Focusrite Scarlett 8i6 3rd Gen

Nice look, build and the sound quality but was very dissapointed that the volume at the rear inputs is incredibily low. I have tried plugging in my drum machine in to th rear inputs and keyboard and the volume is unacceptable. This was a response from Focusrite: “ You do highlight a familiar point with the inflexibility of the line inputs; this is something that we are looking to potentially include in future products should this be feasible. Since these fixed gain ports are designed to accommodate such a wide range of input levels (including very 'hot' signals), when some third-party hardware such as drum machines (which are not outputting at such a high level) are being used they can be a little quieter than ideal.” From what I read in the forums a lot of keyboard players are unhappy after purchasing this interface. This interface is more suitable for recording vocals and guitars but not drum machines or keyboards. Also it is not a very straightforward way to set things in Focusrite Control. Was quite dissatisfied and didn’t expect this from Focusrite. My honest review.

This is my first Focusrite card, after years of having used MOTU devices, which I suppose have spoiled me somewhat and made me slightly regretful of this purchase. Focusrite seems to be the frontrunner in affordable pro audio devices and I have heard great things about them, so I was a little surprised at how awful this card is.

By far the worst thing about this card is the awful control software, and the fact that it's also necessary to make the card do basic things that it should do out of the box. Simply being able to send sound to the various output ports doesn't work by default and requires a lot of fiddling around the software. The front headphone monitoring jacks seem to be hardwired to outputs 1/2 and 3/4, and there's no way to change this. Literally every time I sit down to make music, I seem to burn several minutes poking around in the stupid control panel software just to figure out why sound isn't being sent or recorded on a given port. It's maddening.

The card's build quality is good, but it also frequently loses its USB connection to my Mac and it requires being power cycled, changing the port, etc. I also need to remember to first power on the Mac, and then the soundcard, or else the odds of these problems increase.

I also wish this card could be bus powered and I was surprised to see that it wasn't when I first opened the box. That's on me for not reading the specs clearly enough before I bought it.

I definitely won't buy another Focusrite card, but this one isn't quite bad enough to justify a return. I really wish I'd gotten the MOTU M4/M6 instead, but those are a little out of my budget just now, so I'm kind of stuck with this one.