EEVblog 1405 - Focusrite Scarlett Solo vs Rode AI-1 TEARDOWN

[@jfinnie78]

That is a 10 pin Tag-Connect footprint - it is an off-the-shelf pogo-pin like connector ("Plug-Of-Nails TM") for adding debug / programming headers to devices without incurring the cost of the connector. TC2050-IDC is one of the connectors that will fit it. (Apologies if this ends up being double post - KZbin appeared to eat initial comment, so had to re-post without link - google it!).

[@WizardTim]

I’ve used them as well, they’re pretty nifty, for people who do consider using them I strongly recommend the locking style, it’s well worth the extra board space. Also double check the pin number order... The most interesting place I’ve seen them is on the NASA Ingenuity helicopter FPGA PCB!

[@SchlonzKlug]

Really nice stuff. I use the 6 and 10 pin version. But normally without the clip holes. You can find all the stuff here www.tag-connect.com/

[@beanstone7]

They are nice but rather pricy! I would recommend the ones with the clips/legs, even if you lose board space. Using the push-on retainers for the non-legged version is a pain, really.

[@jfinnie78]

@@beanstone7 Yes, you need to be doing some reasonable volumes to make back the cost of the Tag Connect connectors - as small pin count connectors for programming purposes are pretty cheap if you use something ubiquitous.

[@marcelmelters364]

Almost, except that the Tag-Connect uses three through-holes to align without risk of reversal, the footprint should not include solder paste on the pads. I think this footprint looks more like a 1.27 or 2mm pitch boxed header...

[@squidcaps4308]

Kensington lock in the Focusrite: it is used in schools a lot. That is why it is there.

[@everyhandletaken]

Wish it was more common, costs approximately $0 to include & useful in many cases.

[@ezion67]

Music store owners also love Kensington locks on demo equipment, especially the smaller stuff.

[@wphanoo]

@@everyhandletaken Yup, I'm adding it to my product it's 100% free, Kensington doesn't charge anything for it including the logo

[@MrSammotube]

Good point - my school had a lot of audio equipment in the music school - the only theft I heard of though was that kids stole RAM chips by pushing the 5.25 inch expansion panels out and pinching the RAM. Kids eh?

[@gg-gn3re]

@@everyhandletaken "useful in many cases" not really, takes 2 seconds to pop open

[@IanBPPK]

The Scarlett Solo has the niche perk of fitting almost perfectly in a 5.25" bay.

[@SquareCubiC]

What a useful feature in 2021 :D

[@NavinF]

lol I haven’t seen a 5.25” bay in a decade

[@jeffm2787]

Wondering if Dave knows the trick with putting self tapping screws back. Spin them backwards until you get that slight click and then go forward so as not to cut a new thread. Short of over tightening cutting multiple threads is what gives them such a bad rep.

[@blahorgaslisk7763]

I do that with most every screw there is, both self tapping and machine screws. I hate cross threading and backing off until you feel it fall into the thread makes it next to impossible to get a cross thread. However it's most useful with self tapping, wood screws and when you have thread tapped into thin metal sheets like in a lot of computer cases. Just to make things "better" a lot of computer cases come with really bad screws where the thread is barely functional. These are notoriously easy to cross thread.

[@EEVblog]

Yes, I've been saying that in my videos for years.

[@jeffm2787]

@@EEVblog Great to hear.

[@emdxemdx]

The “AIR” button is for when you play an air guitar…

[@lolaa2200]

unfortunately it makes no sound

[@sjtrny]

Dave, if you're using windows check that the sample rate of the AI-1 is the same for both input and output audio devices. I have found that under Windows it can often change between sleep/reboot for whatever reason. When this happens the input (microphone) device doesn't work. It seems to be a Windows thing.

[@ChipGuy]

5:00 That thing is called a Tag Connect Programming / Debugging header. The holes are for clips that clamp the header down, so the designer can do programming/debugging.

[@MB-st7be]

Damn I've been looking for the name of this for ages, thanks!

[@tommihommi1]

A lot of more pro audio interfaces have Kensington locks, as they're very easy to pocket otherwise, and commonly used in areas with lots of transit.

[@VeraTR909]

Absolutely, a lot of stuff was being stolen at my Audio Design school.

[@parentteachernight]

I think the Kensington lock slot is most useful in school and institutional settings where they don't want opportunists simply walking off with their interfaces.

[@VeraTR909]

@@parentteachernight Yeah, at this school you could also 'book' studios to work on projects, so slipping something in your bag when alone in a studio would be real easy. *(jack and xlr cables went 'missing' all the time too)

[@bitdevice]

I wouldn't call Focusrite pro audio... more like prosumer audio

[@polygorg]

@@bitdevice exacly what consumer would need an 18i20

[@AllToDevNull]

I would love to see a RME interface teardown in comparison

[@nudgeee]

I’ve recently torn down a RME UFX+ and it is quite sophisticated, maybe if there is enough interest I’ll make a video/blog/post pics about it!

[@stumpyFPV]

yes please!

[@ScottCervelo]

@@nudgeee My ufx+ power supply died twice until now. Probably dies because it's always on and then dies when it's turned off while hot.

[@broklee]

@@nudgeee a Fireface teardown or blog would be appreciated!

[@rowanjones3476]

Yes! Please more pro vs ‘pro’ gear

[@jacobrothman4586]

They won't be polymer caps in the Rode. Low value wet SMT caps often don't have pressure relief indents. Polymers are not recommended for audio coupling because they have relatively high leakage currents. Top notch stuff like Neve uses tantalums for long life, although one has to be careful with distortion arising from their use.

[@martininm.t.r.a9887]

Actually Nichicon "main stream" audio grade caps are not darn expensive nowadays and only needed in signal path.

[@MB-st7be]

Tants are pretty rare in audio these days. Ordinary electros meet 99% of applications, and when lower leakage is needed they just use two in series.

[@jaro6985]

Yeah just normal electrolytics, a few Panasonic FK series.

[@perhansson6718]

I always thought this was a Danish company based on the use of the Danish letter Ø in their name till you showed the made in Australia sticker, found this on Wikipedia: "Peter Freedman added the 'Ø' character as a salute to his Scandinavian heritage"

[@douro20]

Self-tapping screws into plastic really aren't a terrible idea in some applications. They are used in lieu of thread inserts in Fujitsu's Lifebook series of semi-rugged laptops due to issues associated with dislodging of inserts or cracking of the plastic around them.

[@EEVblog]

Yeah, it's not that bad, I'm being a bit melodramatic.

[@mtbboy1993]

@@EEVblog On a mountain bike drivetrain on other hand it's a disaster.

[@frequencymanipulator]

Kensington lock is useful in educational contexts, where the little darlings might fancy taking it home.

[@karolylovasz]

Let me guess, you never worked in education right?

[@janconnemann1311]

min 4:55 it`s called Tag Connect

[@inepsaog9631]

I had issues with the rode ai 1 when windows updated and changed the frequency in the advanced settings for the device. Switching it to 48khz makes it work perfectly

[@gagbabgerwer5883]

had the same issue. it was because the input was set to something like 24 khz and the output to 48 khz. because its on the same usb interface windows would completely freak and the device would act extremely erratic as it couldnt connect to it properly. making the same like you said fixed it. all because of a windows update.

[@PeteBetter]

I've had to fix that more than once.

[@djneohlp]

And technically the Scarlett is a dual channel interface vs the single channel rode. The second channel on the focusrite is a line in with switchable Hi-Z Instrument.

[@EEVblog]

Yeah, true.

[@StudioBojiaSila]

which is better Focusrite Scarlett Solo or Rode AI-1 ?

[@ZBWOOFFICIAL]

Rode Al-1 I have it and it has better drivers

[@uguronlineShorts]

@@ZBWOOFFICIALrode al1 bendede var sürekli kapanıp açılıyor sinir ediyor beni ve eskiden olmayan acayip bi dip ses var çöpe atıcam

[@SeanDamonGreene]

A bit late to the discussion here, but I figured I'd mention this just in case no one else has mentioned it, although they probably have. Dave, a step up to the Fucusrite Scarlett 4i4 would meet your needs. It has a separate volume knob for the headphone output, and the monitor output level can be turned all the way down, leaving only the headphones operating. The 4i4 is the next model up from the 2i2, and it isn't much more in cost. I hope this is of some value.

[@ofloveandliquor]

The Motu M2 (or M4) is a top quality USB interface with a bar graph. It's an amazing device.

[@gorgonbert]

But currently unavailable over here in Europe 😢

[@ofloveandliquor]

Is it? I live in Europe (France), I bought one a year ago from Thomann.

[@geoffswan1254]

The periodic noise on your audio signal is the old decabit ripple control signal leaking through your power supply.

[@615franco]

Y COMO SE SOLUCIONA?

[@meowcula]

18 years ago or about I bought a M-Audio sound card, and I bought a breakout split mixer box for it. Can't use the card any more (old PCI) but the mixer box is still superb and running to this day. I opened it up and found it was entirely analog, the ADCs and DACs being on the PCI card and the construction is really well done. I still use it for its preamps and headphone amplifier. Great for uniting my spaghetti of an audio mess. I might buy a new audio interface one day if I get back into digital audio work, but i'd still use this lovely split mixer.

[@CarlTelama]

I've found that the Behringer UMC series (I have the 404) has the lowest noise floor of all the ones I've tried

[@iamdarkyoshi]

You've got more patience than I so, if I had to reshoot footage because my interface decided to eat glue, I'd be furious! I'd have hit it with HV and brought out the sledgehammer! I ain't avin' it!

[@EEVblog]

I have gone "stuff it" and not bothered. Depends on the importance of the video.

[@volvo09]

Yeah, talk about annoying! As bad as a corrupt video segment.

[@JulianA-tr6pt]

Photon 👌👌

[@michael.a.covington]

3:30 Those aren't self-tappers, those are wood screws!

[@Turbochargedtwelve]

It’s not great, but functionally they only see shear load in use with the sliding case design so they only need to thread well enough to not fall out

[@Turbochargedtwelve]

mipmipmipmipmip yes put pushing and pulling on the xlr puts the screws in shear loading. The poor thread engagement doesn’t matter in this case, the load isn’t trying to pull them out.

[@buyabuyak361]

The debug connector is a tag connect standard jtag interface, it's pretty usefull and removes a component. Flies away

[@DavidBezemer]

Both of these interfaces are produced as low cost devices, if you want to see better quality interfaces look at RME, MOTU, Universal Audio or SSL prosumer/studio line interfaces

[@marcusfrombespokeaudio5372]

MOTU M2 would be a good comparable, plus it has bar graphs!

[@nicholasroos3627]

Focusrite does make some nicer units but the cost is outrageous.

[@SynaMax]

As a musician, I'm very excited to see this tear down!

[@AldoSchmedack]

Agreed! Headphone amps are so useful and fun and easy to make and work on!

[@hgplaying5629]

Have you tried updating the bios on your pc and did you use a usb 3 port for the rode? If not those things could have fixed your connection problems

[@AldoSchmedack]

neat idea

[@hgplaying5629]

@@AldoSchmedack It ain't just an idea its a solution which is probably gonna fix the problem

[@Zephyr8086]

I was having the same issues with my rode, It was resolved with a new USB type C cable

[@EEVblog]

That didn't fix mine.

[@BruceNitroxpro]

@@EEVblog , That was interesting! Thanks for including that observation!

[@EvileDik]

The more I use them, the more im convinced the C connector is a crap design, seen so many dead Switches with gnd/vcc shorts (straight to the CPU, no protection) where the C connector is trashed, or oulus quest 2 where the socket has got so hot it's desoldered from the PCB. Trying to cram too many fine conductors into a thing that will be frequently unplugged is a recipe for disaster.

[@Zephyr8086]

@@EEVblog Sorry to hear it. I got mine used from some kid who had apparently dropped it on it's USB C cable and it had the exact same issues that you were describing. Perhaps your connector is failing?

[@MeppyMan]

I’ve got both of these (but the dual not the solo) and have no issues with the Rode. My only complaint is that the Rode doesn’t have enough boost for the Rode Podmic and even the Focusrite has to be at max level for that mic.

[@AbideinChristSealed]

I'm actually considering the Rode Podmic. Here shows the best pre amp is the MOTU M2 2x2 kzbin.info/www/bejne/rn22maOvr9ypgNU

[@nudgeee]

XMOS jobbies are super common in audio interfaces because they come with a stable, pre-built/drop-in USB Audio 2.0 implementation

[@p_mouse8676]

About highpass filters, you can just do that on your computer as well, even in real-time. There are billions of solutions, I personally use Equalizer APO in Windows. For non-live recordings, just dot it in post.

[@rdoursenaud]

No. Don’t ! Overloading your input with low frequencies won’t be fixable in post. Always use a low cut at the input stage if the low frequencies are not needed. Just don’t overdo it ;)

[@p_mouse8676]

@@rdoursenaud yes! obviously. You need to do quite a lot to fully overload your input stage. So do it! ;)

[@SBG57]

for anyone actually wondering air usually refers to around 10kHz on the frequency spectrum, it's a little top end boost

[@EdwinNoorlander]

I am happy with my UR22C from Steinberg

[@mansnilsson4382]

Regarding the HPF (high pass filter) -- it is pretty common to have it done very early in the audio chain, definitely before A/D, and sometimes before the first gain stage. My analog mixer has a RC network with a BC309b to make up gain just after the input transformer and a discrete first gain stage with BC560b / BC239c -- very vintage! Doing it early saves a lot of headroom and hassle later in the signal chain, so it makes sense.

[@tituszbadonics6365]

I have to add, that i successfully repaired a Focusrite Scarlett 3rd gen Sound card, on EEVBlog you guys identified the faulty part, (A DC step down chip, supersmall package) The customer service sent me replacement parts FOR FREE, and when i asked about delayed postage THEY SENT ME ANOTHER FEW CHIPS FOR FREE, and i was able to repair the unit. For me it says they care about us. Hands up for Focusrite. I know there are better sounding units outthere, but this experience was pleasant for me.

[@shockwavecity]

I've had really good luck with Behringer UM-2's. I've gone through a pair of scarlett solos in the same time period, and the Behringer is about half the price.

[@tommihommi1]

the UM-2 is a third of the price of the Scarlett solo

[@dglcomputers1498]

I have a 204HD, excellent interface for the price, also have the new FLOW 8 which is also a great product though the bluetooth latency isn't great.

[@elbiggus]

I'm also a fan of the UM-2 (or Behringer stuff in general; they're never the *best* but I've owned dozens of bits of their kit over the years and they've never let me down). The only real issue I have is that Behringer no longer supply drivers for it which can cause problems if you're using an application that doesn't have ASIO support and have to fall back on the generic WDDM driver -- Audacity sees it as a mono input, for example. (Thank god for Voicemeeter Banana!)

[@dglcomputers1498]

@@elbiggus Look on Gearspace, I uploaded the old 16bit Behringer driver which may work with the UM-2, it supports WIN10-x64 and works fine on my UFO-202, much better than using either ASIO4ALL or the built in windows driver.

[@JaredJanhsen]

I've had the Scarlett Solo for over a year. I use it with an AT2020 mic. I do online training with customers and they've been very appreciative of the audio quality. Sounds great outbound too through my AT cans.

[@rosselur]

Honest question, why would you not want the ability to on occasion plug an extra mic in there for a few more bucks ?

[@excitedbox5705]

yea, like a lavaliere receiver for going mobile. You can leave it running and sync the footage from a second camera.

[@EEVblog]

Because I don't need that on my editing screen capture setup. I do that have ability already on my microscope capture setup. Takes a few seconds to switch mic inputs if I needed that anyway. And you don't want to have two mics mixing when recording. If oyu forget to turn one off then your audio is screwed, and you won't know until you go edit.

[@rosselur]

@@EEVblog I am shopping around for an interface myself, and respect your opinion a lot. Thank you.

[@samanmoghanloo7419]

I really suggest to check Steinberg UR12/UR22 audio interface too

[@frankowalker4662]

Have you tried an older firmware version ? I don't like updating firmware. Once I get something to work, I leave it.

[@TheSlyMouse]

I was curious about the CS4272 and its High pass filter option so I reached out to focusrite, here is what they had to say. Note: Just for some context, I asked about potentially using the High Pass feature via modification of some kind. Focusrite - "We operate the CS4272 converter with the ADC set to use “high-pass filter” not “DC Offset Calibration”. This is non-switchable within our implementation and the high-pass filter in the CS4272 is not configurable. It is there to remove the DC offset from the drive circuitry just before the converter. This is a standard Implementation used in AC coupled inputs (i.e. inputs that cannot support recording static DC voltages)."

[@noa5624]

Love the videos and the knowledge you're sharing with us. Thank you Sr!!! BTW, I can't help to hear your voice in my head like an older version of Morty from the R&M. Sorry!!!

[@triffid0hunter]

That's a Tag Connect TC2050 debug port, quite common - look it up ;) The probes themselves are ridiculously expensive, but the PCB footprint is basically free :P

[@Sherwin657]

I had an issue with the AI-1 (i guess it was a windows issue) that windows would randomly decide that the usb didn't need power anymore so it would drop out. there was setting in windows that is for power saving and it can power down usb devices, took me a while to figure that one out EDIT: setting was call USB selective suspend in case anyone has the same thing going on

[@EEVblog]

Is it that AMD USB bug?

[@Sherwin657]

@@EEVblog I don't believe so. It is an AMD system but the problem was just the windows power saving turning it off for me

[@xandstapleford1682]

I think you can change power management settings in device manager if this is the case :)

[@martininm.t.r.a9887]

A gigabyte board can sometimes turn off my mouse and keyboard, so i needed a hard reset or PS2 kb

[@SteS]

Done that with this model and mine cuts out and doesn't come back until I go to the Focusrite control panel and go: File>Restore Factory defaults. I've been onto support but so far it ain't any help. Think it's a faulty unit.

[@minigpracing3068]

I'd need to check current models, but I think you can get the features you want like high pass filter and stuff on several MOTU interfaces, but every feature costs. The Focus Right Scarlet series is one of the best for cost effective pricing. Sad part is that the high pass is probably built into the DSP and all they needed was a button or two.

[@JPMac23]

Not surprised by this, Focusrite is a long-standing brand that's been a standard in professional studios for decades. Back in the day, the ISA series preamps and channel strips were a go to for us, and the Scarletts came out just as I was getting out. Even their consumer devices have always been excellent, as long as it's not the Green or Platinum Range. Rode is still really project studio/podcaster level, though we did use some of their mics for room mics.

[@chris-tal]

I had the same reaction on the XMOS processor capabilities 6 years ago opening a 2i4 and 18i20 variant. It ca have 8-32 simple cores inside for parallel computing. A so called "tile processor". It's like a little brother to Cavium Octeon and Tilera CPUs. :) I was repairing it for a stage and sound engineering company hosting live performances and shows. The problems were only with the CD4066 Analog switch/mux. Sometimes those guys accidentally plugged in phantom powered stuff into it, backfeeding it. The switch/mux didn't appreciate it that much. :)

[@Hagledesperado]

2:04 But you do have a radio voice, at least if we're going by early 1900s standards. Bassy voices didn't sound good on the tinny speakers and limited bandwidth they used back then, so all the best radio hosts - and singers - were tenors. Of course, by modern subwoofer and DSP-augmented standards, everyone on the radio needs to be a barytone, or at the very least utilize the proximity effect of their microphone for all that it's worth. But that's a story for another day.

[@atkelar]

The self tappers seem to screw into the metal grounding brackets on the rear panel, so the case is grounded through them. Seems a nice detail. Also, I did see some quad pin "L" component next to the USB power circuits?

[@rubusroo68]

19:11 what is phantom power? never heard that term before

[@BM-jy6cb]

It's a standard in the audio industry. Some types of microphones (capacitor mics) need 48V and this is supplied through the XLR connector. It is referred to as phantom power.

[@pastahajianpour5607]

Check out the Coilcraft inductor at the top! 19:12 The Rode just seems a lot better in design. I wouldn't be surprised if those are Alps potentiometers.

[@audioknigi9042]

can you explain the circuit of the fethed preamplifier ?

[@AldoSchmedack]

Check out E-Mu. Has all you want as has had for decade plus. Best sound card and interface ever! Even has mic pre amps and phantom power of -48vdc. So many interfaces on it.

[@dentakuweb]

I've got a Focusrite 2i2 coming from amazon next week. I've used someone's 4i4 in the past so I decided to get a Focusrite myself.

[@chrisvig123]

212 second gen is a great unit 😀

[@denisohbrien]

the low cut thing, I follow a lot of automotive channels (first love drag racing, second love electronics) my god do they need a HPF on their mic inputs. wandering around pits at races, there are a LOT of horiffic low frequency noise sources. so, a thankyou for thinking full picture about us listeners.

[@EEVblog]

You can really see it on the waveform view in editing when you bump the mic.

[@rimmersbryggeri]

I thinkt the trs jacks on the RÖDE look like they have cracked solder joints.

[@AmericanLocomotive1]

FWIW: I'm not sure if you're using an AMD Platform, but if you are, some of the AMD AM4+ boards had USB bugs that were largely fixed with newer BIOSes

[@EEVblog]

Wasn't that. Happened on my Intel box too.

[@qlum]

@@EEVblog I remember having somewhat similar issues in the past, using my Behringer UMC202HD. Maybe it is just Windows, being Windows at times. For me what fixed it was when I moved to linux full-time, granted for different reasons.

[@johnmiller0000]

How do the headphone outputs compare? I have a ~10 yr old Scarlett 2i2. I find the max headphone output level a bit lacking, especially compared to my little Mackie mixer. FYI, Amazon prices in US: Scarlett Solo: $119.99 AI-1: $129.00

[@EEVblog]

Haven't tried it yet.

[@Mythricia1988]

Headphone outputs are pretty bad on most USB audio interfaces, and the Scarlett ones are still pretty bad. Perfectly serviceable for their intended use case, but not good when viewed as just a headphone amp on its own. The Motu M2 / M4 are similarly priced and have fantastic headphone amps, if you are looking for a device to act as both audio interface and headphone DAC & Amp all in one unit, the Motu ones are the best by a country mile.

[@EEVblog]

Tried it, and it sounds great. But have not done an A-B comparison.

[@NebukadV]

This might be a stupid question, but I don't get it: Why does the Focusrithe need the Cirrus Audio Codec (CS4272), if the XMos processor has all these audio in- and outputs on it anyway?

[@nigelworwood8530]

The Focusrite was a Rupert Neve company. A huge name in the 1970s onwards for professional audio mixes.

[@Anamnesia]

What's with the multiple hum loops??? 🤔🤯

[@bikramachhami6965]

You know what i had the same issue. The microphone was frequently dropping off. But its not the hardware . I fixed it permanently with simply changing a driver. I switched to asio driver which works better with sounds stuffs. Then boom it worked. Maybe u can try it too. And lastly i liked the way you showed the comparision between two. Cheers

[@TwithGazz]

I'd like to see the UMC22 compared with either if these. It's more than half the price and is pretty decent in terms of sound quality.

[@lolaa2200]

just send him one and i'm sure he will be happy to tear in down in the mailbag

[@ivanlundwall2769]

595 in the focusrite is actually for the front panel I thought (and I have teared down mine). There are lots of function switches with only a 12pin connector.

[@UC3Music]

Is Scarlett's volume knob in digital domain (using volume feature on DAC), or is a traditional audio potentiometer?

[@EEVblog]

It's an analog pot.

[@robina.jensen6114]

It's so cool that you bought one with Mic and instrument input. Now you can play the banjo while talking over the videos.

[@wphanoo]

I'm worried that most audio interfaces doesn't have isolated grounds for audio. Does that mean you'll always get ground loop noises if you're using unbalanced gear with it ? (example : synth > audio interface > computer, but both are powered though mains switching supplies, most of them connect earth to negative DC out... back in the old days linear supplies with transformers prevented that)

[@PileOfEmptyTapes]

Supplies for small-fry electronics like keyboards and synths are generally floating double-insulated jobs without a PE connection, so aside from some mains filter leakage, ground loops are generally kept at bay. Galvanic isolation is completely out of the question for a budget audio interface.

[@siavoshkasravi398]

Sorry what is this device? Audio to USB converter? A sound card?

[@chuckbiscuito]

Yes

[@Mythricia1988]

They're usually referred to as "USB audio interfaces" - they act as microphone / input amplifiers and digitizers (so, analog input -> USB output to PC). They're usually (almost always) able to act as a sound card as well, usually pretty good too - but the headphone amplifiers are often not very good. Un-amplified monitoring outputs are usually present though, and are usually quite good, as far as DACs go.

[@siavoshkasravi398]

@@Mythricia1988 thanks . The circuit was more complicated than I expected. hmmm The monitor could read back from PC.

[@madmanmaverick]

Got some mains hum on your aidio there dave

[@EEVblog]

Yeah, I changed my audio arrangement. Mic pre-amp goes into the camera now instead of the ATEM to prevent audo delay. Seems to come and go.

[@Veptis]

I am in the market of an audio interface (as well as a headworn microphone and open headphones, cables to go with) so I will watch your videos on the Scarlett. Which some recommended and some recommended not to buy. Always have this issue with shopping for audio stuff: people have a really strong reason against one product and I lose all my interest in it.

[@HarvinderSingh-yy8th]

True focusrite is award winner but some people say ID4, ID14 IS better than focusrite 2i2. I am too confused which should I buy.

[@wearethewatt2950]

Problems could be hum on USB ground. USB2 is not fully differential and needs solid ground. Often double shielded USB cables help.

[@pepesworld2995]

why have they got extra cirrus logic chips if the main brain processor has all that fancy built in IO & ADCs & other peripherals? Is it that the cirrus logic is better/fancier?

[@PileOfEmptyTapes]

No, you actually need both. The XMOS chip only does digital I/O and processing, it contains nothing in the way of audio D/A and A/D conversion. It's basically a combination USB interface, microcontroller and DSP. Very common in this kind of interface.

[@tuttocrafting]

The XMOS chip is missing the crystal? Cant see it!

[@AcydDrop]

I use Focal and ATC monitors for studio work. I also use Focal Clear open backs for listening to music. Focal makes great gear. But with regard to Focusrite, they make really high end studio gear as well of of the studio I record at uses their Ethernet audio based stuff and they seem to really love it.

[@cameronbeck877]

the motu m2 would be your best bet if you want the peak meters on your input and outputs.

[@felixb9078]

What I don't get is that the Rode Interface seems to be using a STM32F070F6 for the USB interface, which does not feature a hardware I²S peripheral. The NAU88L25 uses I²S. Do they implement I²S in Software? Or do they implement it via the SPI peripheral?

[@theIpatix]

I'd assume they do some trickery with the SPI interface (maybe a timer that creates the wordclock?). I was surprised that the F1 series does have native I2S but the F0 does not.

[@dhpbear2]

4:02 - The Front Panel didn't fall off! :)

[@Honthetube]

XMOS was also founded by David May and a bunch of former EX Inmos guys to.. Which is why there micro controllers have an emphasis on using a cluster of multiple "micro cores" for high parallel processing.

[@mtbboy1993]

Have you tested them on windows 11? Has the issue with the AI-1 been fixed? Was the unit faulty? Do you know the cause now? I just saw a video showing how to fix weird sound. You go to line properties->switch to 44100 HZ on both playback and recording.Have you tried this? If so did it fix it? It runs at 44100 Hz, so you have to make sure it's set at that.

[@felicityc]

I have owned two of those scarletts. The first was used, got it for cheap, it broke in a week (but worked fine before that, completely) because after a slight jostle one of the power bits on the PCB came loose and it was useless. I bought another one, new, and it's been working perfectly since.

[@10100rsn]

I had been having USB audio issues and I had thought it was a bad cable but swapping cables didn't work. My devices are externally powered and for a few days I couldn't figure out what was going on. But it all started after a windows update and ended a week later after another update and reboot. I think my issues had something to do with some system or USB port driver. I had different devices and different cables and still I had weird dropouts and robot voice playback issues. And now everything is perfect. Gremlins maybe?

[@TheBasemensPL]

10:39 Does anyone have the model of this switch? Mine is burnt out

[@tuxcode7344]

That's awesome! Thanks! I'd love to see some more codec stuff! Lately I've been working on a design to test an AD1937 because I would like a codec with 4 ADCs and a few DACs. Although the 8 DACs are a bit overkill for me, this together with the AD1939 was one of the few I could find stocked on mouser and available on LCSC as well. There is an experiment kit for these, but I find them a bit expensive and I just want to test the chip and whether I can get it to work with an STM32 nucleo. I'm trying to read and follow the datasheet as well as I can, but I don't understand everything about it. For instance the purpose of the loop filter. In the application circuits part it shows two configurations, apparently when using LRCLK or MCLK as PLL reference. What also confuses me is the placement of the crystal oscillator input and output lines, right in between the audio lines. Shouldn't that high frequency stuff kept far away from the audio part? It could well be I just picked a bad chip to get started with audio codec experiments and I'm aware there are some other options, but I'm quite new to this. Could you advise? Maybe you could make a video about audio codecs that goes a bit more in depth, explain some aspects of the input and output filters, turning differential into single ended, etc.. That would be amazing!

[@AldoSchmedack]

Yes I would keep it away!

[@lisir5814]

Could you give me some advice on making the choice between NT1 4th with AI-1 SET and a single NT1 5th since the price of theses two are almost the same. Thank you!

[@manuchaves9511]

The Rode AI 1 is superior as it can handle up to 600 ohm in headphones with high volume and clean quality but the Focusrite Scarlett handles a maximum of 200ohm

[@arsenicjones9125]

Focusrite is fantastic for legacy support! I still use a FireWire 800 unit and focusrite went out of their way to test and validate the unit w a FW800 to Thunderbolt dongle.

[@smunaut]

I got the FocusRite Solo and it's a bit over-hyped. Not a bad unit by any mean, I'm not planning to change, it does the job fine for me, but Behringer or MOTU might have things with a slightly better value proposition. I do have some issues with the FocusRite though, from time to time, the audio output (playback from PC) part bugs out and the sound becomes aweful (like skipped samples or clipping, not sure what's going on). And this isn't specific to me, my setup or unit. A friend with a 2i2 has the same issue (using a Win 10 laptop) and another friend also had the issue on a Mac Book pro using yet another 2i2 unit ... Unplug / Replug cycle fixes it, but it's a bit weird.

[@fabiofoltran4361]

i have the solo 3rd gen and i love it (first external dac), i have had 0 problems so far , but that might differ from model to model, did you try to power the dac with a more powerful 5v source?

[@petersage5157]

Perfect voice for silent movies; perfect face for radio. What's with the intermittent buzz? Looks like the Scarlett has somewhat higher quality 6.35 mm jacks than the Rode. Those semi-open jobbies tend to be more reliable than the fully enclosed ones.

[@maxpert1540]

why is there no "Davy Jones' Locker" series of segments

[@Igbon5]

Very interesting. I have a slightly older two channel Focusrite thingo. What condensers should I use to replace all the cheap ones? I like the idea that I will hear the difference but no one else will.

[@mjrippe]

If you are a technically minded person, Nichicon or Panasonic caps will give good, reliable performance. If you are an "Audiophool" then film caps made with exotic metals and assembled by virgins under a full moon, costing hundreds of dollars and too large to fit in the original enclosure are a MUST!

[@Igbon5]

@@mjrippe I am technically minded and an an ex electronics enthusiast, minus formal training and any mathematical ability. The capacitors in my Focusrite are, a couple of Yuscon, some Jamicon, some Decon shl and some Aishi. These all seem to be known brands and I wonder what I would gain by replacing them with so called tier one items. I was an audiophool once, not as far as magic wires and other such extreme but silly enough to sit right in front of my Altec 604-8G's at full blast. That and noisy work environment and motorbikes means that anything over 8k I can't hear, if that, and then the tinnitus swamps a lot. Having said that it is still possible to tell good quality sound from bad Also my Focusrite doesn't have any self tappers, all the screws are nicely threaded even the mounting screws. The whole thing seems to be nicely made.

[@mjrippe]

@@Igbon5 My comment was made mostly "tongue in cheek", in other words half in jest. As I said, if the caps *need* replacing due to failure, age, high ESR, whatever, then Nichicon or Panasonic would be my choice.

[@Igbon5]

@@mjrippe Yep fair enough. I am actually trying to repair an old ATX power supply at the moment. I know very little about such diagnostics and repair yet but maybe I'll have a chance to play with some better capacitors then, f any are at fault. I still brushing up on basic principle before pulling it all apart, (I am very good a puling things apart) so I'll see how I go. Thanks for the chat. And I did appreciate the Audiophool must have reference, that was good.

[@MadRC]

YT is really annoying me right now it’s hiding many of my favourite creators like Dave. It did not show this in my list and I fell across it searching for Adobe premier tutorial. It’s like really WHT 🤦‍♂️

[@delightful-ish]

Just starting. Really hoping he find/says something about the scarlett's broken direct monitor functionality.

[@EEVblog]

Not a feature I'll ever use. How is it broken? I did actually try it once and it worked.

[@MrJamesonStyles]

Nice comparison, looks like the Rode is slightly a cut above in all aspects. I would be very interested in a side-by-side with one of the cheap Behringer interfaces as well, specifically the UMC22 which tries to be a look-alike of these units. Apart from just having outdated, lower-spec components, it would be interesting to have a deeper dive into why exactly it's so cheap. I mean I have one and always found it got the job done, but I'm still curious about its shortcomings.

[@douro20]

Rupert Neve, the legendary British audio engineer who founded Focusrite, died recently from heart failure and pneumonia. He was 94.

[@axeman2638]

did he get the jab?

[@johnsonlam]

Condolence, miss him.

[@Thugdeep2008]

try using the Asio driver

[@AlexCheerNZ]

Ah you've also been experiencing issues with the AI-1? I bought one from a music shop, first one wouldn't show up on my computer, replacement has a horrid ground issue on the outputs.

[@johnsonlam]

I'm currently using M-Audio Firewire Audiophile, when it die I consider replace with Focsurite, not expensive and got rather good review. "You gonna hear the difference, just don't expect your friends do", can't agree more. Remember 28 years ago I changed all the capacitors to BlackGate in my cheap TEAC CD player, and I can hear the sound IS difference, spent money and feel good, and getting older I learned my stupidity, doh! I should only change those related to sound processing!

[@TaswcmT]

You must be using an ancient computer just to keep using that interface. They haven't updated the macOS driver since 2011 (Mac OS X 10.7.3) and the Windows drivers date back to 2009! (Windows 7). I've got one collecting dust - useless without driver support. Not going to spend any more money on M-Audio, since they show little interest in supporting their own products.

[@johnsonlam]

@@TaswcmT I built an special WinXP for recording task, the mainboard have 1394.

[@johnpenguin9188]

@@johnsonlam I’ve a really lovely interface from back in the early 2000s that only has XP drivers (and the company went under not long after I bought it.) Would almost be worthwhile to build an XP machine to keep it running 🤣

[@johnsonlam]

@@johnpenguin9188 What I can say is, if you got "Audiophile" version, keep it and use it until it breaks. My friend bought his normal version, I remember is "solo" for compare, it sucks!

[@jamanjeval]

I’d like to see testing of both to confirm their specifications and then possibly recap the focurite with high quality electrolytics (no audiophile snake oil, just high quality ones) and retest to show if any of the measurements change.

[@tiger12506]

Just had cheap unbalanced microphones before, Got myself some Rode M5 matched stereo pair and a Scarlett Focusrite dual input for the phantom power.... Holy cow what a difference... I'll never record with anything less ever again.

[@EEVblog]

I used to use the matched M5 pair, one on my camera and one on my desktop. Was very nice, but I know have an NT55 on the camera and NT1 on the desk. Slightly fuller sound.