Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 (2nd Gen)

General

With their Scarlett 18i20, Focusrite offers a new and improved version of their USB 2.0 audio interfaces. First of all, it's now rack mountable, so you can easily integrate it in your rack setup. The 18i20 offers a total of 18 and 20 outputs, as the name implies. It's perfectly suited for musicians who record a number of different audio sources. Now you can record your drums, bass, guitar, keyboard and vocals all on one interface. The second generation of the 18i20 offers a number of improvements such as better preamps, lower latency and the possibility to record at a sample rate of 192 kHz in 24-bit audio quality.

Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 2nd Gen: Connection possibilities

There are 8 analogue microphone preamplifiers and 12 analogue outputs, including the two headphone inputs. The preamps have plenty of gain and have a neutral sound with a lot of head room. You'll find two fully redesigned instrument preamplifiers on the front of the 18i20 as well. These are suited for instruments with a high-output signal, such as electric guitars with humbuckers. Furthermore, you also have the option to expand your analogue and digital inputs with an ADAT. Finally, you'll find a word clock connector on the back, which you can use to synchronise your other digital recording devices, and there's also a MIDI input/output and an S/PDIF input and output on the back.

Succesful collaboration with Avid

Focusrite has been collaborating with Avid, the producer of the Pro Tools DAW software, for quite some time now. That's why you get an exclusive version of Pro Tools included with your purchase of the 18i20. Their collaboration also guarantees that every new generation of Focusrite interfaces will be compatible with the newest versions of Pro Tools. The 18i20 is fully equipped to work with every common DAW package for OS X and Windows. Besides Pro Tools, you also get a nice collection of plugins and audio software, including Focusrite's Creative Pack with Eleven Lite, Ableton Live Lite, Softube's Time and Tone, Focusrite's Red Plugin Suite, and 2 GB of Loopmasters samples with Focusrite Control putting you firmly in charge of everything. 

Tips or comments about this product

• Please note: to use this interface with Windows, you need to install a driver. This is not necessary for use with Mac OSX, as the Scarlett 18i20 is class compliant with Mac.