At Home Rehearsal

[RASHOSS]

Hello.

I enjoy playing along to songs via PC, through headphones. My setup has been:

- PC in to Scarlett 2i2
- Scarlett "In" (front of unit), out to Mackie 802VLZ4's "Main Out Balance"
- Guitar in to Genz Benz Streamliner
- Streamliner out to Mackie, Channel 1
- Headphones out of Mackie

This generally worked fine. Recently, however, I tried replacing the GB with a Mesa Boogie Subway preamp, thinking it would work the same way, but now the "songs" from PC no longer come through the headphones, and only the bass sound DOES.

Any ideas?

 

[Crater]

Try pressing the "direct monitor" button on your Focusrite recording interface.

 

[hbarcat]

I'm using pretty much that same setup except I use the L/R main outputs on the back of the Scarlett into one of the stereo input channels on the Mackie.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by this:

Scarlett "In" (front of unit), out to Mackie 802VLZ4's "Main Out Balance

It seems like you're running the sound from the mixer into the Scarlett when you should be running the sound from the Scarlett into the mixer. Am I reading that right?

If you're doing this the wrong way, then that would explain why you can't hear the music from the PC.

 

[RASHOSS]

I'm using pretty much that same setup except I use the L/R main outputs on the back of the Scarlett into one of the stereo input channels on the Mackie.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by this:

Scarlett "In" (front of unit), out to Mackie 802VLZ4's "Main Out Balance

It seems like you're running the sound from the mixer into the Scarlett when you should be running the sound from the Scarlett into the mixer. Am I reading that right?

If you're doing this the wrong way, then that would explain why you can't hear the music from the PC.

You are reading that right...I have very little knowledge on this subject, and this is how a couple friends of mine told me to do it (one of them is a professional sound engineer who teaches sound at a local college). The setup worked perfectly, when I was using my Genz Benz Streamliner, but when I swapped out for the Mesa Boogie Subway, I'm getting the problem I described above.

Can anybody tell me the exact line order for the following components? Again, at this point, I mainly interested in playing my bass along to songs I've uploaded to DropBox, or tunes from YouTube.

PC
Scarlett
Mesa Boogie Subway (pre-amp)
Mackie
Headphones or speakers

Thank you!

 

[LowFactor]

Seems like the Mackie is a bit redundant in this set up. The simplest path would be bass to Mesa to scarlett input. Set input to input monitor. Play music from pc through Scarlett and use the Scarlett’s headphone jack… should be able to hear everything.

 

[RASHOSS]

Seems like the Mackie is a bit redundant in this set up. The simplest path would be bass to Mesa to scarlett input. Set input to input monitor. Play music from pc through Scarlett and use the Scarlett’s headphone jack… should be able to hear everything.

I wonder if you're right...For what I'm doing, I'm not seeing why I have the Mackie in the line. Let me try without it.

BTW, I just plugged everything back in, the way I originally had it, and it appears to be working perfectly. I don't know why. Only thing I can think of is I may have used a different out on the Subway (pre out vs direct out).

 

[RASHOSS]

The only thing I'm missing is the ability to loop song section and slow tempos, like I used to do with the simple i-rig/iPhone set up (Amplitube). Does anybody use i-rig? Is there a version for the PC which does the same thing the i-rig app does, or do I need to continue using i-rig and the iPhone app (no PC version available)?

What would the chain order look like? bass > i-rig > pre-amp > Scarlett > Headphones out?...or would I go bass > i-rig > Mackie (with same, above setup between PC/pre-amp/Scarlett)? *

*BTW, I posed this question to the Amplitube community as well.

 

[hbarcat]

Can anybody tell me the exact line order for the following components? Again, at this point, I mainly interested in playing my bass along to songs I've uploaded to DropBox, or tunes from YouTube.

PC
Scarlett
Mesa Boogie Subway (pre-amp)
Mackie
Headphones or speakers

Going by a lot of experience on this subject, I'm recommending that you set it up this way:

-- PC into the Scarlett
-- Scarlett into Mackie
-- Mesa into Mackie
-- Mackie through headphones or speakers

This is how I've been practicing for the last 20 years. There are other ways to do it, but this gives you maximum control of EQ and volume levels, allows the greatest flexibility in routing, and potentially provides the highest quality sound.

However, what @LowFactor suggested (skipping the mixer) will work just fine and it's actually the simplest way to get what you want.

If you didn't already have the Mackie, then that's exactly what I'd recommend you do, but since you already have the mixer, you could benefit from using it by taking advantage of its features.

Also, if you decide that you want to expand your setup in the future (like adding a standalone music player or other sound source, or want to add a guitar, microphone, keyboard, etc..) then it's very easy to just plug that into a spare channel on the Mackie.

When you run the Scarlett into the Mackie, use the L/R main outputs on the back of the Scarlett into one of the stereo input channels on the Mackie.

 

[RASHOSS]

Going by a lot of experience on this subject, I'm recommending that you set it up this way:

-- PC into the Scarlett
-- Scarlett into Mackie
-- Mesa into Mackie
-- Mackie through headphones or speakers

This is how I've been practicing for the last 20 years. There are other ways to do it, but this gives you maximum control of EQ and volume levels, allows the greatest flexibility in routing, and potentially provides the highest quality sound.

However, what @LowFactor suggested (skipping the mixer) will work just fine and it's actually the simplest way to get what you want.

If you didn't already have the Mackie, then that's exactly what I'd recommend you do, but since you already have the mixer, you could benefit from using it by taking advantage of its features.

Also, if you decide that you want to expand your setup in the future (like adding a standalone music player or other sound source, or want to add a guitar, microphone, keyboard, etc..) then it's very easy to just plug that into a spare channel on the Mackie.

When you run the Scarlett into the Mackie, use the L/R main outputs on the back of the Scarlett into one of the stereo input channels on the Mackie.

Thanks very much for taking the time with this response. When you say, "L/R out from the Scarlett into ONE of the stereo input channels on Mackie", do I need to obtain a cable that is split (2) at Scarlett to (1) at Mackie?

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

Hello.

I enjoy playing along to songs via PC, through headphones. My setup has been:

- PC in to Scarlett 2i2
- Scarlett "In" (front of unit), out to Mackie 802VLZ4's "Main Out Balance"
- Guitar in to Genz Benz Streamliner
- Streamliner out to Mackie, Channel 1
- Headphones out of Mackie

This generally worked fine. Recently, however, I tried replacing the GB with a Mesa Boogie Subway preamp, thinking it would work the same way, but now the "songs" from PC no longer come through the headphones, and only the bass sound DOES.

Any ideas?

I don't know if you're looking to spend any more money, but I'll gladly tell you what works for me:

A few years back, my computer gave up the ghost. So, I decided to bit the bullet and buy a "music computer" from Sweetwater. It's one of the worst interactions I've ever had with them, but that's kind of besides the point.

I already had a BOSS GT1-B (I think one can still be had for less than $300 (USD). The GT1-B connects to the computer via a USB cable (supplied with the unit).

I run a 1/8" inch cable from the speaker out on the back of the computer to the AUX IN on the GT1-B.

I plug the instrument into the unit (which turns it on. Pretty cool, if you ask me) and I am rarin' to go!

 

[hbarcat]

Thanks very much for taking the time with this response. When you say, "L/R out from the Scarlett into ONE of the stereo input channels on Mackie", do I need to obtain a cable that is split (2) at Scarlett to (1) at Mackie?

You'll be using two separate instrument cables.

Here's your mixer:

Choose either of the two available stereo input channels (pick either LINE IN 5-6 or LINE IN 7-8, it doesnt matter which one).

Use one instrument cable to go from Scarlett output Left to Mackie LINE IN Left, and the other instrument cable to go from Scarlett output Right to Mackie LINE IN Right.

This is what mine looks like:

As you can see, I'm using LINE IN 5-6 on my mixer. You can also see that I have my Mesa amp DI plugged into channel one, a standalone music player plugged into the Tape IN stereo inputs, and I'm using the headphones jack for silent practice.

My PC interface (Focusrite). Stereo LINE OUT L/R to mixer.