Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 / mix question

S

scorona62

New member
I'm fairly new to recording/mixing and have a newb question. I have a Focusrite 2i2 and a Macbook with Garageband.
Looking for possible ways to have a separate headphone mix for all tracks from my DAW (Garageband) and output just a single live guitar track to studio monitor speakers. Do I need a more advanced audio interface with more line outputs (eg Scarlett 4i4)? I have access to a mixer and have read that it could be connected to an audio interface. I'm curious if it's possible that would accomplish what I am trying to achieve?

Thanks in advance for the help!
 
The 2i2 has a headphone output and line outputs. With luck they will be on separate circuits. If so, you theoretically can send different mixes to each. However, this then depends on whether Garage Band recognises them as separate outputs, and whether from within GB you can specify which tracks go to which outputs.
 
Thanks for the replies.

Yes, in GarageBand it comes up as a single stereo output. Possible there other DAWs out there that might recognize the headphone out and the line outs as separate?

Or, if I added an inexpensive mixer, is there someway to rig it up to achieve this?

Am I better off just upgrading to a new audio interface (e.g 4i4) with more output options?

Thanks.
 
You should be able to accomplish what you want using the mixer with the 2i2. Connect your speakers to the mixer, your headphones to the 2i2. You'll probably have to figure out how to route signals, etc.

My question would be Why? There might be other solutions to accomplish what you want.

The headphone and monitor sends on the 2i2 are not separate, they come from the same bus. THe 2i2 is a pretty decent little interface. GarageBand is more of a toy than a true DAW app. If you were to upgrade anything, it should be your software.
 
Chili said:
You should be able to accomplish what you want using the mixer with the 2i2. Connect your speakers to the mixer, your headphones to the 2i2. You'll probably have to figure out how to route signals, etc.
Click to expand...

In GB, OP could hard pan the guitar output to the left channel, and hard pan everything else to the right. Then he could feed these into two tracks of the mixer. The guitar track would go out the main outs to speakers. He could monitor the other stuff through headphones via the PFL (so long as it as one).

Chili said:
My question would be Why? There might be other solutions to accomplish what you want.
Click to expand...
This woulod be handy info from the OP to know

Chili said:
The headphone and monitor sends on the 2i2 are not separate, they come from the same bus. THe 2i2 is a pretty decent little interface. GarageBand is more of a toy than a true DAW app. If you were to upgrade anything, it should be your software.
Click to expand...

Agree. There are more powerful software options available. But the 2i2 is likewise very basic (which is what it is designed to be), with a lack of alternative ins and outs, which do come in handy.
 
gecko zzed said:
In GB, OP could hard pan the guitar output to the left channel, and hard pan everything else to the right. Then he could feed these into two tracks of the mixer. The guitar track would go out the main outs to speakers. He could monitor the other stuff through headphones via the PFL (so long as it as one).
Click to expand...

Thanks, that sounds like a potentially workable approach assuming I could get the mixer to 2i2 connected correctly. What's does PFL stand for?


This woulod be handy info from the OP to know
Click to expand...
One use case (however odd it may sound) is video recording of guitar player with only the sound of the guitar track coming through the speakers on the video (with amp/effects applied from GarageBand), not the rest of the mix, which is running through the guitarists headphones. I couldn't get this to work with GB and the 2i2 so perhaps there is something obvious/simple I overlooked? Sorry, again I'm fairly new to this recording/mixing stuff.

Agree. There are more powerful software options available. But the 2i2 is likewise very basic (which is what it is designed to be), with a lack of alternative ins and outs, which do come in handy
Click to expand...

Thanks, sounds like there's not a software solution, since I'm limited by the 2i2 ins/outs. Probably a topic for another thread, but GarageBand is probably sufficient for what I'm trying to do. I'll have to look into more powerful DAW options.
 
gecko zzed said:
PFL = prefade listen. You can solo a track in the headphones while other stuff is going on in the main mix. What sort of mixer do you have? It may have other routing options.
Click to expand...

I have a Mackie ProFx12v3 that I purchased for occasional live band rehearsals at my place. I know it has a lot of features, probably beyond what I need for basic live use. I haven't completely digested the manual and don't know its potential for recording applications. But yes, it does have something called a "PFL Solo" switch next to the fader on each of the channels. I'll have to read up on that. Thanks!
 
With that mixer you have a couple of choices.

Plan A

In GB, pan guitar hard left, everything else hard right
Connect Scarlett line out to mixer, left into channel 3 line in, right into channel 4 line in.
Adjust level etc of channel 3 to get guitar coming out of main mix (and into speakers) ok
Mute channel 4, but press PFL to get backing coming out of headphones.

Plan B

In GB, pan guitar hard left, everything else hard right
Connect Scarlett line out to mixer, left into channel 3 line in, right into channel 4 line in.
Adjust level etc of channel 3 to get guitar coming out of main mix (and into speakers) ok
On channel 4, unpress L-R button (just above PFL), but press 1-2 button.
On Sub 1-2 (next to Main), unpress L-R, but press 'to phones/ctrl room'. Adjust Sub 1-2 faders and phones knob to get good level on the backing.
 
Thanks for the help! I'll give that a try asap and report back (probably another day or so). Learned something new!

I'm not sure if it was clear that I need the guitar to be audible through the headphones with the rest of the mix, while it be the only track running through the speakers. I know, this sounds odd.
 
scorona62 said:
I'm not sure if it was clear that I need the guitar to be audible through the headphones with the rest of the mix, while it be the only track running through the speakers.
Click to expand...

Easily done. Pan guitar centre. It will then come out left and right equally. Pan the rest of the mix fully right.

The Scarlett will then have only guitar in left, but guitar plus mix in right
 
That's my understanding of the Focus 2I unit: the headphone jack would give you the same signal as the one going to the computer by way of the USB port. You'd need something more advanced to do what you want.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top