24% of 95 verified Focusrite Scarlett Soloowners don't recommend it — based on real owner comments from Reddit, enthusiast forums, and YouTube.
For balance: 51% recommend it. This page collects the complaints so you know what you're signing up for — read the full owner report for both sides. How we score
“My first interface was a Scarlett and it was absolutely terrible. The quality sounded bad, there was a very noticeable delay when recording.”— DaLordHamie on Reddit
“Solo doesn't have as good of software support as the 2i2, in addition to what others are saying. I've owned each, 2i2 is the way to go”— Yesssica_ on Reddit
“it seems to be a well known issue to do with the drivers and windows 11 and nobody online seems to have had any luck fixing it”— ForeignSleet on Reddit
“I’ve had to replace the Solo in 2 years. It’s a quick cheap alternative, but it may go out on you within two years.”— stacyyines on Reddit
“My Scarlett had a lot of problems losing power. I used it for like 6 years and was frustrated by it regularly.”— Royal_Annek on Reddit
“Avoided the 4th Gen Solo, especially if you’re using a gain-hungry dynamic mic. The preamp is weak.”— RudeRick on Reddit
“I haven't been impressed with the lower end focusrite interfaces, but some people love them.”— Swingmetal71 on Reddit
“Way too easily might I add. My stock Harley Benton strat redlines mine with zero input gain”— sername9344 on Reddit
“Don't fall for the scarlett everyone recommendation thats group think and no longer true.”— Electronic-Tie-9237 on Reddit
“I won't use another Focurite interface as long as there is a Universal Audio equivalent.”— SeriouslyTechStuff on Reddit
“The 3rd gen does not have enough gain to comfortably get a good leave out of the SM7B.”— zottsspotts on Reddit
“Without it, I had to crank the gain to the max and it still wasn't a good experience.”— rock962000 on Reddit
Not complaints — practical notes from owners that didn't affect the score.
“People love to hate it because it’s popular and cheap. You need about 55dB to drive SM7B mic which is on the higher end of the gain knob. Also used to not have loop back which was super annoying.”— caj_account on Reddit
“Got it going with the 4th gen Scarlet Solo since it’s just me recording vocals for a start! Getting a bundle from Wali World for 290 with a mic stand and pop filter”— Competitive-Might-89 on Reddit
“That’s the confusing part is they have generally been right about most their computer advice in the past but I guess this was a rare miss on their part. I’ll definitely keep the Scarlett in consideration”— Emotional-Night-9545 on Reddit
“They now make a Shire SM7dB that has a built-in CloudLifter. Otherwise, you'll need to get a Standalone to boost the signal because of the high impedance.”— Surfer-Junkie on Reddit
“From personal experience, when one of my inputs died, it was nice to have a second as backup. Probably not everyone’s experience but I was sure grateful.”— RoonilWazlib1234 on Reddit
“What you can do is create an aggregate device using 3rd party software to combine the Focusrite and USB mic as one device but there’s no point in doing that unless you have something plugged into the Focusrite.”— PeakDevon on Reddit
“Yes I went through the whole easy start setup guide they have, I uninstalled old software and I installed focusrite control 2 and the proper drivers”— ForeignSleet on Reddit
“I never understood the worry about having enough gain, the digital world gives infinite gain. Just get what you can with your setup and boost more from your computer. Sounds the same.”— sername8396354 on Reddit