@Chaos Choir... I'm glad you are finding it helpful. It's also very nice to have the forum to toss this stuff out to in written form. By doing this I'm getting a far better grasp on my purchase than I would have just reading the manual and slapping it in. I hope this isn't considered inappropriate in any way. I will be getting to how it works with X1 soon enough. Just finishing the manual now and then I'll be installing the drivers. May not get to a playback/recording point with X1 until tomorrow though. Cheers!

The last GUI entry in the manual just describes what the main File menu does. It is pretty much the same for Mac and PC and works the same way a usual file menu would. It essentially let's you save and recall your mixer settings as well as provides options to restore to the factory defaults or clear the current settings (not sure what "Clear" would do beyond setting it to factory settings but maybe it resets everything to where you were when you opened the mixer file... I may experiment with that later).

Here is the actual text from the manual on these options as I couldn't really explain it better.

Open - opens a ‘File Open’ window allowing selection of any pre-saved Scarlett MixControl set-ups.

Save - opens a ‘File Save’ window allowing selection of a location into which your Scarlett MixControl set-up can be saved. Subsequent saves overwrite the original file.

Save As - opens a ‘File Save’ window allowing selection of a location into which your Scarlett MixControl set-up can be saved. Use this option if you want to keep your original saved set-up and create a new one with a different name.

Restore Factory Defaults - causes the Scarlett 18i6 to revert to the original default state in which it left the factory.

Clear All Settings - causes the Scarlett 18i6 to reset all mixer and routing settings. This can be used to globally reset all mixer, routing, and monitor settings, allowing creation of a new set-up from scratch.


So that's pretty darned cool too. I'm pretty sure my Layla didn't do THAT kind of recall stuff.

Well... I was gonna post the technical specs but Adobe Reader is giving me a hard time so if you are interested in those they are in the manual and can be found on Focusrite's website (which I posted earlier). Overall the manual is well written compared to a lot of the electronics manuals out there. It has lots of nice graphics and is very concise. I now feel I understand this piece of equipment quite thoroughly just from reading it whereas other device manuals tend to leave me scratching my head. So A+ for the manual. It also seems this device in general is going to be extremely easy to use. It does a lot but I don't feel overwhelmed by endless settings and menus like I do with many other devices. I think I'm gonna take a little break now before setting up my system to download the drivers so I'll be back later. I hope this has been helpful so far and I'm not annoying anyone with my ramblings. Cheers!

Yes, I will be abandoning my old interface, as long as I can continue with my current project without screwing up the results I've made so far. 

And as I said I will be doing pretty much the exact same thing so I'll be updating this as I go along. Cheers.

Well that was really weird timing for the forum to kick back in. I JUST managed to finish installing my dealybob. I should probably edit my notepad doc before posting it though. lol

Well the forum is down today so I'm gonna have to continue my adventures within notepad. Got the rig fired up and I'm about to go over to the Focusrite site to snag my drivers. Yes, I am downloading directly to the recording rig. I just updated Microsoft Security Essentials and I don't think Focusrite is gonna give me any internet cooties so it should be fine. I also use Firefox with NoScript and AdBlockPlus for extra security. If you're really paranoid though or don't know much about internet security you can just download the drivers on another system. Save and scan the zip file. Toss it onto a disc or a USB key (sometimes it's good to have a copy of your drivers on hand anyway in case you can't get online) and then toss the file onto your recording system to unzip/install the file.

WARNING: According to the manual you should not hook up the device to the computer until the drivers are installed. This way it doesn't try to use another driver and screw things up. I'm also going to install the mixer software before connecting the 18i6 as well but I don't hink that is actually necessary.


So now I'm on Focusrite's site. I clicked the "Downloads" link at the top of the page and it gives me a list of all their products. I scroll down to the "Scarlett" section and click on "Scarlett 18i6". This brings up a screen with drivers for Windows and Mac, the download for their "MixControl" software and a PDF download of the manual. It also provides details on the various fixes and improvements. It seems these drivers were updated in June of 2012.



I allowed focusrite.com within NoScript (sometimes it messes with downloads) and clicked on the Windows driver download link. There does not seem to be different drivers for the various versions of Windows so I guess this is supposed to work for all of them. The download took about 15 seconds over broadband. I double clicked the file directly in the download window within firefox. You can also just go to the "Downloads" folder of your computer and it should be there. I like to copy files like this from the Downloads folder and put them in a folder on my desktop where I keep all my installed drivers for easy access and backup.

After double clicking the driver file Windows defender pops up and is telling me the program is not from a Verified Publisher. I figured Focusrite would be Microsoft verified but I guess not. Doesn't matter. I clicked OK (or continue or whatever it said) and the installation wizard popped up telling me to close all other applications so I closed down FireFox and clicked next. It does it's little dance and then I get another Wizard. Clicked next. Got another windows warning. Clicked OK and then the driver seems to have installed. It only took a couple of seconds to install. Now I have a screen telling me the Focusrite is ready to use. I clicked "Finish" and that's that.

I checked to see in the "Sounds" section of the control panel whether the 18i6 was the default audio device now but it is not so I'll probably have to connect the device to finish the install and if that doesn't work perhaps change the settings manually.

Edit: Okay... I'm an idiot. It says right in the manual you have to hook up the device then restart the computer for it to fully install. Hopefully moving onto the next step did not screw things up.

For now though I want to install the Mixcontrol software so I opened Firefox and downloaded Mixcontrol from the same Focusrite page I was on before. Again I double clicked the file in the downloads window, ignored the Windows Defender pop up and got my installation wizard. Closed Firefox and clicked Next. Accepted the User Agreement and clicked Next allowing it to install to the default location on my C drive. I clicked the Create a desktop icon and ignored the Quick Launch icon (this is just a matter of personal preference). Clicked Next. Now I have the Ready to Install screen. Clicked Install and it did it's install dance which took about 10 seconds. Now for some reason I'm getting an installation Wizard for the USB 2.0 Driver. Uh oh. I just installed the driver. I'd better look into this.

Okay... so this driver which seems to have squirreled its way into my Mixcontrol download is saying it is the USB 2.0 Audio Driver Ver. 2.2 which was released in October 2011. I just installed the 2.3 version from April 2012 so this looks like a bit of a screw up on Focusrite's part. I am just going to cancel this driver installation wizard and hope that I do indeed already have the correct driver. I do NOT want to overwrite the most recent driver with the older one especially considering many people were having problems with the old driver. I probably should send Focusrite an email letting them know this could cause some confusion and they should take the 2.2 driver out of the MixControl 1.1 download.

See now why it pays to be an anal weirdo sometimes? ;-)

hmm... okay. Pressing Cancel gives me a message saying the set up is not complete so I think what I'll do instead is allow this install then RE-INSTALL the 2.3 driver. What a pain in the butt. Definitely going to email Focusrite about this to give them the heads up.

Okay... so that all took an extra 30 seconds. No big deal but Focusrite needs to clean up that download page so people aren't inadvertently getting the wrong drivers. I hope this did not screw up my installation.

Okay... now I need to actually attach the 18i6 to my computer. IT'S THE MOMENT OF TRUTH!!! Oh wait... where am I gonna plug this thing in? I can't see the back of my computer? My power bar doesn't have spot open big enough to accommodate the adapter? Oh woe is me!

Well I'm kind joking. I anticipated this... somewhat.

So first off I need to find a place to plug in the big ole clunktastic power supply. I have all my stuff connected to a semi fancy Belkin surge protecting power bar. It's great because it has 12 outlets. There are three on each side that are perfect for wall warts because the top of the adapter is pointed to the center of the power bar and there is lots of room in between the outlets. That makes it easy to have three normal sized wall warts on each side. Running down the center of the power bar are six outlets oriented so the top/bottom are in line with the length of the power bar. They are bunched tightly together like a normal power strip so you can have your computer power cables, monitor power cables, etc (anything that is NOT a wall wart) plugged into these. So to solve my wall wart conundrum I just unplugged my monitor power cables and put them on the center strip. Now I have room for my Focusrite Wall Wart. Eventually I really need to invest in a UPS but this strip is quite nice and I'm glad I bought it. I only bring this up because it sucks trying to set up a new piece of gear only to realize you have no where to plug it in.

So now I need to figure out my USB connection. I have TONS of USB ports all over this system but I don't want to just cram this thing in willy nilly. It is a USB 2.0 and although Focusrite assures me that the Scarlett will now work on USB 3.0 ports... I ain't gonna take the chance. They JUST updated that stuff so I will stick to 2.0. Also I have USB 2.0 ports on the front of my computer but they are the CASE'S USB connectors which I attached to headers on my motherboard and the wires are pretty thin and cheap. I think I want these attached directly to the motherboard. Also there is a lot of talk on the internet about picking a USB port for important data transfer devices and sticking to it. It makes sense to me as I wouldn't want to trip up my MOBO or OS or whatever little gnomes that live inside my computer making it do its thing by moving around onto different ports. I think it can actually mess with the USB hub drivers a bit too. So I yanked the computer out from its hidey hole to get at the back to find my USB 2.0 slots. Seeing as how this will be a pretty permanent device I chose one that is LESS accessible because I won't be removing that cable often. Okay... done.



I FINALLY pulled out the 18i6 and connected it to the computer using the provided USB cable and attached the power adapter to the back (I had already plugged the adapter into my power bar). I got a taskbar message that the drivers were installing. It took about 5 seconds. Now I have a message window stating my Scarlett 18i6 USB is installed and ready to use. Clicked close and now I'll reboot.

So again I'm a dumbass. I should have checked for and installed my Windows updates first. Does not seem to affected anything though... yet.

So now I can see via Control Panel > Sounds that the Scarlett is installed and has become my default audio device (remember I still have my Echo Layla installed which I can still see but it is no longer the default audio device... it swapped them out automatically).



I think at this point I'll yank my ethernet cable from the computer as I don't need the intertubes for this process anymore.

Now I just disabled the Layla Analog and Digital outs in the Sounds window. I did not remove the driver. Just disabled the Layla. That may not have been necessary but I did it anyway just to avoid any potential driver/hardware conflicts. Now I'm gonna reboot again just in case that is required (which it may not be but what the heck... it takes a few seconds). Rebooted... So now that everything is hooked up I can see my 18i6 has it's Power, USB and LKD (sync clock) LEDs lit up (they actually light up as soon as you connect the power but I couldn't see the front of the interface up until this point as it was turned around). HOORAY! It's all hooked up and ready to go.

Now the moment we've all been waiting for... getting playback from Sonar X1. This MAY cause some problems as my test project was using the Layla. Let's see what happens when I open it. DUHN DUHN DUUUUHNNNNN!!!!

Project opens fine.

Now... Edit > Preferences > Devices

Uh oh... this is what I feared. ASIO Echo Layla is still the default driver for the project. I do however see the Focusrite connections in the list but they are greyed out.

I kind of don't give a crap at this point and have multiple versions of this project I call fall back to anyway so I'm just going to uncheck the Layla drivers and see what happens.

TAAA DAAA! By unchecking the Layla driver stuff the Focusrite options are no longer grayed out.

So Sonar does something weird that I don't get yet but for some reason it will only show my odd number inputs and outputs (essentially just naming the first channel of a stereo pair). It all still seems to work this way but I would like to see my EVEN numbered inputs in the driver section. Whatever. I decided just to check off ALL of the Focusrite ins/outs in the driver section even though I won't be using the SPDIF/ADAT or even most of the line ins any time soon. By doing this all the Echo Layla drivers are now grayed out. Good. Now I'll click OK.

MISSING AUDIO OUTPUTS!!! EVERYBODY RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!

Just kidding... Sonar is just asking me if I want to reassign the project outputs. It is showing the missing output as the Layla and offers up the Scarlett as an available device. I made sure that it is set to the stereo monitor out of the Scarlett and now I'll click OK.

Alright... nothing exploded. Good. Now to pull out my headphones.

AAAAND WE HAVE LIFT OFF!!! My test track is playing through my headphones (connected to the headphone jack) and it is glorious.

So at this point I have achieved a successful install despite the fact my old interface is STILL hooked up to the system and I really don't know what the heck I am doing.

Happy days... happy days.

EDITED FOR SPELLING ERRORS AND BRAINFARTS JUNE 16th 2012

Hey Beepster, nice review up to now. I'm interested in what kind of latency you are getting. I'm thinking about getting a new interface to replace my Delta 1010LT, and the scarlett series is one of the contestants.. :)

Have you come across the WOW factor yet?

Just did a bit of poking around on the net about the "Zero Latency Monitoring/Direct Monitoring" feature. I guess it just sends the signal being performed directly to the headphones and main outs so it's not traveling to the DAW and back which is where the latency would happen (it's still getting sent to the DAW for recording). So that's cool for vocals and stuff where you pretty much have the general sound but if you were using plugins from the DAW they wouldn't be applied to the monitored signal. That's kind of a drag for how I want to do my guitar stuff. I'd be using Guitar Rig for tone and effects but just recording the flat instrument signal then actually applying the final effects in post. So even though I just want the flat non effected signal to be recorded I'd still want some distortion and stuff while recording so I'm getting my performance right as far as palm muting, attack, harmonics, stuff like that. This does not seem to be possible with the Zero Latency Monitoring feature. No biggie though. Just worth noting.

Just taking a break from house work and thought about this. One thing I haven't mentioned yet about the Scarlett series is the "Loopback" feature. All of the smaller versions like the 2i2 and 8i6 have a loopback function that allows you to record directly from other applications like Media Player or a web browser (eg: if you wanted to snag a sample from youtube, soundcloud or wherever) without any physical connections. However the 18i6 does NOT have this feature because all the internal wiring is used up for the physical connections. If you read about this feature and wanted to use it the 18i6 won't do it like the other devices. I was a little disappointed with that but I decided I'd rather be able to have the extra physical inputs in case I want to record a full drum kit or a band at some point.

BTW I don't think that firmware update came from the internet when I clicked OK. I think it was probably in the latest driver which I installed the other day. I did not see any indication the MixControl software was connecting to the internet during that process.

@clintmartin... That's really weird man. I looked through 3 pages for about 5 minutes and couldn't find it. Maybe it did disappear briefly. I'd better save it or something. Anyway... I'm just gonna keep everything at default settings for now and see what results I get. I'm looking at the MixControl and everything set to 0, middle pan, 44.1khz, mon 1 and 2, headphones Mix 1 left and right, SPDIF "Off", Bothe multi ins set to "Line", etc... Pretty much what you'd want from default settings. All the channels are labeled in stereo. When I click the "Chain" button it separates the stereo inputs. When I click "Settings" in the Status Monitor section (I forget if that's the right name... the part with Sample Rate and stuff displayed in LED red) it pops up my Buffer settings as I explained before and it is set to 10.0ms just like that USB control panel I just talked about. I could dig into this way more but I want to get back into Sonar. BBIAB.

The Cake/Roland guys talk about getting 2.0ms latency with their stuff in the webinars. I'd like to see if I can weasel my way down to that with the Focusrite eventually but for now I'm gonna see what I get with the default settings. I may not even notice latency at 10ms.

If I click the ASIO panel button on that same screen I get another fader for adjusting the buffer. I'll play with that more tomorrow and report back.