Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 3rd Gen USB Audio Interface for Recording, Songwriting, Streaming and Podcasting — High-Fidelity, Studio Quality Recording, and All the Software You Need to Record

The quality in this thing is amazing - in ALL of its aspects. I don't think there is much else that could be said. It even looks badass too. It surpassed all of my expectations - at first glance, I thought it was very lightweight and small. Now I think it's ideal.The knobs are very (!) sturdy and are great to control. Seriously. They feel amazing - even their texture. Plus, the LEDs are amazing too, they shine beautifully.Still haven't had a chance to record microphones (only DI guitar for now) - but the outcoming sound is marvelous. The input gain can be turned way, way up, with minimal noise. It's pretty awesome. Also, the AIR function provides a nice boost in treble. It's definitely worth trying it out, it can make a big change!I have no problems at all with recording/playback (on Windows 10). It is very easy, and very intuitive to use. The only problem I had was with the installation - it stopped responding the first time. So I cancelled everything, uninstalled and tried again. Bingo - works like a charm.I've never seen the previous generations of this interface, but I do believe this one is worth the money. I would definitely recommend it - to anyone looking for an easy, inexpensive and great-sounding way to record stuff. Along with my PreSonus Eris E4.5 studio monitors, my setup sounds greater than ever.The ONLY thing I could complain about it is that it has no MIDI input/output. But I can live with that (for now).

Works just great. This model doesn't have the loop back function is you do

Bought this for our church livestreams. Very easy to set up. Doesn’t take much space up. The quality is very good . Honestly worth the money if using it for livestreams/ recording.

Haven't had too many interfaces yet. This one seems to do everything I need it to as a solo acoustic song writer. So far is pretty easy to use. I use it with reaper.

REVISED REVIEW:I'm an easy customer. The thing works, I'm happy. Thing doesn't work, I'm unhappy. The Focusrite worked out of the box (YAY!). Then it has issues (BOO!). Then I resolved said issues (YAY!). Now it works as expected.Has this device been a walk in the park? No, not really. There are some tweaks you need to make to your computer (See Update 7/7/2020 & 8/21/2020).With that said, I have been using my Focusrite LITERALLY every day. I have a Rode NT1 attached and I use that for video conferencing, recording vocals for my band GreyHalo, for podcasts, and for playing only D&D with family and friends. It's been a huge asset in this online life, and I have to say .. I'm happy I got this.While I originally said I would hard pass in the future, I've decided I LIKE my Focusrite 2i2. It's nor perfect, but from what I've read on other audio interfaces, nothing is. My son has a PreSonus AudioBox USB 96 2x2 USB Audio Interface and we've had to do some tweaking to his laptop to get it to work as expected. I realize that it's impossible for any company to know how everyone's computer will work with their hardware.So would I recommend this again? Yes, yes I would. And in fact, I have. And with that, I've also told them the tweaks I've made and how to do it so they can get faster results.I still have latency in my DAW of choice (Reaper), but that's something I'll have to resolve in the DAW. Not Focusrite's fault. But I've used some pretty hoity-toity VST/VSTi with this Focusrite 2i2 and it's handled everything like a champ. I'm not disappointed one bit in my purchase. And in the future, when I need something beefer, you can be sure I'll look to Focusrite once more.UPDATE 8/21/202:OK! After scouring the interwebs, I think I found out the issue with crackling in certain software (Discord, Facebook video, Steam chats). It turns out most of those software requires a higher sample rate. I had my Focusrite set at 44100, which was the default that the audio interface started at. HOWEVER, if you put it at 48000 with a buffer size of 192 then the crackling is gone and you can use any software as excepted.UPDATE 7/7/2020:After finally getting through to customer support (took some time) I have finally fixed the issue. It's actually a USB issue. Windows has a feature that puts USB devices to sleep, and for some reason does not see the audio interface as an active device even if it's being used. Which is weird and frustrating. Once I disabled the option it's not had any issues. The lack of star is because it took so blooming long for them to get back to me I almost abandoned all hope.However, since I had it fixed I recorded several songs with no issues. Lord willing my music career will finally see some fruition.Is it worth the purchase? For the price, yeah it's a decide device. I do wish I would have gotten the Presonus as it has midi in, but I think if you don't have a need for midi this is a solid device that should last a while.ONE last issue. Latency. If I can use Guitar Rig with my guitar in real time that would be great. But I haven't figured out if that's because of my DAW (Reaper) or the device.ORIGINAL REVIEW:I'm going to start this off by saying I work in IT. I'm also not new to the recording world as I've used other products in the past. So I know my way around buffer sizes and sample.With that said, I'm going to flat out say that this has been nothing but a pain in my neck. I bought the Scarlet 2i2 with the intention of recording voices for games and animation, as well as podcasts. Since the quarantine order, I've used it for video conferencing with work. And, it works. I have a Rode NT1 and everything sounds amazing.HOWEVER, the driver will crash constantly. I'll be watching a video, and it will just stop working. I'll be in the middle of a conference call, and it will crash. It's crashed while recording a podcast. It's crashed while recording a video. It just .. crashes.And the only thing I can do is force it to restart by changing the buffer size. Then it kicks back in and I'm good for a while.It's beyond infuriating. There are no errors in the event log. All the drivers are up to date, as far as I know. Except the Focusrite website is always seems to be down. My computer is more than powerful enough to run this relatively simple device.I really want to like this, and I really want to recommend these to my friends who also are looking for hardware for recording their own podcasts and videos and so on. In this time of isolation, people are looking for professional solutions to record good audio. This interface ... I'd do a hard pass.

Updating my review as I now own both the 3rd and 4th Gen versions of the 2i2. I've been using the 3rd Gen for months and recently acquired the 4th Gen.3rd Gen:The device is great. I prefer the analog knobs for gain adjustment, unlike the new system where you rely on software to fine-tune the precise dB you want. Occasionally, on my Windows 10 machine, I experienced hiccups requiring a reboot or device refresh to resolve scrambled and choppy audio during gameplay while recording. However, I didn't encounter this issue with my Apple Mac Studio. I use a straight USB-C to USB-C cable with the Mac Studio, and it has been flawless. The AIR mode enhances the sound of my Shure SM7B mic.PROS:--Volume knobs don't require software.CONS:--XLR input in front.4th Gen:I was initially confused about how auto-gain and clip-safe functioned, so I decided to test them out. Autogain analyzes your voice briefly and recommends a dB level, in my case, 22dB with a Shure SM7B with an inline booster. I also tested the new AIR+Drive mode. While I appreciate AIR, I found the drive mode less favorable, especially with vocals, as it resulted in over-processed distortion. Adjusting the notices on my SM7B mic for different frequencies, combined with AIR mode, yields optimal results. The recording quality of my voice sounds slightly better with the 4th Gen over the 3rd, likely because I can keep the volume knob lower, minimizing background noise.PROS:--XLR input in the back.--Auto-gain assists in setting the ideal dB level.--Better gain, allowing for lower volume knobs and reduced background noise.CONS:--Digital volume knobs require software for precise dB adjustments.

Worked wonderfully with my mic. Super easy to set up.