United Kingdom
The interfaces most home studios settle on
Focusrite is on this site twice, and the pages exist largely to answer one question: Solo or 2i2?
The difference is arithmetic, not quality. The Solo has one microphone preamp, the 2i2 has two. One voice at a time, or a voice and a guitar in the same take. Everything else — the 120 dB converters, Air mode, USB-C, the software — is shared.
The fourth generation targets beginners specifically. Auto Gain sets the recording level, which is the thing most people get wrong by recording far too quietly and amplifying the noise afterwards. Clip Safe prevents overload on the way in. Neither replaces judgment, and both remove a category of ruined take.
The driver is the real product. On Windows, a manufacturer-maintained low-latency driver is what makes playing in time with a recording possible, and it is the thing generic interfaces cannot provide. Focusrite maintains theirs.
The software bundle is not a demo. Pro Tools Intro+, Ableton Live Lite, Cubase LE and the Hitmaker Expansion arrive with the unit — for someone starting out, that is the difference between an interface and a studio.
Two preamps · Auto Gain · Clip Safe · 120 dB
Two microphone preamps rather than one, plus Auto Gain to set levels and Clip Safe to stop a take being destroyed by a loud moment. The interface most home studios settle on and stop replacing.
Best for: Anyone who will ever record two things at the same time.
≈ $220
24-bit/192 kHz · Air mode · Gain Halos · three-year warranty
The previous generation of the Solo, publishing 24-bit/192 kHz and a three-year warranty — the only warranty period on this shelf — with the Air mode and the same software bundle as the current model.
Best for: The same recording chain as the current Solo at a lower price, for someone who does not need the newest converters.
2 in / 2 out · 120 dB dynamic range · Air mode
One microphone preamp and one instrument input, with the same 120 dB converters Focusrite puts in its larger interfaces, an Air mode for presence, and a software bundle that is a large part of the value.
Best for: A songwriter recording one part at a time who wants room to grow.
≈ $130
A bundle: the Solo 4th Gen, a CM25 MkIII microphone and SH-450 headphones
Not an interface but a package: the Solo 4th Gen already published here, plus the CM25 MkIII condenser microphone and the SH-450 headphones, with the same 120 dB converters and the same software.
Best for: A first recording setup where one order beats three, and the microphone and headphones do not need to be chosen.
