Focusrite Scarlett Guide
Audio interface guidance from the maker of the most popular home studio interfaces
Overview
Focusrite provides guides and resources for their Scarlett line of audio interfaces, which are among the most widely used interfaces in home voiceover studios. The content helps users set up, configure, and optimize their recording chain.
Guides cover topics like gain staging, phantom power usage, buffer settings, and integration with popular recording software. Troubleshooting resources address common issues voice actors encounter with their setups.
How It Works
The Focusrite Scarlett series has become the de facto standard entry-level and mid-range interface for voice actors building home studios. Models like the Scarlett Solo and 2i2 appear in countless home studio recommendation lists.
All guides and educational content are freely available on the Focusrite website. Interface hardware is sold separately at various price points depending on the model.
Who Uses It
Essential reading for anyone using or considering a Focusrite Scarlett interface. Proper setup can make a significant difference in recording quality, so take the time to follow the optimization guides.
Pricing & Plans
Focusrite's setup guides, tutorials, and educational content are completely free to access through their website and do not require any purchase or registration. The actual Scarlett interface hardware spans several price points to accommodate different budgets and needs: the Scarlett Solo (single input) costs approximately $110, the Scarlett 2i2 (two inputs) runs approximately $170, the Scarlett 4i4 approximately $230, and larger models with more inputs and outputs scale up from there. The third and fourth generation Scarlett interfaces include improved preamps and converters at each price point compared to earlier versions, and the guides cover setup and optimization for all current models. Focusrite also offers the Vocaster series specifically designed for voice recording and podcasting, starting at approximately $130, which includes voice-optimized preamps and simplified controls. Bundle deals that include a Scarlett interface with headphones, a microphone, and an XLR cable are frequently available at modest premiums over the interface-only price, providing a complete starter recording chain in a single purchase. The educational content remains valuable regardless of which generation or model of Scarlett you own, as the fundamental principles of gain staging, sample rate selection, and software integration apply universally across the product line.
Pros & Cons
What's Great
The Focusrite Scarlett series has earned its reputation as the go-to audio interface for home voiceover studios through a combination of reliable performance, clean preamps, and accessible pricing that hits the sweet spot between quality and affordability. The setup guides are genuinely helpful and written in clear, non-technical language that makes them accessible even to voice actors with no audio engineering background, covering everything from initial installation to advanced optimization for specific recording scenarios. Proper gain staging — one of the most important and frequently misunderstood aspects of home recording — is explained thoroughly in the guides, and following these instructions alone can dramatically improve recording quality for voice actors who have been running their levels too hot or too cold. The troubleshooting resources address the most common problems voice actors encounter, including driver conflicts, latency issues, and phantom power questions, often resolving frustrating technical problems that would otherwise require hiring an audio technician. The Scarlett interfaces feature low-latency direct monitoring that allows voice actors to hear themselves in real time without the distracting delay that software monitoring can introduce, and the guides explain how to configure this feature optimally for voice recording. The broad popularity of the Scarlett line means that virtually any audio-related question you have has already been answered somewhere in the Focusrite support ecosystem or by fellow users in online communities.
What Could Be Better
The guides are naturally focused on Focusrite's own products and do not provide objective comparisons with competing interfaces from brands like Universal Audio, PreSonus, MOTU, or SSL, which means you are getting product marketing alongside the educational content. Some of the optimization advice in the guides assumes a level of technical knowledge about audio drivers, buffer settings, and software routing that may confuse complete beginners, even though the overall tone is accessible. The Scarlett interfaces, while excellent for their price range, do use more basic preamps and converters than higher-end interfaces, and voice actors who develop critical ears over time may eventually want to upgrade to interfaces with better-quality signal chains. The guides focus primarily on hardware setup and software integration but provide limited advice on the acoustic environment — room treatment, microphone placement, and noise reduction — which are at least as important as interface quality for producing professional voiceover recordings. Some guides may reference older Scarlett generations or discontinued software versions, creating occasional confusion when the instructions do not exactly match the current hardware or software you are using. The Focusrite Control software required for configuring some Scarlett models has received mixed reviews for its interface design and occasional stability issues, and the guides may not address all the quirks that users encounter in real-world use.
Our Recommendation
The Focusrite Scarlett guides are essential reading for anyone who owns or is considering purchasing a Scarlett interface, as proper setup and configuration can make a meaningful difference in recording quality that directly impacts the professionalism of your voiceover output. If you are building your first home studio and have not yet chosen an interface, the guides double as useful buying guidance for understanding which Scarlett model fits your needs — most voice actors need only a single XLR input, making the Scarlett Solo or 2i2 the most practical and cost-effective choices. Voice actors who already own a Scarlett interface but have never optimized their settings should work through the setup guides immediately, as many users are unknowingly operating with suboptimal configurations that compromise their recording quality. If you are considering spending significantly more on a premium interface, read the Scarlett guides first to understand the fundamentals — the knowledge applies to any interface, and you may discover that your current Scarlett is performing below its potential due to configuration issues rather than hardware limitations. Pair the Focusrite guides with microphone-specific resources from Sennheiser and other manufacturers to build a complete understanding of your recording signal chain from sound source to final file.
Pro Tips
Follow the gain staging guide precisely when setting up your Scarlett interface, as this single configuration step has the largest impact on recording quality and is the most common source of preventable audio problems in home voiceover studios. Use the Focusrite-recommended sample rate of 44.1 kHz and 24-bit depth for voiceover recording unless a client specifically requests different specifications, as these settings provide excellent quality while keeping file sizes manageable and processing demands reasonable. Install the latest version of Focusrite Control software and keep it updated, as driver updates frequently resolve audio glitches, improve latency performance, and add compatibility with new operating system versions. If you experience crackling, dropouts, or latency issues, work through the troubleshooting guide methodically rather than randomly changing settings, as audio interface problems almost always have specific, documented solutions. Test your entire signal chain — microphone, cable, interface, software — by recording a one-minute sample and critically listening for noise floor, distortion, and frequency balance before beginning any professional recording session, as catching configuration issues during a test recording prevents wasted time and compromised deliverables during paid work.