[LAU] Focusrite Scarlett 18i8

[James Stone]

On Wed, Jan 8, 2014 at 8:40 AM, Jeremy Jongepier <jeremy at autostatic.com> wrote:
> On 08-01-14 05:05, Robin Gareus wrote:

>> The volume dials don't latch. I set a gain on the Focusrite 18i6 and a
>> minute later it's off by +-1dB.
>>
>> Compared to the other two USB audio-device that I have, the [preamps of
>> the] Focursite 18i6 is the noisiest.  Measured with a 200 Ohm
>> termination and jnoisemeter: ~-72dBFS (Flat, RMS) -- the Edirol UA-25 is
>> at -81dBFS and the Presonus 1818VSL at -84dBFS.
>>
>> That make we wonder which award those 'award winning' preamps of
>> Focusrite actually won :)
>>
>> It has gain labels from 0..10 -= other comparably priced devices have
>> latched dials properly labeled and calibrated with dB.
>>
>>
>> I don't know if the same applies to the 18i8 -- Alexandre Prokoudine
>> reported similar findings with a Focusrite 2i4, though.
>>
>>
>> best,
>> robin
>
> Thanks for the info Robin, I was about to acquire a Scarlett 2i4 but I
> guess I need to look for other options.
>

I dunno - YMMV, but I just tried recording on the line in on the
Scarlett 2i4 (from an mp3 player) and I couldn't detect any gain drift
at all over 5 mins or so of re-recording the same snippet, and the
noise when gain was set to just below clipping (going by the red
warning LED on the device) was < -90dB (according to the spectrum
analyser on audacity).

Obviously this was line in rather than the mic pre. Happy to try again
with some more accurate software if you point me in the right
direction.

Not sure I will get round to soldering any resistors onto leads for a while tho!

James