# Best Digital Audio Interface (Focusrite vs Behringer vs Audient)



## Vinny554 (Oct 2, 2019)

Yes, I know. I'm going to get blasted since there are a million of these posts but I genuinely am just overwhelmed with all these options and I'm unaware of where to go. The reason I've posted this is because I believe all of these options depend on what each person is looking for, so here we go.

I'm the songwriter in the progressive metal (deathcore, metal core, whatever the hell you want to call it) group QUEEN KONA. A sample of some of our material can be found through a quick YouTube search. To save costs, we do all of our recording in-house except drums. I used a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (2nd gen) for our first projects and definitely need to swap it out (could you believe I recorded guitars on "Line" mode instead of "Inst"). Now that I've corrected this noobish issue, I've realized the 2nd gen Scarlett will not allow me to record guitars without clipping. So - Focusrite be gone.

We record guitars and vocals via interface. Vocals are done with a Shure SM7B. Essentially, my needs are to record DI guitars and vocals at great in-home quality. We send everything to engineers to professionally mix and master. Lastly, I love to play guitar and practice through DI also. This means latency or delays in sound would be an issue.
I've been looking closely at:


Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 or 2i2 (3rd gen)
Audient ID4 or ID14
Behringer UMC204HD
Now, I've heard every Pro and Con to all of these just about. I hear the Scarletts are great for the cost, but lack in pre amp quality. Has this gotten better in Gen 3? I've heard the Audients are wonderful but suffer latency issues. Would these be an issue for me practicing and jamming guitar via plugins? And I've heard great things about the Behringer, however there seems to be much less feedback overall with this one...not as popular.

What do you all think? I've come to a conclusion that I don't think the guitar DI audio will change at all through these, but vocals might. Thanks!


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## noise in my mind (Oct 3, 2019)

get a used rme fireface.


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## urzasj00rmom (Oct 3, 2019)

I don’t think you’re going to see that noticeable of an improvement in either the mic pre-amps or the DA conversion at the same price point as your current interface.

As for latency, that’s pretty hit or miss and has a lot of other variables at play.

You may be able to find a used interface of a bit higher quality that would have some better pre’s and conversion. A used UAD Arrow or an Apogee Duet wouldn’t be too far out of that price range depending on the seller.


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## chopeth (Oct 3, 2019)

UR22 mkII


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## Winspear (Oct 3, 2019)

Audient imo - latency issues would be very surprising. Probably someone with a weak cpu trying to use amp sims. Used AUD or RME otherwise is a good shout too.


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## Metropolis (Oct 3, 2019)

Audient iD4 here, and no latency issues. With amp sims it's normally set to 64 samples, but it can be used with 16 samples without them or any other instances in DAW itself if you decide to play through a modeler with your audio interface. And my system has somewhat old processor which is i5-4570. DI quality is good in it's price range and preamps have low noise floor compared to it's competitors, which comes really handy with mics like SM7B, because they need quite a lot of gain from preamp.


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## sakeido (Oct 3, 2019)

noise in my mind said:


> get a used rme fireface.



A used babyface is probably the only RME that fits in the budget, and even then it's a huge stretch.

But RME for sure. I've had my Fireface UC for 5.5 years now - bought it used, and it's appreciated in value somehow since then. Rock solid. Nobody else even comes close to RME drivers. Sound quality is fantastic. DI and mic quality are both great

to OP's question, you'd be making a lateral move. There is no point in buying another entry level interface when you could get something like a buffer pedal or pad connector to bring your levels down for way less money. Especially to consider another Focusrite after the existing one can't do something as basic as record instrument level signals without clipping like... really?


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## coffeeflush (Oct 3, 2019)

Audient > Behringer > Focusrite

I concur with others, get a used but better interface.


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## Vinny554 (Oct 3, 2019)

urzasj00rmom said:


> I don’t think you’re going to see that noticeable of an improvement in either the mic pre-amps or the DA conversion at the same price point as your current interface.
> 
> As for latency, that’s pretty hit or miss and has a lot of other variables at play.
> 
> You may be able to find a used interface of a bit higher quality that would have some better pre’s and conversion. A used UAD Arrow or an Apogee Duet wouldn’t be too far out of that price range depending on the seller.





Winspear said:


> Audient imo - latency issues would be very surprising. Probably someone with a weak cpu trying to use amp sims. Used AUD or RME otherwise is a good shout too.





Metropolis said:


> Audient iD4 here, and no latency issues. With amp sims it's normally set to 64 samples, but it can be used with 16 samples without them or any other instances in DAW itself if you decide to play through a modeler with your audio interface. And my system has somewhat old processor which is i5-4570. DI quality is good in it's price range and preamps have low noise floor compared to it's competitors, which comes really handy with mics like SM7B, because they need quite a lot of gain from preamp.





sakeido said:


> A used babyface is probably the only RME that fits in the budget, and even then it's a huge stretch.
> 
> But RME for sure. I've had my Fireface UC for 5.5 years now - bought it used, and it's appreciated in value somehow since then. Rock solid. Nobody else even comes close to RME drivers. Sound quality is fantastic. DI and mic quality are both great
> 
> to OP's question, you'd be making a lateral move. There is no point in buying another entry level interface when you could get something like a buffer pedal or pad connector to bring your levels down for way less money. Especially to consider another Focusrite after the existing one can't do something as basic as record instrument level signals without clipping like... really?





coffeeflush said:


> Audient > Behringer > Focusrite
> 
> I concur with others, get a used but better interface.



You guys have been awesome. From all the others I've asked, most either respond with: 

"all are similar, but Audient if I had to choose" 
OR
"Scratch all - go RME Babyface Pro"

So its between the Babyface and Audient for me. Being that most of the vocals are screaming with some singing, I'm debating if the jump to the RME is worth the extra money. Hard to find them used, so I'm looking at an additional $300 minimum


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## sakeido (Oct 3, 2019)

With RME you know they will support it literally forever. They are buy it for life type products. You won't run into a situation where they've suddenly have stopped supporting your interface so it doesn't even work with a new version of Windows or something like that.. like has happened to me twice with Roland and M-Audio

like a quick Google showed that Audient's drivers were 2+ years old and only got updated because they released the id44. That's not what I want to see for the product that is the nerve center of my entire studio.

The Babyface also has more room for expansion down the line. You can add 8 more channels of inputs and 8 channels of outputs so if you guys decide to start taking on more recording responsibilities yourself, it'll step up and accommodate that whereas the Audient will run into a ceiling much sooner

But we are talking a serious cost difference here. If Babyface Pros were floating around used, maybe it'd be a better conversation, but nobody sells theirs so it's tough. For your immediate needs is it worth double the money? Probably not.


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## Vinny554 (Oct 3, 2019)

sakeido said:


> With RME you know they will support it literally forever. They are buy it for life type products. You won't run into a situation where they've suddenly have stopped supporting your interface so it doesn't even work with a new version of Windows or something like that.. like has happened to me twice with Roland and M-Audio
> 
> like a quick Google showed that Audient's drivers were 2+ years old and only got updated because they released the id44. That's not what I want to see for the product that is the nerve center of my entire studio.
> 
> ...



Perfect summary. I guess what it comes down to is how much better are the RME pre-amps for vocals than the Audient...is it worth the $300+ difference? I do admire the expansion capability, however I don't foresee myself wanting that anytime soon. I do, however, want great preamps for vocals.


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## coffeeflush (Oct 3, 2019)

Surprised that there is no mention of the Audient Sono here. 
But the cheaper audients are absolutely worth it.


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## Vinny554 (Oct 3, 2019)

coffeeflush said:


> Surprised that there is no mention of the Audient Sono here.
> But the cheaper audients are absolutely worth it.



The iD4 lacks the Burr-Brown converters vs iD14...is this something that's genuinely beneficial?


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## coffeeflush (Oct 3, 2019)

Kind of, but not worth the price difference. 
You can always use a preamp in front later etc.


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## Descent (Oct 4, 2019)

iD14, no contest. You can even expand via ADAT preamp if you feel like it for total of 10 channels.


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## Element0s (Oct 4, 2019)

Vinny554 said:


> So its between the Babyface and Audient for me.


 I found myself in the exact same position earlier this year and ended up springing for the Babyface Pro. Definitely a more expensive investment but I'm happy with it. I ended up expanding with with an 8-channel preamp from ART so I'm rocking 10 channels (plus the two line-ins!) in our rehearsal space. The Babyface goes home with me and I use it for demos and home stuff. It's great and extremely well-made. The Totalmix FX software is extremely powerful and very detailed almost to a fault.

The Audient stuff is getting great reviews but since my rig needs to be mobile I decided to splurge and get something that I knew would survive multiple trips out of the house.


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## noise in my mind (Oct 5, 2019)

sakeido said:


> With RME you know they will support it literally forever. They are buy it for life type products. You won't run into a situation where they've suddenly have stopped supporting your interface so it doesn't even work with a new version of Windows or something like that.. like has happened to me twice with Roland and M-Audio
> 
> like a quick Google showed that Audient's drivers were 2+ years old and only got updated because they released the id44. That's not what I want to see for the product that is the nerve center of my entire studio.
> 
> ...



I bought my fireface used 9 years ago and it's still running strong day in and day out.


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## fps (Oct 5, 2019)

I have an ID44, it's absolutely fantastic, sounds great, strong recommend. I also use an SM7, would recommend a Cloudlifter with it for gain reasons with this interface.


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## LeviathanKiller (Oct 5, 2019)

Not a total fan of my Focusrite. It's a bit noisy. Had some Windows + Focusrite drivers issues a while back where my audio would drop out and stay out until I re-plugged in my interface.


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## coffeeflush (Oct 6, 2019)

Focusrite has really sad quality control. I paid 1/3rd for a Behringer and got better pre amps , lower noise floor etc. 

Whatever I heard from the Audient is absolutely mindblowing.


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## Vinny554 (Oct 8, 2019)

UPDATE:
So...I’m both really confused and flustered now at this point. If any of you could help that’d be great.

I took the dive into the Audient iD14. Babyface was still a good $400 more and had no luck finding a used one, but I’ve listened to some audio demos of the iD14 vs Scarlett and the Audient seemed like the way to go.

So I ran my guitar into the DI...AND IT’S CLIPPING LIKE SERIOUSLY? On hard strums and palm muted chugging, it hits the unholy red and I have no clue why.

Yes, I ensured the +10db setting isn’t on.
Yes, the gain knob is turned all the way down.

Audient support is nonexistent and I’m literally going to lose my mind. Ive tried this with 2 different guitars, both Humbucker passive pickups and the same result. I’ve tried different guitar cables, and I’ve tried using the wall power (maybe a load issue?).

So upset because I bought this legitimately for the purpose of not having DI clipping.


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## Winspear (Oct 8, 2019)

Damn that's a shame to hear. A design issue just like the Focusrite - prioritizing plenty of gain on tap and forgetting that metal players with twice the pickup output exist.
At this point I'd probably fork 100 for a used Radial DI to run infront then xlr into Audient mic pre. This will be an incredibly nice setup. I'm surprised this is the first time I've heard of this issue with Audient - are your pickups extra hot ? Potentially backing pickups off will help enough, if it's not something you've already dialed to your preference.


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## Vinny554 (Oct 8, 2019)

Winspear said:


> Damn that's a shame to hear. A design issue just like the Focusrite - prioritizing plenty of gain on tap and forgetting that metal players with twice the pickup output exist.
> At this point I'd probably fork 100 for a used Radial DI to run infront then xlr into Audient mic pre. This will be an incredibly nice setup. I'm surprised this is the first time I've heard of this issue with Audient - are your pickups extra hot ? Potentially backing pickups off will help enough, if it's not something you've already dialed to your preference.



Dude this is what is mind blowing to me. I have not found a single other thread on the internet of someone having this issue. I’d imagine my guitars are not extra hot. I have an Ibanez RG7 with DiMarsio D’Activators and a bone stock PRS SE SVN setup. Hard to believe it’s the guitars.


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## DudeManBrother (Oct 8, 2019)

https://support.audient.com/hc/en-us/articles/202395129-iD14-Getting-Audio-In-and-Out-Mixer-Basics

You probably missed something simple during setup. It’s very unlikely that the signal is actually clipping. Running a trim/gain plugin first, to reduce track volume, will likely allow for clean playback without distortion at the previously “clipped” transients. 

Check your setup though. There has to be an input level on the id14 that can be adjusted. Make sure the clock source is your DAW etc.


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## Vinny554 (Oct 8, 2019)

DudeManBrother said:


> https://support.audient.com/hc/en-us/articles/202395129-iD14-Getting-Audio-In-and-Out-Mixer-Basics
> 
> You probably missed something simple during setup. It’s very unlikely that the signal is actually clipping. Running a trim/gain plugin first, to reduce track volume, will likely allow for clean playback without distortion at the previously “clipped” transients.
> 
> Check your setup though. There has to be an input level on the id14 that can be adjusted. Make sure the clock source is your DAW etc.



I don’t think I missed anything. The clipping is shown on the actual iD software as well, not just in Logic.

Gain is all the way down on the Line 1 knob.


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## DudeManBrother (Oct 8, 2019)

If the gain is all the way down then there should be no signal showing; unless I’m misunderstanding something.


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## Winspear (Oct 8, 2019)

DudeManBrother said:


> If the gain is all the way down then there should be no signal showing; unless I’m misunderstanding something.



The interface controls are usually increase only - not decrease. Some are being designed with the lowest input gain being enough to take heavy guitar up to digital 0dB, sadly. This was a very known issue with Focusrite but first I've heard of it with Audient


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## noise in my mind (Oct 12, 2019)

This is why I told you to go with a used RME. Cheap interfaces have no support and are hit and miss imo.


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## Nicki (Oct 12, 2019)

Not sure where you heard that Focusrite preamps are bad. The Gen 2 Scarlett interfaces had an issue with DI guitar and bass signal clipping the preamp, but that's been fixed in Gen 3, but for Mic Pres, you'd be hard pressed to find better at the price point. I'm still running an older Gen 1 Scarlett 8i6 and honestly, I feel no need to upgrade to anything else.

I've also heard nothing but good things about the Steinberg interfaces if you feel like taking a look at those too.


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## JimboLodisC (Oct 14, 2019)

Happy with my Scarlett. For the money, it's a pretty decent buy. Definitely in the tier of affordable interfaces like the Behringer and Audient models you mentioned. RME is obviously an upgrade and obviously not in the same tier. Really shouldn't be comparing them at all to what's mentioned in the title (Focusrite vs Behringer vs Audient). If you wanna talk serious interfaces like the RME then you need to be comparing Focusrite's Clarett line, Audient iD44, UAD Apollo's, etc.


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## Jbutts (Oct 14, 2019)

I recently picked up the Presonus Audio Box USB 96 from Sam Ash for $89.99. Zero complaints, but the best part is that it comes with Presonus: Studio One Recording software.


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## raytsh (Oct 15, 2019)

I had issues with always clipping when I tried a Scarlett 2i2 and I now use an old Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6 (the silver one). I'm very happy with the performance.


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## Sogradde (Oct 15, 2019)

Vinny554 said:


> [...]


Welcome to the world of cheap interfaces.
The easiest solution at this point is, to grab a DI box and call it a day.


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## axxessdenied (Oct 15, 2019)

That's unfortunate.

As an RME Babyface Pro user I can say I've dealt with a total of zero issues after upgrading to it from my presonus firestudio. If you're on Windows I think a quality usb interface is the best choice for stability / long-term support. RME also has their drivers in order. I just reformatted and getting my audio and daw back up and functioning was an absolute breeze.


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## coffeeflush (Oct 16, 2019)

^^ I've had my eye on it, but the price is still too restrictive. 600 Euros is my whole rig minus the guitar.


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## skmanga (Oct 18, 2019)

Has anyone here had success with the Steinberg ur22mk2 for guitar recording and vsts?


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## chopeth (Oct 18, 2019)

skmanga said:


> Has anyone here had success with the Steinberg ur22mk2 for guitar recording and vsts?



I recommended it in the first page


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## coffeeflush (Oct 18, 2019)

skmanga said:


> Has anyone here had success with the Steinberg ur22mk2 for guitar recording and vsts?


Its pretty good, could use some more headroom, but no complaints regarding regarding reliability


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## skmanga (Oct 18, 2019)

coffeeflush said:


> Its pretty good, could use some more headroom, but no complaints regarding regarding reliability



Ive read mixed reviews with some saying its good for guitar with its high z input, and some saying its not and wish it had a pad.

With guitar as my main instrument i want to make sure any interface i get is fully capable in that regard


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## chopeth (Oct 19, 2019)

I use it with TH3-U and the results are very good, total reliability, obviusly high z input for metal and also great cleans. I'm thinking of buing another unit for my other place.


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## Lukhas (Oct 19, 2019)

skmanga said:


> Has anyone here had success with the Steinberg ur22mk2 for guitar recording and vsts?


I have it and use it for my system audio and for amp sims in REAPER as I don't own a physical amplifier. While the interface originally advertised a buffer size of 64 samples, Steinberg has implemented support for 32 samples through driver updates. That said, and while it's not the purpose of the thread, I prefer it at 64 samples when doing something more intensive on the whole system like gaming. 32 samples works pretty much only in DAW for me, be it with a Intel i5-6600K (16GB DDR4 3000-CL15) or an AMD R5-3600 (16GB DDR4 3600-CL16 memory). When multi-tasking at 32 samples, I tend to have audio dropouts: the audio just dies for a couple of seconds and comes back.

Aside from that, I think it's fine. It wasn't built for 32 samples of latency, but I don't have much to complain about otherwise. You won't turn the Input Gain knob very high, but Gain on an interface is like Gain on an amp: higher isn't better, and you're not necessarily missing out on something just because you can't turn the gain very high.

That said, for the same price and if I had to buy an interface today, I probably at least would try a Behringer UMC404HD. The price is way too good to not at least try it, and the reviews seems rather positive. It also has more features; I kinda regret not having two high impedance inputs on my UR22MkII to switch between instruments seamlessly.

Other than that, a DI box is most likely the way to go with such interfaces if you're really worried about the preamp quality.


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## skmanga (Oct 20, 2019)

Thanks for the replies I am considering trading my basically new and unused 11 rack for a UR22mk2.
I am just hoping that it works well for guitar+vst's.
From everything i gather it should do the job fine.

Thank you for the replies!


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## Lukhas (Oct 20, 2019)

I wonder if I would trade a Eleven Rack for a UR22mk2. I do understand the Eleven hasn't been updated in quite a few years, but it's still a very capable processor. Think about it this way: would you sell it used for 120$/€? Because that's the price of the Steinberg interface. And it doesn't come with anything but a cheap Cubase license. At least, even though it's very barebone in terms of features and wouldn't be my first choice for that reason, the Focusrite units come with a good software bundle, and the Behringer comes with a good price. 

Unless you _really _don't like the Eleven Rack, that's not a trade I would make.


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## coffeeflush (Oct 20, 2019)

Lukhas said:


> I wonder if I would trade a Eleven Rack for a UR22mk2. I do understand the Eleven hasn't been updated in quite a few years, but it's still a very capable processor. Think about it this way: would you sell it used for 120$/€? Because that's the price of the Steinberg interface. And it doesn't come with anything but a cheap Cubase license. At least, even though it's very barebone in terms of features and wouldn't be my first choice for that reason, the Focusrite units come with a good software bundle, and the Behringer comes with a good price.
> 
> Unless you _really _don't like the Eleven Rack, that's not a trade I would make.


Its a pain to dial patches but it sounds great. Very nice option. 

Focusrite Gen 1 and 2 are riddled with issues, once can get a good piece, but why risk it ?
Behringer sounds really good, but its best tested with your machine if it has latency issues or not.


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## Politics of Ecstasy (Oct 20, 2019)

Didnt see the whole thread, but did anyone suggest an old mbox 3 or mbox mini....


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## skmanga (Oct 21, 2019)

Lukhas said:


> I wonder if I would trade a Eleven Rack for a UR22mk2. I do understand the Eleven hasn't been updated in quite a few years, but it's still a very capable processor. Think about it this way: would you sell it used for 120$/€? Because that's the price of the Steinberg interface. And it doesn't come with anything but a cheap Cubase license. At least, even though it's very barebone in terms of features and wouldn't be my first choice for that reason, the Focusrite units come with a good software bundle, and the Behringer comes with a good price.
> 
> Unless you _really _don't like the Eleven Rack, that's not a trade I would make.



I have been debating trading because like you said it isnt an equal value trade.
Thing is my presonus audiobox usb has shot inputs and crap latency.

I tried setting up my 11 rack as a secondary interface to route my guitar through, while keeping my audiobox on with my monitors to output sound and couldnt get it working.
My daw's would recognize that the device was intalled but they wouldnt get any signal from the device. Meters showed nothing.

Its possible that not having my monitors through the 11 rack was causing issues but that seems weird.
I did read something about the 11 rack taking control as the only sound device on a system but was not sure what it meant.
I also dont think I would be able to use Vst's which wouldn't be exactly necessary with the 11r but it would be nice.

Itd be nice to get the 11rack working the way I need.
There are also issues with updating the firmware on windows and having to revert and uninstall Internet explorer to get it working on win7.

All of that got me going in the direction of a new interface.


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## Nicki (Oct 23, 2019)

coffeeflush said:


> Focusrite Gen 1 and 2 are riddled with issues, once can get a good piece, but why risk it ?



You know... I keep seeing that the Gen 1 units had issues but every bit of googling I've turned up pointed to the 1st and 2nd Gen Scarletts that had the red outer housing.

I have the 1st Gen 8i6 (pictured below). I've not once had an issue with it other than having to unplug it and plug it back in because Windows went to sleep and the driver couldn't recover. I'd say if you can find either this unit or the 18i6, you're golden.


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## Headbanger (Oct 23, 2019)

Don't buy Focusrite!! the first gen Scarletts were absolute garbage.


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## coffeeflush (Oct 23, 2019)

Nicki said:


> You know... I keep seeing that the Gen 1 units had issues but every bit of googling I've turned up pointed to the 1st and 2nd Gen Scarletts that had the red outer housing.
> 
> I have the 1st Gen 8i6 (pictured below). I've not once had an issue with it other than having to unplug it and plug it back in because Windows went to sleep and the driver couldn't recover. I'd say if you can find either this unit or the 18i6, you're golden.


Quality control is a hit and miss, I am happy that you got a good piece. 
I've had much better results with cheapest Behringer (both preamp quality and longetivity).


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## axxessdenied (Oct 23, 2019)

Nicki said:


> You know... I keep seeing that the Gen 1 units had issues but every bit of googling I've turned up pointed to the 1st and 2nd Gen Scarletts that had the red outer housing.
> 
> I have the 1st Gen 8i6 (pictured below). I've not once had an issue with it other than having to unplug it and plug it back in because Windows went to sleep and the driver couldn't recover. I'd say if you can find either this unit or the 18i6, you're golden.


When I was shopping for interfaces the local sales guys told me to avoid focusrite because of the high volume of returns on them.


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## Nicki (Oct 24, 2019)

axxessdenied said:


> When I was shopping for interfaces the local sales guys told me to avoid focusrite because of the high volume of returns on them.


See, that's just odd because I swear by my Scarlett. Like I mentioned, googling seems to lead to the ones with the red shroud around the body, but I can't find anyone reporting problems with the units that have red faceplates (8i6 and 18i6)


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## Vinny554 (Nov 4, 2019)

For the sake of updating everyone who’d like to hear if the issue was resolved...I ended up returning the iD14. It appears that it just did not have a high enough headroom for my pickups and hard strumming. So, I bought a 3rd gen Scarlett 2i2 temporarily to test out. Headroom issue was definitely improved. No clipping, but still getting pretty high levels close to clipping (mostly yellow ranges - unsure of what dB range this is). 

for peace of mind and because my Sweetwater rep gave me a discount for the hassle, I ended up with an iD22. Few bucks more than the previously mentioned, but massive headroom and wonderful preamp (so I’ve heard). Haven’t done any vocal recording yet, but for SM7Bs the iD22 is supposed to be a great fit due to the clean gain. 

Once we finish the new record/single, I’ll post a song here so y’all can get an idea.


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## coffeeflush (Nov 4, 2019)

Really curious how the performance compares to Scarlett gen 3 , the usb C is suposed to improve performance.


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## binz (Feb 8, 2020)

The recommended RME products seem far out of my reach, but the praised Audient products seem feasible.
Do I get this right that e.g. id14 and id22 only differentiate in inputs/outputs? I dont really need much, guitar and microphone (SM7B), so I guess an id14 or even a id4 could do the trick for me.


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