Lets review external studio audio interface Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, that is designed for semi-professional work. Its frontal panel has : 2 combined XLR/TRS ( 1/4″ jack ) connectors, which can be switched between linear and Hi-Z modes, switches themselves and amplification level control knobs with back-light; TRS ( 1/4″ jack ) outputs for headphones, their volume control, Direct Monitor switch, volume control of main outputs of sound card, USB connection indicator and phantom power +48 V switch for its inputs. Its back panel has : Kensington Lock slot, USB port, through which it is powered and communicates with computer, and 2 linear balanced TRS ( 1/4″ jack ) outputs.
Card can work with 96 kHz sampling rate and 24 bits precision; analogue to digital and digital to analogue dynamic ranges are 105 and 104 dB, accordingly; noise level of microphone input is -127 dB, linear input is -104 dB and instrumental is -87 dB. It is bundled with DAW Ableton Live Lite and Focusrite plugins package, its body is made of anodized aluminum. For it drivers are released for Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 and newer with ASIO 2.0 interface support and Mac OS X with Core Audio interface support, with which it tightly integrates with modern DAWs : FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER, Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase and others. Package contains : Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 sound card itself, USB cable, optical disks with drivers and software and user’s guide. All in all, this is a good sound card with semi-professional functions, but for the same price there is ability to buy much better Steinberg and Behringer devices, so, this sound card is recommended for purchase only with big discount.
