In this article, we’ll show you everything that you need to know to properly set up and connect your Logitech Blue Sona Active Dynamic Microphone to the Focusrite Scarlett Solo Audio Interface.
Quick Answer: Use an XLR cable to connect the microphone to the Scarlett Solo. On the Scarlett Solo, turn the volume down and then turn on phantom power. Turn up the gain until your voice peaks between -20 and -10dB. Now you’re ready to go.
Price & Specs
- Focusrite Scarlett Solo Audio Interface: https://currentprice.io/scarlett_solo
- Logitech Blue Sona Microphone: https://currentprice.io/blue_sona
Scarlett Solo Setup
First of all, we need to set up and connect the Focusrite Scarlett Solo to our computer.
From the front of the audio interface, we need to double-check the following:
- Phantom power is turned off.
- The USB is connected to the computer and you can see the green light.
The green light means that it is properly powered.
Recording Setup
We are going to set this microphone up so the computer can see it.
We are using OBS studio, a free open-source program that is used for live streaming and recording.
From the source menu, click the + (plus) symbol and add a new source.
We want a new audio input capture, therefore type in Scarlett Solo and then hit ok.
Under properties, select the Scarlett Solo USB as the device.
Now you can see the Scarlett Solo has shown up underneath the audio mixer.
Blue Sona Windscreen
The Logitech Blue Sona Active Dynamic Microphone comes with two different windscreens right off the box.
There is no acoustic difference between the two. You can pick whatever you like.
The Blue Sona is also available in white.
Mic Stand / Boom Arm
There are two options when choosing mic stands for the Logitech Blue Sona Active Dynamic microphone: table stands or boom arm.
The table stand
- Inexpensive
- They collapse when they fold down
The only downsides of using this option are:
- They let in taps from the table into the microphone.
- They clutter the table.
Boom Arm
For a more expensive option, you can use a boom arm.
We recommend the Rode PSA1+ boom arm because it is our current favorite. The only thing we do not like about it are the big Rode logos which we can cover up with 3″ gaff tape and a custom logo.
Mount the Blue Sona by screwing it to the boom arm.
XLR Cable
Logitech Blue Sona Microphone > XLR Cable > Focusrite Scarlett Solo
Connect the XLR cable to the back of the microphone.
Connect the other end of the XLR cable to the input on the Scarlett Solo.
We use the Canare XLR cable for this connection. They have a male and female black connector and are available in a variety of colors. They have a star-quad design which means there are four cables inside the cable.
Run the cable as neatly as possible. A lot of people make messy setups. To make clean nice runs make sure you are getting cables between 6’ – 10’.
Phantom Power
Turn the volume down on the Scarlett Solo.
Turn the 48 V on by pressing the button until you see a red light.
The Logitech Blue Sona is an active dynamic microphone that is divided into two parts: the first half is the microphone, and the black half is the mic activator.
The microphone will not produce any signal into the Focusrite Scarlett Solo unless we turn the mic activator on.
The only way we can turn that on is by sending 48 V of phantom power to the microphone.
Gain / Level
Turn up the gain on the Scarlett Solo until your voice peaks between -20 and -10dB of the OBS audio mixer.
The Scarlett Solo has colored rings that flash as you turn the level up.
We want it to be flashing steadily when you are speaking into the microphone. Turn it up until you get slower, longer pulses that flick in yellow at your loudest moment.
If the computer is finding your signal to be in the red zone. This means that it is a little too high. Therefore dial down the gain until you are in the yellow window of the OBS audio mixer.
This area window lies between -18dB and -12dB.
The loudest you can get in digital audio is 0dB. You need to make sure you have 12dB of headroom somewhere in there so that you do not have to worry about peaking, clipping, or distorting.
If you hit 0dB, the microphone will distort the audio and you can’t fix it afterward.
If you are live streaming, you can keep it to the upper end may be between -10dB and -8dB. We recommend you stay away from -5dB or -3dB. This will create a buffer zone that will prevent peaking and distortion when you laugh, yell or something dynamic happens in your recording.
Low Cut / Presence Boost
The Logitech Blue Sona Active Dynamic has two switches at the back: the bass (low) cut switch and the presence (boost).
Take the backplate off the microphone to access them.
This is what happens when you turn them on:
Bass cut ON – You will notice a huge low-frequency rollout that thins out the microphone. The objective of this is to make your voice clean and clear. It becomes punchy as you mix it with other things. We don’t recommend this for podcasting because you end up losing a lot of body and tone.
Presence ON – You will notice a higher level of intelligibility. Depending on your voice, it may make some grading frequencies and it may be more irritable to listen to for a long period of time.
Bass cut ON + Presence ON – The audio sounds weird and punchy in some places of the frequency range. This might be frustrating to listen to for a long period of time.
For this setup, we turned off all these settings because of a couple of reasons:
- If you are trying to EQ your microphone or add any post-processing, we can achieve that with the computer using OBS/ Logic/ GarageBand.
- We can get more detail and accuracy from software than the microphone itself.
Headphones
To complete the setup, we need a set of high-quality headphones.
We recommend the Beyerdynamic DT990 PRO 80 Ohm headphones.
They are:
- Clean
- Articulate
- Lightweight
- Extremely comfortable for longer periods
The 80 Ohm version of the headphones works well with the Focusrite Scarlett Solo. The audio interface cannot power the set of 250 ohm headphones for all applications but you’d be happy with the 25 Ohm version as well.
Final Thoughts
Any questions about this setup? Please leave a comment down below.
Scarlett Solo & Blue Sona | Setup & Demo | Price & Specs
- Focusrite Scarlett Solo Audio Interface: https://currentprice.io/scarlett_solo
- Logitech Blue Sona Microphone: https://currentprice.io/blue_sona
- Rode NT1 Microphone: https://currentprice.io/rode_nt1_kit
- Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro Headphones: https://currentprice.io/beyer_dt_990
- XLR Cable: https://currentprice.io/xlr_cable
- TRS Cable: https://currentprice.io/trs_cable
- Mic Stand: https://currentprice.io/desk_stand
- Rode PSA1+ Boom Arm: http://currentprice.io/psa1_plus
- Quality Acoustic Treatment Panels: http://currentprice.io/soundpanels
