I've been using this interface for around 5 months now and it's not been giving me any trouble. There's absolutely no noise when I'm recording instruments, sound quality is crystal clear. High frequencies aren't tinny like in the Scarlett 3rd Gens, which is great. Its small size also makes it really easy to fit on your workstation. Setting it up is easy, just plug the USB in and it works.

If 2 TRS and 2 XLR inputs are enough for you, this thing is great. Focusrite also includes bundles of free software with their gear. Great sound, great price, great user experience.

Best bang for your buck, for sure. This interface gave me everything I needed for home recording.

I purchased this interface because it is top-rated in multiple web sources. I own two other Focusrite interfaces. All of them work beautifully. This one is another step up. It's the equivalent of an air-superiority 6th gen fighter! The sound is pristine, the quality is superb, and the workflow is seamless. I use Reaper and Logic Pro (both Mac and iPad). It's as if the interface knows what I need before I do! I also own M-Audio, Behringer, Steinberg products. Focusrite well-deserves its top of the heap ranking.

Never bought an interface before, this was the one I was recommended as "buy this now and then don't think about this topic again for a long time". I downloaded the Windows drivers from Focusrite's website and was recording guitar to my DAW in minutes. Have had zero problems, though I did find I initially needed to lower the buffer rate to around 64 samples to get rid of the latency I was feeling. Outside of that hiccup (which I've fully corrected) it's been stellar.

I've been buying from Sweetwater for 25 years. Staff is always knowledgeable and helpful. I've been in the recording/music industry for over 50 years. Sweetwater is my goto place for gear Never disappointed!

Happy… original purchase was the Presonus ES2, but had laptop compatibility issues related to Thunderbolt. Sweetwater honored their exchange policy and opted to the Focusrite. Comes with Ableton Live DAW and I was recording in no time. Thanks to Josh and the Sweetwater team.

Ive been using focusrite for about 15 years, and can say with absolute certainty, that this 4th gen, and the previous 3rd gen have been the most worthless and hasslesome audio interfaces I've ever had the displeasure of not just working with, but unfortunately owning.

Constant audio dropouts and distorted audio. I have never dealt with such awful hardware in relation to something like this.
it seems that the focusrite control is better than the 3rd gen version, but still fairly useless in my opinion.
There are constant updates required, yet nothing is ever resolved.

I'd avoid focusrite at all costs and invest in another brand, because whatever they changed starting with the 3rd gen has made the units essentially worthless.

I have a bunch of stuff, including a backing track, going into a soundboard that I mix analog on the soundboard. Plug the left and right out from the soundboard into the front of this, and now my whole soundboard is the input audio for my computer for AV recording. Sweet.

Been a customer for about 15 or so years. Found out I could get a personal sales rep. Got Mike. Led me to many purchases over the years. My most recent was the Focusrite to replace one I've had for a long time. Works great. Easy to set up. I'm just starting to use some of the sounds provided with the purchase. Highly recommended! Peace

This thing is awesome. Excited to put it to the test.

I've been using this interface every day since I got it. Solid, reliable workhorse and extremely easy to use. Basically plug and play. Focusrite also includes an impressive suite of DAWs and plugins to get you started. Amazing support documentation from Sweetwater and Focusrite. The Scarlett 2i2 is the backbone of my setup, highly recommended.

playing through a computer is very new to me, and this interface made it as easy as possible. great sound quality for a great price!

Great Audio Interface! I am well pleased with the purchase, and have not had any issues with it whatsoever. The sound it produces through my KPT Monitors is superb. Running Ableton 12 Live via Midi and could not be happier thus far with the ease of use and clarity of sound.

Excellent...

Still learning to use it because I've never used an audio interface , but I have not seen even 1 bad review for this particular unit

I've had every generation of scarletts. This is my favorite. I appreciate the dedicated power jack separate from the usb audio jack. I also appreciate the mic inputs being on the rear. I don't mind the new buttons interface. It's very similar to the workflow on an apollo twin where you select the channel etc. The presence and new "presence & drive" options is interesting. It's basically just one setting that's either on or off but it's a slightly more distorted tone than I'd dial up if using a dedicated mic pre. The outputs are balanced so you can go straight to a mixer. Rock solid unit for me. Preamps sound so good too.

Jacob is very knowledgeable and pleasant on the phone. We genuinely appreciate all of his expert advice. We are loving the new 2i2, and the near field speakers he recommended are outstanding. Our online sound quality has stepped up significantly.

Thank you,

Holly Rice
Media Team Leader
Kings Trail Cowboy Church

The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th Gen USB Audio Interface is compact and easy to use. My DAW is Reason 12 and the Focusrite box integrates well with Reason. One of the features that was important to me is the individual volume knobs for the 1/4" instrument inputs. I prefer a physical adjustment rather than having to use the software mixer. Though there is a simple software interface provided if that is preferred.
I was using a UAD Apollo Twin which has many excellent features but was not happy when recording direct guitar.Because of latency issues, I have to use the External Monitoring setting in Reason preferences. The Apollo, when using this setting would not allow the use of non UAD plug ins. Now I have a variety of UAD amp models but for some reason I couln't obtain a clean amp sound I was happy with. Overdriven sounds were fine but the amp plugin in Reason was my go-to for clean sounds.Couldn't use it with the Apollo when in External Monitoring. It's also possible I just didn't fully understand all the routing possibilities with the Apollo but I just wanted to get some recording done.
The Scarlett does allow it when in External Monitoring in Reason. Can use any plug in I want including the UAD ones. Recording direct guitar or bass so far has been much simpler with the Focusrite box. Recording with a mic is easy and the sound quality is very good.
The Apollo is Thunderbolt connection where the Scarlett is USB. I haven't discerned any difference in sound between the two. I imagine the Thunderbolt connection would be more advantageous if using a greater input box and recording multiple inputs at the same time. But for one at a time recording USB has been fine.
This Focusrite Scarlett box is a very good deal for the cost and will do well for someone who does not need more than 2 inputs at a time. Often I will use 2 mics to record acoustic guitar and this box handles that fine.
The unit also comes with a variety of free software plugins that can be especially useful for someone starting out. And even though I have years of plugins I still found a few that are very useful. There are a lot of hoops to jump thru to download all the software. Various companies products means lots of websites, creating accounts, log ins, passwords and serial numbers. The Focusrite Red EQ and Compressor are fairly easy to download and worth the time.
Very happy with the box. It does what I need simply and efficiently.

It's not detected and a loop same update over and over it was my backup at my second studio but it won't work anymore but before it was cool for 2 years

I have had two Scarlett interfaces. The 2i4 and the 8i8. The 2i4 was brand new and n 6 months of unplugging the headphone jack maybe 4-5 times it fails. The 8i8 was not new but the guy I bought it from only had it 6 months, and now it just cuts the sound off randomly and I have to restart.

Now operation of the interface, is easy, the quality of recordings is great. Its just the build quality is not there. So my next interface will not be a Scarlett

I have a solo 3rd gen, so I was familiar with the product. I use a 2i2 3rd at church. So, I tend more towards my Linux OS because I hate windows. The Scarlett worked right out of the box on linux, the Focus Control 2 app doesn't work on linux, but so far that hasn't been an issue. It might become an issue when I connect to a DAW. But, everything works on windows, so I can just suck it up

Very silly that you cannot engage and disengage phantom power independently for each channel. It's either phantom power on both or nothing. Ridiculous. You can however get an inline filter to block phantom power on one channel. This limitation should be better documented and presented in the product description.

It works well with all my instruments. I was easily able to hook up my guitar, bass, piano, midi, and saxophone (through a mic)

I just upgraded office PC to act as a DAW, the Scarlett 212 was part of the upgrade along with a pair of iLoud MTM MKII speakers. Great setup, great sound, small foot print. What's not to love. Thank you Sweetwater for the fast delivery!

I got one of these for my limited recording use and it's fought me the entire time, unfortunately. It occasionally drops out entirely (windows 11) and has to be disconnected and reconnected to restore audio. The direct monitoring is pathetically quiet. Any bass heavy instrument (like bass guitar) can clip the input (distortion) without it showing it clipping on the halo. With patience and a lot of luck you can use it, but it's a pain. Unfortunately I'll have to replace it eventually, hopefully for some 32 bit kit. I'd recommend looking elsewhere for a little interface

Pros: Great interface, easy to use, so far reliable.
Cons: hard to switch in / out of input / output modes on your laptop. When you use the interface and unplug from laptop, you have to switch the input / output on your MacBook settings each time or you'll get the annoying echo.

I got this thing a little while back. I've tried almost everything to make it stop randomly glitching. And nothing is working. I will never get anything from this manufacturer again or recommend it to anyone.

I love this! This device was recommended to me by my Sweetwater sales engineer and it is exactly what I was looking for! It also came with access to some sick plugins which way topped my expectations. The interface works well, provides clarity, and does everything I would expect from an interface like this. I also love that you can save presets in the app. It makes it much easier to record multiple days and not lose my original sound. Also the Sweetwater service was amazing as always! When it comes to music gear and customer service, Sweetwater is the best!

The Scarlett 2i2 sounds great! It's very easy to install and use. The auto level, safe, and air features are very cool. The 2i2 is perfect for me - exactly what I needed. Anthony Longano always steers me in the right direction, whether it's guitars, amps, sound gear, whatever! It's always great working with Anthony and Sweetwater!

I've had two of these before, a 2nd and 3rd version, and now Version 4. These just work for me and do what I need them to do. Unobtrusive, working right out of the box, and reliable.

I use these mostly for streaming audio, guitar input over the audio, and input to my DAW of choice. No issues.

You can't go wrong.

I've been playing guitar, piano, and singing for several years but I was always intimidated by the thought of the effort that it would take to begin creating recordings. I don't have a lot of time to play music I would rather not spend time with technical stuff. But I finally wanted to give it a try so I did some research and picked up this inexpensive interface that seemed to get positive reviews and had the options I was looking for like two inputs that I can use simultaneously for voice and instrument. The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 ended up being quick to set up, easy and intuitive to use. From taking it out of the box I was able to start recording in about a half hour. That included downloading the software needed on my laptop, choosing a program (I went with Ableton Live Lite) and downloading that to my laptop, and watching some quick instructional videos. Now whenever I play, I can be ready to record by just opening my laptop and clicking into Ableton. I'm sure there are much more sophisticated programs and devices but I'm very happy with the quality of the recordings, and like I mentioned in my review title I do think that this is perfect if you're an individual just getting started with recording your music.

Upgraded from an older model interface, and purchased the 2i2 4th Gen on the advice of several studio savvy friends. This thing is much more than a usb audio interface, it's packed with fantastic automation that's common sense and easy to use. I've used the Scarlett to record acoustic guitar and vocals with incredible results! Super clean and crisp; just what I was looking for! I love the auto level and "safe" features, and it has worked flawlessly! the "air" feature adds a presence that is a delight to the ears. And it goes without saying that Sweetwater Customer Support sets the standard!

I've been using the Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen up to now, but this 2i2 Gen 4 is one heck of a step up. Easy to use and a lot of new features that I will have to spend some time with. The setup was easy and it works well on my MacBook Pro for traveling. (I normally use it on my iMac at home, but when I travel it is small and light enough to just pop in and go.). Strong, sturdy, and the Focusrite name that I have come to trust over the years.

Thanks to Ian Chamberlain for getting this handled for me as quickly as possible. Even arrived a day earlier that posted on the UPS website. Can't be that level of service with Sweetwater.

Easy set up. Works great when I combine with my Tech 21. Using to practice along with audio through phones at this time. May get into recording later. Much better representation than headphone output from amp. which was my previous setup.

It's early days yet, but I'm impressed with my Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 interface. The controls are fairly intuitive, and the on-screen control panel is helpful. The auto-gain function is very useful. Finally, I can't believe how good my guitar sounded in my DAW by simply plugging it directly into the Focusrite - a very welcome surprise!

Worked amazing fresh out of the box until someone modified some thing on my laptop. Now I can't get it to respond, re install, nothing. Absolute waste of time (three days) on forums, support, emails, nothing. No one can figure out how to make it simple.

The headphone jack has failed on me with less than a year of use. It sounds like it keeps shorting out when moving it barely or bumping it, I have to wrap my headphone cord around the device in order for it to make a full stereo connection. I have tried multiple connectors with same result.

The sound that this unit is able to capture are leaps and bounds above what other similar units are able to produce. This is a must for those looking to record on a small scale.

In the short time that I have had my Scarlett 2i2 I have really enjoyed its features and ease of use and the arrangement of the controls and jacks. The courteous and professional response, assistance, and knowledge of my sales engineer, Mr. Josh Hacker and all of the Sweetwater staff members is exceptional and the reason that Sweetwater is my go-to source for my equipment.

This was a Christmas gift for our daughter. We had bought a microphone and condensor before but it wouldn't work with our daughters computer USB port. Needless to say we contacted Mr. Gregg and he helped us to get what we needed and its all perfect now! When I learned of sweetwater several Years ago, there is no other place I shop for our music needs. Sweetwater and their team is fantastic and very knowledgeable!

I got to use it for a couple months before the device just stopped getting showing an input signal in both inputs. Im jumping ship on this brand. Also the quiet headphone output is another disappointment.

This interface is very easy to use. The pre amps are clean and clear. This is a great place to start if you are getting into home recording! Watch my full review for all the details on the new Gen 4 features!

Wow ! Amazing interface! Lives up to expectations and exceeds it ! Do not hesitate in getting the Focusrite 2i2 outstanding home recording usb interface!

A great, straight forward unit with a decent amount of very usable features. Extremely pleased.

This is a pretty good unit. Every so often it cuts out or makes noise while reording but it usually happens towards the beginning if it is going to happen so going back and starting over is not so difficlt just a bit anoying. When it works the recordings are flawless.

I bougt so I could connect my pro headhpones to my laptop to do ear training. Was easy to install and works great.

A very nice piece of gear. Very intuitive. Functions very well with my DAW

The 4th Generation is a major improvement from the previous, particularly the pre-amp. It's also an improvement ascetically and functionally. The needed software is very light on the hardware.

Perfect for a small podcasting lineup in studio, meaning for one or two speakers, and also for dropping vocal tracks.

Using with the Shure SM7dB and just loving it.

Take what I say with a grain of salt. I'm a complete idiot with a computer and of course had to get assistance from tech support to get up and running. Now that it all works I'm slowly figuring things out, and I'm impressed with all I can do with just the basic package. I see a lot of fun in my future.

So I was really looking forward to get my new Scarlett 2i2 4th gen after watching a couple of videos of it. I have to say the unit looks very nice and clean. The new implementations to it are very nice BUT................... THE HEADPHONE OUTPUT for me is very weak comparing it to others and with that THE PREAMPS while the sound of them is very nice and the AIR mode adds an interesting color to them that I REALLY LIKED. I could barely hear myself on the HEADPHONES and If you want to RECORD on a HEALTHY LEVEL without DISTORTION you have to set the gain to about 9, 10 or 11 O' Clock and that makes the HEADPHONE OUTPUT to have a problem because you are hearing your voice very low EVEN WITH THE HEADPHONE VOLUME KNOB TO a 100. If you put the PREAMPS Gain to 12 O' Clock you WILL Start to CLIP and DISTORT your RECORDING. I Try and I Try with every DAW and setting that I Could but the results were the same. It's a shame because this new gen has the potential but that HEADPHONE OUTPUT and The PREAMPS Distortion at a very low level are not good at all.

This little unit is a gem on a budget. Setup was a breeze and it does exactly what it's supposed to. I have the Clip Safe feature on my mobile recording rig and it's one of the best things to ever happen to recording with a microphone. It's awesome to have it on my home setup now.