Steinberg

Verdict

For New, improved preamp design

‘Air’ transformer stage emulation

MIDI I/O is useful

Against Four combination inputs

would be great

A competitively-priced interface with plenty

of connectivity

9/10

> reviews / audio interface roundup

80 / COMPUTER MUSIC / November 2022

Focusrite’s Scarlett USB interfaces have

traditionally combined excellent sonics

and audio lexibility at afordable price

points, and the third generation units

keep up the good work.

All of the units in the range have been

upgraded with improved preamps (up

to 56dB gain), balanced connectivity

throughout, and the inclusion of

Focusrite’s ISA transformer preamp

emulation option (delivering Air – see

below for more on this).

On the bus-powered Scarlett 4i4 you

get two mic/line/instrument inputs with

gain, two line-level TRS inputs and four

TRS outputs.

The 4i4 supports Focusrite’s Control

application, which means that a number

of settings can only be made in the

software. The app also handles low-

latency monitoring.

In practice the sonics are neutral and

the drivers reliable. The Air option tilts

the frequency response towards high

frequencies, and this can be great for

taming undesirable proximity or adding

high frequency lift. It works particularly

well on vocals.

With a decent software bundle

included, this is a solid upgrade and a

great, afordable audio interface…

focusrite.com

Focusrite

Scarlett 4i4 3rd Gen £188

SOFTWARE BUNDLE HIGHLIGHTS: Ableton Live Lite, Focusrite Plugin Collective, Antares Hitmaker Expansion and more

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