From built-in CabClone to Scarlett Solo: XLR(F) to what?

Moominpapa

This may be a dumb question - luckily I have no shame Just took possession of a Mesa Mark V:25 (thanks to @Jalfrezi of this parish). It has the Mesa CabClone built in. The CabClone DI output socket is XLR (M) and the manual says to use a regular balanced microphone cable to connect to your interface.

I'm going to be going ffrom the CabClone into my Scarlett Solo interface. The Solo has a balanced XLR mic input and a line/instrument input. So my question is, which Solo input should I use - or does it matter?  The reason I'm a little confused is that on the Mesa CabClone standalone unit there is a control which allows you to set the output to different specific levels "from MIC (-30dB) to INSTRUMENT LEVEL (-10dB) to Pro LINE LEVEL (+4DB)".  With the built-in CabClone in the Mark V:25 head, that control doesn't exist. Instead, the manual says that "the CabClone circuit gets its feed from the SPEAKER Output" and that because "the CabClone circuit is passive, there is no dedicated Output Level Control, so the Channel MASTERS and the MULTI-WATT Power Select switches will determine your send level strength at the CabClone D.I. Output."  This leaves me wondering whether if I connect the CabClone DI to the Solo XLR input, I might be in danger of overloading it with a line level signal.

Any advice on this would be much appreciated.

rico

I would try it with the line level input starting with the gain at zero then slowly bring it up, keeping an eye on the meters.

Moominpapa

Thanks for the reply @rico . Poking around a bit more I see that the maximum input level for the Solo's XLR input is specified as +9dBu. If the separate CabClone unit  has +4dBu as its highest output setting, I'm thinking surely the built-in unit must be limited to the same - in which case I ought to be able to use an XLR(F)-XLR(M) mic cable and go into the XLR input. I think ...

andy_k

only issue is to avoid clipping the input, I think it should be set at line level-( you are not connecting a mic) and bring levels up to desired.
You dont need a hot signal, clip gain can increase signal in daw if needed, but you can't get rid of a clipped signal. Focusrites are a bit sensitive to level-try to get the light to glow amber  , and then back off slightly. Try to get a setting that  works and then mark it for future ref.

pintspiller

I would monitor the input on the DAW while adjusting input on interface from zero to the peak on DAW no more than -6db

Moominpapa

Just to bring closure and for the benefit of anyone who had a similar question and came here looking for an answer, I tried 3 different ways of going into the Focusrite Solo from the Mesa's CabClone XLR:

1) balanced cable to XLR mic input:  possible at very low volumes but any attempts at gain would bring clipping very soon, so really not viable

2) Unbalanced cable to 1/4" jack input. I tried this both at line and instrument levels. Far easier to whomp up the gain, as you'd imagine, but I found it really noisy, even though it was a very short cable.

3) Balanced cable to 1/4" jack input. This was the best. Took a little experimenting with the balance of the channel's gain knob versus the master volume to get rid of some noise, but wasn't long before I was getting a tone in Reaper that I was happy with. (I found the Mark 5:25's graphic eq really useful with the CabClone, whereas I hadn't been using it when playing straight through amp & cab.)