- Hi, I'm Jordan from Kettner Creative. In this video, we're gonna compare the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 audio interface against the Focusrite
Scarlett Solo audio interface. Oftentimes, if people are
looking to just get started with connecting their XLR
microphone to their computer, they usually end up looking at
one of these audio interfaces because these are extremely popular. They come highly recommended, especially for the price point, these are extremely popular
and extremely good value. But if you're new to this, it can be overwhelming looking
at all the specs and models. And you're tryna figure out is the Scarlet Solo enough for me? Do I need the features from the 2i2, or do I want the affordability of the Solo and that has everything that I need? So, we're hoping to answer
those questions in this video. Now, first of all, in terms of price, we do have some links down
in the description below not only for both of
these audio interfaces, but for their combo kits as well. The combo kits come with a condenser microphone and headphones, and either one of these audio interfaces, they're really good value. So please do check out the
links in the description below. If you wanna see current
up-to-date pricing at a variety of online retailers, so you can find the best
current price for you. Now, first of all, when we look at size of
both of these devices, you can tell that the Solo is obviously a little bit smaller. It does have less features. The inputs are a little bit more compact, so it does come in at a smaller size if portability is really important to you. Now, when we look at the
back of both devices here, you can see that they do
have very similar setups. You have a Kensington lock slot, you have a left and
right line level output, and you have a USB-C cable that will connect to your computer. So they're very similar there. On the front, you can tell is where things start to
get a little bit different. Now they do both have that
nice large monitor knob to control the line level outputs
on the rear of the device. They both have a headphone jack there. They offer direct monitoring. And that's where things start to get a little bit different now. On the Scarlet Solo here, you can tell that they have
an XLR mic level input here. You get Phantom power
for that mic level input. So if you have a condenser microphone, you can turn that on or off. You need it on if you have
a condenser microphone. You do get this nice Focusrite air switch that does give a boost
of the upper frequencies for your mic level input. And you get your control
for that mic level input. Next to it, there is a quarter-inch input that works for both instrument
level and line level inputs. And you can toggle it using this instrument level button there. Now one common misconception
about this audio interface, and it comes as no surprise 'cause it's called the Scarlett Solo. People think that you can just record one of the inputs at a time. That's not true. You can record both
inputs at the same time. You can multi-track record them. So if you're a singer songwriter, say you have an acoustic
guitar with a pickup built in, you can plug that into the instrument
level quarter-inch input, and you can plug your
microphone into the XLR input and sing and rip the chord
and multi-track both of them. So that works really well. Now, what this thing cannot do is you cannot connect to microphones or to line level or
instrument level inputs. If you want something like that, you would need the Scarlett 2i2. So let's take a look at that next. The Scarlett 2i2 is very
similar to the Scarlett Solo where you do get instrument
and line level control over the quarter-inch jacks. You get this air switch that you can add to the XLR mic level input. And you can add Phantom power if you're using a condenser microphone. But where this thing really
shines compared to the Solo is you can do a lot of stereo recording. So you can do, if you
have a two-person podcast, you can connect two microphones. If you're micing a grand
piano or something like that and you need that stereo
recording with two microphones, you can now do that with this device. If you're recording a stereo input source like an electric keyboard, where you want the left and
right recorded separately so you can pan them later in post, you can do that with this, with two quarter-inch inputs
coming from the keyboard. Other than that, the preamps
are identical in both. The interface with the green blinky ring around both ends is identical as well. It responds the same way. So which one of these
would I recommend for you? If you're doing video conferencing, a one-man or one-woman podcast, if you're doing voiceover
work where it's just you, or if you're just doing
singer songwriter type stuff where you're plugging in a keyboard into the quarter inch jack and a microphone into the XLR jack, then the Scarlett Solo is perfect for you and it will meet everything that you need. If you wanna do a little bit more and you know that you're gonna be doing a lot more experimentation
in your home studio, you're gonna wanna record
a two person podcast. You're gonna wanna record stereo sources, maybe the front and the
side of a guitar amp or something like that or like I said before, left and right of a grand piano or you want both sides of an
electric piano plugged in, the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
will give you that option. So it really depends what
you see yourself doing. If you're really just using this as a video conferencing setup, then the Focusrite Scarlett Solo will be absolutely perfect for you. If you see yourself doing
home studio experimentation for the next several years, I would spend the extra money on the Focusrite Scarlett
2i2 audio interface. Again, if you do wanna
see pricing or specs for either one of these devices, we do have links down in
the description below. If you have any questions, if there's something that we
didn't cover in this video, please leave a comment in
the comment section below. And if you wanna see more
videos like this in the future, please like and subscribe. Thank you so much for watching. (upbeat music)
