Focusrite Celebrates 40th Anniversary

Nashville, TN (October 1, 2025)—On September 25, Focusrite celebrated 40 years since the company was founded by Rupert Neve with the release of the Scarlett 2i2 Anniversary Edition at a special event in Nashville.

Founded in 1985 by Rupert Neve, Focusrite was born from a special commission by Beatles producer Sir George Martin that challenged the company to create a world-class recording console for high-end professional studios. Only 10 of those original Forte consoles were ever made, but their reputation cemented Focusrite’s place in recording history.

In 1989, leadership passed to industry veteran Phil Dudderidge, currently chairman and founder of Focusrite plc, who has guided the brand into a new era of product development for professionals, commercial facilities, content creators and hobbyist musicians. Dudderidge’s career has spanned nearly six decades since he started out in live sound engineering, famously serving as Led Zeppelin’s touring soundman in 1970.

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Dudderidge went on to co-found Soundcraft in 1973. After the sale of Soundcraft to Harman, he acquired the assets of Focusrite in 1989 and transformed it into a global audio technology company.

Following Focusrite plc’s beginning as a manufacturer of high-end mic preamps and analog processors, including the ISA, Red and Blue ranges, some of the company’s milestones include the introduction of the Liquid Channel (2004), the launch of Novation Launchpad (2009) and the introduction of the Scarlett range of audio interfaces and the Dante-enabled RedNet line (2012).

Focusrite Launches 40th Anniversary Scarlett 2i2 Audio Interface

Between 2014 and 2019, the company also added pro-audio brands ADAM Audio (studio monitors), Martin Audio (touring and installed loudspeakers) and Optimal Audio (commercial installs) to its portfolio. Strategic acquisitions of Sequential, Oberheim, Linea Research and Sonnox, adding synthesizers, advanced DSP/amplification, and award-winning software, followed in 2021 and 2022. Today, Focusrite Group encompasses 13 brands, uniting decades of expertise across studio recording, live sound, software and immersive audio.

To mark the anniversary, Focusrite hosted an exclusive gathering of artists, producers, engineers, educators and press on Thursday, September 25 in Nashville’s studio-centric Berry Hill district where the Scarlett 2i2 Anniversary Edition was unveiled. The limited-edition 2-in/2-out audio interface combines two remote-controlled mic preamps, Hi-Z instrument/line inputs, and converters from Focusrite’s flagship RedNet range. The Anniversary Edition pays tribute to Focusrite’s heritage with its ISA-blue chassis, the historic ff logo and a hidden schematic tribute beneath the unit inspired by the ISA 110 and Studio Console. Each interface comes packaged in a collector’s black-and-gold gift box.