Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 3rd Gen USB Audio Interface for Recording, Producing and Engineering — High-Fidelity, Studio Quality Recording, with Transparent Playback

Product Information

Incl. USB cable (type C to A) and Hitmaker Expansion software bundle (Ableton Live Lite, 3 months Splice Sounds membership and Plug-in bundle for songwriting, mixing and mastering)

The step-by-step guide walks you through the supplied virtual instruments, plug-ins, and sample-content installation before giving you the option of how you would like to set up the interface based on how you plan to use it. This is a fantastically streamlined approach to giving customers the fastest and most effective path to getting down to business as soon as possible. The upgraded specs and added features are welcome additions, and we think they’ve done well to remain competitive. That being said, if you’ve only recently bought a 2nd gen interface — we wouldn’t worry. There are also hardware improvements across the range, mostly relating to the inputs. The preamps have an extra 6dB gain range over the second-generation Scarletts' 50dB, dynamic range on the analogue inputs has been raised from 109dB to 111dB, and total harmonic distortion has been reduced on all analogue I/O. All the Scarlett preamps now feature the Air option found on Focusrite's premium Red and Clarett interfaces, which adds high-end excitement in a fashion that is intended to emulate their classic transformer-based ISA preamp design.

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Three Month Avid Pro Tools Subscription: get a taste of the industry-standard recording experience with this legendary DAW With the release of the new third-generation range of audio interfaces, Focusrite shows no plans in slowing down on their quest to provide affordable, easy to use and high-quality audio products for beginners and professionals alike. Equipped With improved A-D and D-A conversion, the Scarlett 18i20 gives you great sounding 24-bit/192kHz while both recording and mixing. Focusrite has done a great job with the new 3rd generation interfaces. While first glances may give the impression that they are just a prettier version of their former selves, the real magic lies under the hood. This is evident in many of the upgrades:

Most of the new features are self-explanatory, and where they're not, they're usually implemented in the simplest way possible. For example, alternate monitoring on the 18i8 and 18i20 is basic but perfectly effective. Enabling speaker switching in Focusrite Control repurposes line outputs 3–4 to carry the same signal as the first pair, and a front-panel Alt button selects which of them is active or muted at any given time. The main front-panel Monitor level control governs both sets of outputs at once. It's not possible to specify a volume offset so that the main and alternate speakers can be level-matched from the Scarlett, but if that's important to you then it can usually be achieved further downstream anyway. For myself, the only monitoring feature I still miss is a mono button, but then I suppose Focusrite had to leave something for the fourth generation! (For the sake of completeness I should also mention that the firmware version I tested had a bug in it whereby enabling and then disabling speaker switching could lead to outputs 1–2 and 3–4 carrying the same signal and both being active simultaneously, but Focusrite are aware of this issue and have a fix in the works.) In addition, you have two high-headroom instrument inputs so you can record your electric guitar or bass with no clipping or unwanted distortion – just crisp captures of the performance.Competition is fierce in this market, and in 2016, Focusrite renewed the Scarlett range to reflect buyers' ever-increasing expectations in terms of sound quality, features and low-latency performance. Three years on, they've repeated the exercise to create the third generation of Scarletts. Wait & C The Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 comes with eight of its own built-in inputs, two of which are accessible via the front panel via microphone/instrument combo connectors. The rear panel features six additional microphone inputs, as well as eight line inputs; users may connect line inputs and microphones concurrently and toggle between the two, but the interface is limited to eight inputs total. For access to the extra 10 inputs, you’ll need to bring your own ADAT- or S/PDIF-compatible equipment and connect it to the corresponding ports in the rear of the interface. This slim audio interface is fully equipped with the inputs, outputs, and digital synchronization with other devices you’ll need. Getting started with the 18i20