Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 vs PreSonus Studio 24c

LiveeviL2000

LiveeviL2000

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I am currently looking at both these interfaces.
Anyone have objective insight on these two products.
On the surface, they seem to be pretty equal, with a feature here or there that separates them both.

Is one better than the other? Are they just a choice of preference?
 
I use a 2i2 pretty much daily. I really like it. It is simple to use and works well. My only bitch is the preamps don’t have enough gain for my microphones. I have to go through my mixer then to the 2i2 to get enough gain. To be fair I have a very quiet singing voice. If I sing louder I go off key. I’ve never tried the PreSonus.
 
LiveeviL2000 said:
Are they just a choice of preference?
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I’m gonna go with “yes” as an answer to that one. I feel pretty much objective in this, but I have read manuals, and helped a couple of times with Scarlett users here. Things resolved fairly quickly for all IIRC.
I’m fairly “old skool” in that I like having a mixer interface with lots of I/O and routing choices. That said, I have one, super simple, 2 channel USB interface that works great for lightweight, portable, quick and dirty solo recording. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone these days, but sometimes simplicity is king.
:cheers:
 
Yargnad said:
You can get an inline mic preamp if you come across that. I'm a fan of ribbon mics, even the cheap ones.
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Agreed! I have a couple of ribbon mic’s plus the odd, gain hungry, mic’s…like the SM7b. These interfaces, in question, will do well with any needed outboard preamps…via their line inputs, if needed.
 
As far as a mic goes I have the good ole SM57. @Yargnad I'm looking to spend sub $200 and these 2 are pretty much equal as far as I can see.
The Scarlett claims to be able to interface with iPads, while the Presonus claims to have a great software bundle.
Being able to record into a portable device seems convenient but realistically, I'm most likely never going to use it that way.
The software bundle sounds nice on the Presonus.
Yargnad said:
I havent used the 24c but Presonus is basically known for their preamps. That's how they started, then they got into mixers and interfaces and controllers, etc.

I was a bit of a Presonus fanboi for years until I got the Phonic IS16 mixers which have absolutely incredible preamps with crazy good headroom, but that's another story and way beyond this price range.

Focusrite had a similar path, but the Scarlett stuff is thier claim to fame. The preamps sound great, but some mics are going to require more gain than a Scarlett provides, particularly ribbon mics. You can get an inline mic preamp if you come across that. I'm a fan of ribbon mics, even the cheap ones.
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If the preamp is better, then hardware trumps all in my eyes

Thatbastarddon said:
I’m gonna go with “yes” as an answer to that one. I feel pretty much objective in this, but I have read manuals, and helped a couple of times with Scarlett users here. Things resolved fairly quickly for all IIRC.
I’m fairly “old skool” in that I like having a mixer interface with lots of I/O and routing choices. That said, I have one, super simple, 2 channel USB interface that works great for lightweight, portable, quick and dirty solo recording. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone these days, but sometimes simplicity is king.
:cheers:
Click to expand...
I kinds figured as much.
 
LiveeviL2000 said:
The Scarlett claims to be able to interface with iPads, while the Presonus claims to have a great software bundle.
Being able to record into a portable device seems convenient but realistically, I'm most likely never going to use it that way.
Click to expand...
You may be surprised in the joys of iOS recording. I am reasonably well acquainted with it, and find it incredibly valuable.
 
Thatbastarddon said:
You may be surprised in the joys of iOS recording. I am reasonably well acquainted with it, and find it incredibly valuable.
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Yargnad said:
This is how I got into StudioOne which is my DAW of choice. But if you're already using Reaper then that wouldn't matter much.

The preamps at this price point will likely be very equal in all reality.
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You guys need to make up my mind!!!! :blink:

I am not really "using" any DAW. I'm trying them out.
My interface is an old line6 UX1.
 
Yargnad said:
I would say the major advantage to the Scarlett series is that there are quite a few users here at TTR that can help if you ever have problems. The iOS compatibility is nice too if you've got Apple devices. Bandlab is pretty good with interfaces on iOS and it's free and does AI mastering.
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Bandlab is on my computer right now.
 
LiveeviL2000 said:
You guys need to make up my mind!!!! :blink:
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Alright then….iPad 2, an Apple USB adapter, and this interface:

| ART Pro Audio

View all ART Pro Audio's
artproaudio.com artproaudio.com

…using this recording app:


…plus mic’s, headphones, and cables….l got me this:

https://soundcloud.com/id%3Duser-876355516%252Fmother-pink-floyd-cover-mix%3Btrack_id%3D625062120

…perhaps not everyone’s stylistic cup o tea, but for real world, human, recording….
 
RVA said:
I read that PreSonus has issues with Windows 10. This caused me to get the Focusrite
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Windows 10 is a real :poo:show.
Looks like they fixed the Windows10 issues ... or so they think. This is Windows10 after all and Microsoft will find a way around the fix on their next update.

I'll just go with the Focusrite for 1 main reason. I know I can get some support here if all else fails.
 
Yargnad said:
I work in IT and Windows 10 has been the single most reliable OS I've ever used. Windows 7 gave me more headaches than I could take. It was basically swiss cheese, security-wise.
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This is part of the reason Windows 10 gets a bad rap. It is way more secure than previous versions. This caused a lot of poorly written programs, especially drivers, to break. The programs were "bending" the rules which worked in previous versions. Windows 10 enforces the rules with no exceptions. When an exception is found it is closed down with updates. This makes the OS much more secure. The problem is mostly poorly written programs not Windows 10. Note: I am not a Microsoft fanboy. I hate the way the user interface is dumbed down so when things don't work you have no clue why. I hate the way they keep changing where you find things with updates. I could go on and and about why I don't like Windows 10 but it is not because it is insecure or unreliable. It is very secure and way more reliable than previous versions of Windows.
 
Yargnad said:
Preach on Brother! I too very much dislike the Metro/Modern UI. And I agree 100% with everything you said there. I miss having actual Properties windows with tabs and actual point and click configurability. They've moved away from a lot of that for security/stability purposes too since a lot of problems are due to human error and if they can't see it they're likely not to click on it and screw stuff up.

I do a ton of automation in Powershell and the newest version is almost exactly what I've always wanted it to be. It can be used to view and change settings fairly easily and that's now the recommended way to manage systems anymore. I use it to trigger local scripts to execute on remote machines to change settings, move files, reboot, etc. A lot of this stuff even works on Linux as well using the Mono framework.
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When I was doing this full time I used powershell all the time. I only have a few clients left and I’m slowly moving them to the cloud and other service providers so I can retire. I find if I’m not using powershell every day I spend too much time looking up the syntax. It’s especially frustrating for clients using Azure and Microsoft 365. It is almost impossible to do anything no matter how simple without researching what powershell commands will do the task.
 
LiveeviL2000 said:
I am currently looking at both these interfaces.
Anyone have objective insight on these two products.
On the surface, they seem to be pretty equal, with a feature here or there that separates them both.

Is one better than the other? Are they just a choice of preference?
Click to expand...

I use the 2i2 in my home studio daily. It's great, but only allows one instrument and one microphone attached.
 
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