Clip Safe Button; Air Modes - Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 4th Gen User Manual

Clip Safe Button

The Safe button applies Clip Safe which automatically adjusts your preamp gain if you're at risk
of clipping.
Clipping happens when your gain is set too high for the sound being recorded and your input
overloads the preamp. A clipping symptom is preamp distortion, which is often unpleasant and
can ruin a recording. Clip Safe helps you avoid this so if your input gets near to clipping, Clip Safe
reduces the preamp gain, so you won't have to re-record your take.
Note
Clip Safe is only available at up to 96kHz, you cannot use it at quad-band (176.4kHz and
192 kHz) sample rates. The Safe LED lights red to show when it's unavailable.
To enable Clip Safe:
1. Press the Select button to move your preamp controls to the correct preamp.
2. Press the Safe button on the interface or the corresponding software button.
When you enable Safe, the Safe icon lights green. The Safe icon lights white when it is disabled
and available.
When you have two inputs selected using Preamp Link, Safe is applied to both preamps.
Tip
When you enable Clip Safe, your Scarlett continuously monitors your input signals, up
to 96,000 times a second, and through a combination of analogue preamp adjustment
and DSP, Clip Safe significantly reduces the risk of clipping.
Clip Safe Focusrite Control 2
To enable Clip Safe from Focusrite Control 2, click the Safe button:
Safe off
Scarlett 4i4 4th Gen User Guide

Air Modes

Air lets you change your Scarlett's preamp sound with two different modes; Air Presence or Air
Presence and Harmonic Drive.
Air affects the mic, line and instrument inputs.
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. The Air LED changes colour to show which mode you
have selected:
Off
Air Presence
Air Presence and
Harmonic Drive
Air Software Control
To enable AIR from Focusrite Control 2 click the Air button. This is the same as pressing the Air
button on the Scarlett 4i4 hardware.
When you click Focusrite Control 2's Air button the last selected Air mode becomes activated.
To change the selected Air mode (Presence or Presence and Drive) click the arrow to show the
dropdown menu.
Safe on
18
Mode Description
The preamp is clean
An analogue circuit gives a presence boost to your
sources.
Adds harmonics, in addition to the analogue Air
circuit.
Air Off
Air Presence selected
Air Presence selected
AIR LED Notes
White
Green
Amber Only available at up
to 96kHz
Air Presence and Drive selected
Air Presence and Drive selected