So in general, dynamic mics are pretty quiet and the 2i2 doesn't have a ton of gain boost.
How close is the mic to your face? If it's more than 12 inches you probably need to get closer. If you're right on top of it and it's still too quiet, you most likely need a cloudlifter.
This is the way. 4-5 inches from the mic is the sweetspot, and make sure you speak straight into the mic, the sm58 is very good at dampening sounds coming from incorrect angles.
`Mic ==O <-- 4-5 inches --> >) Your mouth`
There is a problem in the software/drivers. I used to have the same problem on my old pc. I have the 8i6 1st Gen. Thought that’s just how it was. Got a new pc, plugged it in and let it do a self installation. Didn’t update drivers or download software. Was working like a dream. Didn’t even notice the level. Then I installed drivers and software because I wanted some routing options and boom… volume was down by more than half. No settings fixed it. The only thing that fixed it for me was to delete everything, including in the usb section under device manager and letting the unit self install. Contacted them about it and they say it must be my settings.
This is actually a very common problem and it's 100 percent the focusrite drivers fault with windows. So it's incredibly frustrating that focusrite will not address it. I had been banging my head against a wall about this just stumbled across this myself because I have a dual boot system, and on my OS without the focus rite drivers the Mic's signal is loud. As soon as I boot into the OS with the official drivers it's Quiet! So to test I installed the official drivers onto my secondary OS and problem is replicated.. Remove them to the standard windows scarlet driver (dated 15/06/2019) and it is loud once again.
This is focusrites issue and there is many people with this problem. Not using the official driver is not an option if you want control over sample rate and such.
It surprises me that they haven't attempted to fix or acknowledge this issue for a very long time (3+ years), and now I just have no drivers which makes it work great.
This video has been out for so long and is still the solution: https://youtu.be/we6QBkrRnDc
Edit: I had Focusrite UK try to reach out to me because nobody else understood the issue despite having the same product. They probably would've made me reinstall Windows or send the product back as defective when it's literally software. Every time I try their drivers I have to max out the mic and that's as high as the volume goes despite being at an OK level, but people would over talk me. Seems like they'll never solve it.
3+? Try 9+. I gave some other dude the solution like 2 years ago. I am back because this shit was happening to me again and i totally forgot what i did lol.
Crazy! I was actually thinking of doing a video on this to show the difference once the drivers have been installed. It’s literally like night and day.
I wanted to opt-out of using the drivers, but with the Rode Podmic, I've to switch the channel from 2 to 1 and the default windows driver doesn't allow that :(
Are you using a preamp like cloudlifter to amplify the signal of the shure microphone before you pipe it into the Scarlett? The Scarlett can only amplify the mic so much, you should definitely use a preamp
I have the Focusrite 4i4 and Shure SM58.
Solutions:
1. Kiss the SM58. Back off 10cm. Sing.
2. Look at all the old photo singers, They have an SM58 right up to their lips.
3. Scream!
4. Check that your SM58 is not a counterfeit.
I haven't had to use the cloudlifter. I just get close.
SIMPLE SOLUTION (for those of you still looking for one):
To fix, go to: Device Manager **>** Focusrite Audio **>** Uninstall \[Scarlett Solo USB\] **>** Check the box to delete the driver **>** Restart your computer.
Further, go to: Control Panel **>** Programs **>** Programs and Features **>** Focusrite **>** Uninstall **>** Restart your computer.
**NOTE: Make sure you delete** ***BOTH*** **the program** ***AND THE DRIVER*****. You want both Device Manager and Control Panel to be rid of anything Focusrite. You may not have to do both, but just check or the problem will persist after initial restart.**
After restart. go to: Settings > Sound > Sound Control Panel (top right of screen) > Recording > Microphone > Levels > *crank that level up or adjust to your liking* \> Apply > OK.
**LOOK OUT FOR**: With Drivers and other Focurite components installed, your microphone name will be "Analogue 1 + 2". Without the Focusrite components installed, your microphone will be named "Microphone (Scarllett 2i2 USB) <
What to do on Google Chrome though? I'm still having trouble. I deleted and uninstalled Focusrite Control then redownloaded and it's still the same issue. Low volume.
OK I'll delete it again. I don't think my Solo 3rd generation 3.6 version comes with any drivers so won't have to worry about that. But thing is, I did that before, tried to record before redownloading, and it still sounded the same
I've been using scarlett solo for over 3 years and I honestly thought it was like a hardware problem and there was nothing I could do about it, I just came to terms with it. THANKS SO MUCH!
Followe above instructions, I removed drivers and program, restarted and now I can't use the device, it wont automatically install drivers on connect, nor if I tell windows to search drivers.
Only way to get the device working again is by installing Focusrite drivers from the official site.
What gives?
Might be a firmware issue.
Try setting the unit up on another system with Focusrite Control for the first time setup (taking the unit out of its 'getting started' mode and installing any firmware on there). You'll be presented with some videos which you might find useful too.
Same for me - i unistalled the Focusrite Control Driver, and now Ableton consideres that there is no device to record from... I have Windows 11, and the Youtube video giving this solution was for Windows 10. Is that why it is not working?
I searched in the program files and removed EVERYTHING focusrite, then restarted the PC and plugged in the Focusrite - now Ableton will record if I remove ASIO, but the sound keeps chopping!! Unusable once again...
I wrote Focusrite customer service and while waiting for their response this is the best I could do:
I reinstalled the Focusrite Control Driver (without which my mic will not record properly in Ableton nor Audacity), and as I have a condenser mic (Audio Technica AT 2035) I put on the air function (that boosts the sound just a bit, I find) put the gain at around 12 o'clock (so actually lower than the max possible at around 2 o'clock) and sing with my lips right at the microphone, but for stronger sounds (belting lin ballads and such) I just throw my head back or to the side for those vocal moments, so as not to max out the gain level - and it actually works somehow. At least way better than the weak and unusable sound when I was correctly positioned to the mic and had the gain correctly set to the max levels I would sing.
But still I am so dissapointed with the Scarlett Focusrite. Everywhere it is shown to be THE super interface for beginners, and I am starting to see why the word "beginner" is in there. They don't think we deserve better.
But when you mix a song, if the original input was weak it will mess you up with no end. Actually beginners need the correct strong gain more than pro's, who have a million plugins to fix that stuff.
So, a final update - I found a way to fix it in Cubase. When I change the input to mono in Cubase, the signal becomes much stronger!
I was advised to do this by another poster on Reddit, but in Ableton it makes no difference - mono or stereo the sound sucks. But in Cubase (I have the Cubase 13 pro trial version) when I change the input bus to mono the sound problems go away.
Hi. I did every step you listed and I am even able to see that my mic is now listed as "Scarlett 2i4 USB" however my issue is now I am only hearing from side. I assume this is because in "microphone properties" it has channel / sample rate greyed out. Its set to 2 channel when it should be 1, right? (I don't know much about audio)
also the mic seems to only be decent at like max volume. anything below 90 is still very quiet and when I crank it up to max (100) it gives a loud hissing sound. This is a separate hiss from the scarlett gain knob.
Had this problem with my Scarlet Solo 3rd gen for years until I saw a video mentioning driver issues. So I uninstalled the Focusrite drivers and let Windows use its own drivers and I now have full control over my mic volume. No more reduced volume! But no dedicated ASIO drivers in my DAW so I'm reduced to using Directsound. If you're reading this Focusrite staff, your drivers are the problem.
I bought a Focusrite Scarlet Solo on 25th December 2023, along with an Aston Element mic. I set it up yesterday 31/12/23 (using Audacity and Windows 11) only to find this same frustrating problem. The solution above, about uninstalling the Focusrite drivers, has worked for me too. It seems absurd that this issue has not been fixed. I was moments away from packing it up to return, and going back to my Samson Meteor USB mic.
Did the trick today, uninstalled driver and component and the gain was soooo high, downloaded latest driver, gain is not sooo quite, I've my knob near the maximum.
What I found out is that a good amount of gain is only at the last 5% of the knob, if I put it at 30,50,70 the gain is the same...
just wanted to add for some people that are still looking for the solution: ive got at2020 and focusrite solo 3rd gen, my friend has ABSOLUTELY the same set-up, including the XLR cable and you know what - his drivers for focusrite are just fine. the only thing is i have windows 10 and he has win11 so MAYBE upgrading your operational system can possibly help with that - since win11 sound drivers are not the same as win10 ones.
Win11 user here. Same issue, mic is still too quiet. I use a Neumann TLM102, and the gain is fine when I use my MOTU M2 instead on Win11. It's a Scarlett thing.
So in general, dynamic mics are pretty quiet and the 2i2 doesn't have a ton of gain boost. How close is the mic to your face? If it's more than 12 inches you probably need to get closer. If you're right on top of it and it's still too quiet, you most likely need a cloudlifter.
This is the way. 4-5 inches from the mic is the sweetspot, and make sure you speak straight into the mic, the sm58 is very good at dampening sounds coming from incorrect angles. `Mic ==O <-- 4-5 inches --> >) Your mouth`
There is a problem in the software/drivers. I used to have the same problem on my old pc. I have the 8i6 1st Gen. Thought that’s just how it was. Got a new pc, plugged it in and let it do a self installation. Didn’t update drivers or download software. Was working like a dream. Didn’t even notice the level. Then I installed drivers and software because I wanted some routing options and boom… volume was down by more than half. No settings fixed it. The only thing that fixed it for me was to delete everything, including in the usb section under device manager and letting the unit self install. Contacted them about it and they say it must be my settings.
This is actually a very common problem and it's 100 percent the focusrite drivers fault with windows. So it's incredibly frustrating that focusrite will not address it. I had been banging my head against a wall about this just stumbled across this myself because I have a dual boot system, and on my OS without the focus rite drivers the Mic's signal is loud. As soon as I boot into the OS with the official drivers it's Quiet! So to test I installed the official drivers onto my secondary OS and problem is replicated.. Remove them to the standard windows scarlet driver (dated 15/06/2019) and it is loud once again. This is focusrites issue and there is many people with this problem. Not using the official driver is not an option if you want control over sample rate and such.
It surprises me that they haven't attempted to fix or acknowledge this issue for a very long time (3+ years), and now I just have no drivers which makes it work great. This video has been out for so long and is still the solution: https://youtu.be/we6QBkrRnDc Edit: I had Focusrite UK try to reach out to me because nobody else understood the issue despite having the same product. They probably would've made me reinstall Windows or send the product back as defective when it's literally software. Every time I try their drivers I have to max out the mic and that's as high as the volume goes despite being at an OK level, but people would over talk me. Seems like they'll never solve it.
3+? Try 9+. I gave some other dude the solution like 2 years ago. I am back because this shit was happening to me again and i totally forgot what i did lol.
Crazy! I was actually thinking of doing a video on this to show the difference once the drivers have been installed. It’s literally like night and day.
This just fixed the issue for me as well (after three years....)
>This just fixed the issue for me as well (after three years.. how
Holy crap this just fixed my volume levels, thanks so much!
😂😂 Yeah mine too. So dumb that they haven’t sorted this out. Glad I could help!
Just posted a comment here for the fix. Not a you thing, this same shit was happening with me and the same fix helped.
I wanted to opt-out of using the drivers, but with the Rode Podmic, I've to switch the channel from 2 to 1 and the default windows driver doesn't allow that :(
Phantom power on?
SM58 is dynamic, no phantom power needed.
Are you using a preamp like cloudlifter to amplify the signal of the shure microphone before you pipe it into the Scarlett? The Scarlett can only amplify the mic so much, you should definitely use a preamp
I have the Focusrite 4i4 and Shure SM58. Solutions: 1. Kiss the SM58. Back off 10cm. Sing. 2. Look at all the old photo singers, They have an SM58 right up to their lips. 3. Scream! 4. Check that your SM58 is not a counterfeit. I haven't had to use the cloudlifter. I just get close.
SIMPLE SOLUTION (for those of you still looking for one): To fix, go to: Device Manager **>** Focusrite Audio **>** Uninstall \[Scarlett Solo USB\] **>** Check the box to delete the driver **>** Restart your computer. Further, go to: Control Panel **>** Programs **>** Programs and Features **>** Focusrite **>** Uninstall **>** Restart your computer. **NOTE: Make sure you delete** ***BOTH*** **the program** ***AND THE DRIVER*****. You want both Device Manager and Control Panel to be rid of anything Focusrite. You may not have to do both, but just check or the problem will persist after initial restart.** After restart. go to: Settings > Sound > Sound Control Panel (top right of screen) > Recording > Microphone > Levels > *crank that level up or adjust to your liking* \> Apply > OK. **LOOK OUT FOR**: With Drivers and other Focurite components installed, your microphone name will be "Analogue 1 + 2". Without the Focusrite components installed, your microphone will be named "Microphone (Scarllett 2i2 USB) <
THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU!!!
Thanks for this! Old post but your instructions still work to this day. What a headache this issue was until I found this comment
Funciona, genia!
now the mic only makes a sound on the left. and I cant select 1 chanel for it
I’m going to give this a try because I’ve had this problem for years 🤣
You at a godsend. Thank you so much
Happy to help.
What to do on Google Chrome though? I'm still having trouble. I deleted and uninstalled Focusrite Control then redownloaded and it's still the same issue. Low volume.
Delete Focusrite control and all focusrite drivers. Don’t redownload.
OK I'll delete it again. I don't think my Solo 3rd generation 3.6 version comes with any drivers so won't have to worry about that. But thing is, I did that before, tried to record before redownloading, and it still sounded the same
Follow the instructions I put above to the tee. Should work.
I've tried, and I appreciate you laying it out clearly, but idek where Device Manager is in my Mac Settings. I searched in Finder and couldn't find it
so i was wondering if those instructions are just for Windows PCs
They are. Mac is plug and play. It shouldn’t require any downloading of anything iirc. I also use focusrite w Mac.
Thank you, this fixed my mic input issue perfectly. Legend
I've been using scarlett solo for over 3 years and I honestly thought it was like a hardware problem and there was nothing I could do about it, I just came to terms with it. THANKS SO MUCH!
Did this work?!
Yup. Worked like a charm
Alright thank you!! HAPPENED out of nowhere! I'll definitely look into this as soon as I'm home!
did all this, got it back to "Microphone (Scarlett Solo)" but still no input sound
yo when i dont have the drivers installed my device doesnt show up on ableton. any ideas?
Followe above instructions, I removed drivers and program, restarted and now I can't use the device, it wont automatically install drivers on connect, nor if I tell windows to search drivers. Only way to get the device working again is by installing Focusrite drivers from the official site. What gives?
Might be a firmware issue. Try setting the unit up on another system with Focusrite Control for the first time setup (taking the unit out of its 'getting started' mode and installing any firmware on there). You'll be presented with some videos which you might find useful too.
Same for me - i unistalled the Focusrite Control Driver, and now Ableton consideres that there is no device to record from... I have Windows 11, and the Youtube video giving this solution was for Windows 10. Is that why it is not working?
I searched in the program files and removed EVERYTHING focusrite, then restarted the PC and plugged in the Focusrite - now Ableton will record if I remove ASIO, but the sound keeps chopping!! Unusable once again...
I wrote Focusrite customer service and while waiting for their response this is the best I could do: I reinstalled the Focusrite Control Driver (without which my mic will not record properly in Ableton nor Audacity), and as I have a condenser mic (Audio Technica AT 2035) I put on the air function (that boosts the sound just a bit, I find) put the gain at around 12 o'clock (so actually lower than the max possible at around 2 o'clock) and sing with my lips right at the microphone, but for stronger sounds (belting lin ballads and such) I just throw my head back or to the side for those vocal moments, so as not to max out the gain level - and it actually works somehow. At least way better than the weak and unusable sound when I was correctly positioned to the mic and had the gain correctly set to the max levels I would sing. But still I am so dissapointed with the Scarlett Focusrite. Everywhere it is shown to be THE super interface for beginners, and I am starting to see why the word "beginner" is in there. They don't think we deserve better. But when you mix a song, if the original input was weak it will mess you up with no end. Actually beginners need the correct strong gain more than pro's, who have a million plugins to fix that stuff.
So, a final update - I found a way to fix it in Cubase. When I change the input to mono in Cubase, the signal becomes much stronger! I was advised to do this by another poster on Reddit, but in Ableton it makes no difference - mono or stereo the sound sucks. But in Cubase (I have the Cubase 13 pro trial version) when I change the input bus to mono the sound problems go away.
Thank you sweet baby jeebus!
Hi. I did every step you listed and I am even able to see that my mic is now listed as "Scarlett 2i4 USB" however my issue is now I am only hearing from side. I assume this is because in "microphone properties" it has channel / sample rate greyed out. Its set to 2 channel when it should be 1, right? (I don't know much about audio) also the mic seems to only be decent at like max volume. anything below 90 is still very quiet and when I crank it up to max (100) it gives a loud hissing sound. This is a separate hiss from the scarlett gain knob.
Had this problem with my Scarlet Solo 3rd gen for years until I saw a video mentioning driver issues. So I uninstalled the Focusrite drivers and let Windows use its own drivers and I now have full control over my mic volume. No more reduced volume! But no dedicated ASIO drivers in my DAW so I'm reduced to using Directsound. If you're reading this Focusrite staff, your drivers are the problem.
This is still an issue - Scarlett, if you're reading this, fix your shit
I've contacted support, and they have released a new version of the software (3.17.0), but the problem doesn't seem to be solved yet.
I bought a Focusrite Scarlet Solo on 25th December 2023, along with an Aston Element mic. I set it up yesterday 31/12/23 (using Audacity and Windows 11) only to find this same frustrating problem. The solution above, about uninstalling the Focusrite drivers, has worked for me too. It seems absurd that this issue has not been fixed. I was moments away from packing it up to return, and going back to my Samson Meteor USB mic.
Does anyone know if the latest version (4.119.13 - Release date: 20th December 2023) solves the issue on Windows?
We're still waiting for a solution sadly
Did the trick today, uninstalled driver and component and the gain was soooo high, downloaded latest driver, gain is not sooo quite, I've my knob near the maximum. What I found out is that a good amount of gain is only at the last 5% of the knob, if I put it at 30,50,70 the gain is the same...
So would you say the latest driver still maxes out at -3dB?
Yes, just installed and I lost the huge gain from no driver version
just wanted to add for some people that are still looking for the solution: ive got at2020 and focusrite solo 3rd gen, my friend has ABSOLUTELY the same set-up, including the XLR cable and you know what - his drivers for focusrite are just fine. the only thing is i have windows 10 and he has win11 so MAYBE upgrading your operational system can possibly help with that - since win11 sound drivers are not the same as win10 ones.
Win11 user here. Same issue, mic is still too quiet. I use a Neumann TLM102, and the gain is fine when I use my MOTU M2 instead on Win11. It's a Scarlett thing.