Focusrite Scarlett 18i8

[Ultimatetone]

While my Universal Audio Apollo 8p thunderbolt audio interface comes with 8 XLR Unison capable preamps,
due to its back panel space limitations, it does not come with any coax S/PDIF connectors on the back
(unlike the new black-faced, Apollo 8 or the earlier, silver-faced, Apollo Duo/Quad Firewire interfaces.)'
However, the Apollo 8p does still come with some optical/ADAT ports on the back.

The plan is to "digitally tether" the Apollo 8p to the Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 via the optical/adat ports on each.
This should allow 8 tracks to pass at 44.1/48k or 4 tracks at 88.2/96k from the Apollo to the Scarlett.

Normally, I would be have the Apollo 8p connected to a MacBook Air running Cubase 8 Pro,
but I also want a "backup" connected to the Apollo 8p in case the MacBook Air or Cubase crashes for some reason.
I have 2 candidates for providing backup:

• the Tascam DR-100mkII 2-track recorder with a coax S/PDIF input
  
• 5th Gen, 64gb iPod Touch running iOS 8 at the moment.

The Scarlett 18i8 will be connected to an Apple USB-to-lightning Camera Connection Kit (CCK)
and then to the 5th Gen iPod Touch. Some initial testing was done this evening and it appears that after properly configuring the Scarlett for iPad use (since iPhone/iPod Touch are not 'officially' supported) and installing Scarlett MixControl BETA 1.9b4 (see 2 Focusrite links below) I was able to record my voice into BOSSJOCK studio & GarageBand successfully. I do have some monitoring issues with BOSSJOCK at the moment - more specifically, I am hearing myself twice, like a slightly doubled effect. I did set-up my Scarlett as per Focusrite's Scarlett MixControl Routing Preset 'DAW Tracking' - the suggested setting for those iPad users wanting to monitor the output of their given App (in this test it was BOSSJOCK) via the Scarlett's own headphone output(s). I did not experience any "doubling" issue with Garageband.

http://us.focusrite.com/answerbase/conn ... to-an-ipad

http://beta.focusrite.com/releases/scarlett_mixcontrol/

The next step is to get MultiTrack DAW installed on my iPod Touch and see how that goes.
MultiTrack Daw comes highly recommended by my friend, even though for my purposes,
I merely need it to be a "bit-bucket" that can digitally record up to 8-tracks at 24-bit 44.1k
(4 tracks would be just fine, too) as I plan to do my post-production tasks on my MacBook Air.


Ultimatetone

[dcollins710]

I am seriously interested in what you're doing. I use an iPhone with Multitrack DAW and it would be EXTREMELY useful to be able to record multiple channels simultaneously! Heck, I'd be thrilled with 2 tracks at this point...

[Evan]

Would you pleEeeease post your results with the scarlet unit with the camera connection kit with the iphone 6? (edit, op. Is using ipot touch 5,still like to hear his results, and also for iphone 6 with units having more than 2 tracks) Is it still recording? Can it records more than 1 track? Realize almost no 1 is using the iphone successfully with multiple tracks your test is the only 1 I have ever seen saying itworks

[harisonzamperla]

I use a Prosonus AUDIOBOX ITWO with my iphone 6 all the time. works great and you can record two inputs into any app.. also does midi in/out.

Love it

[Ultimatetone]

I have not performed any additional experiments with the Scarlett 18i8, as life has gotten in the way.

I will continue to pursue using the Scarlett 18i8 to provide a "digital bridge"
between my Apollo 8p and iPod Touch 5th Gen running MultiTrack DAW.

If not using the Apollo 8p -> 18i8 -> iPod Touch,
I will instead be -
Apollo 8p -> M-Audio CO3 -> Tascam DR-100mkII

by setting the ADAT/TOSLINK output (on the Apollo 8p) for 2-track S/PDIF output
and then optically connecting it to a discontinued M-Audio C03 to convert to COAX
to digitally feed the Tascam DR-100mkII (instead of the iPod Touch.)

For a simpler iOS solution, be sure to check-out my Harmonicdog forum post

about the recently announced Tascam iXR USB 2.0 Mac, PC & iOS interface for $159.99 USD


Ultimatetone