The Focusrite Scarlett series of recording interfaces has been incredibly popular with home studio musicians. Fabulously portable and easy to use, Scarlett makes it possible to not only capture exquisite sound in a desktop environment, it also allows mobile laptop and tablet recordists to document live performances, band rehearsals, field and found sound audio, and set up a full-on studio almost anywhere.

Apparently, all of that wasn’t enough for Focusrite.

As the product’s “generation” label aptly spotlights, the Scarlett interface has been improved, enhanced and upgraded since its debut in 2011. It’s not surprising then, that the feature and sonic evolutions for the 4th Generation Scarlett are a thrilling progression for disciples of homegrown recording and production. What are they? Well, here’s Focusrite Product Manager Dan Weston to run through the improvements and elevated audio features of the 4th Generation.

Scarlett was last refreshed in 2019. What was the plan for the 4th Gen Scarlett?

Dan Weston: A lot has changed since 2019. More people are recording music at home than ever before, and we wanted to ensure we are providing them with the best tools possible to achieve outstanding recording quality. So, we provided better audio specs than any previous Scarlett generation, as well as more creative music-making features. It’s also easier to use than ever.

You made some significant upgrades to the preamps, as well.

The 4th Generation 2i2 and 4i4 now include our digital-controlled analog preamps that can be remotely operated with a computer—a functionality previously found on interfaces that cost significantly more. It’s important to remark that “digital” here refers solely to the control element. The preamp offers a huge 69dB gain range, and every single gain step is analog. Some other products in the market employ digital gain in their preamp design.

However, digital control allowed us to introduce some exciting new features to the 4th Gen Scarlett 2i2 and 4i4. For example, Auto Gain lets Scarlett select the perfect level for whatever you’re recording. You just hit the button, play for 10 seconds and Scarlett chooses the ideal gain setting, while simultaneously ensuring you have tons of headroom. Clip Safe automatically adjusts the gain if you’re at risk of clipping. It checks your levels up to 96,000 times a second to protect your audio from distortion—which is “listening” far more carefully than even the most meticulous studio engineer.

Speaking of levels, an upgrade that many of us might not have considered for the 4th Generation is that something as essential yet mundane as signal metering has been made more precise and fun.

Metering for the Scarlett 4th Gen has been massively improved compared to previous ranges with our new Dynamic Gain Halos—which are more detailed than ever and use dynamic illumination to show you exact levels. On 2i2 and 4i4, there are also large output halos to ensure customers can see the signal levels being sent to the outputs.

The design team even looked for ways to enhance the headphone amp, right?

Yes. The headphone amp for the 4th Generation products has been custom designed to drive high-impedance headphones louder and clearer than ever before. There’s also an independent headphone volume control on all Scarlett 4th Gen interfaces, so you can now set separate headphone and speaker levels.

Could you please tell us about the 4th Gen’s reengineered Air Mode with its Presence and Harmonic Drive options?

Alongside the all-analog Air Presence boost, the new Harmonic Drive mode uses custom- designed DSP to boost those rich midrange harmonics. It adds depth and warmth— imparting the tracks with a vintage recording console sound. Try it on guitars, vocals or anything else that needs a little more punch. But be careful. You may never want to record without it.

The 4th Gen inherits the converters of your flagship RedNet line. What type of performance upgrade can users expect?

For every Scarlett generation, we have aimed to help customers achieve the best-sounding recordings possible. So, we not only completely reengineered our audio circuitry, but we also took a huge step forward by introducing RedNet converters—which are found in countless high-end studios around the world—to the Scarlett line. As a result, the next- generation Scarlett interfaces offer a colossal 120dB dynamic range, super low distortion, and an incredibly flat frequency response. The audio performance is incredible.

The Focusrite Control’s Loopback feature was included on supported 3rd Gen Scarlett interfaces. What are some of the benefits of Loopback to a home recording artist?

Loopback is a great feature that allows computer audio to be recorded into a DAW by “looping back” audio outputs from a computer to virtual input channels within Scarlett. You can record podcasts and Zoom meetings, and even sample audio from your favorite tracks and music apps. Loopback can also create a mix of any audio sources on your Scarlett— whether they are instruments plugged into the inputs or audio from your computer. You can easily mix instruments and backing tracks for an online concert, or perfectly balance your microphone and game audio for a livestream. Loopback makes sharing content online much easier.

The industrial design of the 4th Generation Scarlett is sleeker.

Absolutely. We wanted to design an interface that was elegant and beautiful, while still being functional and accessible. For example, switches on the Scarlett 4th Gen front panel now control all primary settings. This was not the case with the 3rd Gen Scarlett, where users needed to employ the software to access core features. We’ve also improved ergonomics by making the spacing between hardware knobs and connecters wider. The planet was a consideration, as well. We made careful decisions throughout the design process to do things such as use recycled aluminium and plastics in our production lines and reduce the environmental footprint and size of our product packaging.

You’ve touched on digital control—were there any improvements to the Focusrite Control software?

Our new Focusrite Control 2 software has been completely redesigned to make setup painless. You can easily create custom mixes for performers, and control the whole session directly from your computer, so you can focus on what matters—capturing great performances. In addition, most hardware controls can be adjusted digitally—including preamp gain on the 2i2 and 4i4—which means customers can control their Scarlett interface entirely from a computer. We’ve also ensured Focusrite Control 2 is compatible with screen readers, so visually impaired users can benefit from computer control of their interfaces for the first time.

In the September of 2024, Focusrite relased the 4th generation of the Scarlett 18i20, 18i16 and 16i6 Audio Interfaces.