KVR Audio

Bass-penetrates · Post by **Bass-penetrates** » Mon May 30, 2022 12:12 am

Oh and I'm presuming I don't need all the connections of a Scarlett 18x8?

Would the Steinberg UR22mkII be enough?

Or maybe a Scarlett 4i4 or 8i6 so I've got some expansion capacity if I get another synth?

kritikon · Post by **kritikon** » Mon May 30, 2022 12:27 am

Looking at pics of the Scarlett Solo those are standard 1/4" jacks - that's the norm for audio interfaces. They'll usually have an XLR and a 1/4" jack option - sometimes the two are combined so one input is either/or. The 1/4" jacks are line level for synths etc.

Not quite sure why you're combining XLR with jacks - simply run a 1/4" jack lead from your Bass Station to the 1/4" jack input on the Solo. XLR is going to be for mics usually and you can ignore it for synths. If you get a new interface with 2 inputs (definitely a good idea) then for the Cobalt you'd connect 2 x 1/4" jack cables from L & R on the Cobalt to inputs 1 & 2 on the interface. For the Bass Station you just have the BS mono out going into input 1 OR 2 on its own.

(XLR are balanced cables and you can use them for other things than mics, but most synths don't have balanced outs. Balanced connections are more common in studios and basically reduce noise but they work differently to straight line level jacks)

kritikon · Post by **kritikon** » Mon May 30, 2022 12:34 am

Bass-penetrates wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 12:12 am Oh and I'm presuming I don't need all the connections of a Scarlett 18x8?

Would the Steinberg UR22mkII be enough?

Or maybe a Scarlett 4i4 or 8i6 so I've got some expansion capacity if I get another synth?

A 18x8 seems like overkill for you. A 4i4 is a reasonable option. Steinberg also make 4/6/8 input interfaces if you want more inputs than 2. A simple UR22 is OK but bear in mind that when you'd have to unplug one synth and plug in the other one to connect up to your DAW. That's not a hardship though. Must admit I did used to like having multiple inputs, but that was when I used to run a large mixer - way back when. If you don't mind another $100 or more then it's not unreasonable to get a 4 input interface, and many people will tell you they regret buying just the minimum spec - before you know it you need to upgrade. Sensible to get slightly better now - i.e. 4 input. I'm not going to advise against getting even more inputs, just not sure it's an expense you really need right now.

kritikon · Post by **kritikon** » Mon May 30, 2022 12:44 am

OK, I had a quick look on the Focusrite page - scrap my previous advice. They're selling a 4i4 for $288 and a 8i6 for $340. For $52 it makes absolute sense to get the extra inputs (actually Sweetwater sell a 18i8 for $420 - shop around). And it looks like those have proper midi on them too, which you won't regret. USB is OK but if you get into hw more...USB won't cut it.

The Steinberg UR44C is 6 inputs/ 4 outputs at $360 - similar price to the 8i6. Their UR242 goes for $230 with 4 inputs.

There are others too. Well worth looking around...

The cheapest RME you can get is $1000 - more inputs but not justifiable to me personally.

M-Audio compete well on prices - I vaguely remember hearing about some issues with them in the past though...can't remember what exactly.

Behringer UPhoria. You can get an 8in + ADAT in/out interface for $280! I have no idea how good they are for soundcards though - I have several other Behringer products and they're solid. Don't believe a lot of the hearsay bullshit about Behringer quality - that's mostly from those that haven't used them. They may or may not be decent soundcards but nobody competes with that price. There was some issue with drivers - dunno if they have updated or not.

MOTU do a full range of interfaces too. No idea what they're like as I've never used them.

db3 · Post by **db3** » Mon May 30, 2022 9:46 am

4x 1/4" mono line inputs (such as a 4i4) would be minimum for Argon8 (2 stereo) and BS2 (1 mono) leaving you one spare input for another mono synth. In Ableton you configure which of the 4 inputs are mono or stereo in audio input prefs and then select the relevant audio input in your 'Ext. instrument' channel — where you also select the USB MIDI instrument to trigger, having already enabled connected synths in Ableton Pref. Midi Port settings.

Screenshot 2022-05-30 at 10.44.14.png

Bass-penetrates · Post by **Bass-penetrates** » Tue May 31, 2022 12:45 am

Thanks kritikon! Really appreciate all the advice you have given. Will have a look at those device options. Everything is much clearer now. I was using an XLR cable because I had one knocking around and it seemed to work!? Lol.

And thanks for the Ableton tip Db3.! So effectively I'm telling the synth to use its own midi keyboard to control its own sounds. In this day and age, you'd think the thing would be able to work that out itself!

db3 · Post by **db3** » Tue May 31, 2022 8:50 am

Bass-penetrates wrote: Tue May 31, 2022 12:45 am And thanks for the Ableton tip Db3.! So effectively I'm telling the synth to use its own midi keyboard to control its own sounds. In this day and age, you'd think the thing would be able to work that out itself!

The external instrument MIDI setting is telling Ableton which external synth (out of all synths configured to receive MIDI data by Ableton) to trigger when playing back recorded notes or playing via another MIDI keyboard when a track is selected.

NB) Local control is typical set to off on HW synths is this type of setup. i.e. the keyboard acts as a MIDI controller for Ableton, disconnected from the synths own sound engine. The DAW makes the connection between keyboard and sound engine when the relevant track is selected.

T-CM11 · Post by **T-CM11** » Wed Jun 08, 2022 11:08 am

Bass-penetrates wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 11:59 pm The scarlet solo is powering my monitors and sub from the outputs on the back. But only seems to have the one XLR microphone style input on the front, one unlabelled 3.5mm jack and another 3.5mm labelled 'headphones'. I had got audio out of the Bass Station into Ableton by running an XLR to TRS out of the mono output on the synth into the XLR on the Scarlet. I opened up a new audio channel in Ableton and set monitoring to 'in' then I could hear the Bass Station and record its audio.

They're both 6.3 mm.
The Scarlet Solo only has 2 input channels (=2x mono or 1x stereo).
https://aws1.discourse-cdn.com/steinber ... 90x498.png
So your options are:
- Connect the Cobalt mono (L-output) and use software effects to make it sound stereo.
- Buy a new audio interface with more inputs/channels
- Get an analog (sub) mixer with at least 3 inputs and connect its stereo output to the Scarlet inputs. Record your synths one by one by muting.

btw. The Bass Station 2 mono output isn't balanced (most synths don't have balanced outputs), so you'd want a TS cable, not a TRS.

Edit: oops, I reacted to an older post. I didn't see that this thread already has a second page.

Connecting 2 new synths. Advice please!