scarlett gen 3 solo ouput sound issue

[pspotok@comcast.net]

Hi. I have a brand new Scarlett solo gen 3 running Windows 10. I loaded the latest software FocusRite has on their website.

If i set the instrument input gain so the gain halo doesn't go into yellow (guitar knob at half volume) - there is no audible output in the headphones. If i turn the guitar volume up the gain halo immediately goes yellow, starts clipping and the sound is horribly distorted. If i then back the Scarlett gain down, it goes from horrible distorted sound to no audible sound. If i increase the volume on the JamKazam track - same thing. Either horrible, distorted, clipped sound or no sound. Very frustrating. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Also, i can get clean sound listening to YouTube through the interface so i know the headphone output and headphones work. And i've tried different sample rates, buffer sizes etc. None of that had any effect. Thanks.

[Chris Frost]

Hi. I have a brand new Scarlett solo gen 3 running Windows 10. I loaded the latest software FocusRite has on their website.

If i set the instrument input gain so the gain halo doesn't go into yellow (guitar knob at half volume) - there is no audible output in the headphones. If i turn the guitar volume up the gain halo immediately goes yellow, starts clipping and the sound is horribly distorted. If i then back the Scarlett gain down, it goes from horrible distorted sound to no audible sound. If i increase the volume on the JamKazam track - same thing. Either horrible, distorted, clipped sound or no sound. Very frustrating. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Also, i can get clean sound listening to YouTube through the interface so i know the headphone output and headphones work. And i've tried different sample rates, buffer sizes etc. None of that had any effect. Thanks.

A couple of things to try / test ....

first up - is your i/f set to line or inst?  .....
Next - you say that the input gain is about half .... what about the monitor & headphone gain? (I am assuming that the cans are connected to the headphone socket on the i/f like mine are)

and - have you tried running into a DAW and therefore confirming that the Audio connection is OK?

[pspotok@comcast.net]

Hi. I have a brand new Scarlett solo gen 3 running Windows 10. I loaded the latest software FocusRite has on their website.

If i set the instrument input gain so the gain halo doesn't go into yellow (guitar knob at half volume) - there is no audible output in the headphones. If i turn the guitar volume up the gain halo immediately goes yellow, starts clipping and the sound is horribly distorted. If i then back the Scarlett gain down, it goes from horrible distorted sound to no audible sound. If i increase the volume on the JamKazam track - same thing. Either horrible, distorted, clipped sound or no sound. Very frustrating. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Also, i can get clean sound listening to YouTube through the interface so i know the headphone output and headphones work. And i've tried different sample rates, buffer sizes etc. None of that had any effect. Thanks.

A couple of things to try / test ....

first up - is your i/f set to line or inst?  .....
Next - you say that the input gain is about half .... what about the monitor & headphone gain? (I am assuming that the cans are connected to the headphone socket on the i/f like mine are)

and - have you tried running into a DAW and therefore confirming that the Audio connection is OK?

Yes, the INST input is selected. The headphone gain is half to 3/4. Turning it up increases the volume of the distorted sound but doesn't make it more or less distorted. 

I couldn't figure out how to play guitar through Ableton, but I can listen to tracks from that DAW and jam tracks in JamKazam with clean sound. I appreciate your time.

[Chris Frost]

Hi. I have a brand new Scarlett solo gen 3 running Windows 10. I loaded the latest software FocusRite has on their website.

If i set the instrument input gain so the gain halo doesn't go into yellow (guitar knob at half volume) - there is no audible output in the headphones. If i turn the guitar volume up the gain halo immediately goes yellow, starts clipping and the sound is horribly distorted. If i then back the Scarlett gain down, it goes from horrible distorted sound to no audible sound. If i increase the volume on the JamKazam track - same thing. Either horrible, distorted, clipped sound or no sound. Very frustrating. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Also, i can get clean sound listening to YouTube through the interface so i know the headphone output and headphones work. And i've tried different sample rates, buffer sizes etc. None of that had any effect. Thanks.

A couple of things to try / test ....

first up - is your i/f set to line or inst?  .....
Next - you say that the input gain is about half .... what about the monitor & headphone gain? (I am assuming that the cans are connected to the headphone socket on the i/f like mine are)

and - have you tried running into a DAW and therefore confirming that the Audio connection is OK?

Yes, the INST input is selected. The headphone gain is half to 3/4. Turning it up increases the volume of the distorted sound but doesn't make it more or less distorted. 

I couldn't figure out how to play guitar through Ableton, but I can listen to tracks from that DAW and jam tracks in JamKazam with clean sound. I appreciate your time.

Getting the initial connections seems to give lots of people problems .... there are several on this forum who can & will help.   

Your gain settings are similar to mine - although I use Mic input as play saxophone.

So far, I cant see any test that you have run that shows that you are taking input through the Audio i/f and getting it into the computer ... let alone out to JK.  Listening to tracks already on the computer does not prove it.  ... you might have a faulty Focusrite or cable (I am guessing here) .... particularly the distortion.

I dont know anything about Ableton - cant help there.  I use Audacity as a DAW ... it easily lets me record a track and then play it back ... I can also analyse the waveform to see if i have gain causing clipping, etc

I would be testing everything independently to prove each part works ... hope this is of some help

[pspotok@comcast.net]

Update:  I realized that after i pass the latency and i/o test, and before i hit the "Next" button (attached), the guitar inst and mic audio sound is great in my headphones! no distortion, appropriate levels!

After i finish the setup and start a session, the sound immediately becomes horrible and distorted as i described in the initial post. The fact that i can hear clear sound at that point in the setup seems to indicate it's not a Focusrite hardware problem.

I still don't have a working system, but its interesting that after passing the tests, but before moving on is the only time my sound is good.