Thread Focusrite Scarlet Solo Mic Issues

Hi Konez,

I'm Alex, part of the Focusrite support team. Thanks for posting this, I'd like to try and help. A lot of the time we find that PC's are not configured correctly for audio due to their default settings. Have a look at this article and follow the instructions to see if this helps.

http://us.focusrite.com/answerbase/optimising-your-pc-for-audio-on-windows-10
http://us.focusrite.com/answerbase/optimising-your-pc-for-audio-on-windows-8
http://us.focusrite.com/answerbase/optimising-your-pc-for-audio-on-windows-7
http://us.focusrite.com/answerbase/optimising-your-pc-for-audio-on-windows-vista
http://us.focusrite.com/answerbase/optimising-your-pc-for-audio-on-windows-xp

If your Scarlett Solo is 2nd Generation (Serial number starts with a W or V and NOT an S) please also install the latest driver for windows here:

http://beta.focusrite.com/releases/scarlett_2nd_gen/

Let me know how it goes.

Alex

Hi Alex,

I followed the optimization steps and downloaded the current driver for my 2nd gen Scarlet solo. I'll test it out the next few days and let you know how it goes. Thanks!

Hi Alex,

So after following the optimization steps and downloading the drivers for my 2nd gen scarlett solo, my microphone still started sounding weird right after about 4 hours of streaming. Are there any other possible solutions to this problem?

Thanks, Cody

Hi Cody,

Thanks for getting back and thanks for trying out those steps.

I would like to see if you are experiencing a DPC Latency Issue, as I have seen DPC cause issues like this in the past. If you are unfamiliar with DPC, it is the protocol that Windows uses to assign Priority to Drivers and Devices connected to your computer, and if Audio isn't assigned enough priority, various issues can occur.

So can you please download this program, LatencyMon, and run it while playing back audio at the same time, making sure to actually replicate the drop out or disconnect problem, so in your case I'd stream it whilst you are gaming and wait until the issue comes up.

http://www.resplendence.com/latencymon

When it does please click Edit > Copy report to clipboard. Paste this into a NotePad and save it. Send that in your reply.
Please also go to the Drivers Tab, sort by Highest Execution, with the highest on top, and send a Screenshot of that page.
Also go to the Processes Tab, sort by Hard Pagefaults, with the highest on top, and send a Screenshot of that page.
How to take a screenshot in Windows: http://www.wikihow.com/Take-a-Screenshot-in-Microsoft-Windows
Could you send a copy of your system information as an nfo file with your reply to this e-mail please? To obtain this file, navigate to:Start Menu > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Information > File > Save...
After sending us these files please feel welcome to call us directly for further assistance. We are open Mon-Fri 8am-6pm PST at 310-322-5500.

Please send this to https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/requests/new and we can assist you further from there.

Alex

It's not a latency issue, it's a driver issue, it's been here since the start, and you know it ...

This bug is easy to reproduce, I already can say that you use 48000Khz (or 44100 maybe) for the sampling rate. So if you use a continuous stream of audio, in you case the Input Audio, it will bug out like this after 4Hours and ~07 Minutes. At 96khz, it's 2Hours and ~04 Minutes .. so yeah ... you've got the idea.
If you use the Output Audio, then the Input will be fine, but the Output will be distorted. It's an awkward bug and I hate how focusrite seems to ignore completely this issue. It's a know issue, do something, period.

Now for a fix ... You have to use Voicemeeter (But NOT Voicemeeter banana, the latency is too high with this one). Use the Scarlett ASIO with 160 of buffer size, and you'il be set. See somes tutorial on Youtube to know how to use this software !

But .. hell ... please fix this focusrite.

Hi Ageassia,

Thanks for your feedback. We are working on a fix for this and we think our latest driver may fix this.

http://beta.focusrite.com/file.php?id=1267

Could you please give us some feedback, if its not fixed its something I can bring up with the development team.

Alex

Hi

This one seems to be the trick, at least ! I've played a game at 192khz for more than 2 hours (with the WDM driver/windows mixer, not through VMeeter ofc), no issues spotted !

The latency seems better too, I can use voicemeeter at 96khz with a buffer size of 128 without dropouts, but I do a lot of thing/tweaks so it's maybe not related to the driver.

Thanks focusrite, I am relieved than you were working on this issue ! Oh BTW,i think it keep resetting the SR and the buffer size every hard reboot, it's kinda annoying, it should be easy to fix tho.

EDIT: Annnd it's doesn't seem to be completly fixed ... I'll keep you in touch, i'll do more testing later.
EDIT 2: Alright, it's still here, even in ASIO. "Low" latency can be achieved, seems stable, but not for long. So in voicemeeter, a buffer size of 160 can do the trick, but after a while, bang, Quantization error/aliasing thingy. Those are kinda affected by the buffersize. It seems really stable with a BS of 352 at 96khz. But I know that it can do better than that T_T

Hi Ageassia,

Sorry to hear that the behavior has returned.

With you having ongoing issues, at this stage I think it may be best to open a support ticket with us so that we can offer more efficient 1 on 1 support for your issues.

You can open the support ticket with us here: https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/requests/new

I feel confident that we can aid in finding a lasting solution to your issues.

Best regards,
David // Focusrite Technical Support

I hope im not too late to the party but I am having the exact same issue as well. After around 3-4 hours of use, the microphone all of a sudden becomes distorted and robotic every single time. The only thing that seems to be able to fix it is unplugging the USB cable and plugging it back in. When live monitoring is turned on, I am unable to hear the distortion, but if I use any sort of recording software it is very apparent.

Here is a video example of the issue as it begins to happen while livestreaming game content at the moment that it occurs.

https://clips.twitch.tv/krimxin/SmoggyGazelleUnSane

I am using an AT2035 XLR microphone plugged into a 2nd gen Scarlett solo. I have tried uninstalling/reinstalling the appropriate drivers on multiple occasions and have been unable to find a fix. I have also tried the "optimize your sound for windows 10 fix" posted in this thread with no luck.