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Post by jcoutu1 on Nov 26, 2013 15:52:18 GMT -6
Does anyone have any experience with these? I currently have a 002 that's covered in cobwebs and a Midas Venice F32 Console. I'm happy with my Midas, but I've got it all wired up to my patchbays and it's less than ideal for portable location work. For $400, I could grab a Scarlett 18i20, jam it in a rack and have a portable 8 channel rig right off the bat. Stick a couple rack pres/comps in the box too or take my lunch box to add a bit of high end flavor on the way in. I could also borrow an 8 channel adat preamp if I need to jump up to 16 channels of input for a larger session.
Anyway, how are these little guys? It's gotta be worlds better than my old 002 right?
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Post by scumbum on Nov 27, 2013 0:27:51 GMT -6
If your talking converters , Hell yes , the scarlett is better !
The 002 really does suck ass . I've had one since it came out and everything out now sounds much better than it . Dull and muddy is the 002 converter sound .
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Post by scumbum on Nov 27, 2013 12:28:06 GMT -6
Does anyone have any experience with these? I currently have a 002 that's covered in cobwebs and a Midas Venice F32 Console. I'm happy with my Midas, but I've got it all wired up to my patchbays and it's less than ideal for portable location work. For $400, I could grab a Scarlett 18i20, jam it in a rack and have a portable 8 channel rig right off the bat. Stick a couple rack pres/comps in the box too or take my lunch box to add a bit of high end flavor on the way in. I could also borrow an 8 channel adat preamp if I need to jump up to 16 channels of input for a larger session. Anyway, how are these little guys? It's gotta be worlds better than my old 002 right? I heard from a friend that did a shoot out a year back , I don't think he used the Scarlett , he said a "Focusrite firewire interface" , and that it sounded REALLY good . Up there with the Lynx converters and he was really surprised . So Focusrite makes some good converters . |
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Post by jcoutu1 on Nov 27, 2013 12:36:49 GMT -6
Great to know. That must be the sapphire line. My understanding is that the scarlet line is the same under the hood, just USB instead of firewire.
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Post by jazznoise on Nov 27, 2013 19:34:11 GMT -6
I've got the 18i20. Works a treat, lightweight and it sounds pretty good. Routing system seems good but I've never had to do anything very challenging with it.
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Post by jcoutu1 on Nov 27, 2013 20:12:10 GMT -6
Great to know. Thanks man. For 4 bones or so, it seems like a nice piece on paper. 48v is in banks of 4 on it though right? Can't be switched individually?
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Post by jazznoise on Nov 27, 2013 21:19:40 GMT -6
That's right, 2 banks of 4. Between that and an ADA8000 you've got 16 channels for about 600. Not exactly Neve, but not bad going!
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Post by Ward on Nov 28, 2013 19:14:31 GMT -6
I dunno guys... I vote the scarlett for worst Focusrite (ƒ) product ever. And I'm a HUGE ƒ fan when it comes to their Red and Blue/ISA110 series (and have a bunch of each)! I think you'd be better off finding a used Digidesign 96 or 192.
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Post by jcoutu1 on Nov 28, 2013 19:26:17 GMT -6
I dunno guys... I vote the scarlett for worst Focusrite (ƒ) product ever. And I'm a HUGE ƒ fan when it comes to their Red and Blue/ISA110 series (and have a bunch of each)! I think you'd be better off finding a used Digidesign 96 or 192. I imagine you've used the scarlet? What was wrong with it? Could you expound a bit? |
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Post by Ward on Nov 28, 2013 22:11:55 GMT -6
I dunno guys... I vote the scarlett for worst Focusrite (ƒ) product ever. And I'm a HUGE ƒ fan when it comes to their Red and Blue/ISA110 series (and have a bunch of each)! I think you'd be better off finding a used Digidesign 96 or 192. I imagine you've used the scarlet? What was wrong with it? Could you expound a bit? It just lacks the depth of sound that Focusrite has been known for. Because it's made in China and contains very "inexpensive" i.e. cheap, ICs as the main processing power/circuitry? I dunno... but it just doesn't carry the heritage of the Rupert Neve Focusrite architecture and 3D depth of sound that made Focusrite so magical. |
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Post by jcoutu1 on Nov 28, 2013 22:46:51 GMT -6
Have you personally used the Scarlett line or are you just basing this on price and origination location?
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Post by Ward on Nov 29, 2013 6:21:51 GMT -6
I do not own it (nor do I own anything by Mbox or whatever that cheapo line of former digi gear is...) but I have a client who uses it in his home recording/demoing rig and am very familiar with what it sounds like.
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Post by jazznoise on Nov 29, 2013 11:56:26 GMT -6
I'd object to that and put it down to bad usage. It doesn't sound like a Neve, sure, but it sounds perfectly good for an interface of its price and better than many at the same. Certainly a lot better than a Digi 003.
If they can't get depth out of it, they're not putting depth into it!
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Post by Ward on Nov 29, 2013 16:15:25 GMT -6
Differences in opinions and tastes are good. Otherwise there would only be one preamp, one microphone, one desk, one format, and probably only one artist making music.
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Post by jcoutu1 on Feb 22, 2014 10:56:43 GMT -6
jazznoise, how long have you been using the Scarlett? Still digging it? I'm still kind of on the fence about grabbing one for some remote work and midi interfacing with my electronic drum kit. Also looking at the Behringer FCA1616, which seems like a pretty similar box, and adding the new ADA8200.
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Post by jazznoise on Feb 22, 2014 13:11:53 GMT -6
I've had mine for nearly a year now with no issues. The main work it's done has been remote recording for a few bands and, recently, some film work where I've needed more than 4 channels.
I really like the monitoring system with the software that comes with it. 0 latency monitoring for mixes is great and mains you can set your buffer independent. I will own up and say I have not used the MIDI once. I was having an issue with dropouts, which was resolved when I realized my Laptop was putting the port to sleep after 30 minutes..
If you're racking this stuff, try and leave a gap. The Focusrite doesn't run hot but - well, I once saw a rather grumpy Digi 003 shit itself and take out the one above it in the ensuing meltdown.
In terms of sonics - it's fine. Most fuck ups on any project are either acoustical issues or my own mistakes. The noise floor is reasonable - again, it's just common sense stuff. Running a ribbon over a long distance? Make sure you have a cloudlifter or something. You can mic a sax with a dynamic 4-6 feet back worry free. I can set up ambiance mics with quite a distance and no real worry of noise issues provided they're condensors. The ADAT works fine, haven't tried clocking it outside of 44.1 and 48 (you'll lose the 2nd pair of channels at 88.2 and 96 Khz anyway). The mix software is really clever, you'll just have to put aside an hour or 2 to getting good with it. It supports stereo input monitoring, so you can group stereo channels. Annoyingly it doesn't do M/S, which is a shame. Even if it was only an option on a single pair of channels - it'd be nice. Haven't used the S/PDIF inputs yet either, really should get something cheap so I can squeeze in a part of "safety" channels!
I've no experience of the FCA 1616, but it's very obviously an attempt to do the same thing cheaper. If you're willing to forgo some of the frills, and I imagine Zero-Latency-Monitoring would be one of them, then go for it. Especially if you have a desk already.
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Post by wreck on Feb 22, 2014 19:51:56 GMT -6
I have an 003 and an 18i20. They sound pretty different in the high end. I think the 18i20 is a great 8 channel rig for the money. Its cheap and you can make records with it. I've never had gear give me depth. Maybe I'm missing out. I like both rigs equally even though they don't sound the same.
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