LinuxMusicians

I'm looking to buy my first audio interface so I can record guitar in my DAW, and the Scarlett Solo 2nd gen seems very attractive, so I have a couple of questions for anyone who owns it.

First, have you experienced any issues at all using it in Linux?

Second, Focusrite claims that the Solo 2nd gen is capable of "letting you record and monitor with software effects in real time". So, are xruns and latency issues a thing of the past with this interface? Sounds too good to be true. Can you confirm this feature works in Linux? What's the catch?

And lastly, has anyone used this interface to record guitar, and if so, how does it compare to other interfaces you've used?

Thanks!

SiG wrote:are xruns and latency issues a thing of the past with this interface? Sounds too good to be true. Can you confirm this feature works in Linux? What's the catch?

According to what was measured with Jack_iodelay, the new scarletts do perform better than the first gen, including on Linux, so they didn't lie:
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=15809&start=15

And here's the catch: Xruns are not a thing of the past.The only thing that is reduced is the DAC/ADC (HW) latency - which is not visible in jack (to measure it you need a patch cable and a utlity like jack_iodelay).
So, you will be able to run with slightly relaxed Jack settings (increase SW latency = less xruns) and get the same overall roundtrip (HW+SW, in and out) latency, at least if you compare with the first generation.
Sorry if this doesn't fully make sense, I'm only at the second coffee

gimmeapill wrote:And here's the catch: Xruns are not a thing of the past.The only thing that is reduced is the DAC/ADC (HW) latency - which is not visible in jack (to measure it you need a patch cable and a utlity like jack_iodelay).

Ah, I see. Thanks for clearing that up!

You're welcome.
One small warning though: those cards don't seem to perform exactly the same across models, and I have not seen any figures for the Solo. So who knows what kind of performance you will get with that one... I don't think it would be too different but worth mentioning.
Anyway If you buy it, you'll know what to do next -> https://www.linuxmusicians.com/viewtopic.php?t=8022

gimmeapill wrote:You're welcome.
One small warning though: those cards don't seem to perform exactly the same across models, and I have not seen any figures for the Solo. So who knows what kind of performance you will get with that one... I don't think it would be too different but worth mentioning.

How big of a difference is there between the models you mentioned? Just a couple of ms, or is it more?

Also, if you or anyone else has suggestions for other interfaces which are fitting for my use-case, preferably in the same price range (or cheaper ), please let me know.

Results there: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=15809&start=15
The difference is not so big between models of the same generation (about 0.5-1ms between my first gen 2i2 and Crocoduck's 2i4), as the improvement between 1st and 2nd gen (latency was improved by up to 3-4ms in some cases).
So if you go for a new scarlett make sure you get a second gen, but the difference is not dramatic enough to throw first gen models to the trash bin either