The Studio Log - What Did You Do In The Studio

[crimsonwarlock]

Have been troubleshooting an issue with my Scarlett 18i20 where it starts switching the -20dB pad randomly by itself.... so far without a final result. It seems to be a well-known problem with several Focusrite interfaces, but there doesn't seem to be a stable solution.

[The Noodlist]

Have been troubleshooting an issue with my Scarlett 18i20 where it starts switching the -20dB pad randomly by itself.... so far without a final result. It seems to be a well-known problem with several Focusrite interfaces, but there doesn't seem to be a stable solution.

What about a factory reset?

[crimsonwarlock]

Have been troubleshooting an issue with my Scarlett 18i20 where it starts switching the -20dB pad randomly by itself.... so far without a final result. It seems to be a well-known problem with several Focusrite interfaces, but there doesn't seem to be a stable solution.

What about a factory reset?

Nope.

Also no fix: reinstalling drivers, replacing the USB-cable, using another USB-port on the computer.

So far it seems heat-related, as the problem (seems to) surface when the temperature in my studio rises (we are in a bit of a heat wave right now). But that could also mean that my Scarlett is slowly dying

[michat]

Oh sh*t. How old is it? I use two of them chained to double ins and outs. Never had that issue, yet

[PatchAdamz]

Just mixed, mastered, and released the new CD after half a year in the studio:


Man in Shadow.jpg

The AUDIO:

https://maninshadow.com/the-music

Great, congrats! I really like "The language" and "Man in shadow" the most. The whole album reminds me of stuff I listened to when studying electronic composition back in 2003

Wow, thanks for taking the time to listen and give your feedback.

[crimsonwarlock]

Oh sh*t. How old is it? I use two of them chained to double ins and outs. Never had that issue, yet

It's pretty old, it's a gen-1 so that says it all

No money to replace it though, and it is pretty deeply integrated into how my studio is setup. Mine is paired with a Focusrite Octopre for additional IO.

Fingers crossed, though. After shutting it down for the night yesterday and booting up this morning, it has been running all day without the problem resurfacing... and it is F-ing hot in the studio today as well. The only thing that's changed is that it's running on another USB port now.

[michat]

Oh sh*t. How old is it? I use two of them chained to double ins and outs. Never had that issue, yet

It's pretty old, it's a gen-1 so that says it all

No money to replace it though, and it is pretty deeply integrated into how my studio is setup. Mine is paired with a Focusrite Octopre for additional IO.

Fingers crossed, though. After shutting it down for the night yesterday and booting up this morning, it has been running all day without the problem resurfacing... and it is F-ing hot in the studio today as well. The only thing that's changed is that it's running on another USB port now.

Good to hear that it ran fine. I've never heard of this issue and got a bit into panic mode, as I also wouldn't have the money to replace mine now. As I'm working hybrid, the pair is a quite important part of my setup and routines. Got a 2nd a 3rd gen and I quite like the value for the money.

[crimsonwarlock]

So far so good; I still haven't seen/heard the problem again today, and it has been running for over ten hours now. The problem here seems to be that I had the Scarlett connected to a USB-3 on the computer, while somewhere in the manual it is mentioned to connect to a USB-2 specifically. All in all, pretty strange, as I've run this unit for at least five years on a USB-3 connection without issues.

However, I've seen Reddit posts where connecting to another (USB-2) port didn't solve the issue. And yesterday, after switching the ports, it didn't work for me either. Seems my DAW needed a few reboot cycles or something like that.

Got a 2nd a 3rd gen ...

Unfortunately, the problem is known to exist on those generations as well, and even across different models (so not only the 18i20).

Here's a gen-2 with the same problem:

[vurt]

Have been troubleshooting an issue with my Scarlett 18i20 where it starts switching the -20dB pad randomly by itself.... so far without a final result. It seems to be a well-known problem with several Focusrite interfaces, but there doesn't seem to be a stable solution.

my gen 3 just went "pop" and is now a door stop. no options for troubleshooting so you got lucky!
im now waiting on the gen 4 to be released :grrr:
got a two channel duo for time being. not a bad little box, sounds decent enough. obviously, not great for multitrack recording...

[crimsonwarlock]

Have been troubleshooting an issue with my Scarlett 18i20 where it starts switching the -20dB pad randomly by itself.... so far without a final result. It seems to be a well-known problem with several Focusrite interfaces, but there doesn't seem to be a stable solution.

my gen 3 just went "pop" and is now a door stop. no options for troubleshooting so you got lucky!
im now waiting on the gen 4 to be released :grrr:
got a two channel duo for time being. not a bad little box, sounds decent enough. obviously, not great for multitrack recording...

Yep, that's even worse. I do have a Scarlett Solo lying around, but that would break down a large part of my current workflow. I also have an M-Audio Fast Track Ultra 8R (my previous interface) that doesn't have updated drivers available for Win-10 or up, but should be able to get working again. But that would lose the OctoPre channels, as it doesn't have a lightpipe.

Update: after running audio through it for 12 hours straight without issues, it suddenly started doing that shit again, but only for a few minutes, and working straight again for another two hours after that

[michat]

Can't you just override the Monitor section to override Pad also? AFAIK you should be able to run all outs full power without even being forced to use the internal mixer. You would need to have an external monitoring device, though, which I use after my main mixer

[crimsonwarlock]

Can't you just override the Monitor section to override Pad also?

Not sure what you mean by the "monitor section". I guess you mean outputs 1-2, which I don't use anyway because of how my output routing is set up. I don't see any option to bypass the main volume of the unit, including mute/pad/etc.

AFAIK you should be able to run all outs full power without even being forced to use the internal mixer. You would need to have an external monitoring device, though, which I use after my main mixer

Don't forget this is a gen-1, the software is way behind the options of the gen-2 and beyond. Which is the only issue I have with it being a gen-1.

Indeed I don't have anything after the interface. I moved to a multi-out interface to get rid of a mixer. This gave me the option to build a full monitoring solution inside Reason, including dedicated correction profiles for each of my monitoring options (two different headphones, nearfields, and a set of hifi speakers to test translation). This is what I meant by losing a big part of my workflow if I lose this interface.

[michat]

Ok, got it

[Constructed Identity]

Today I am consolidating my samples. I literally have samples I've had for 20 years and I am deleting some and putting some into shared folders etc. in an effort to remain organized. I don't use samples as much as I did years ago because I have become a snob... about originality... yea that's it.
Also came up with a name for a future track that I checked on Discogs to make sure it hasn't already been used.

[elxsound]

Today I am consolidating my samples. I literally have samples I've had for 20 years and I am deleting some and putting some into shared folders etc. in an effort to remain organized. I don't use samples as much as I did years ago because I have become a snob... about originality... yea that's it.
Also came up with a name for a future track that I checked on Discogs to make sure it hasn't already been used.

Brave! I just call them Historical Documents.