Gear of the Year: Best Value – Focusrite Scarlett Studio

Another undisuputed winner this year – Focusrite’s Scarlett Studio gave musicians on a budget everything they needed to record high quality music straight out of the box…

Best Value  – Focusrite Scarlett Studio

Price £199 Web www.focusrite.com

We’ve stated elsewhere in these pages that it is a good idea to invest more money in less gear, and it’s this category that allows you to free up your funds to do just that. And this year it’s certainly been a fiercely competitive sector. We thought the Volcas might edge it, but the more practical Scarlett Studio package from Focusrite won by a long way – probably down to it having everything you need – both hardware and software – for your core recording setup and at a high-quality level. £199 for an audio interface, condenser mic, headphones, Cubase LE, Scarlett plug-ins, the original Bass Station in software plus 800MB of samples. What’s not to like?

Read our Review of Focusrite’s Scarlett Studio Here

Also making waves: Lindell Audio’s 500-Series garnered many votes, while Korg’s Volca synths also scored well (and at £119.99, why wouldn’t they?). Full synths for silly money.