Scarlett 18i20 4th gen. hardware configuration By Pete Torpey Front Panel The front panel of the 18i20 4th gen, labelled left to right. * Input 1 Neutrik® Combo XLR and 6.35mm (1/4") jack connector. Accepts XLR mic-level inputs, or unbalanced mono (TS) and balanced Mono (TRS) 1/4" jack cables at line or instrument-level. Note: This is the Talkback mic * Input 2 Neutrik® Combo XLR and 6.35mm (1/4") jack connector. Accepts XLR mic-level inputs, or unbalanced mono (TS) and balanced Mono (TRS) 1/4" jack cables at line or instrument-level. Note Inputs 1/2 are duplicated on the back, anything connected to front panel inputs 1 and 2 will take priority over the back panel inputs. * A group of 8 buttons. Top row left to right: preamps 1 through 4 Bottom row left to right: preamps 5 through 8 Select 1–8 buttons - Press to select one of the eight preamps to control its preamp settings and input gain. The currently selected channel's number lights green. * Rotary knob: Input gain control - The gain control sets the input level for the selected preamp. * A group of 6 buttons: Top left: Link button - Press to create a stereo pair of input channels. Top middle: 48V button - Press to turn on 48V phantom power at the XLR mic input to power condenser microphones. You can set 48V independently per preamp channel. Top right: Inst button - Press to toggle the selected 6.35mm (1/4") input between Line or Instrument level. Bottom left: Auto button - Press to start the Auto Gain feature Bottom middle: Safe button - Press to turn on the Clip Safe feature for your input Bottom right: Air button - Press to cycle modes Note: To enable Air, select your input, press the Air button once for Air Presence, again for Air Presence and Harmonic Drive and again to turn off. * Meters 1-8 - eight meters show the signal levels of the eight analogue inputs or outputs. The meters align with the scale on the far right, from -42 to 0 dBFS. Press the Output button to change the meters from input to output. In input mode, if a meter lights red, it's hit 0dBFS, and you should turn the Input gain down for that channel to avoid clipping. * L and R meters - two meters to show the level being sent out of the monitor outputs. * A group of 4 buttons - two on top and two on bottom: Top left: Alt button - press the Alt button to route the signal going to the first monitor output pair (1 and 2) and the second monitor output pair (3 and 4). Bottom left: Output button - Changes meters 1-8 to show the Output metering for the channels selected in Focusrite Control 2. Top right: Dim button - reduces the output level being sent to your outputs by 18dB. Bottom right: Mute button - silences the signal being sent to your outputs. * Rotary button: Main Speaker Output Control and Output level meter - By default, control the level going to Outputs 1 and 2. The meter shows where your Output control is set. You can configure Output to control more outputs. * Status icons •The three-pronged trident USB logo. USB LED - Lights green when your computer recognises your Scarlett, and white if it is disconnected from your computer (in standalone mode). •The Scarlett 18i20's sync status icon. Sync Status - Lights green when your Scarlett 18i20 is synchronised with itself or an external digital device. It lights white when it can't lock. * Button: Talk - hold Talk to activate talkback. When active, Talk lights green, and the talkback mic routes to various outputs, e.g. headphones to speak to your musicians. * Left and right headphone jacks with a knob over each to control headphone volume for each: Headphone level control and output sockets - Connect up to two sets of headphones to the output sockets and control the output with the corresponding level control. * Power switch: push bottom to "in" position to turn on and push top to "in" position to turn off. Back Panel Facing the back panel of the 18i20 4th gen, from left to right. * Power input - A standard IEC power input. Note: When you first get the unit, the USB port may be covered by a label taped over it * S/PDIF Out and In - two coaxial RCA sockets for two-channel S/PDIF digital audio signals in and out. Note: "Out" is on the left and "IN" is on the right * Word Clock Out - a BNC connector carrying a word clock signal to synchronise other digital audio equipment. * Optical Out 1/2 and In 1/2 - four TOSLINK connectors for eight channels of digital audio in ADAT format. Note: The top pair are "out" 1 and 2, with 1 on the left and 2 on the right The bottom two are "In" with 1 on the left and 2 on the right * MIDI Out and In - standard 5-pin DIN sockets for external MIDI equipment. The Scarlett 18i20 acts as a MIDI interface, allowing MIDI data to/from your computer. Note: Midi "out" is on the left and midi "In" is on the right * Line Outputs 1-10 - Neutrik® 1/4" jack (TS or TRS) sockets to connect your Scarlett to line- level inputs on devices such as monitor speakers, amplifiers, mixers or external processors. Use 1/4" TRS jack cables for balanced connections where possible. Arrangement of the line outputs: Top row right to left: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 Bottom row right to left: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 Note for outputs 1/2 and 3/4: Line Outputs A (1/2) and B (3/4) - two pairs of Neutrik® 1/4" jack (TS or TRS) sockets designed to connect your Scarlett to two pairs of monitor speakers (pair A and pair B) so you can switch between sets using the front panel Alt button. * 8 Inputs from right to left: Inputs 1-8 - Neutrik® Combo XLR and 6.35mm (1/4") jack connectors. They accept XLR mic- level inputs, or unbalanced mono (TS) and balanced Mono (TRS) 1/4" jack cables at line level. Note Inputs 1/2 are duplicated on the back, anything connected to front panel inputs 1 and 2 will take priority over the back panel inputs.