Well the all new singing dancing Scarlett Solo has arrived and is in use, along with the new Numark headphones.
What a difference. But of course, I’m facing a minor problem in that the Shure55SH II is a Dynamic mic, thus somewhat low volume output in the sense that the SOLO at full gain doesn’t drive the signal up high enough to be able to sit back from the mic comfortably, and up close, the usual “mouth noises” become somewhat evident.
Otherwise, on my Mac Mini, OSX 10.11.2 it works brilliantly. Just “plug and play” I am now able to get a basic recording that has very low noise floor, minimum peaks, and a useable RMS if I stay up close to the mic. Seems to require only minimum twerking with effects then. Normalisation and Limiting does it. If I may quote from the Focusrite FAQ,
I have to set the gain high to get a good input level
The Saffire and Scarlett microphone preamps provide between +10dB and +55dB of gain to the input signal before the converters. The gain required to obtain an acceptable signal level will depend on several factors including the input source and the type of microphone.For example, signals with a high SPL like those from acoustic drums and guitar amplifiers aren’t likely to require much amplification so it’s normal to set the gain on the lower range. This is particularly true if a sensitive condenser microphone is utilised. Quiet signals such as vocals will require more amplification, particularly if used with a dynamic microphone.
The gain change by the potentiometer isn’t linear and it’s not unusual to require setting the gain towards the high extreme to get a reasonable signal level.
So if it’s any help to others… The unit is brilliant. No hiss, no noise, nothing.
and if anyone has read this far, does Audacity have a setting that can be used to “increase input volume” before recording. Unfortunately, using the SOLO, the Input Volume control is greyed out. It tells me to use the System input control - which is not there.