Applies to: Scarlett 18i20 3rd Gen
The Talkback mic is a feature present on the 18i20 3rd gen that is included to allow you to talk to musicians and others you are recording without wasting a mic channel on the interface. Over the years, some famous recordings have been made using the talkback mic, or using lower quality mics, to some creative effect. An example of this is the drum sounds on 'In the Air Tonight'.
Whilst the talkback mic won't appear by default as an input to your DAW (recording software) you can use, another new feature for the Scarlett range, Loopback to achieve this. To do this:
- Open up Focusrite Control's Output Routing tab and scroll down on the left pane to find the 'Loopback' mix on the left.
- Set the assigned output to 'Custom Mix + Talkback.
- Mute and turn down any other outputs/inputs that you don't want sending to the talkback input.
- Switch on Talkback. Click the button on Focusrite Control software so it latches remains on rather than the momentary button on the hardware front panel.
- You should now see metering in the Loopback section of the mix.
- In your DAW, you can now set the input to input 9 (or 10) to get this into your DAW. I've shown examples in Live and Logic.
Ableton Live:
Logic Pro X: