Real owners lean toward the RME Babyface Pro: 78% of 36 owners recommend it, vs 60% of 53 for the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2.
Verdicts aggregated from Reddit, enthusiast forums, and YouTube owner comments — affiliate reviews excluded. Sample sizes differ; judge accordingly. How we score
A tank-like build and dependable sound are things owners of each interface bring up, even as they sit in different price classes. Scarlett 2i2 owners praise its decade of reliability, great value and plug-and-play simplicity, while noting it clips easily on hot or active signals with no pad, has driver and dropout issues on some PCs, and offers a weak headphone output. Babyface Pro owners point to exceptional converters, rock-solid drivers, low latency and preamps with plenty of gain, but flag its high price, TotalMix's steep learning curve, fiddly hardware controls, and a weak headphone preamp. A budget-minded recordist tracking vocals and guitar fits the 2i2, while a producer wanting pristine audio, bulletproof drivers and portable, ADAT-expandable I/O fits the Babyface Pro. Neither is simply better; the split comes down to affordable simplicity versus premium audio and drivers that demand time with the software.
“The Air + Drive is the best sound I've ever heard from a budget Audio Interface, there's no going back, it's a game changer in quality.”— @RLM-TV on YouTube
“The air mode really had a nice effect on the SM7B.”— @jakejessee on YouTube
“that's the only reason I considered this interface but not anymore lol.”— @lande.r1 on YouTube
“my Babyface really does deliver 125 dB(A) dynamic range with the XLR output”— @JulianKrause on YouTube
“there is a high probability that 20 years from now the drivers for that interface are still up to date, just like RME still does with their first product.”— @pdmcrew80 on YouTube
“Excellent interface but hated the breakout cable BS. Sold it and went with Antelope Audio's Synergy Discrete 4 and now we be totally satisfied.”— @stingylizard on YouTube
A tank-like build and dependable sound are things owners of each interface bring up, even as they sit in different price classes. Scarlett 2i2 owners praise its decade of reliability, great value and plug-and-play simplicity, while noting it clips easily on hot or active signals with no pad, has driver and dropout issues on some PCs, and offers a weak headphone output. Babyface Pro owners point to exceptional converters, rock-solid drivers, low latency and preamps with plenty of gain, but flag its high price, TotalMix's steep learning curve, fiddly hardware controls, and a weak headphone preamp. A budget-minded recordist tracking vocals and guitar fits the 2i2, while a producer wanting pristine audio, bulletproof drivers and portable, ADAT-expandable I/O fits the Babyface Pro. Neither is simply better; the split comes down to affordable simplicity versus premium audio and drivers that demand time with the software.
Owners point the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 at home recordists wanting two solid mic preamps, and beginners tracking vocals, guitar and mic together.
Owners point the RME Babyface Pro at producers wanting pristine audio and rock-solid drivers, and mobile and portable bus-powered recording rigs.
The most-cited downside of the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 is clips easily on hot or active signals. For the RME Babyface Pro, it's expensive for its feature set.