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Scarlett 4i4 for powered studio monitors and subwoofers

MaximusDecimus

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Apr 21, 2025
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Hello all. I recently got into speakers coming from headphones and earphones and I have made a few mistakes to begin with.

I bought a pair of JBL 306p mk2 from that video DMS made and then 2x SVS SB-1000 from a article I read later on. Not really aware of the balanced/unbalanced stuff and the best way to interconnect everything.

For now I have been using my old headphone amp. The iFi Zen DAC. which has been working fine but I believe it has some audio delay issues and its not suitable for what I want to achieve.

I have been looking at the Scarlett 4i4 as it has 4 balanced outputs. I was thinking of plugging the mains into 1 and 2. Then the subs into 3. Would this be a good solution to run balanced monitors with unbalanced subs?

As of now. I'm not getting any ground loop noise or interference from using it all single ended but would like to use the monitors with the balanced connection.

Please let me know what you think or if I should scrap it and start over.

I'm currently using these speakers for my tv in my room to watch TV shows and listen to music and would like to work with what I have. I got a really good deal on all this stuff used and there are plenty of used scarletts around my area for good prices

Thanks for reading

- Max

EDIT -

My Tv is connected to a PC. my ZEN dac is connected to my pc via USB.

From there its RCA out to the subs then from the subs to the mains. I am using the built in crossover in the subwoofer.

I mainly use my setup to watch TV shows. I would listen to more music but got some room modes that I am dealing with at the moment. Going to rearrange my room so speakers are firing down the length of the room and I will be sitting as close as possible with the subs at ear level
 
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I have been looking at the Scarlett 4i4 as it has 4 balanced outputs. I was thinking of plugging the mains into 1 and 2. Then the subs into 3. Would this be a good solution to run balanced monitors with unbalanced subs?
Yes? Do you have anything in your setup that would perform crossover duty? You mention a TV, how does that feed into the Scarlett?

To be fair, running your speakers without any high pass and your subs full range could also work (more bass sources in your room never really hurts in smoothing out bass in realistic scenarios IME) but I'd imagine that the 306 would quickly run out of juice and that it'd be easier to run it without any bass duty.
 
Should work. But more info necessary. Im assuming you will be using a computer for music? Does your tv have analog outs? Do you have any other sources?
Does the scarlett have a direct input to output option (the audio dosnt go thru the computer)? This will eliminate any delay. Does its volume control (if your using it) adjust all outputs so your subs follow the mains.
Your subs have level and LP filters so you dont absolutely need sofware for that.
 
Should work. But more info necessary. Im assuming you will be using a computer for music? Does your tv have analog outs? Do you have any other sources?
Does the scarlett have a direct input to output option (the audio dosnt go thru the computer)? This will eliminate any delay. Does its volume control (if your using it) adjust all outputs so your subs follow the mains.
Your subs have level and LP filters so you dont absolutely need sofware for that.
Sorry that should have been more obvious to me.

My Tv is connected to a PC. my ZEN dac is connected to my pc via USB.

From there its RCA out to the subs then from the subs to the mains. I am using the built in crossover in the subwoofer.

I mainly use my setup to watch TV shows. I would listen to more music but got some room modes that I am dealing with at the moment. Going to rearrange my room so speakers are firing down the length of the room and I will be sitting as close as possible with the subs at ear level
 
Yes? Do you have anything in your setup that would perform crossover duty? You mention a TV, how does that feed into the Scarlett?

To be fair, running your speakers without any high pass and your subs full range could also work (more bass sources in your room never really hurts in smoothing out bass in realistic scenarios IME) but I'd imagine that the 306 would quickly run out of juice and that it'd be easier to run it without any bass duty.
Yes I have UMIK and have done some measurements with and without the subwoofer. If I am to not use the crossovers in the subs then I would need to do crossover in software to each output. Not sure if the Scarlett can do that. Thanks
 
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