Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen vs Tascam US-2x2HR

Both are audio interfaces, $199 against $199. This page puts them side by side on the only three things a maker can be held to — power, output impedance and noise — and then asks the question that actually matters: which headphones do they treat differently?

The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen reaches 100 dB on 552 of the 567 models here, the Tascam US-2x2HR on 541.

A figure marked not published is missing from the maker’s own material, which is not the same as being good or bad. Where one of these two publishes a number and the other does not, the comparison on that axis cannot be made at all — and saying so is more useful than guessing.

Both makers publish a power rating, which is less common than the table above makes it look: of the 280 sources here, 209 publish a figure at at least one load and only 2 publish one at all four. Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen publishes at 300 Ω; Tascam US-2x2HR at 32 Ω. Every other row is worked out from those — between two published loads, or beyond them holding voltage constant, which understates rather than flatters.

So the two columns are not equally firm row by row: at 300 Ω only the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen figure is the maker’s own and at 32 Ω only the Tascam US-2x2HR figure is the maker’s own. On those rows the derived number is the one to doubt first.

What each of these labels means, and why a derived figure is still worth printing, is set out in how this data was built.

11 headphones reach 100 dB on the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen but not on the Tascam US-2x2HR — Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC, Audeze LCD-5, Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Closed, 8 more.

3 headphones are left alone by the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen under the one-eighth rule but coloured by the Tascam US-2x2HR (Audio-Technica ATH-ADX5000, Audio-Technica ATH-R70X, Audio-Technica ATH-R70xa).

541 of the 567 models here reach 100 dB on both. That is a power count and nothing more; whether either source suits a given headphone also depends on the two lines above.

The counts above say how many models the two treat differently. This says by how much. The same 8 headphones appear on every page of this kind, ordered from the easiest to drive to the hardest, so a row can be read across pages as well as across columns. Headroom is at a 100 dB SPL peak.

The widest gap on the list is the Sennheiser HD 600: Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen has +5 dB of headroom there against +3 dB. 3 dB is about 1.8 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.

The hiss columns are empty for Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen and Tascam US-2x2HR because neither maker publishes no output noise figure. That is a gap in the specification, not a quiet amplifier, and it is left blank here rather than filled with a plausible number.

These two cost the same, $199, so price settles nothing. Out of the 567 models here, the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen drives 11 models to 100 dB and leaves 3 alone under the one-eighth rule — and on the other side there is no such advantage at all.

Everything in this paragraph counts only figures the two makers published. An advantage on an axis one of them leaves blank cannot be counted, and is not counted — how often that happens is its own page.

Each has a page of its own with every power figure traced to what the maker published and a full headphone list: Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen and Tascam US-2x2HR. Or put either against your own headphones in the source comparison tool.