Fix silent dictation with a Focusrite audio interface

Last updated: October 14, 2026

Available on: Mac and Windows. The Scarlett Solo steps below apply specifically to the fourth-generation model with its microphone on Input 2.

If your interface works in another app but Flow captures silence or shows a flat meter, check its input routing. Flow uses only the first channel for mono dictation and has no channel selector, so an app listening to both channels may still hear your microphone.

Check Flow and the microphone

  1. Connect the interface and check the cable, hardware mute and input gain.

  2. Open Flow → Settings → General → Microphone → Change and select the interface by name.

  3. Speak and watch the input meter beside the selected device.

If the meter stays flat, audio isn't reaching Flow; continue with the routing fix. If it responds, close the dialog and test a short dictation. If text appears, you're done.

Note: Opening the microphone dialog starts a live test that stops when you close it. The test counts barely audible input as silence, so a very faint signal leaves the meter flat.

Fix the input routing

Scarlett 2i2 or another interface with an XLR microphone input on channel 1

A condenser microphone requiring phantom power must use an appropriate XLR connection; a quarter-inch instrument connection does not provide that power.

Warning: Enable 48V only if your microphone requires phantom power. On the 2i2, 48V powers both XLR inputs; check that every connected microphone is safe to use with phantom power.

  1. Power off the interface before changing the microphone connection.

  2. Connect the microphone to the XLR connector labeled 1.

  3. Unplug the Scarlett 2i2's separate quarter-inch Input 1 connection, if present; it disables the corresponding XLR input.

  4. Power on the interface.

  5. Enable 48V only if required and safe for every connected microphone.

  6. Adjust Input 1 gain while speaking and check that its signal indicator responds.

  7. Reselect the interface in Flow and start a new dictation.

Scarlett Solo fourth generation: combine the inputs

Combine both inputs for applications that accept only one.

Tip: Alternatively, hold the interface's Direct button for three seconds. Both channel-number LEDs turn green when the mode is enabled.

  1. Open Focusrite Control 2 → Preferences → Device.

  2. Enable Combine Input 1 and Input 2.

  3. Reopen Flow, select the Solo and test a dictation.

If the option is missing, check Focusrite Control 2 and any offered firmware update. Turn the combine setting off for a DAW workflow that needs independent input channels. See Focusrite's Solo fourth-generation instructions.

Another model or generation

Check the manufacturer's channel-routing controls. Do not apply the Solo's Direct-button procedure to a different model.

On Mac, avoid an Aggregate Device as a routing shortcut: combining devices does not necessarily move Input 2 to the first channel.

If dictation produces text after the routing change, stop here; otherwise continue below.

If the interface is still silent

A selected device can still deliver silence. Flow applies no gain of its own; input gain must come from the interface, and input too faint to hear counts as silence. A single-channel recording test can help distinguish routing from cabling or gain.

  1. Close other recording apps or a DAW that may be holding the interface.

  2. Reopen Flow and test a short dictation.

  3. Reconnect the interface if dictation is still silent, then start a fresh dictation.

  4. Compare with a built-in or single-input USB mic, which avoids the interface's channel mapping, before changing more Flow settings.

If a dictation captures only faint or silent input from the start, Flow sends nothing for transcription and shows “Is your microphone muted?” when you release the key. If every push-to-talk attempt fails, restart Flow.

Follow Flow's access warnings

Flow retries busy or unavailable inputs before warning, except when permission is denied or you cancel. After an access fix, test a short dictation.

What you see

Action

Mac: “Microphone Permission Required”

Click Grant Permission to allow microphone access.

Windows, after a failed dictation: “Microphone access is disabled”

Click Open Settings to enable access in Windows microphone privacy settings.

“Selected microphone is unavailable”

Click Choose Microphone to select a connected input.

“No microphone detected”

Open Sound Settings opens Mac Sound → Input or Windows classic Sound → Recording.

“Microphone unavailable”

Close other mic apps and retry; another app or a stuck driver may block access.

“Microphone error”

Reconnect the microphone; contact support if it still cannot start.

“Unable to access mic”

Click Restart App; it clears on its own if the device opens.

“Is your microphone muted?”

Use Select microphone or Troubleshoot.

“No audio received” or “Microphone is not working”

Raise gain or fix routing; these clear when audio returns.

What the buttons do

On Mac, Grant Permission shows an OS prompt if access hasn't been requested; if denied or previously decided, it opens Privacy & Security → Microphone.

Choose Microphone and Select microphone open Flow's picker; Troubleshoot opens microphone help in your browser. “Microphone unavailable” and “Microphone error” also offer Troubleshoot.

Silence warnings during dictation

Once audio has been received, 5 seconds of continuous silence triggers “No audio received” (Contact us) and 15 seconds triggers persistent “Microphone is not working” (Select microphone/Contact us). Input too faint to hear counts as silence, so a fading or barely audible mic raises the same warnings; the audio itself is still sent and transcribed as usual.

Both warnings clear when audio returns and can reappear if silence recurs; neither appears during microphone testing.

Still stuck?

Contact support if the input meter stays flat after the correct routing change, or another single-channel recording app hears the same mic while Flow does not. Include your OS, interface model and generation, microphone model, input number and steps tried.

For other permission, silence or recording errors, use microphone troubleshooting.