Connect microphone to instrument input on interface

drofluf

I suspect the answer is no, or that I’ll need so many extra pieces of kit that it will be better to buy a new interface. 

I have a Scarlet Solo that has one microphone and one instrument input.  Can I connect a microphone to the instrument input?  From what I’ve Googled I’ll need a source of phantom power, a preamp and something to match the expected impedance. 

Or have I missed something?

Danny1969

You can connect a dynamic mic to an instrument input. You would need a female XLR to mono jack plug mic cable ... whether you would have enough gain though depends on the mic and how loud the source is. 

A condenser mic though would need phantom power 

swiller

No you cant.
Maudio have great interfaces to do that job cheap. 
£45
https://www.gak.co.uk/en/m-audio-m-track-duo-audio-interface/940433?gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1

Kurtis

What kind of mic and what you recording? 

drofluf

Kurtis said:

What kind of mic and what you recording? 

Condenser to record acoustic guitar 

Kurtis

drofluf said:

Kurtis said:

What kind of mic and what you recording? 

Condenser to record acoustic guitar 

If it needs phantom power I don't think it will work. 

You do get mics with jack connections, I have one or two, that take batteries. 

thermionic

What am I missing if I suggest connecting the microphone to the microphone input?

mrkb

thermionic said:

What am I missing if I suggest connecting the microphone to the microphone input?

That he’s probably trying to record the acoustic with two mics, so the mic input is already being used.

drofluf

mrkb said:

thermionic said:

What am I missing if I suggest connecting the microphone to the microphone input?

That he’s probably trying to record the acoustic with two mics, so the mic input is already being used.

Exactly that - apologies my first post was unclear, I didn’t quite write what I’d planned in my head. 

thermionic

Ah, right. This is why 2 in/2 out interfaces are a popular choice!

AntonHunter

Yeah, even if you could plug a mic into the instrument input, I think the Solo will only record one thing at a time.

drofluf

AntonHunter said:

Yeah, even if you could plug a mic into the instrument input, I think the Solo will only record one thing at a time.

Not sure that's correct: I wanted to to compare the pickup in my acoustic with my microphone so I used a cable into the instrument interface and the mic into the XLR and saw 2 tracks in Audacity.

Danny1969

You can record both inputs to seperate tracks, just create 2 mono tracks rather than a stereo track. Almost all audio interfaces will generally be 2 in's as all AD convertors are dual, intended for stereo use in the larger non muso audio market. 

AntonHunter

drofluf said:

AntonHunter said:

Yeah, even if you could plug a mic into the instrument input, I think the Solo will only record one thing at a time.

Not sure that's correct: I wanted to to compare the pickup in my acoustic with my microphone so I used a cable into the instrument interface and the mic into the XLR and saw 2 tracks in Audacity.

Aha, cool, I stand corrected!

One option might be to get a separate preamp that would output a line level signal and provide phantom power, but I suspect the cost would be similar to or higher than a new interface tbh.

drofluf

Thanks for all the input; on reflection my efforts would be better spent getting the best out my existing setup before I complicate with a second microphone. What I'll probably do is start a thread asking about whether I should get another AKG170 to work with my current one or something to better complement it