18i20 arrived today, so far it has been surprisingly plug and play. Had to install Focusrite Control on my Mac to set up signal routing but after that it was plug and play with my RPi4 + Ubuntu + CamillaDSP setup (listening to it right now).
Made a quick full scale 1 kHz measurement using a MOTU M4 as an ADC and confirmed the -100 dB THD+N spec, see below.
Still lots more testing to come but so far very promising.
Michael
Have done quite a bit more testing and listening, the Focusrite 18i20 2nd gen is definitely a good option for RPi based active setups using CamillaDSP. As mentioned previously it works very well with Ubuntu Server 21.10. I did set up a very basic channel routing in another computer prior to using on Linux. I hear that more recent Linux kernels (5.13+) have a built in mixer that will allow for channel assignment in Linux but I have not tested that.
I made some basic measurements with my Ultralite Mk5 as an ADC and although performance is not SOTA but acceptable. In the following measurements I compare the Ultralite Mk5 and the 18i20 2nd gen. All measurements are done using 96 kHz input/output sample rates. In general all channels had similar performance (within 1-2 dB). I should note that the Ultralite Mk5 is not an AP so I would not take these numbers as absolutes but more as a relative comparison. For example Amir measured the Ultralite Mk5 SINAD at -113 dB at 4 V but I can only get -105 dB as a result of ADC noise limitations.
18i20, -102.5 dB THD+N at 1 kHz at full scale output, 4.86 V, 20 Hz to 22000 Hz
Ultralite Mk5, -106.6 dB THD+N at 1 kHz at 4.86 V, 20 Hz to 22000 Hz
18i20, -101.2 dB THD+N at 1 kHz at 4 V, 20 Hz to 22000 Hz
Ultralite Mk5, -105.3 dB THD+N at 1 kHz at 4 V, 20 Hz to 22000 Hz
18i20, 30.1 uV residual noise, 20 Hz to 22000 Hz
Ultralite Mk5, 19.1 uV residual noise, 20 Hz to 22000 Hz
18i20, -100.4 dB IMD, 60 Hz + 7000 Hz at 3.9V
Ultralite Mk5, -112.8 dB IMD, 60 Hz + 7000 Hz at 3.9V
18i20, -102.3 dB IMD, 250 Hz + 8000 Hz at 3.9V
Ultralite Mk5, -110.8 dB IMD, 250 Hz + 8000 Hz at 3.9V
18i20, -85.2 dB IMD, 19000 Hz + 20000 Hz at 3.3 V
Ultralite Mk5, -111.5 dB IMD, 19000 Hz + 20000 Hz at 3.3V
18i20, THD vs Level, 1 kHz, 20 Hz to 22000 Hz
Ultralite Mk5, THD vs Level, 1 kHz, 20 Hz to 22000 Hz
THD vs frequency, 4 V, 48000 Hz bandwidth
Frequency response at 4 V
Ultralite Mk5 is clearly quite a bit better than the 18i20 in terms of noise and distortion. Noise performance of the 18i20 is still acceptable for near field but there is a very slight hiss. It is not an audible concern but the 18i20 clearly has some noise shaping going on and you can see the residual noise rise above 25 kHz.
When restarting the RPi with the 18i20 connected there are a few ticks / pops that are not terribly loud but a bit annoying, Ultralite Mk5 does not have any such noises. The 18i20 ticks / pops can be avoided by implementing a trigger with a Bobwire DAT1 so that the amps stay off until the 18i20 receives a signal. Using the Bobwire with the 18i20 is a bit more difficult as it only has ADAT output so a SPDIF to TOSLINK converter is needed, the Ultralite Mk5 can switch between ADAT and TOSLINK so no need for a converter.
Both the Ultralite Mk5 and the 18i20 have a volume knob that can control all output channels, I prefer the 18i20 knob as it has great feel and you can visually see the volume position from the knob. With the Ultralite Mk5 it will only show volume when you turn the knob.
The Ultralite Mk5 has output meters which you may find cool or annoying, the 18i20 will show no level as the meters on the front panel are only for the input levels.
Overall I think the Ultralite Mk5 is the way to go if you can spare the extra $250. The form factor is much smaller, it has better input/output options (ADAT / TOSLINK), better analog performance and no weird tick / pops. However as a budget 10 channel DAC the Focusrite 18i20 2nd gen is very hard to beat.
Michael