Guitar Gear Forum

This recording interface (Scarlett 18i8 v1) has been great for years but suddenly died. It appears to be fried and is out of warranty. Perhaps from a bad a power surge but it was always plugged in decent surge protector... Only other issue that only started in past year or so was intermittently having to turn the unit off and back on as it would just randomly on playbook loose sound. Then it would be good again for quite some time.

Not sure yet what i will be getting to replace it. I know there is a v2 of the same interface available. I liked having the 4 mic pre amps on board and had used them all together. It also had additional extra line ins which was nice to have, if needed. However most of the time i would use 1 or 2 of the mic pre inputs at the same time.

y'know-- i had a pro26io that developed a faulty SWITCH.. and the worst was, it was like 2 days before a session! i was in the same place.. oh man, i was so crestfallen. I contacted focusrite about it, and they FEDEXED ME TWO switches from england.

as it turned out-- i did the work for nuttin', and the thing ran another 5 years.

they're an amazing company with badass customer service-- check in with 'em before you give 'er up for dead!

newholland wrote:y'know-- i had a pro26io that developed a faulty SWITCH.. and the worst was, it was like 2 days before a session! i was in the same place.. oh man, i was so crestfallen. I contacted focusrite about it, and they FEDEXED ME TWO switches from england.

as it turned out-- i did the work for nuttin', and the thing ran another 5 years.

they're an amazing company with badass customer service-- check in with 'em before you give 'er up for dead!

Thanks, yeah i did send focusrite an e-mail last night regarding the issue. Hopefully its something simple to fix.

overdrivenel34s wrote:

newholland wrote:y'know-- i had a pro26io that developed a faulty SWITCH.. and the worst was, it was like 2 days before a session! i was in the same place.. oh man, i was so crestfallen. I contacted focusrite about it, and they FEDEXED ME TWO switches from england.

as it turned out-- i did the work for nuttin', and the thing ran another 5 years.

they're an amazing company with badass customer service-- check in with 'em before you give 'er up for dead!

Thanks, yeah i did send focusrite an e-mail last night regarding the issue. Hopefully its something simple to fix.

sucks though man! sorry that happened... what a panic inducing nightmare. my pro 26 FINALLY blew up it's output section last year.. but i figure a 13 year run wasn't too bad yours is way too young to die.

Should be able to get a Saffire Pro 40 for like $200. Rock solid interface.

Focusrite support responded indicated it likely was either the power-supply or interface hardware issue. They asked for date of purchase or at least best i can recall if i don't have that handy and if i can try another power-supply to see if that resolves.

I replied with the serial number and best recollection from purchased it (in 2015), likely is well out of warranty now. I advised i don't have another power supply for it to try but asked what the specs for the power supply. Unlikely I have one laying around that would be compatible (it says 12vlt on it). I'm guessing they may respond 1st try buying another power supply for it which wouldn't be bad if that resolves it (my guess is that would cost something like $10-20).

So they had confirmed its not under warranty and advised would 1st advise trying another power supply thats Input: 100-240V Output: 12V 2A. SO i ordered a power supply.

If that doesn't work options are to send to one of their distributors for exchange for a refurbished unit a flat rate of $175.00 + any applicable sales tax or can just sent in my unit for repair at rate of $65 an hr plus costs of parts.

overdrivenel34s wrote:So they had confirmed its not under warranty and advised would 1st advise trying another power supply thats Input: 100-240V Output: 12V 2A. SO i ordered a power supply.

If that doesn't work options are to send to one of their distributors for exchange for a refurbished unit a flat rate of $175.00 + any applicable sales tax or can just sent in my unit for repair at rate of $65 an hr plus costs of parts.

hm. do you have access to firewire on your machine?

if so-- i'm totally gonna reiterate ibenhad's recommendation to pick up a pro40. i have two of them, and for 16 channels i spent 350 bucks. work flawlessly, have NEVER had a hitch with 'em, and they sound really good for how much dough i spent. i recently saw one here on CL for $125!

Another pro40 user here. Can't fault it. Sounds good and more routing options than you'll ever need!

I got the replacement power supply and that resolved it!! Its alive again!
Honestly, I wasn't expecting it to work...

Thanks for the suggestions. I was looking at the pro40 and impressed but what i was reading so far. Wasn't sure how good my fireware port is though. My computer is getting old anyway as i'm on 32 bit win 7 machine which limits ram to 4 gb and processor isn't not compatible to 64 bit version. Glad i'm back in business for now.

Nice. Now go jump into a drumjam.

oh awesome! congrats man!

yeah those guys over at focusrite are pretty badass and haven't let me down the two times i needed to REALLY engage them over physical problems with a unit. they've also been amazing about configuration too when things got buggy with driver interactions from other software (an intel driver that made me NUTS for 2 months..). such a great company-- nothing but good things to say about em!

back on the road!