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Focusrite Scarlett 18i6
Focusrite Scarlett 18i6
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Comments about the news item: Focusrite Scarlett 18i6

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Topic Comments about the news item: Focusrite Scarlett 18i6
The Focusrite Scarlett 18i6 is an 18-input, 6-output USB 2.0 audio interface.

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This thread was created automatically after the publishing of a news item for this product. Feel free to post your comments here!
2
Online saw price $299.99 ! Includes Power Supply, and has a on/off power switch. Can Not Wait!

ambienttales

3

ambienttales

4

Focusrite has Two winning Audio Interfaces with their new Scarlett USB 2.0 Series and both

 

loaded with Features and options The i816=

he Focusrite Scarlett 18i6 gives you a ton of flexibility for a portable interface. Two vibrant Focusrite mic/instrument preamps are right on the front panel where you need them, while the back panel hosts a slew of extra I/O - up to 18-in/4-out simultaneously! With six additional line inputs around back, plus 8-channels of ADAT input and 2-channel S/PDIF I/O, the Scarlett 18i6 is a perfect foundation for home or project studios that may need to expand in the future.

To keep that high channel count under control, Focusrite includes their acclaimed MixControl software for ultimate flexibility. Create up to six separate mono mixes or three stereo mixes, each routable to any of the Scarlett 18i6's outputs. Save your mixes for instant recall later on. Re-route your signal path without having to replug your whole studio. The Scarlett 18i6 was built with flexibility in mind.

Focusrite didn't stop at stellar sound quality and flexible routing with the Scarlett 18i6 - you also get the Scarlett VST/AU/RTAS plug-in suite featuring Focusrite's acclaimed Scarlett compression, reverb, gating, and EQ! These plug-ins give you access to the vibe of classic Focusrite studio hardware with the flexibility of software processing. Factor in the included

Ableton Live Lite 8, a ton of royalty-free loops and samples, and the free Novation Bass- station synthesizer, and you've got a complete music production suite that's ready to go whenever inspiration strikes.

A ton of I/O for an interface in this class Up to 24-bit/96kHz AD/DA for pristine sound quality

Flexible routing options make it easy to change your signal flow without re-plugging cables

MixControl software makes it simple to create low-latency monitor mixes on the fly

Included Xcite+ software bundle adds a ton of value with free software, loops, and plug- ins

and with the i816 $299.99 USA and 8i6 $249.99 Focusrite Makes it easy on your

Checkbook! They have two brand new winning products here in my opinion!

 

icon_mrgreen.gificon_tourne.gificon_biggrin.gif

ambienttales

5
I received my 18i6 a few days ago and there is no power switch (contrary to what one of the above posters says), which is slightly annoying as there are lights on all the time and you have to pull out the power adaptor jack if you want to turn it off.

I would also like to warn anyone who is about to install on Windows (tried XP 32 and Win 7 64) that there are confusing instructions in the manual. Do NOT, whatever you do, install the "resources" file off the CD that comes in the box - this installs a driver that refers to "Scarlett 18i6 audio". Although the manual does warn you to download the latest version of the Scarlett Mix Control, you would have had to anyway as it is not on the CD - and because of the lack of any "audio" drivers I was confused into believing that the resources file should be installed also.

When you install Mix Control, what they don't tell you is that this also installs the usb and audio drivers, but again be wary of windows itself popping up a "search for drivers" though bubble and cancel it when it does so. Not doing this leads to a second set of drivers and you are likely to be rewarded with a Blue Screen Of Death.

To set up your DAW you are told to select the "Scarlett USB" ASIO driver - however I had two to select from : "Focusrite USB 2.0 Audio Driver" and "Scarlett USB" and the Scarlett one produced an error saying that device was not available. After uninstalling, reinstalling just the MIx Control download and evading Windows driver searches I had just the single "Focusrite USB 2.0 Audio Driver" and this seemed to work. How about just telling us that in a readme attached to the Mix Control download?

I am still confused by the setup of this device and while this may be my own unfamiliarity with the environment, it would be useful if Focusrite had a forum on their own website rather than the paltry "Answer Base" which actually displays a complete lack of any Answers.

While the unit itself appears to have excellent quality in the hardware I think there is a distinct lack in the manual and the software. But I am, after all, an early adopter and I suspect there are some bugs that need to be ironed out. Hopefully V1.1 of Mix Control will be better - and how about attaching a "read me" to it that explains the pitfalls and details the changed driver names to save others from the hair pulling and cussing that I have gone through?
6
I have actually had the same issue with the drivers. Funnily enough, the CD installs this Scarlett USB Driver, which in the DAW (Cubase 6) does not give access to the control panel. I've had to reinstall all parts over and over.

In Windows 7, when only having the Scarlett USB (CD-driver) installed, you can see it in Control Panel (Sounddevices) as Speakers and as a Line In. When you install the Focusrite 2.0 USB driver, the Speakers option all of a sudden dissappears. Above that, I had trouble with crackling noises in Cubase and Windows througout using the Focusrite Driver, even with changes in buffer size through the MixControl.

It seems to work for now, but it's irritating not to understand the reason for the trouble...
7

I apologize about the "lack" of the on-off switch, not sure where I saw or read that. I too am puzzled about the manual-drivers-plug ins, I emailed Focusrite about  Scarlett 18i6 and I am using a Mac (did You get the paper in the box "Important Information for Mac OSX users (It the web link takes You too a earlier date of user guide and Scarlett Plug In Suite Installer and on same link , Scrolling down to 18i6 it shows a earlier date on the MixControl Installer (but version is same) I emailed Focusrite Tech Support pre-sale to verify info on what version of OSX compatible with and it reply-on box says OSX 10.6.5 but is compatible through OSX 10.6.7 (most current version) I use Apple's Garageband (not High tech) but the Install sequence I received from Focusrite (as no user guide was on their site yet for the Audio Interface or Scarlett Plug In Suite) was to download the most current d-loads for Focusrite MixControl and Drivers from Focusrite.com (contradicting the lone piece of paper in the box, and the only English language info was Focusrite Scarlett 18i6 and number of ins and outs and the Xcite + Sticker (sides of bix were in German, French,Italian and Spanish

The Xcite+ pack cards with auth #'s were in English, and I was instructed to

1) d-load MixControl for 18i6

2) and D-Load Scarlett Plug In Suite

both above from Focusrite.com and user guides for each

3) use Ableton Live Lite 8 disk and after installing MixControl

Install Ableton Live Lite (which was v 8.0.9 and prompt said projects created in v8.1.3 or earlier will not be able to be opened and to do the update 8.2.2 (after account creation in Ableton

4) did above and then installed Scarlett Plug in Suite (No option to activate)

5) installed d-load of Novation Bass Station and I received a promt for my Name and serial number on the Novation card

6) I am not a Abelton user and emailed and called Focusrite Tech Support (who have been helpful pre-[urchase  and pre-arival of unit and > unit but once I could not get the Scarlett Plug In Suite activated

nor find either plug in in Apple Garageband V5 iLife 09 that came with my mid summer iMac Intel Core i3 3.06 GH 4 GB ram 500GB HD

 

I have used g-Band since version 1 (bought iLife the first one) then later editions came with eMac;s in 2004 and now V5 iLife 09

with plans to update to iLife 11 (I bought my iMac and then discovered my Tascam A/I did not have Snow Leopard Drivers (all other gear did) I bought and returned (sealed) a T.C.Electronics Impact Twin Firewire 400 as it had far more bells and whistles than needed and I did not receive any install disks etc and recentlyread their drivers arehaywire or were,

I have apple Jampacks V1 the discontinued one and 4 out of 4 except World Music which I got for a song online at a authorized Mac dealer's online Garage sale , they were opening a 2nd store and I paid $20.00 for one and $30.00 each for the other 3 (they sell online for $89.99 to$99.99 and they remain sealed (I did that as I had no interface and completated selling them and updating to Logic Express or Logic Studio

or other gear.

 

I did email wher I bought the 18i6 and they asked me to set up a tech support ticket with them and call them. I realize these are new products and I actually got a PDF user guide from the dealer site berfore Focusrites site and am puzzled over that paper and versions of Mac OSX versions for plug in suite and Micx Control

I could do without MixControl and use the drivers as with Garageband there is not mixing, though Mix Control has routing but Mac's have Audio-Midi set up which does that sort of The plug ins are nice and better quality I am sure than stock Garageband ones Sorry again for the mix up on the on-off (I use a seperate surge protector for the 18i6 plugged into a another one (Into the same AC plug)

Any Mac users out there?

I did also verify that using a 32 bit plug in in a 32 bit application (G-Band) ona Mac running at 64 bit will work and is compatible, first answer was yes, second no and consensus was Yes per Tech Support

Will post again if I find any short cuts , which DAW's areou using

 

You Tube jas a Focusrite and BNovation channel bit info on these limited, I am checking online and Sound on Sound Harmony Central etc (as Scarlett Plug in Suite is dated 2009 so info must be out there same with Novation Bass Station (I guess I am used to a USB A/I plug and play after driver install (I really like the ADAT in) on these and the price point and specs and included software is excellent Future Music May 2011magazine gave it a too hard to believe for the price and reviews to follow  icon_exorbite.gificon_surpris.gificon_lol.gificon_facepalm.gificon_bravo.gifnoidea.gificon_facepalm.gificon_volatilize.gificon_tourne.gificon_ptdr.gificon_mrgreen.gificon_mdr.gificon_argue.gif

ambienttales

aka

David Ohio

ambienttales

8
I just bought the smaller 8i6 Scarlett. I had brief moments of it working and sounding great until the Driver started completely going to blue screen. I then took the advice of djmalc and completely uninstalled the initial install that I did from the resource CD. I then rebooted and installed the downloaded Scarlett_"MixControl-1.0.exe", which installs the latest driver, and didn't instal anything else just to keep it simple... And guess what? I'm still getting blue screens, I can hardly even use the device without getting blue screens. :oo:

I know the unit has just recently been released, but come on! I just got it today, I've got the weekend to research the web as much as I can for a solution. But come Monday, Focusrite better make it right or I'm sending it back. I can't afford for them to do software driver development on my time. I like it and want to keep it. But they better straighten this crap out. I've already wasted a whole day on it. :furieux:

I'm running it on an New HP laptop with an i5 CPU and 6 Gigs of RAM. It's a system built for media purposes. So i know it isn't my system or a lack of resources.

If anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears!!

[ Post last edited on 06/25/2011 at 03:14:52 ]

9
First, thanks djmalc for the info. Purchased the 18i6 last week and have had nothing but trouble. Followed your advice and uninstalled everything, and then just installed the Scarlett Mix Control (and drivers), and did not install the drivers from the included cd. Still had trouble getting consistent signal into my DAW's (using Reaper and Ableton). What I found was a compatibility issue with the Scarlett Mix Control app itself and my version of Windows Vista, which is 64-bit and not supported by this software. As long as I don't open or use the Mix Control app, the 18i6 works flawlessly and interfaces perfectly with my DAW's, with around 3ms latency....
10
Well, in my case, I uninstalled everything according to manual and reinstalled according to manual just to make sure I'm going by the book, and left the unit connected through a restart as instructed in the install process. It generally acted much better, as long as I powered-down before I connected and disconnected the unit, that is. One thing I figured out is that it's not very unplug-friendly while the system is powered up. I got the Blue Screen again when the driver dropped out while I was triggering drums and I pulled the USB cable out, gave it a few seconds to figure that out and tried to plug it back in attempt to let the system find the hardware again. Low and behold BLUE SCREEN. Lesson learned! But read on...

After negotiating-out that general issue, I decided to put the unit through its paces by applying what I purchased it for.

I've invested heavily into Toontrack's Superior Drummer collection and want to be able to track my V-Drum kit through the 8i6, real-time, with the lowest latency possible during a full band tracking session because those drums sound amazing...

Well long story short... The latency performance was great as long as the 8i6 stayed online. I jammed on the kit through the 8i6 for 15 minutes or so (the estimated time of consistent performance was sporadic with each attempt and reset), but it never failed that after a certain amount of time the sound would stop and my laptop indicated nothing other than "no sound". Upon investigation the my system could no longer find the device or driver like it was no longer attached, even though the led on the unit itself indicated a connection with the PC (even after I powered off the PC). I can't work like that so I'm sending the unit back even though it sounds amazing when it's working.

The reason I'm sending it back is that the only way I was able to reset the driver was to power-down, physically remove the USB and plug it back in before powering the laptop back up. The other thing that made me realize that it was hardware relate (it seems) is that when I powered-down the laptop the led on the 8i6 unit still indicated a live USB connection and the only way to reset it again, was to physically disconnect and reconnect the unit, even though the laptop was completely turned off.

I need performance 'now' and don't have time to wait for Focusrite to fix drivers. I can't have musicians having to stop and start during a session killing the groove because the drums keep unexpectedly stopping, and waiting for reboots along with reloading apps to get back on with the session. It defeats my purposes.

I love the sound and everything about the unit, but I need MIDI and real-time sample triggering performance more than anything else. I've got a studio full of awesome, industry grade converters (RADAR, etc..) and outboard gear. I'm also sure that Focusrite will make good on straightening out these issues down the line, as all new releases have unexpected issues that require firmware upgrades and driver adjustments. But I unfortunately can't wait. Otherwise I would.

If you're a user needing this unit strictly as an audio device, don't let my post effect your decision. My application is somewhat unusual in nature. I still believe in Focuserite. I'm just stuck between a rock and a hard place and can't afford any hardware issues over the next few months.
11
I second the problems about the windows drivers for the 18i6. I'm no expert but no beginner either, and in 15 years of fiddling with PC hardware setups, I've NEVER encountered such a difficult install! I've been having so much trouble with this, in case it can help anyone else, here's my experiences on installing the Scarlett 18i6 on a PC running Windows XP SP2/SP3.


Problem 1: getting it up and running at all (solved)
I've been lucky and avoided the BSOD, but I've had huge troubles getting it all running with reasonable stability. While it was working fine on my mac from the start, my most frequent result in windows XP was that the "connected" LED did not light up, and there was no sign of life other than the two LED's on either side of the "connected" one.

It turns out the sequence of the install needs to be right, but not all the details are in the manual. Here's my working procedure:
- The starting point is a "clean" machine: no Scarlett drivers are installed, and windows has not been allowed to attempt detecting the hardware and installing the 18i6 automatically: keep the 18i6 disconnected until later!
- Install the "resources" file from the CD.
- When the installer prompts you to, connect the 18i6, but be prepared to click "ok" in the installer immediately - before windows detects the hardware and starts a parallell automatic install process.
- Install the plug-in suite if you want.
- Restart the PC. The card should now be connected, and basic drivers should be working - meaning you can use it as a standard windows audio device, but no working ASIO and no mixer/router.
- For the next steps, it's important to disconnect the 18i6 again.
- Download and install the MixControl 1.0.exe from the focusrite website.
- When this installer prompts you to uninstall the older driver, do that. Yes/next/ok or whatever.
- After finishing the install, DO NOT connect the 18i6! RESTART THE PC FIRST!
- After the restart, connect the 18i6 and allow windows to detect the card and go through the rest of the install process.
- Restart again. Viola, everything should work.

I should also tell you that for a long time, I could only get a message reading "This device cannot start (code 10)" when windows tried to detect the hardware. As soon as this message appeared, I couldn't get rid of it - even by doing the right sequence above: this error message persisted through every uninstall and attempt at reinstalling it, it even kept malfunctioning after I did a "repair windows" with the original windows CD! The procedure above only works if this error hasn't already appeared. If it has, keep reading.

Good news: it's not a hardware problem. I think it happens when windows detects new hardware, if the drivers are not installed and running when that detection happens, the 18i6 is assigned to a generic driver which doesn't work. This coupling, between a specific USB device and what driver it uses, is saved in the windows registry for windows to remember when the same device is connected later. And so, when the correct drivers ARE installed (or uninstalled, and reinstalled), the old coupling is not changed, the bad "driver" overrides it, and the error persists.

It can be fixed manually (that's the bad news, for those who don't like opening the hood in windows). After all the drivers and Focusrite software has been uninstalled, use the registry editor (regedit) and find and delete all the keys containing the string "Scarlett" in or below the path [ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Enum ]. But these keys are write protected, so you need to enter the permissions submenu and take ownership of them before you can delete them. Restart, do a fresh driver install, good luck!


Problem 2: driver stability (not solved)
There are all sorts of glitches happening now. The driver always refuses to change the sampling frequency when the DAW asks it to. Sometimes the ASIO driver disappears when I adjust the buffer size. Sometimes the PC freezes at random times. Please, Focusrite, save us!


Problem 3: pops and dropouts in the audio, both in recording and playback (solved)
This could not be solved on my system by increasing the buffer size. Some research gave an answer that suggests this is a problem with all USB 2.0 audio gear: it happens because windows XP uses a system called ACPI to automatically handle the hardware resources that your USB devices need. Specifically, ACPI will assign the same, shared IRQ across several connected USB devices, and it may not always be able to keep up with the audio stream. In my case, I was using an external hard drive and a USB mouse/keyboard combo, and that was enough to give dropout pops with regular intervals - exactly 1 second in between. Solution: some online forums give directions on how to move the competing USB devices away from the IRQ of the 18i6, and next, how to give that IRQ high priority. I didn't bother, it turned out to be enough to just disconnect my USB hard drive when I'm recording.


If anyone from Focusrite is reading this: the Scarlett 18i6 is an otherwise great piece of equipment, and at a killer price! But these are pretty serious issues, you need to address it fast!
12
Hi there,

I thought I'd offer some advice as this thread was drawn to my attention. Many of these issues have been addressed already but I thought it would be good to give the official line.

Installation
The disk comes with a basic driver that works with the Scarlett. This will be seen in your DAW as 'Scarlett USB'. However, if possible, you should avoid installing this and only install Scarlett MixControl from our downloads page:
http://www.focusrite.com/downloads/scarlett_8i6/

This will be presented in your DAW as 'Focusrite USB 2.0 Audio' and this is what you should choose.

If you previously installed the disk version, this should be removed by the new installer but it's best to manually remove it first to make sure that it's been deleted. To do this:
- Plug in your Scarlett
- Locate the Scarlett in your device manager under 'Sound, video and game controllers' and uninstall it. You should choose the option to delete the driver
- Run any uninstallers found under 'Focusrite' in the programs section of the Start Menu.
- Remove the Scarlett from your computer
- Restart the computer
- Install Scarlett MixControl
- Plug in your Scarlett

Blue screens when using MIDI cable
We have a driver that resolves this issue that we are looking to release to our beta website shortly (http://beta.focusrite.com/). If you are having this issue and would like this fixed this instant, please get in contact with us via the contact form on our answerbase and we'll send you the drivers.

Scarlett losing connection with Scarlett MixControl
We're aware of an issue where the Scarlett is losing connection with Scarlett MixControl when streaming audio from a USB device on the same bus. We're looking at getting this fixed in an upcoming driver/firmware update.

Any other performance issues
If you're having specific performance issues on your system please don't hesitate to get in contact with us via the contact form on our answerbase and detail as much as you can about your system. We will be happy to help out and get you up and running on your system.

Joe
Focusrite Tech Support
13
As much as I love this product (I had the 8i6 model), I've had to return it due to headphone input issues. It would work great for about 10 minutes and then I would lose sound on one side and have to wiggle the wire to get sound to come through. I checked with the sales rep where I bought it and it was indeed an issue with the audio interface, so he gave me another one and .... same issue, 10 minutes into playing. The headphone input seemed loose on both of them. I have to bring it back and I'm most likely switching to another brand, this is annoying.

Is this a common issue?

[ Post last edited on 02/02/2012 at 16:31:43 ]

14
Hi guys,

We now have a full release version of Scarlett MixControl, containing the latest Focusrite USB 2.0 driver. It fixes many problems previously mentioned.

http://www.focusrite.com/downloads/

If you have any issues at all with the new driver, please get in touch with us via the Focusrite contact form below and we will be happy to assist.

http://www.focusrite.com/answerbase/en/contact.php

Best Regards,

Ben Ware - Focusrite/Novation Technical Support
15
I didn't have any problem setting it up...I just followed the usual directions when installing anything like this. I'm on Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit. That may have made a difference. I did notice there wasn't an immediate selection for Focusrite when I opened a Cubase 6 session but that was easily fixed by changing the VST settings.
I do have a problem with it though. There's a small digital buzz or click that happens from time to time. I haven't looked to see if it's on the in's or out's but I will open up a session soon and just see if it records to track.
Basically, that's the only problem. I was able to install the plug-ins when I opened the disk and didn't just auto-run, and I was able to place the plug-ins in the appropriate places when I opened my VST folder.
My only question is...has anyone had an issue with noise? I would like to think that because it's a brand new out-of-the-box product, it's something simple like the fact that I'm not using the USB cable it came with or something.
Any feedback would be appreciated!
Thanks!! :)
16
I read comments on this page and would like to ask opinions about a problem I have with my 18i6. In September of 2011 I bought in Miami a 18i6, have been recording tracks with this until about 2 weeks ago. Suddenly stopped connecting with scarlett MixControl (hardware not conected), I installed and uninstalled the drivers and updated to the latest version available on Focusrite. not get work until I changed cable and I tried on another PC, and it's not working, what is strange is that in my XP device appears in the list of audio devices "scarlett 18i6 usb" and the USB root when I connect the first time, because if I unplug it and plug it back as Windows XP tells me unknown device.
Can someone help me solve this problem? thank you very much
sorry my poor english


Classified
17
Quote from Daniel_SRK:
I read comments on this page and would like to ask opinions about a problem I have with my 18i6. In September of 2011 I bought in Miami a 18i6, have been recording tracks with this until about 2 weeks ago. Suddenly stopped connecting with scarlett MixControl (hardware not conected), I installed and uninstalled the drivers and updated to the latest version available on Focusrite. not get work until I changed cable and I tried on another PC, and it's not working, what is strange is that in my XP device appears in the list of audio devices "scarlett 18i6 usb" and the USB root when I connect the first time, because if I unplug it and plug it back as Windows XP tells me unknown device.
Can someone help me solve this problem? thank you very much
sorry my poor english


Classified


I have the same problem! No USB lights I. E. the interface is not recognized! Have you solved this issue?
18
Hello, in my case the USB led tourns on but ScarlettMixControl shows No Hardware, however if I see at Audio device administration I can see the 18i6, still I couldnt solve, now I´m measuring components, voltages and waveforms over the main board.
Good luck
19
Hey,
I use Ableton Live. But I want to know which is the best suite or standard?
Can you suggest me, icon_facepalm.gifguys?