Recording - February 2017 - 52

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...where we bring you follow-up articles
with application hints and upgrade news
about gear already reviewed in Recording

Focusrite Scarlett 18i20
and 2i4 Audio Interfaces
New connectivity, new controls, and improved sound

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BY ALLEN GOODMAN
WITH MIKE METLAY

A few months ago my DAW interface
finally released the Magic Smoke. (You
know, the smoke that you see escaping
from gear when it stops working?) I did a
fair bit of research to choose a replacement,
and finally settled on the new Scarlett Range
of interfaces from Focusrite-specifically
the 18i20 rack unit. The original Scarletts
were incredibly popular, and the new ones
claimed better sound quality and great new
control features.
Unfortunately the release date was still a
couple of weeks away. I grumbled about
this to Mike Metlay, and he suggested that
I stop by Recording's offices, whereupon
he dumped a rather large box in my arms
and said, "Get writing. You're welcome."
Thanks, Chief!
After weeks of tracking and mixing, I
was pleased to conclude that my initial
research had paid off. This truly is an
amazing interface, made even better
by its very approachable price.

The 18i20
The Scarlett 18i20 is a beefy beast of
sturdy aluminum with a lovely red paint
job. I imagine, although I have no plans
to do so, that I could run over the unit with
my SUV and it would still function. Sadly
the blazing red color of the chassis will
be hidden if you mount the unit in a 19"
rack, but that's a small price to pay for
having this much power in your studio.
52

RECORDING FEBRUARY 2017

Let's start off with the holes in this beefy
chassis. On the front panel, you have two
Amphenol combination balanced XLR/
TRS inputs for mics, line-level signals, or
high-impedance instruments, as well as
two separate 1/4" headphone jacks. On
the back panel, you have an additional six
combination jacks for mic or line inputs,
plus eight line outputs and two dedicated
monitor line outputs (all on balanced
1
/4" TRS). On the digital side, the rear
panel also has Toslink optical In/Out,
coaxial S/PDIF In/Out, a USB-B connection, BNC Word Clock Out, and
MIDI In/Out. The internal power supply
uses a standard IEC cable.
Going back to the front panel, the
remaining controls are clearly labeled
in white and stand out nicely against the
black faceplate. Starting from the left are
the two buttons that control the +48V
phantom power. These are grouped in
two blocks of four channels; it's not a
deal-breaker, but if you mix condenser
and passive ribbon mics, you'll have to
remember that phantom's not defeatable
per channel and plan ahead on which
mics go to which inputs.
Next up are the gain knobs for inputs 1
and 2, along with INST and PAD buttons
and LED indicators for each. Continuing
to the right are the gain knobs for the
remaining six analog inputs on the rear
panel. This is followed by a 5-segment
LED input level meter for all eight analog
inputs. The module also houses the USB
connection and optical connection indicators. Finishing up the front controls
are the monitor volume knob, along with

DIM and MUTE buttons, and the two
independent headphone level knobs.

Setup and software
Setting up the unit was relatively easy.
I was required to go to the Focusrite
website and register the unit with the serial
number. This enabled me to download
the necessary drivers, Focusrite Control
software, and the additional software
bundle included with the unit. After that,
all I had to do was install the drivers and
software, and off I went.
Focusrite includes a really solid set of
software to get you up and running immediately. It includes Avid Pro Tools | First
with the Focusrite Creative Pack, Ableton
Live Lite, the Softube Time and Tone Bundle
of plug-ins, the Focusrite Red Plug-in Suite,
and 2GB of Loopmasters samples.

The sound of silence
How does the 18i20 sound? Well, that
is an easy answer-it doesn't. Focusrite's
world-famous preamps provide clean,
transparent signal with (to my ears) no
discernable coloration into the signal path
and ample headroom. The unit supports
up to 24-bit/192 kHz operation. I threw
all sorts of instruments at it, from vintage
keyboards to more modern synths, as well
as a variety of electric guitars, basses,
and electro-acoustic guitars.
Everything initially sounded worse to
my ears than I was used to, until I made a
few adjustments to EQ in my DAW. That's
not to say that the interface was bad-it's
just the opposite. All of the "truth" was
coming from my instruments now, with
exceptional clarity... something that was
sadly missing from my previous interface.
I was dialing back the EQ tweaks that
had been needed before to get the right
sound from my gear!
Using the Focusrite Control software
allows you a few different options. While
visually it's rather plain, its function set is
exceptional. You can set custom monitor
mixes for all ten output channels, as well
as the two headphone outputs, and recall
them through the software. If you need or
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - February 2017
