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Focusrite Scarlett 4th Gen
- Thread starter Matias
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AnalogSteph
Major Contributor
Well, don't come complaining about ground loop issues then. Definitely not ideal. (The go-to cable construction when using the line-in would be #18. What you're showing is #19A. Unfortunately #17 and #18 are usually a custom job. Know any pro audio guys? They should usually be able to wield a soldering iron.)
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AnalogSteph
Major Contributor
It's not like it wasn't obvious from the specs from the beginning. What wasn't is that it uses a traditional volume pot, as opposed to what seems to be digital gain in the 4i4. I guess you kind of need that if you want independent master and headphone volume with only one DAC.
somebodyelse
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In something of an about-face, Focusrite are now helping a 3rd party developer add linux drivers for the 4th Gen Scarlett. This should remove the need for reverse engineering and guesswork that has gone into the previous drivers, and help both in quality and development time.
https://linuxmusicians.com/viewtopic.php?p=160833#p160833
https://linuxmusicians.com/viewtopic.php?p=160833#p160833
Ricardus
Addicted to Fun and Learning
My Gen 3 works perfectly under linux. I'm wondering what they're adding? It's just a class compliant USB2 device, no?
somebodyelse
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The base models tend not to have much beyond the basic UAC2 and hardware controls so 'Just Work'. The higher channel count ones include mix matrix and sometimes logical switching of things that need some custom driver work to control. See for example https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/sound/usb/mixer_scarlett_gen2.c - so far this has been done mostly by reverse engineering.
Ricardus
Addicted to Fun and Learning
I also have Clarett+ 8 Pre and that works as well. I guess someone did add some driver code to the linux kernel for that one.
I am not interested in using their mixer or anything like that. I just needed 8 solid converters.
I am not interested in using their mixer or anything like that. I just needed 8 solid converters.
AnalogSteph
Major Contributor
People are using these with active speakers all the time, so as long as you have balanced inputs, sure.
No. Some higher-grade audio interfaces can be computer-controlled entirely, but something in this class will be operated manually. If you need a remote, what you want may be a consumer-grade DAC instead.
somebodyelse
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Linux support should be arriving in linux 6.8
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Focusrite-Scarlett-New-Linux-68
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Focusrite-Scarlett-New-Linux-68
davepi
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Any measurements published anywhere yet on the 2i2 4th gen?
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Maybe Julian Krause on youtube.
zebra-f
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Could someone explain how exactly this impedance, in the case of 4th gen solo unit 50 Ohms, affects headphones in a real world scenario?
In the video he doesn't mention what headphones would behave this way (11:30), I guess these are only 'representations' and not a real world scenarios. The only somewhat concrete is the mention of at least 80 Ohm headphones to achieve honest output. But what could result in a red line, 1 Ohm, 16 Ohms, 32 Ohms headphones? I don't even know whether this scales linearly.
I'm asking since he has also released a video where he compares three motherboards and their output impedance, 198, 76, 81 Ohms each. From what I can deduce from this is that this could result in a insane mid bass boost. I have tried to test it myself with my old MSI B85-G43 board (although I'm not sure what's the output impedance in this case, I'm assuming over 70 Ohms) and EMU 0204 audio interface (20 Ohms) and to be fair I don't hear much difference, maybe a slight bump of 1-1.5dB but that's it, I have tried two pairs, 32 Ohms and 30 Ohms (IEM).
Does the headphone sensitivity matters, does it depend on the listening volume (maybe only at max)?
In the video he doesn't mention what headphones would behave this way (11:30), I guess these are only 'representations' and not a real world scenarios. The only somewhat concrete is the mention of at least 80 Ohm headphones to achieve honest output. But what could result in a red line, 1 Ohm, 16 Ohms, 32 Ohms headphones? I don't even know whether this scales linearly.
I'm asking since he has also released a video where he compares three motherboards and their output impedance, 198, 76, 81 Ohms each. From what I can deduce from this is that this could result in a insane mid bass boost. I have tried to test it myself with my old MSI B85-G43 board (although I'm not sure what's the output impedance in this case, I'm assuming over 70 Ohms) and EMU 0204 audio interface (20 Ohms) and to be fair I don't hear much difference, maybe a slight bump of 1-1.5dB but that's it, I have tried two pairs, 32 Ohms and 30 Ohms (IEM).
Does the headphone sensitivity matters, does it depend on the listening volume (maybe only at max)?
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AnalogSteph
Major Contributor
No, it depends entirely on the headphones' impedance as a function of frequency, both in absolute magnitude and relative variation. A dynamic driver IEM generally has an almost flat impedance graph so is not going to be affected much at all. That of planar magnetics pretty much couldn't get any flatter if an iron were to be dropped on it, they could double as resistors. Sennheiser HD599s would have a substantially different opinion. And with BA IEMs, especially the multi-driver variety, all hell would break loose.
I wrote about this many moons ago:
Headphone Outputs That Suck
The spreadsheet mentioned has been adapted into an online calculator:
Headphone Output Impedance Calculator
zebra-f
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Appreciate the response.
Just for the record as it might not be clear, I have used 32Ohms headphones (DD) and 30Ohm IEM (single DD). Of course this was pretty poorly conducted test, especially for this forum.
Sorry, I have to give up it's overly complex for me.
I've been making a fairly extensive series of tests of the Scarlett Gen 4. It will ultimately be used almost exclusively for driver/speaker systems distortion measurements. I needed to learn the capabilities and limitations of it prior to moving on to the amplifier testing. This is to characterize both so that they are used in the best range for distortion measurements. At the same time I'm learning the specifics of REW (first time user) that I've found is probably the best software short of buying a dedicated commercial system. (Big shout-out to John Mulcahy for this amazing software).
I'm posting a few of the most relevant ones to demonstrate the Scarlett's range. These were primarily to find the "sweet spot" as a starting point. I've made dozens of various combinations of REW settings and subsequent measurements as well as a few made with select Scarlett input/output settings. The variable output level that can only be set by the level dial is a bit frustrating for any position other than maximum output. To be precise it requires a DVM measurement, but even then the output voltage fluctuates mildly. I will, however, add a few measurements at two specific positions I found to be the most useful for my purposes. They may be a bit helpful to others.
I made a whole series of loopback tests to characterize the distortion with level before I found that REW has an automated test to do just that. These two are the most important with regard to the Scarlett Gen 4 for my usage in driver testing. These show the best distortion it's capable I believe, not surprisingly at minimum input gain (0dB) and maximum output level (dial setting fully clockwise).
I'm posting a few of the most relevant ones to demonstrate the Scarlett's range. These were primarily to find the "sweet spot" as a starting point. I've made dozens of various combinations of REW settings and subsequent measurements as well as a few made with select Scarlett input/output settings. The variable output level that can only be set by the level dial is a bit frustrating for any position other than maximum output. To be precise it requires a DVM measurement, but even then the output voltage fluctuates mildly. I will, however, add a few measurements at two specific positions I found to be the most useful for my purposes. They may be a bit helpful to others.
I made a whole series of loopback tests to characterize the distortion with level before I found that REW has an automated test to do just that. These two are the most important with regard to the Scarlett Gen 4 for my usage in driver testing. These show the best distortion it's capable I believe, not surprisingly at minimum input gain (0dB) and maximum output level (dial setting fully clockwise).
Next up are some stepped-THD vs frequency loopback measurements. First is one with the same I/O settings, input 0dB and output dial at maximum. Note that as for the level test above, these were made with the stepped-THD option in REW. Later I'll post some simple RTA results. Note that the REW Generator was set to 0dBFS.
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