance using the Behringer was good. The latency (time between playing a note and hearing it out the speakers) was 8 ms using the Behringer, which isn't really perceptible.
Unfortunately the focusrite driver, though it's technically ASIO apparently, doesn't have anything like an acceptable latency. The lowest latency I could set it at and get sound out instead of crackles and pops was 23 ms. At that level the instrument begins to sound very sluggish and laggy. It's very difficult, at least for me, to work with a large latency like that.
I was ready to return this device when I decided as a last ditch effort to install ASIO4ALL. That's sort of an ASIO driver to use if you absolutely cannot make the manufacturer's driver perform at a decent level. I installed it and it worked. The output latency was a tiny 4.3 ms (only .3 of which are actually output latency, so this is REALLY impressive). I conclude that the hardware is very, very good in this machine, but the software is horrible.
Unfortunately, you can't actually uninstall the focusrite driver because otherwise windows doesn't recognize the device and it never even turns on--it's not class compliant, unlike the Behringer. So now I have two drivers for it installed, only one of which I use.
The bad news is that this configuration is very buggy. In general when I just turn the computer on and try and play my VST instrument, all I get is crackles and pops until I open the ASIO configuration panel and increase the buffer. The funny thing is that it doesn't matter where the buffer starts out, I always have to increase it before I get any good sounds out. I can start it out with a huge buffer--lots of latency--and it will crackle until I open it and increase the buffer yet more. I have to do this every time I turn on the computer. Also, sometimes if I leave it on for a while and come back, it will be crackly again until I increase it yet another step. We are talking about major bugs here.
I decided to try ditching ASIO4ALL and trying to make the focusrite drivers work again--maybe there was a setting I was missing. As I was trying to set the buffer size, I heard the sound of an explosion and then my computer rebooted. When it came back I couldn't get good sounds out, even when I turned the buffer way up. Tried rebooting a few more times, still didn't work. So I uninstalled and re-installed the focusrite software. At first it didn't work. I had to install ASIO4ALL as well, and now I can sort of get sounds out of it, half the time.
I hope you are getting the idea. These drivers are terrible. Awful. A monkey could have written a better driver. I would give it 1 star if it wasn't for the fact that the device works very, very well when all the stars align and the driver recognizes the drive and allows it to play. I guess I'm willing to sacrifice convenience and stability for nice hardware when it works. I would never use this in a live situation or when time is critical.
The good thing about drivers is that they can update and fix them. I'm hoping for that. They have already revised the driver once, which is amazing because even the 2.2 driver is seriously an abomination, just like the 2.1.
================ Closing Thoughts =======================
Unfortunately, there really isn't a USB interface that has a good driver. The Behringer driver always worked, but if you moved the interface from one USB port to the other, it was no longer recognized and you had to reinstall the driver. However, you didn't have to use the Behringer driver and ASIO4ALL would give you 11 ms and perform without any complications. That's about as trouble free as I've seen in this type of device.
If you read about the Presonus Audiobox USB and the M-Audio Fast Track Pro (probably the two closest competitors to this focusrite), what you get is a bunch of comments just like this one...horrible, horrible drivers that never get fixed. Actually Mackie makes a competitor as well, the Onyx Blackjack--but the reviews of that show that the driver is possibly even worse than this one. Unfortunately none of the pro music manufacturers cares about their drivers, so we have to live with unstable systems that only work half the time. Maybe it's better under mac. I don't know.
Interestingly, this is really the only USB 2.0 device in this range. That's quite shocking considering how long the USB 2.0 standard has been around. The only real implication of this is that the USB 1.1 devices like the M-Audio and Presonus can only do two channel 24/96 audio in OR out, not both at the same time. There's not enough throughput in USB 1.1.
So in light of the competition, the Focusrite looks kind of ok. Unfortunately all audio interface manufacturers--at least in this range of device--think there's no need for good hardware and (especially) good software. At least the hardware in this one is up to spec. We can cross our fingers for improved drivers in the future.
Bottom line: this is a fantastic, 5-star device...if you can make the software work consistently.
If you are on a tight budget or don't care about balanced in/out, I'd recommend you go with the Behringer UCA202 or UFO2020. They are tons cheaper, class complaint, and have better drivers. If you use a high impedance headphone with it, even the headphone amp is pretty good on that one.
================ Update May 2012 ==============
A new version of the driver, 2.3, came out since the writing of the above. The new driver actually works. I have stopped using ASIO4ALL and I get decent latency. Once in a while--not too often--it will inexplicably require me to edit the settings and increase the buffer, and some percentage of the time when I do that it will reboot my computer. If I don't change anything, most of the time, it works ok. I would never use this in a mission-critical setting (i.e., gigging or pro work), but for my home use, it's good enough now. If you have issues with the driver, definitely update.
There is a newer model of this item:
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
More to consider from our brands
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
Compare with similar items
 | Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (2nd Gen) USB Audio Interface with Pro Tools First, Red, 2i2 - 2 Mic Pres | Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 3rd Gen 2x2 USB Audio Interface Bundled with Headphones and 2 XLR Cables (4 Items) | Focusrite Scarlett Solo (2nd Gen) USB Audio Interface with Pro Tools | First | Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 Studio 3rd Gen USB Audio Interface Bundle with Desktop Boom Arm Mic Stand, Mic Shock Mount for 44-47mm Microphones and Pop Filter (4 Items) | Focusrite Scarlett Solo USB Audio Interface (3rd Generation) + Samson SR360 Over-Ear Dynamic Stereo Headphones, Cables and Accessories | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer Rating | (1417) | (2932) | (383) | (3556) | (718) | (480) |
| Price | $128.24 | $230.00 | $189.99 | $134.95 | $299.99 | $149.00 |
| Sold By | GearTree | Zawdio | Focus Camera LLC | sbmik | Focus Camera LLC | Photo Savings |
| Item Dimensions | 9.6 x 4.1 x 6.6 inches | 1.93 x 6.93 x 4.29 inches | 9.1 x 9.1 x 9.1 inches | 1.77 x 5.71 x 4.41 inches | 20.7 x 14.3 x 7.6 inches | 10 x 8 x 6 inches |
| Item Weight | 2.00 lbs | 1.32 lbs | 1.00 lbs | 0.99 lbs | 8.31 lbs | 3.44 lbs |
Videos
Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1
Videos for this product
4:14
Click to play video
Customer Review: Full Video Review of the Scarlett 2i2
Caleb Wojcik
Videos for this product
7:22
Click to play video
Customer Review: Top quality, very easy to use, LOVE IT!
EposVox
Videos for related products
1:20
Click to play video
Amazing starting interface. Can have 2 instruments in it
Should I Get It Reviews
Videos for related products
1:47
Click to play video
Wrugste USB Audio Interface +48V Phantom Power Sounds Great
Your Review Channel
Videos for related products
2:19
Click to play video
Focusrite Scarlett Solo Compact (1st GENERATION) USB Audio Interface
Merchant Video
Videos for related products
0:53
Click to play video
Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 3rd Gen USB Audio Interface
Your Review Channel
Customer reviews
I got this for my son for Christmas and he really loves it. He also as a condenser mic that needs phantom power in order to work. With this focusrite scarlett 2i2 Audio Interface that eliminates that requirement as it also doubles as phantom power. The mic is very clear when using this recording device. He uses the Magix Music Maker to record his music. It is excellent and he has not had any issues with it at all. I asked him if there was anything negative about it and he said all he can think of is how perfect it is. You can adjuster mic volume, very clear, he has not heard any cut outs. The only con is if you leave it plugged in to the USB when you are not using it your voice will sound static, but he said its an easy fix you just unplug the USB and plug it back in. By the way he is using an old dell laptop and it works great.I am very happy with this purchase and recommend it.
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
Morgoth
Great tool. . . For a Mac!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 22, 2016
Dave Grimmett
Excellent interface for iMac
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 18, 2016
3Dimensions
Perfect Interface for the Price
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 1, 2016
Mr. M. W. Patten
Buy One, Today.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 23, 2015
