Originally Posted By: Matt Finley
I love VU meters, but I've learned to adapt to other means to monitor gain.

One such is used in the Focusrite 6i6 and 18i8 in which the rings around the gain knobs glow with intensity, turning full green, then red as the limit is exceeded and distortion would result. I thought I would hate this, but I love it now. In the corner of my eye, I can be aware of any red without actually concentrating on looking at it.

And of course, an alternative to VU meters is the colored column of LEDs.

I have similar thoughts about the 18i8 and there's never any doubt which gain knob needs dialed down