RPaul

Got my new 2i2 last night, and so far couldn't get it to work. Two computers: one 2.5 gHz quad core 6 gb RAM, one i7 2 gHz 8 gb RAM (laptop). Both Win 7. I've got the latest 2i2 driver from Focusrite, latest ASIO 4 All and Ableton Live 9. On direct monitoring, I get nice clear sound on both channels. So the unit works, and the instrument, cables, headphones and my ears are fine. The problems are the same on both computers. The problems start with routing the sound through the PC. First, I only get sound in one ear only. The unit's input one sends the signal into the left channel, input two to the right. I bet it's a matter of a simple setting somewhere, but where?! More importantly, the latency is massive, AND, whatever I do with the buffer size, it doesn't seem to make any (desired) effect. So, if in Ableton I go to Preferences - Audio, choose ASIO for driver type and ASIO4ALL v2 for audio device, I get the 'Hardware Setup' button, which lets me into the ASIO4All control panel. I highlight Scarlett 2i2 USB and move the slider. I can change it between 2048 samples down to 64 samples; the 'buffer size' value goes up or down in the settings window in Live correspondingly, and the latency figures change between 46.4 ms (times two - in and out) and 1.45 (!!!) in/out. Fantastic. Under 3 ms latency. Unfortunately, it doesn't make ANY difference to the ear. There's a perceptible gap, and changing setting doesn't do anything to it. I assume that the 60 times difference as per latency [i]numbers[/i] should be noticeable? When the fan kicks in on the laptop and I know that the CPU is working hard, the sound goes all massively distorted, as could be expected with low buffer size, but no matter what settings I change, how big or small the buffer is, it remains distorted. So yet again, buffer size has no effect. Righty-ho, that's not it. If instead of ASIO4All in 'Audio Device' I choose Focusrite USB 2.0 Audio Driver option, the control window changes, as could be expected, to Focusrite's own, with one slider - Buffer Length, in milliseconds. Moving it left or right gives different latency figures, never low enough, but most importantly, if I move it too far left (3 ms or less), the sound disappears altogether. Just silence. Moving the slider back to the right doesn't fix it, I am having to pull the USB plug out. Doing it a couple of times crashes the PC to the blue screen of death. So there you go. I know that 2i2 is a good device that - judging by reviews - can give very low latencies. Both my PCs are reasonably fast and otherwise problem-free, and in any case there's two of them. The combination should produce an acceptable result, but so far it's been anything but. I have a feeling I am missing something terribly trivial, but I've followed all instruction manuals and a few threads on various forums, yet I'm none the wiser. Why does the buffer size have no effect on latency? I mean, c'mon, I can deliberately increase latency to 300 ms, that's a bit more than a hundred times than the lowest figure that Live shows me, why there's no difference? The only thing I could think of could be that there's an additional source of latency somewhere. Should I have switched something else off? The problem is not Live - I've got the same with Audacity and without any DAWs. Erm, help? Paul

Thanks guys, Focusrite it is then.

So here's the question. I've got 200 quid and a desire to buy a simple USB interface for home use. I play jazz standards and blues, don't mess with effects and generally don't do anything complex, sophisticated or even loud. I just want to record how I murder backing tracks at home - mostly to prove to my wife that "50 quid, honestly, not a penny more" I paid for the Fender were not a complete waste of money. In other words, recording the bass into Audacity, maybe occasionally with mic and even another guitar. Latency as low as possible. And a bit of future-proofing: I'd rather pay a wee bit extra for something that I might only need in the future; after all, I won't be able to buy a new interface every time things change a little. I did the homework, read all the 'Eight USB Interfaces Under £200" articles as well as a fair few forums, and narrowed it all down to either Focusrite Scarlett 2I2 or AKAI EIE Pro. The former because it's on all list of recommended interfaces, and quite a few forums say it's a good'n. But it's a bit minimalist, isn't it? Cheap, though. AKAI - because it's on lists to, within budget, has a lot of knobs on it, and above all, has those real' cute-looking analog meters. See, I'm a real technical expert. Am I missing something? If I were buying right now, I'd probably go for AKAI. Anything wrong with them? Amazon reviews are not that great on average, but the rest of t'internet is more positive. Oh, and my two hundred quid come in the form of an Amazon gift card, so buying second-hand is not an option. Thanks in advance, Paul

Yeah, well, shame, really. I was quietly hoping it's because of a blown de-hiss-inator or something equally hi-tech, and that they are a quid a dozen on eBay.

Yep, I can't find much logic in the answer either. I, in my naivety, thought that a practice amp would have comparatively lower power and simpler functionality - and after eight has both. But to have background noise built into it? What, to practice playing in noisy pubs or something? Unless he meant that practice amps are cheaper not only because they're smaller and have limited functions, but also because their sound quality is just about acceptable and not good enough for gigging. Meh, I don't know. At a hundred quid a pop I'm certainly getting more hiss than I've paid for. Bargain Sort of. But the main question remains: apart from taking it to the nearest specialist to take a look at and opening up the wallet, is there anything I could do? I probably know the answer, but...

I've got an After Eight, about 5 years old, owned form new. Got it from PMT or whatever it was called at the time, in Leeds. The problem is that there's a noticeable amount of white noise from it - with or without instrument or anything else plugged in, through the speaker or headphones. So it's basically something in the amp itself, isn't it? I can't get rid of it whatever the knobs combination - obviously, goes down with treble, but never disappears completely. Half an hour of it in the headphones, and I start hissing myself Searched the Web, couldn't find anything of the kind. Got in touch with Ashdown, they wrote the following: [i]"There is nothing wrong with your amp.. It is designed as a practice amp and as such does indeed have a little bit of background noise from the circuitry..[/i] [i]Regards,[/i] [i]Guy[/i] [i]Service Engineer" [/i] How little is a little bit, is obviously a matter of opinion, but I've never had so much hiss from any other bass combos. Any thoughts? Thanks.