Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 3rd Gen USB Audio Interface for Recording, Producing and Engineering — High-Fidelity, Studio Quality Recording, with Transparent Playback

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The upgraded specs and added features are welcome additions, and we think they’ve done well to remain competitive. That being said, if you’ve only recently bought a 2nd gen interface — we wouldn’t worry. Not being one to pore over manuals, when I unboxed the 18i20 3rd Gen, I went right to Pro Tools I/O and got to work. Setting up I/O was as simple as you’d expect; straight away, I did some experimenting with latency to see how low I could go before Pro Tools glitched. I recorded a bunch of VO, and while I got it to a pretty low latency (setting the buffer to a mere 32!), I couldn’t quite shake that “phasing” sound in my headphones. This might have been less noticeable for an instrument, but for most applications, you’ll probably want to switch to zero latency mode. This is assignable in the mix control software. The microphone preamps and converters on the Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 have very similar specs to those on my Apollo x8, with a comparable gain range of 56 dB and a maximum 24-bit/192 kHz AD/DA conversion rate. These stats more or less mean that the 18i20 is capable of recording at or above the industry standard for audio resolution at a level comparable to that of interfaces two, three, and even four times its price. While the technical reality is a bit more complicated than that, as all-in-one devices like the 18i20 often make technical compromises for the sake of saving space and cutting costs, the 18i20 should still have no trouble producing high-quality files that are up to industry spec. With its speaker-switching technology, the Scarlett 18i20 gen 3 also allows you two to switch between two different sets of monitors. This is an essential feature to ensure the best possible mix and professional level results. Focusrite are excited to announce an extension to the standard limited warranty, which comes with all new products.

While physically speaking the quality of this unit is great, the software implementation leaves a lot to be desired. Many configuration options, such as extending the number of inputs through the ADAT connection, require using the Focusrite Control proprietary software suite, which is only available for Windows and Mac. Why not make all options configurable without a PC, and especially without a proprietary piece of software?There are also hardware improvements across the range, mostly relating to the inputs. The preamps have an extra 6dB gain range over the second-generation Scarletts' 50dB, dynamic range on the analogue inputs has been raised from 109dB to 111dB, and total harmonic distortion has been reduced on all analogue I/O. All the Scarlett preamps now feature the Air option found on Focusrite's premium Red and Clarett interfaces, which adds high-end excitement in a fashion that is intended to emulate their classic transformer-based ISA preamp design. In my experience, when trying this out, the ‘Air effect’ has a presence that is felt more than heard. Regardless, it is a welcome addition that many users will no doubt embrace in their recordings. Three Month Avid Pro Tools Subscription: get a taste of the industry-standard recording experience with this legendary DAW

As the flagship model in the Focusrite Scarlett range, the Scarlett 18i20 offers fantastic audio quality with comprehensive I/O and great expansion capabilities. I have never in my life even remotely thought that interface can change my workflow this much. Integrated zero-latency hardware 1 bus mixer is game changer since... it works even if PC is turned off and interface is unplugged. It means that you can actually set this interface up in such way that when PC is off Scarlett 18i20 can behave as pass-through device passing any line-in of your choice (eg. inputs 7-8) directly to your main XLR monitors. It makes it really easy to connect multiple either balanced or unbalanced devices to monitors. Kinda like... monitor controller or actual mixer AND interface in one device. At the end of the day, however, all that matters is how it sounds. I tested the inputs with voiceover, vocals, acoustic guitars and other string instruments, electric guitar and some drums. The sound was consistently clean and practically noise-free. At no point did I feel that the 18i20 couldn’t handle what I was throwing at it. It’s amazing that you can set up a powerful project studio, band recording session or complete production studio for TV and radio commercial work at this price point.In total, as the name suggests, the Scarlett 18i20 3rd gen has 20 outputs which give you a huge amount of options for recording and monitoring. The step-by-step guide walks you through the supplied virtual instruments, plug-ins, and sample-content installation before giving you the option of how you would like to set up the interface based on how you plan to use it. This is a fantastically streamlined approach to giving customers the fastest and most effective path to getting down to business as soon as possible.

Seek them here or seek them there, you don't have to look very far to find Focusrite's Scarlett interfaces. From the compact and portable Scarlett Solo to the versatile Scarlett 18i20, this is a range that caters to most home-studio needs; and since their introduction in 2011, these modestly priced USB devices for getting audio into and out of a computer have carried all before them.

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If you are just starting with music production, we recommend shopping around for a bundle that helps you save some serious cash. Final Thoughts The Air feature is clearly proving popular, as Focusrite have now rolled it out across all of their interface ranges. In practice its main effect is to add quite a noticeable high-frequency boost; very often this simply anticipates what you'd have done at the mix anyway, but you do need to be careful with sources or mics that already have a lot of top end. (Note that the new Scarlett preamp circuit is not the same as that found on Focusrite's Clarett and Red interfaces, though: switching Air off on the Claretts changes the input impedance, whereas the new Scarlett preamps remain at the Air impedance.)

What’s more; you also get a free 3-month subscription to Splice Sounds when you create a new Splice account. People often ask me what audio interface I recommend. I always answer with two questions: “What are you recording?” and “What’s your budget?” There are products on the market that will suit any answers—there is literally something for everyone. Focusrite has taken that idea and run with it in its new lineup of Scarlett interfaces. While this review focuses on the Scarlett 18i20 3rd generation interface, many of the advancements I mention carry across the entire Scarlett line.Most of the new features are self-explanatory, and where they're not, they're usually implemented in the simplest way possible. For example, alternate monitoring on the 18i8 and 18i20 is basic but perfectly effective. Enabling speaker switching in Focusrite Control repurposes line outputs 3–4 to carry the same signal as the first pair, and a front-panel Alt button selects which of them is active or muted at any given time. The main front-panel Monitor level control governs both sets of outputs at once. It's not possible to specify a volume offset so that the main and alternate speakers can be level-matched from the Scarlett, but if that's important to you then it can usually be achieved further downstream anyway. For myself, the only monitoring feature I still miss is a mono button, but then I suppose Focusrite had to leave something for the fourth generation! (For the sake of completeness I should also mention that the firmware version I tested had a bug in it whereby enabling and then disabling speaker switching could lead to outputs 1–2 and 3–4 carrying the same signal and both being active simultaneously, but Focusrite are aware of this issue and have a fix in the works.) Software interface is fairly intuitive and enables users to make alternative monitoring. Drivers are working without problem with Voiceomeeter Banana stuff. My old Steinberg card does not work with them properly. With two independent headphone outputs, both the engineer and recording artist can monitor during the session. If you're having problems installing the driver on Windows 7, please try the steps in the following article: Focusrite USB Driver will not install on my Windows 7 machine (digital signature problem). The speaker switcher works with the first two pairs of outputs (1&2/3&4), which you’ll need to keep in mind when mapping your I/O for surround or other applications. It would be nice if the dim was adjustable, but I wasn’t able to find a way to change it.