LinuxMusicians

I want a USB2 audio interface with (at least) 8 XLR inputs. It goes without saying it must have good Linux/JACK support. Is the Presonus 1818VSL still the goto Linux device for these sort of requirements?

The Scarlett 18i20 is a similar price and spec. It didn't used to be well supported under Linux but I think I heard support improved in recent ALSA / kernel releases. Maybe I should consider that or something else instead?

Just wanted to check I'm not missing something before a big purchase like this.

No comments from owners of either or similar devices?

1818vsl works fine for me. I've heard the 18i20 has better preamps and 2 more outputs though, and it seems like it works with linux alright.

I have the 1818VSL and it works great with Linux.
I'm using KXstudio, Non Session Manager and Guitarix primarily.

Thanks for your replies Broomy and tatch!

Reading various reports of Linux users of the 18i20 it sounds like it works fine with Linux/ALSA/JACK apart from its mixer, which may need to be adjusted under Windows or OSX as I've not been able to find confirmation that Robin's scarlettmixer, which targetted the 18i6, works with the 18i20.

Hopefully scarlettmixer does work with the 18i20 but even if not I think its a limitation I could live with so I'm leaning towards to 18i20 now. Better quality pre-amps vs the 1818VSL is certainly a big draw.

I ended up buying the 18i20. I've not tested everything on it yet - only the 8 mic inputs and the headphone sockets. I've yet to try the MIDI, word clock and SPDIF ports but otherwise everything seems to work great out-of-the-box with KX 14.04 and my first impressions are very positive.