Secano SRL Posted August 15 Share Posted August 15 Hi People Hope my English is good enough to be understood. I am trying to built a home studio and I almost don't know nothing about interface, preamps, line or pre amps input, etc I am learning while making mistakes... Can I use Cakewalk DAW as a virtual pre amp to connect mics or electroacoustic guitar in line inputs? I purchased a focusrite Scarlett 4i4 4th gen. I thought its 4 inputs where able for 2 mics & 2 guitars ... my mistake! Some audio shops says I need to purchase a mixer ( like a Behringer Xenyx 802 s ) connect the mics to the mixer and connect the mixer to line 3 and 4 in de Scarlett and use line 1 and 2 for the guitars ( with pre amps ) Others shops told me using Cakewalk DAW can use a virtual pre amp in line inputs to de Scarlet interface but I don't find the way to make it work. Someone can assist me if this options are true or possible? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsinger Posted August 15 Share Posted August 15 You need preamps to boost the signal to a level appropriate for the interface. You can't do that with software. The DAW is after the 4i4. It sounds like you need some preamps or a small mixer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
57Gregy Posted August 15 Share Posted August 15 4 hours ago, Secano SRL said: I thought its 4 inputs where able for 2 mics & 2 guitars Is that what you want to do, 2 guitars and 2 microphones at the same time? If so, you will need an external mixer, as the 4i4 I have (3rd gen) can only accommodate 1 guitar and 1 mic simultaneously, plus 2 mono or 1 stereo line input on the backside, but it works great that way. If your Focusrite is new, you may be able to exchange it for another model with the inputs you need. Welcome to the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msmcleod Posted August 16 Share Posted August 16 The small mixer suggestion is probably the cheapest option. Whilst you could get an interface with more mic/instrument level inputs, the cost will be way more. Even the 6i6 / 8i6 only have 2 mic inputs, with 2 / 4 line inputs on the back. The 18i8 has four mic inputs, and the 18i20 has eight mic inputs, but you're now talking 4 x the cost of your 4i4. You can get cheap 8 channel (or less) mixers by Mackie, Behringer, Thomann, Alto and a bunch of others. From the pictures of them, they all look like the same mixer with a different badge on them. You could just get a couple of standalone preamps rather than a mixer, but it'd most likely cost more. I've got an old 5 channel Thomann mixer. Absolutely nothing to write home about, but the preamps are clean and it does the job. Thomann do a two channel mixer that might be suitable - it's only £33 ( approx $42) - you'd probably NOT want to use the USB on it though (apart from for power), and it looks like phantom power is only 18v... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Secano SRL Posted August 18 Author Share Posted August 18 Understood Guys Thanks a lot for you answers. Next step is to find the appropriate mixer with the inputs I will need Regards 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msmcleod Posted August 21 Share Posted August 21 I knew there was something that would do exactly what you need: I've actually got 3 of these on a 1U rack tray in my old 01X / i88X mLAN system. The 01X only has two XLR inputs, with 6 line inputs at the back. Each audiobuddy has two separate mic/instrument ins, so three of them give me mic inputs for the 6 line inputs of the i88X. They're now discontinued, but they do crop up second hand on eBay for around $50. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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