Originally Posted By: jcland

I just use the normal 'out of the box' settings for ASIO. I have tweaked them before but I did not notice any difference so I reset the back to 'factory'.


Thanks for the response I also have found no need to alter any settings and if I switched to ASIO "always on" I got a stuttering start to some songs with RTs.

Originally Posted By: Guitarhacker

2. The front inputs should be different channels. They do not combine to mono. You have 2 mono channels.. one is left, one is right, together, they make stereo. Any mono combining would have to be done in software somewhere. I know the Focusrite interfaces have a software control panel, it might be possible to combine them to mono, but it's generally done in a DAW. However, it's not a default setting. The default is stereo....a unique right and left channel.
If the piano is connected that way and sounds terrible, something else is causing it. First thing I would look at is the level your piano is putting into the inputs. Those inputs have preamps on them and if the piano is putting out a strong signal, the pre's will overload it. I discovered this with my rig when I tried to use a mixer I had in the studio with a mic. Super distorted.... so I plugged the mic straight in and it was crystal.

Experiment.... load a DAW stereo track. Play something with the stereo piano plugged in. Unplug one channel.... does the DAW still record to both stereo channels in the track? If not.... it's not combining to mono anywhere.

Something else to try..... just connect one side of the channel.... just the left. Is it clean? Do you have a mono out? Try that.

The 2i2 doesn't seem to have midi inputs on it.... so... that would explain you using the audio inputs. Does the keyboard have a USB connection on it? If so, use that to connect the keyboard and employ a softsynth. There will be no issues with the sound quality that way. My Focusrite has midi in/out/thru, so I use the midi route 100% of the time. I have never connected my keyboard through the audio inputs.

Plugging in a guitar.... with mono instruments, you will want to plug in to ONE input. AND.... in the DAW, you will want to select THAT MONO INPUT and not the default stereo input. You can use either a software sim or mic, or any sort of guitar processor. Adjust the input level as needed.

The 2i2 is a super recording interface. Using it for playback will give you excellent synced up playback, but you're missing half of what this interface is capable of.

That's my 2 cents for now....hope it helps point you in the right direction.

My piano levels are fine - no clipping shown by the 2i2 or in Realband.

The Focusrite software mixer doesn't work with the 2i2

As you predicted, when I record into RB I get two channels and only one if I disconnect one input from the piano.

If I use just the Left/Mono connection from the piano I get exactly the same "cheezy" sound as with two connections. This sound is exactly the same as I get whenever I have used the L/Mono connection in the past so I know what summed to mono sounds like.

Are you suggesting I use a softsynth piano sound instead of my Yamaha CP4 pianos? I would rather stick with the great Yamaha pianos.

Although you have proved that the 2i2 does not seem to sum to mono there is definitely something going on that I don't understand. If I listen by phones plugged into the CP4 the sound is great. If I plug phones into the front 2i2 phone jack which monitors the inputs to the 2i2, the sound is "cheezy"

To be honest this is something of an academic exercise for me aimed at explaining an anomaly. My normal method is to feed the piano line outs to a mixer with left panned fully left and right fully right. This preserves the great Yamaha sound.

The 2i2 is still worth it as an external sound card.
Thanks for your input.

Tony