Focusrite Scarlett 2i2

[darius8]

I went ahead and bought a new Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 last week. So far, I'm very pleased with the quality of the build and the ease of use. I've been using a Tascam US100 for the last year and I needed something with phantom power.

Installing the drivers for it was easy and quick. It came with one cd that had the drivers, Ableton Live Light, and 4 VST plug-ins (compressor, reverb, phase shifter and flanger). The driver was an older 2.0 version but I downloaded a 2.4 version off their website.
I didn't bother installing the Ableton Live or the VST plug-ins because I already had full blown versions of Ableton Live 8, FL Studio 10 and Reaper. All three worked flawlessly with the Scarlett.

Setting the ASIO buffer size is a "one slider" control and it's in "milliseconds" instead of "samples". This seems easier because you only have set the latency (in ms) that your computer can handle without the clicks and pops (underruns some people call it). Setting the sample part is done automatically for you.

I originally got this for my desktop, which is a WIN 7 quadcore 3.3 Ghz 6gig ram, but I decided to try it out on my laptop to see how it would fair. My laptop is a Toshiba WIN Vista dualcore 1.3Ghz 2gig ram and the website clearly stated that it didn't OFFICIALLY support Vista. But, with the newer drivers (2.4 version) it worked. I not seeing a significant amount of latency.
I got down to 5 -6 ms easy without pops.

Here's the link to two simple short clips I put together just to show how it sounds. I used FL Studio for my DAW on my laptop (I'll try it with Reaper later). For the demo clips, I used my stock Fender Jazz (MIM) straight into the Scarlett and out into the laptop via usb. The effects I used was a little reverb. The drums track is some generic stuff I collected over the years, nothing fancy.





I'll post some clips using Guitar Rig and Amplitube later. I'm now a big fan of Focusrite.

 

[SoLongJake]

I just made the switch from windows 7 to Ubuntu studio, and the scarlet works dynamite out of the box with Ubuntu's free daw software. My only complaint with the scarlet is that the inputs are so easy to clip.

 

[SaucyJackBass]

For me, connecting to a powered USB hub made all the difference. I wish I would have bought the 4.

 

[theory028]

I dig the Scarlett 2i2. I also love its big brother, the 18i6, but having a portable option is great for recording small jams. It's quite impressive what you can capture with two well-placed microphones. I still default to the 18i6 when I am trying to get better recordings simply because the extra inputs allow me to use my external mic preamps and do stereo acoustic guitar, vocals, and cajon/bongo tracks all at once. But the 2i2 is no slouch. Focusrite has really been doing wonderful things. The plugin pack that comes with the Scarletts is fantastic, as well, so you are getting a great package at a tremendous price.

 

[darius8]

I just made the switch from windows 7 to Ubuntu studio, and the scarlet works dynamite out of the box with Ubuntu's free daw software. My only complaint with the scarlet is that the inputs are so easy to clip.

I noticed that too. I found that switching from "inst" to "mic" helps ease it up quite a bit. On another home recording website, someone suggested using a DI box between the bass and the Scarlett. I haven't tried it yet but I'm about to run a DI out from my MarkBass BB to see what that sounds like and I'll post it here.

 

[darius8]

OK, I experimented with the Ampeg SVX with the Scarlett. I was very pleased with sound improvement.
In this short clip, I hooked the bass straight into the Scarlett and using FL Studio for the DAW. I'm using the Ampeg SVX for the Fender Jazz bass, the SVT-4 PRO modeller. For the guitar, I'm using a stock 90's Jackson Soloist, straight into the Scarlett and going thru Amplitube 3 for my modeller. Again, fantastic results.

This is a short rendition of "Walks like Rihanna" by the Wanted.



edited:

The soundcloud stream doesn't do any justice to what it really sounds like played directly from the DAW. Soundcloud reduces everything down to 128kbps.