FocusriteScarlett 16i16 4th Gen USB Audio Interface, for Songwriting, Music Production, Recording, and Podcasting — High-Fidelity, Studio Quality Recording, and All the Software You Need to Record

This is an excellent upgrade from something like the 2i2 or any “standard” interface. If you need to record more than two XLR inputs at the same time or are sick of having to unplug one thing to plug in another even when recording at different times then this is a great interface but it isn’t without its faults. First the good, then the bad:I like the access to the four combo XLR/instrument inputs on the front. I often have to record three or more XLR inputs at once and being able to have all my cables plugged in at once makes it so much easier to go from one instrument to another. I’m able to have all of my mics, DI guitar XLRs, and even stereo synths with the line inputs on the back plugged in and I can switch from one thing to another and even record up to 8 instruments at once. The efficiency and improvement to my workflow is really the biggest benefit over anything else.As far as sound quality goes, the preamps, bitrate, and sample rate are just as good here as they are on the rest of the Scarlett range. The big benefit is ins and outs.Having MIDI in/out is a nice touch and was a huge factor in choosing any interface for me. I often want to use my MIDI keyboards to record MIDI in my DAW and then send it out to something like a synth or a Korg Volca or something.Now for the not so great parts. The setup is easy enough but it doesn’t always automatically set things how you might want. For example, the Scarlett automatically sets direct monitoring on. That’s great for zero latency monitoring but if you have multiple guitars mic’d up and only want to hear one at a time while recording, the settings in your DAW won’t have any effect as far as input monitoring goes. You have to go to the Focusrite control app for that. So I just set the app to allow the DAW to control the sound input and output, which was a preset in the Focusrite Control app, and that fixed it. I’ve been using Scarletts for a few years now and still don’t really know how Focusrite Control works beyond the very basics so I never use direct monitoring unless there’s a button for it.The front has four knobs to control gain on the front panel, two knobs for each headphone output, a master speaker output knob, and two small buttons that control the 48v phantom power for each of the two sets of XLR inputs on the front panel. What I miss are the buttons on the front panel for selecting line or instrument level for the inputs and the Air mode buttons. Those controls are now in the Focusrite Control software. Luckily, they are easy to activate unlike a lot of other things in the software and the mobile app makes it even more convenient for people like me who don’t want to switch away from their DAW on their computer to select Air mode or pad an input or select instrument level for a certain input.The line level inputs on the back are line level only and the gain is fixed. You can adjust the gain using Focusrite Control app but really you shouldn’t need to. Most line level signals should be loud enough and can be adjusted at the source instead of at the interface and if you still need a volume boost you can probably get away with just increasing the track volume rather than messing with the interface. A rule of thumb is that if a line level input is too quiet then the problem is the instrument, not the input. But there are some cases where you may want to boost the level on the interface and when you do it’s a little inconvenient to have to open Focusrite Control to do it. Ideally, I don’t want to have to mess with anything in Focusrite Control after setting it up once and 99% of the time I don’t. The only times you’d really have to mess with that app is when you have to activate a mode or setting that there isn’t a button for like Air mode or the line/instrument setting.This thing needs an external power supply to work which is understandable considering the four preamps with phantom power. Remember to turn the switch on when you plug it into your computer and make sure you power it off properly before unplugging.My gripes with this are truly minor and I understand why they took the buttons off the front panel. The design is just sleeker and it would take up way too much space to keep those buttons. Putting them into software makes sense considering how easy it is to switch them on or off and it was a good trade off between convenience, design, and space saving.Compared to my previous interfaces this is a big boy but still fits neatly on my desk and lets me have everything plugged in and ready to go at all times, making it easy for me to plug in the USB, power it on, and start recording.Also, there was no change in latency by upgrading from a smaller Scarlett. The speed and quality is exactly the same. The only difference is efficiency and workflow which are huge. Seriously, switching out cables and setting up instruments to record is a hassle. The more I can have already set up and ready to continue a session later the faster I can go and the more I can focus on music rather than setup.

Great product

I am very impressed with this unit. I have only had it for a week or so, but so far I can say it's exactly what I've been needing to get back into recording. I was an original user of the Aardvark audio interface that was way ahead of it's time 20 years ago, and I never fully recovered from it being put out of support. Finding this unit and all it's features and easy connection to something like an iPhone is incredible. Eventually I will get a Mac to use with it, but this thing is awesome.

Works great and I use it daily, it's perfect for my use.However, Amazon screwed up big time by delivering it to a completely different address a few blocks away from me.Luckily the person it was delivered to was a good Samaritan and delivered it to me personally and apologized for the mix up.

Focusrite keeps upping the quality and capabilities of their interfaces and the 16i16 is a great example of their commitment to small setups. I have yet to delve into the software but so far as some basic vocals it’s not needed. The dual air modes sound as expected, the mic interfaces are nice and clean, and the bump to 24/192 makes the cost worth it. Then throw in the ability to do routing (up to 96kHz) amongst the extra line ins/outs, optical, and ADAT connections. Perfect for a small studio. The only thing I’m missing from this, that some of the larger have, is the speaker “thump” protection since I have multiple Mac’s and sometimes need to switch my peripherals between them. I do appreciate the ability to provide continuous separate power from the usb.

There are a few tricks with this one.First - don't even try to use a USB 3.0 port. No matter what cord length I used in a 3.0 port on two different machines it just would not connect well enough to record into Cakewalk or Audacity. I could use up to a 10 foot cord on any 2.0 port I tried.I say 'barely enough' because there are only 2 input ports that are suitable for microphones (XLR). There are also 4 other standard 1/4" jacks for input but they are all mono. For a 2-piece band you would have a microphone and instrument input for each with 2 inputs for any back-tracking, drum machine, etc. If you had a 3-piece you could use the 2 inputs for the 3rd but you would need a way to power them.There IS an SPDIF and Midi input but both were simply not a choice when I went Piano shopping.You may find a bit of a learning curve when it comes to the focusrite drivers and they occasionally have to be re-installed. Of course, this may just be updates from Microsoft 'doing their thing'.I like this machine but it isn't quite enough for my purposes.

Sweetwater customer service is the best!