Should you use a Focusrite 2i2 to record your bass?

[brianrost]

I couldn't get my active basses to not clip on a 2i2 unless the gain on the interface and the volume on the bass were at near zero and I played with a very light touch.

Has anyone tried using the line input? It's padded 10dB compared to the instrument input. On a 2i2 that would be using the 1/4" jack but not pressing the Inst button.

That drops the input impedance from 1Mohms to only 60Kohms, but an active bass would be OK with that.

P.S. the specs do claim that maximum input with gain at 0 is +12.5dBu on the instrument input, +22dBu for line input. As others have mentioned there is no way a bass would put out +12dBu. If it did it would be clipping every bass amp you plugged it into. Whatever is going on here is a lot more complicated than what the specifications suggest.

EDIT: the input spec on a GK 400RB amp states max input is 0.6V, 1.6V with the pad engaged. The chart below is from Wikipedia. The GK spec roughly fits the green (passive) and red (active) curves. The black curve is +4dBu, +12dBu would be more than double the peak voltage of the red curve. There should be plenty of headroom in the 2i2, why there isn't for some users, who knows.

 

[Obese Chess]

I think - and again, I sold mine years ago and bought a 2i4, so this is all based on memory of stuff I did in my mid twenties, ie, not super reliable - that the user manual either says or heavily implies that "inst" should be used for all instruments using a 1/4" input and "line" should only be used for microphones connected via XLR. As a beginner, buying a beginner interface, I don't know if it ever occurred to me to try the "line" input as I figured the difference was in the connection type rather than the dB rating.

 

[seamonkey]

I've noted that on the back of the 2i2 Gen 4 there are two USB-C ports
One for power, one for data. Those very efficient wall phone chargers can be used for power.
I don't know if the other gen have this.

This is a great idea, USB-C can actually switch to different voltages based on a chip in the cable. Adafruit has a USB-C to 9v adapter cable that can be used for pedals
USB Type C 3.1 PD to 5.5mm Barrel Jack Cable - 9V 5A Output
One can investigate the USB PD standard for all the voltages that can be supplied.

 

[Sid Fang]

I think - and again, I sold mine years ago and bought a 2i4, so this is all based on memory of stuff I did in my mid twenties, ie, not super reliable - that the user manual either says or heavily implies that "inst" should be used for all instruments using a 1/4" input and "line" should only be used for microphones connected via XLR. As a beginner, buying a beginner interface, I don't know if it ever occurred to me to try the "line" input as I figured the difference was in the connection type rather than the dB rating.

If you go back to mixing consoles from the 20th century, the instrument/line setting was at least as much about the input impedance than the signal levels. A "line" input would typically have an impedance of 10K ohms, where instrument pickups often have a higher output impedance - sometimes *much* higher (e.g. piezos). I probably still have some old-school in-line transformer 1/4" converters for this. It's entirely possible that all the Inst/Mic switch on the 2i2 does is enable/disable a pad, but it seems odd to me.

 

[Basslice]

Late to party. I have a 1st gen 2i4, 3rd gen Solo, and a 3rd gen 18i20.

Never had any of the issues complained about. I'm not saying the OP hasn't, just never a problem for me.

 

[skycruiser]

Successful troll. OP disappeared after the first thread page.

 

[Dominic D]

I wonder if there may also be some confusion on clipping LED. It's only clipping when the light turns red. It's not clipping yet when it goes from green to amber.

 

[DirkP]

Not to defend the behaviour of the initial poster, but couldn't it simply be the case, that some units were faulty and he did everything correct? He stated that he used the hz input and set the levels very low. And if this should be true, he was getting angry getting the same reply over and over that he does something wrong.
Although in this case and if possible I would simply test another unit in a shop and ask Focusrite to replace the unit.

 

[Ender_rpm]

2i2 wasn't well designed for anything other than mics and keyboards, IMO. I had the 2i4, worked great, upgraded to 18i20 plus Octo Pre, also work great. Sometimes its a PEBKAC error, and no manufacturer can over come those.

 

[Nephilymbass]

I read in many forums that the 1st gen 2i2 was really bad for this issue. Thats why I bought a new one instead of a used gen 1 for less. Even with a newer one I compress on the way in. I actually originally did it for a different reason because I'm more of an iPhone/ipad guy so I didn't want to buy a $2000 computer with a ton of processing power. I use a cheap HP laptop to record. It quickly runs out of processing power stacking plugins on tracks. So I've grown used to doing a lot of stuff "outside of the box" that said if you're trying to do everything inside the box then yeah the 2i2 sucks for that.