Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen USB Audio Interface for Guitarists, Vocalists, Podcasters or Producers to record and playback studio quality sound

Very easy to setup, sturdy and well made. Unit is also very portable and enough features and never let me down with sound quality!

Scarlett 2i2 4th Gen USB - I love it. I am using a long line of multiple 2i2 devices from Gen 1, Gen 2, Gen 3 for years. I am happy with all of them. Very good built quality, plain, low noise, low distortion. They all meet manufacturer specifications. No inflated claims like some manufacturers do. Each model had some tiny glitches that did not affect my experience. So my expectations are high on 4th Gen. A box arrived quickly. I opened it and realized a box has no protecting layer to soften shocks, blows during transportation. Just over box inside of almost identical, only slightly larger box! This experience was not a good welcome to me. I believe such packaging of any electronics reduces product reliability. Didn't you see how sometimes drivers drop packages on concrete floor? So I almost feel like getting used product, am I too sensitive about it? Alone in my opinion such product should have some shock absorbing layer of foam material or air bubbles sheet?After opening a box I see a piece of paper printed with miniature characters. Microscope could help... But no guidance here how to get the first steps. Only warnings in very many languages. As I would need all this, very high priority to manufacturer but not to me! I think this excellent product has new functions that a purchaser is not familiar with. It would be highly beneficial if a a small hard card size like 2-3 business cards shows briefly what happens when each of new controls used. OK, I can find it in pdf user manual, but I don't want to print user manual for one of 15 models audio interfaces I have. So I will work with audio recordings while scrolling through pdf file, at least till I am familiar with all this product offers. After such observations I wish to get to recording... And pdf file does not tell clearly up front that utility program is actually a driver. I have to spend time to learn it. This is the very first item to perform after purchase, but info is written among other content, not up front. I want to install utility program but no info provided if 2i2 Gen 4 should be connected or not, during installation. I learn here I should go to the internet, manufacturer' webpage and get information how to proceed. A suggestion is strong - identify yourself first! So you can get audio recording software. But I don't use the internet on sacred computers. I don't wish to be exposed to Spyware and threats from Microsoft like this one: You paid for our Office Suite, but we make it stop at our convenience under pretense we check if you are the correct user???? So I will to install a driver only, no suspicious activities and forced "updates", no spyware on my precious computer. How do I proceed considering above? I loaded needed file on another computer, copied it to one working with 2i2 Gen 4. It works fine that way. The utility is just sampling rate changing program combined with a driver, at least on my computer. Nothing else. A device works well, nothing wrong. I enjoy it from that moment. I don't need extra programs for musicians.Now most enjoyable part - distortion and noise testing. Both are excellent low, exactly as shown on specifications. I really enjoy low noise that is closer now to that of higher grade Clarett+ noise. Regarding distortion, Clarett+ has specs about 0.0003% while Scarlett 2i2 spec is around 0.001% for all generations 1, 2, 3, 4. Truly excellent product here, amazing performance for $200 and this product is far ahead of other USB audio interfaces I used before. Important to me is the fact it can work with no AC/DC power adapter. Through my career I experienced scenarios that noise reading was lowest if USB audio device was powered through USB cable. Then noise reading was even slightly better if power supply disconnected from laptop. The noise reading was consistently worse if given USB audio interface AND laptop used both AC/DC adapters. The difference could be a few dB but sometimes noise spikes were 10dB and more above noise floor, depending how clean was power line, individual wall outlets. I will check later 2i2 Gen 4 on that noise immunity and will update my review.In terms of reliability, all earlier Scarlett 2i2 I used full time worked a minimum of 5 years. If something wrong happened, it would be in the "abuse" category like frequent plugging, unplugging in, out cables with ESD damage maybe. Or connecting to multiple other devices powered with AC/DC adapters and no isolating transformers between. I am a laboratory user, not a musician, so different considerations, scenarios. Scarlett 2i2 Gen 4 is a great tool now for my audio experiments, audio test fixtures, audio signal measuring / analyzing setups.5 stars, but no 5+ due to less perfect packaging with less perfect protection against abuse in transit.

This audio interface works extremely well, it handles output and input which has helped me with using a KVM to switch between devices connected to this interface. Just note that I needed to use the active power of the KVM (connecting it to power other than the USB power it normally receives) since the power requirement exceeded the KVM's capabilities once the webcam, interface, keyboard and mouse were connected and active at the same time.This works on Linux as well, but requires kernel 6.8+ and can be used with the neat features it provides through a fan / community-made project called alsa-scarlett-gui. I also found it worked with Pipewire and refused to work with PulseAudio.With all the features, it's completely configurable as to how it mixes different inputs and how it handles output and input streams in general. I was even able to create custom setups (that I could export and import whenever I needed them) to double amp my microphone in those rarer situations that required it. If I wanted to, I could even triple amp or quadruple amp if I'm willing to give up the ability of mixing in PC audio.The only thing that's unfortunate is that I can't control the mixer from physical mixer knobs, only the 2 input adjustment knobs.

I recently got the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (3rd Gen) Audio Interface, and I have to say—it’s been a game changer for my recording setup. Whether you’re a musician, podcaster, or content creator, this little device delivers amazing sound quality and works flawlessly. It’s super easy to use, and the audio comes through crystal clear, making every recording sound professional. If you’re looking for a reliable interface that won’t let you down, this is definitely the one to get!

I could not use this out of the box because the factory programming would not allow me to use the headphone jack and the XLR input at the same time. The headphones would cut out as soon as I talked into the XLR mic. I looked up the issue and it was bad software. Which seems to be a running theme with this company if forums are to be believed.Download their software and run it to update the amp's firmware. Then PROMPTLY DELETE IT. I kept getting alerts their software was trying to silently backdoor my firewall settings even though I had it set to not check for updates. It also silently set up a run on startup command that I never allowed. So unless your audio recording software is Audacity there is no need to keep the factory software on your computer. All the so called features it provides are already in most recording software.Another issue I ran into is that my Scarlett Solo 4th gen does not like USB 3.0 ports. I know that the amp is USB 2.0 only but that should not have caused issues when I plugged it into the 3.0 port but it did. I had to shuffle my USB devices around to free up a 2.0 port. The device I moved to the 3.0 port did not have any problems so it was not the port being dead.Cons:-Bad firmware comes preinstalled-Company software is argumentative-Cheap USB cable comes with it-Online Only instructions on how to set up and they require you to go to multiple manuals to be told what to do-Not enough gain for a basic SURE SM7Pros:-Solid feel to the construction-Good feeling and functional knobs-Works well after fine tuning-Has enough gain to run the newer SURE SM7dB when the mic is set to +28dB-Good sound quality-Headset has independent volume knob-Clean interface-Air boost feature works and is not a gimmick