Sup Forums. I posted this thread on Sup Forums but they are slow.
hi. I am about to order my very first monitors, KRK Rokit 5 G3(Pair) and my first audio interface Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. I need to understand a number of things so sorry if this gets too long. I did my research online but all forums had too many terms I didn't understand.
I realized I will have to buy cables for my monitors too and I am confused between what I need - RCA and XLR? Is there anything more I need to know about cables?
Also I am currently using a piano that works as a midi and for now I connect it with a simple USB directly to my laptop. I want to know how can I connect my piano to my audio interface.
I will post all pictures below. I just need to know which cables I need and which cable goes into which hole. I am terrible at this, this is the first time I am getting real equipment. All this is for my small home studio where I produce electronic music.
Sebastian Walker
MONITORS
These are the monitors I am about to order.
Chase Watson
AUDIO INTERFACE
This is the audio interface. Which cables will I need to connect the monitors into this thing and into which slots?
Dylan Lewis
MY MIDI THING
These are all the holes it has in his back. I want to know if it can be plugged in to the audio interface. If yes, which hole goes where and what cable will I need?
Lincoln Johnson
Someone help this man! If OP receives help in a timely manner I will post OC green text story.
Brandon Scott
another hole
Isaac Parker
I have no idea about what is balanced and unbalanced either. I kept bumping into these terms.
Hunter Bennett
I love you user thanks. looking forward for the story
David Barnes
Np man, I will admit it isn't finished though but whatever. It's like a sneak peak.
Christian Morales
You will need 2 xlr to 1/4 cables since your scarlet does not have xlr inputs. Xlr goes into the monitors and 1/4 into the out put on the scarlet. The preamp will talk to the computer via usb
Ian Sullivan
...
Evan Flores
You need 2 x balanced 1/4 inch jack cables from interface outputs to monitors. There is no midi in/out in the scarlet but it should still work pluggin straight into PC USB. Or you can record audio from keyboard through one of the interface channels
Adrian Walker
sweet got that. I am guessing the 1/4 cables go into the Left & right slots on the scarlett? do you have any idea what are those two slots next to green and red gain knobs? I have never seen those kind of holes. what are they used for?
Brandon Richardson
This should also hook up to the computer via usb, no reason for it to go to the scarlet since it is midi
Jaxon Wright
>those are xlr/jack combi sockets. You can plug both xlr and jack cables into these
Angel Campbell
thanks. I was just curious if the scarlett had any slots this can go through.
Michael Taylor
Those are also xlr, you would hook an xlr to those and the other end to a mic. They also have a larger hole in the middle if you wanted to plug an instrument directly into the scarlet via 1/4inch.
Brayden Rogers
RCA - standard connection in audio work most well known publicly on the back/sides of tv's in yellow white and red
XLR - is a little more tricky to explain because there are alot of aplications of it that have cropped up recently but the socket under the volume knob on the monitor picture you posted is XLR
i would using a big phono trs (a guitar jack) to xlr cable to connect the interface to your monitors and as for the midi i wouldnt worry about it tbh the fact that you are running midi to your pc is usually a good thing because you essentially have an unlimited variety of sounds to work with that will all work with the ASIO driver (basically incredibly low I/O latency)
Chase Hernandez
thank you! that Sup Forums link is dead user
Leo James
What you want is a pair of balanced 1/4" Jack to Jack cables. These go from the line outputs on the interface to the balanced input on the monitors. The interface doesn't have MIDI but running it the way you are will run fine alongside the interface. MIDI carries no audio, just simple messages that trigger audio, so the messages will be sent from your keyboard via USB to the computer, which the DAW will then use to trigger sound, and that sound will then be outfitted by the interface to the speakers.
Hudson Jackson
cont
depending on your studio application with high end gear speaker placement is endlessly important
but a good rule of thumb is the bottom of the speaker diaphragm should be at eye level and in a top down view should form an equilateral triangle with your head and that should pretty much give you the perfect working environment
Nicholas Green
thanks!
fuck that explains everything thank you so much
Jason Baker
great so I think can use either 1/4 on both ends to connect the monitors or an XLR to 1/4. Does it make a difference? Which one is better?
Jaxon King
they are both balanced so it really doesn't matter
Kayden Hill
If the middle cable is power, then no piece of this equipment is midi. In wich case youll end up buying a firewire setup. Wich as my memory would serve me are pretty costly.
Dylan Lee
now that i think about it (i was the one who suggested the 1/4 to xlr) it would probably be cheaper to use 2 guitar leads because they are more widely available
Isaiah Mitchell
cool then, thanks
oh there is one in the second picture. thanks anyway but like others told me, I will stick to connecting this directly to my laptop using the usb like I do now
Jonathan Diaz
yeah I was just looking up the price difference. XLR to 1/4 are expensive. And I think I already have two guitar cables back when I was playing bass so that's nice