Fixing silent dictation with a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (or other multi-input audio interface)

If your mic works everywhere else but Flow's volume bars stay flat when you dictate — or you see a microphone warning — it's usually plugged into the wrong input on your audio interface. This takes under a minute to fix.

Quick checks

• Is your mic on Input 1? On a two-input interface like the Scarlett 2i2, Flow only hears the first input. If your mic is on Input 2, use the fix below.

• Is the right device selected? Open Flow → Settings → General → Microphone → Change, confirm your Scarlett is selected, and speak — the live volume indicator next to the device should move.

• Is another app holding the mic? Flow names other apps capturing audio; on older macOS versions it recognizes only common apps and may not name the culprit.

• Does the mic work in a mono recording app? Zoom and System Settings listen to both inputs, so they aren't a valid test. If a single-channel recording app is silent too, the problem is on the interface, not in Flow.

Why this happens

Flow captures the first channel the device presents — Input 1 on a two-input interface. A mic on Input 2 is silent in Flow but still audible in apps that record both channels. Behavior is identical on Mac and Windows.

How to fix it

1. Power off your audio interface.

2. Unplug anything in the 1/4" Input 1 jack — on many interfaces it silently overrides the XLR Input 1 connection.

3. Connect your microphone to XLR Input 1, the three-pin connector labeled 1.

4. Power on the interface.

5. Press 48V only if your mic requires phantom power (most condenser mics do; most dynamic mics don't).

6. Speak into the mic and confirm the ring around the Input 1 gain knob lights green.

7. Start a dictation in Flow. If the volume bars respond, you're done.

Still silent?

• Gain: Turn up the Input 1 gain knob until the ring lights green when you speak.

• Phantom power: The 48V button powers both XLR inputs at once, and phantom power travels over XLR only — connect a condenser mic via XLR, not the 1/4" jack.

• Mic ranking: In the mic picker, use Edit Ranking to make your Scarlett the preferred mic so Flow selects it automatically; remove disconnected devices with the trash button.

• Audio warnings: A microphone warning links to the mic picker, where the Microphone Quiz helps identify the issue. Flow stops recording if the interface disconnects or the audio route changes mid-dictation, and shows an audio-input-busy error if the device reports an unusable format.

• AirPods and clamshell mode: Selecting AirPods triggers an in-picker warning, and the built-in mic shows as unavailable in clamshell mode.

• Virtual devices: Virtual or loopback devices (e.g., BlackHole) sit in a separate collapsible section of the mic picker and must be selected manually — ranking never auto-selects them.

• Output volume drops to zero during dictation (Mac): With "Mute music while dictating" enabled and an output device that doesn't support hardware mute (USB interface, external DAC, aggregate device), Flow sets output volume to zero while you dictate and restores it after. If you unplug the device mid-dictation, or Flow quits mid-dictation, the device can stay at zero — restore it in System Settings → Sound.

FAQs

Still stuck?

Reach out to our support team if:

• Your mic is on Input 1, gain is up, and Flow's volume bars still don't respond.

• You see a microphone warning that won't clear after switching inputs.

Include your platform (Mac or Windows), interface model, mic model, and what you've tried. Most mic issues are resolved in one reply.