Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 3rd Gen

I have never in my life even remotely thought that interface can change my workflow this much. Integrated zero-latency hardware 1 bus mixer is game changer since... it works even if PC is turned off and interface is unplugged. It means that you can actually set this interface up in such way that when PC is off Scarlett 18i20 can behave as pass-through device passing any line-in of your choice (eg. inputs 7-8) directly to your main XLR monitors. It makes it really easy to connect multiple either balanced or unbalanced devices to monitors. Kinda like... monitor controller or actual mixer AND interface in one device.

Really nice. Value added by this device is simply incredible. Also it works under Linux (as of today there's kernel patch available on linuxmusicians fixing implicit USB feedback issue).

The only issue I have with this device it's that it has ONE bus mixer. Means you can create one "custom mix" aka virtual mixer (with whichever physical or software inputs you like) and then assign this one mix output it to whichever outputs you like but there's only ONE such stereo mix. It means that you can't for example pass line-in 7-8 to out 1-2 and line-in 5-6 to out 3-4 as that would require 2 independent virtual mixers which is not possible.

pros:
- standalone 1 bus mixer
- signal level meters and other back lit indicators look super dope
- 10 built-in output channels (a lot of devices have only 8). In general great i/o
- rubber caps to cover rack ears mounting holes if you don't use them
- kind of works with Linux as well as smartphones

cons:
- standalone ONE bus mixer
- i believe more controls should be exposed as physical buttons. Eg. AIR switch which is physical on some other Scarlett devices.

Ich nutze den 18i20 3rd Gen schon seit längerem und habe keinerlei Beschwerden. Der Preamp ist für meine Ohren sehr transparent, die Haptik fühlt sich gut an. Ich verstehe das manche die "zu kleinen" Regler bemängeln, aber ich habe damit kein Problem. Das Interface bietet viele Erweiterungsmöglichkeiten, zu dem ich nicht viel sagen kann, da ich sie bis heute nicht verwenden musste. Verwenden tue ich das Interface primär in meinem Home Studio, wurde aber auch schon für kleiner Live Gigs eingesetzt.

Ich finde es sehr sinnvoll, dass es einen Talkback Mic integriert hat, jedoch muss man dafür das Interface direkt vor den Augen haben oder über die Focusrite Control bedienen. Zweiteres funktioniert zwar, aber dann ist man zu weit weg vom Talback Mic - also alles etwas semi optimal wenn man das Interface in einem Siderack verbaut hat.

The unit is not very heavy but it still feels premium and solid. it has an 8 mic preamp/input on the unit itself, which I find is just enough if you're starting to record live drums. However, you'll need a separate preamp to use all 18inputs that this unit has.

The mic-preamps have a -15db pad toggle on it, and when I use certain mics with it, I found that it'll clip at around -10db to -20db. I don't know whether its is a problem with my unit or something that all units have. I don't know what caused it, but I haven't re-encounter that problem since then.

I am super satisfied with this product! I was able to test recording acoustic drums and only the raw sound sounds good! Even using low-quality microphones, it seems that the interface gives a certain color to the sound. Really good. The knobs are very smooth, the sound output quality is very good. It is well worth the price and for someone who wants to record with multiple inputs, this is the perfect interface!