Focusrite Saffire Pro 40

This is a follow on to my review from 6 March 2009. In part due to the fact that Focusrite has released a firmware and software upgrade (Saffire Mix Control V1.7) applicable to the Saffire Pro 40, Liquid Saffire 56, Saffire Pro 24 and Saffire Pro 24 DSP.

This allows for the usage of multiple Saffire units ganged together to enable additional input capability. This has led me to purchase an additional Saffire Pro 40 for my studio enabling up to 36 inputs (well not exactly, more like 32...explanation to follow).

The Saffire Pro 40 can be ganged with another Saffire Pro 40 provided they are on the same Firewire buss. This could be a daisy chain or simply another firewire connector on the computer that shares the same buss.

A note about firewire

There are some things to keep in mind when using firewire for recording environments based upon Windows XP or Vista 32and XP or Vista 64. It is important to note that almost every manufacturer requires or strongly recommends a Texas Instrument firewire chipset. These are the only ones that seem to operate without any trouble. VIA chipset firewire is almost guaranteed to give you a problem and Ricoh chipsets are a hit and miss proposition. This is a from personal experience. A T.I. firewire chipset equiped PCI card is available from Lacie. Gigabyte also uses T.I. chipsets in their motherboards. So there are two alternatives for T.I. Chipset firewire implementations.

Intially when I used the single Saffire Pro 40 back in march I operated the device a=using Mic Control V1.2beta which allowed usage of ASIO drivers but required some rather unique optimization techniques to get the unit to record a full session without dropouts. AS new versions of Mix Control and firmware were released the device became more stable. With Release 1.5 of Mix Control providing the best overall results in stability. Allowing me to turn on certain Windows features that had limited the presentation and feel of vista.

With version 1.7 of Mix Control it is now possible to link to Saffire Pro 40s together, yielding a possible 36 physical inputs and 4 loop back channels.

However this is not true if you wish to have realtime monitoring of all analog audio inputs. The additional directions now state that you must provide circular stereo routing between the available SPDIF I/O's on the two devices. This essentially limits the number of Audio inputs to 32 plus 4 loop back channels.

However with a patch bay you could have a patch for recording all 32 channels plus monitoring and then reroute other gear into the SPDIF inputs for say recording Vocals through a purpose built vocal channel when needed.

Also with the the SPDIF routing for Monitoring this would enable separate headphone outs for each member of the group being recorded.

The PSU is self contained and a power lead is included. 48V phantom power is also available, as well as PADS for instrument.

Please see the review from March 2009

With Saffire Mix Control Version 1.7 available for download from the Focusrite web site this will allow studios to operate with 32 channels of audio input when combining 2 Saffire Pro 40s and 2 Focusrite Octopre MKIIs. This is enough inputs for any serious project studio that is mixing in the box.

Keeping in mind this is a DICE II chipset based recording interface it runs remarkably well with great stability and flexibility. The one thing to keep in mind with any Firewire based system is that T.I. Manufactures the only recognized stable chipset with which to utilize the device.

The only disappointment is the inability to monitor realtime without eating up the SPDIF I/O to acomplish this. Too bad there isn't another way to achieve realtime monitoring between the two boxes. But I can live with this through the utilization of a patchbay.

Note that your PC must be optimized for recording to realize the potential of this type of recording interface. Optimization guides are available through various web sites and are geared towards specific OS platforms. (I found the combination of the Focusrite optimization tips and the Line 6 Vista optimization guides to be the best in getting your PC up to snuff for recording).

If you are expecting your gaming PC to handle recording you will find that you will have quite a bit of trouble. However if your system is dedicated to recording only, you will see a minimum of problems if any at all.

With Focusrite releasing Mic Control V 1.7 this puts the interface on a level playing field with others in this same price category and in some cases provides better functionality and feedback than competing interfaces IMHO. I'm glad I stuck to my guns and got the Saffire Pro 40 rather than a competing interface.

Trying for 4 days to connect the device to my HP HDX 18" firewire 4 pin port, with Vista 64bit, with no success. When I plug the device I can hear several blips that you normally hear when you connect external devices but its never detected. Manually installing and activating the "saffire" driver, it shows up with a '!' and a code 10 error.

Sometimes, pluging and unpluging the device, or turning the device on and off, it gets activated by brief seconds because I get the option to download the newest firmware and the safire mix control is updated with my system... but only for very brief sconds, its disconnected again.

Did everything stated on the focuswrite support page and I had to order an express card with two firewire ports, making shure it had TI chipset. I hope that works. However, that solution limits connectivity since a laptop normaly has only 1 express card slot. I work with UAD2/solo express card and I cant use both at the same time, wich will not be practical, since i got the UAD2/solo precisely because of the recording/ mixing tools.

1- the saffire 40 pro comes with a 6 to 6 pin firewire cable but many laptops have only 4 pin ports. Tried 2 new 6 to 4 firewire cables with no success. The unit should be shiped with an adaptor or alternative cable or an express card with firewire ports.

2-firewire issuess in vista (and windows XP) are well documented and usual, for lots of devices (video cameras, drives etc.). I looked up dozens of users posting in several forums compaining that their devices wont connect. Firewire cleary is not a stable way of connecting devices to vista 64bit, but in focusrite webpage it is stated that the focusrite is compatible with vista and "rock solid performance". Guess I'm back with a limited mbox2 USB again.

It needs an update on vista drivers.

This is a follow up to my previous submission.

MIDI works just fine. Hooked up my ageing XP-30 and everything I played was picked up and some GM songs played back fine with the XP-30 in GM mode. I bought this for the mic and DI inputs but I thought it was worth checking. So, no problems with MacBook/Pro 40 MIDI implementation.

If it has the mix of features you need then at the price it seems a bit of a bargain.

Desktop or rack with reasonable input meters - better than similarly priced options in fact. It is clearly designed to fill a specific role - getting good, clean signals into your computer and so far it has excelled at doing just that. It skips some of the extras such as internal DSP, stand-alone operation, separate line-in sockets, phase/high pass buttons but in exchange gives 8 top-quality pre's. Feels as well-built as anything else in this price range except the metal box is very solid.
Contrary to what someone has said elsewhere you do have independent control over monitor and 2 headphone outputs - you just to shift-click the headphone volume options in the MixControl software (a case of rtfm - where f stands for Focusrite of course). Add in dim and mute buttons for the monitor and this is a good, practical level of control for the likes of my modest requirements.
The software is not immediately intuitive in its use, and not perhaps as flexible as matrix routing for signals, but Focusrite do supply some get-you-started defaults and snapshots. At least it all runs in a single window and it will actually do everything I need.
For the money - a well-targeted set of compromises and excellent value, in my opinion.

My first FireWire interface and I was expecting all sorts of problems - but it just works with my 2 year old Intel MacBook. I have taken the Logic buffer down to 32 samples (which Apple advises against for FireWire) and it still works fine for a tracking guitar and bass against EZdrummer with convolution reverb and multi-band compressor to push things just a little but. Not an exhaustive test but a promising start.

I haven't yet tested MIDI but that is not what I bought this for. I'll give it 9 because of this - I just don't know how reliable the MIDI side is.

I don't have any other means of evaluating the i/o other than to say that is sounds as good as my high-end Musical Fidelity HiFi. The DI's are useful and sound spot on. The rest of it is what I would expect at this price point. The big plus for me, already mentioned, is the control over monitors and headphones in a small home studio. The minus is perhaps the use of combi-jacks for all analogue inputs but I can understand why. Buy the Saffire 56 if you want separate line-in jacks.

AC powered, but uses standard ac line cord.
Phantom power is switchable in 2 banks, which again is acceptable at this price point. No problems here then. And it drives my Groove Tube GT33 mics; these have defeated other phantom supplies so I assume they have a high current draw.

It "only" goes up to 96kHz... In the real world and given the limitations of FireWire I think it does everything you would want at this price point.
I cannot comment on Windows drivers as I am trying to give them up and don't have a FireWire interface on my one remaining Windows system. All I can say is that it is rock-solid working with my little MacBook (haven't tried the iMac yet). Latency-free monitoring is their for the asking and one of the MixControl pre-sets. It is at least as well timed as my bass playing.
The rest of the tech specs are, well, impressive.

Comes with a few goodies that include Ableton Live Lite, Novation Bass Station plug-in (nice!), Focusrite plug-ins which I have not had time to explore but I have read are quite good, and some sample loops. Apart from the plug-ins which look to be well worth having, about par for the course.
Looking at the other things I am supposed to rate here - no grounding post, ground lift or stand-alone operation. But I didn't expect those. I'll rate it 7 then, but 10/10 for my needs.

In the real world this, so far, a brilliant interface for the money.

20ins/20outs rackmount audio/midi firewire interface. Before I had this I was using a Presonus Firepod. The Saffire has better features on all fronts.

The build is solid, and the knobs are nice. It's a lot quieter than the firepod though, and I have to crank the inputs to get the levels I was getting with other interfaces.

In addition you get a whole ton of extras including Focusrite VSTs, Novation Bass-station, Arturia Analog Factory demo and a sample dvd of a ton of various samples.

Connects via Firewire. The firewire connection does not power the saffire and you will need to use a power cable. It has 2 firewire slots so you can daisy chain. It's got a light to tell you its connected via firewire which is trivial but nice.

I have had no problems with the firewire connection, but I've heard of people having it drop out occasionally and having to reconnect the device.

It has more ins and outs than I need, but to be honest I'm not really that impressed. At first I thought the pres were much better than the Firepod, but when I lined up two recordings side by side there was hardly any difference. But the external routing is a lot better.

One complaint I have is that in order to use headphones the main volume has to be turned up as well. So I have to turn off my monitors if I want to just hear the output through the headphones, which is stupid. On the Firepod the headphone volume was independent of the main volume.

The software console offers a ton of routing options which is helpful, however I haven't played around with that much.

My biggest complaint about this unit however is the MIDI. It has MIDI in/out/thru except that, oh whoops, there is a huge defect with it... When playing MIDI from my DAW it will randomly skip notes, play them late, and/or overly sustain notes, and after 2-3 bars it will infinitely sustain a note or two and in order to turn it off I have to change the patch on the synth. This happens constantly, and I can't record any of my synthlines written with midi because of this. I e-mailed focusrite about this and they told me that it is a KNOWN ISSUE and they are "working on it" but have no estimated time when this will be fixed. How the hell can you release an interface where the f-ing MIDI doesn't work????????

Have to use power cable instead of firewire, but that's not a big deal. It's just a basic d-shaped power cable, no giant power brick. It has Phantom power for all 8 pres.

see one of the below reviews for full tech specs. They sounded really good for the price.

Tons of bundled software (well, VSTs, samples, no DAW), most of which I don't use. Has a software mixer which has a lot of routing options, but is sort of annoying to read/use and the terminology on it makes no sense imo. However they have released new drivers which change some of this to stuff that makes more sense. But this is all much more than the previous interfaces I've used have had.

To be honest, so far this thing has been a total waste of money. I only bought it because my firepod was dying and only 1 pre worked and because it seemed like a really good deal for the price.

This has some really nice specs for the price, however it has certain problems that make it virtually unusable for me. The first one I bought, which was brand new, stopped powering on after a week. I was able to exchange it thankfully, but there is still the glaring issue of MIDI not working. Again, how the hell can you release an audio/midi interface where one of those things doesn't work? Also now that I use this my CPU seems to max out a lot faster than when I was using the Firepod. Not sure why that is, unless the software mixer takes up a crapload of resources...I've even stripped down my system to maximize performance for audio production.

The tech support has been ok at least. Don't bother with their answerbase, instead try to find their support e-mail address, they usually reply within a day or two. However, "this is a known issue and we don't know when it will be fixed" is still pretty aggravating. Hopefully not as bad as Mackie who took over a year to release Vista drivers for their Onyx Satellite even though they were "working on it", ugh. Once they fix the MIDI issues I will feel a lot better about this thing and it will suit my needs, but...what the hell am I supposed to do in the meantime?

If this broke I would definitely not buy another, I would spend the extra money to get an RME.

I conclusion, if you use MIDI heavily than I would avoid this, or at least wait until they've fixed it.

The Saffire Pro is a rackmount 20 in 20 out recording interface aimed at the home studio/project studio market. Being rackmount makes the unit transportable but in the case of my studio I have it permanently racked. The PSU is internal so it doesn't require a wall wort. Good thing for me as I prefer it that way, doesn't eat up as much space. Case is all metal contruction and the unit has some heft to it due to the internal PSU.

All metering is done through the MixControl software though optical meter representation is shown on the front of the interface with clip indication. Trim and adjustments for recording can be made through the included software (master volume only) as well as through the hardware trims on the front.

There are no onboard DSP however a focusrite VST package is included and requires licensing.

Connectivity is through a firewire wire 400 connector with pass through for additional devices. This is not recommended in the manual as there is a statement that this may adversely affect the recording capability of the unit. If two devices are using the same pathway and chipset at the same time.

I confirmed this while accessing a firewire external HDD and recording at the same time. I was able to force the unit into dropout. This may be due to the DICE II implementation.

The unit comes with 8 Neutrik combi-jacks for connection of XLR/TRS balanced inputs or unbalanced 1/4 inch inputs. There are 10 physical outputs as well for providing multiple mix output for stereo, 2.1, 5.1 or 7.1 or as headphone outs for monitor back to musicians. There are also 2 headphone outs on the front panel. All outs have independent level controls thru the MixControl software and the two front panel headphone jacks have individual knobs for level adjustment.

There is also an optical ADAT/SPDIF and a RCA SPDIF I/O. With the optical configured for ADAT an additional 8 inputs can be routed in from a standalone MIC Pre like the Focusrite Octopre or Presonus Digimax D-8 providing worldclock sync through the ADAT input. This combined with the RCA I/O SPDIF gives a total of 20 ins and 20 outs.

Two of the Neutrik inputs are configured for instrument with a pad available. There is phantom power available for the Neutrik combi connectors but are only assignable in groups of 1 thru4 or 5 thru 8. I find this to be a bit troublesome for some of the things I record. I'll be looking for an additional mic pre with ADAT out that will address this issue on a port by port basis.

Loop back capability is also a feature that is available but to date I have not found a use for it.

Preamps are clean and have good dynamic range.

The unit does not offer buss power and as mentioned phantom power is available. Assignable to inputs 1 thru 4 or 5 thru 6.

From the Focusrite documentation:

MICROSOFT WINDOWS
Operating System
Microsoft Windows XP SP2 (32 bit and 64 bit) and Windows Vista (32 bit and 64 bit - an update is required for use with Vista 64. This can be downloaded from here.)

CPU/Clock
900MHz AMD or Pentium. (1.5 GHz or higher recommended)

Memory (RAM)
512 MB (more recommended)


APPLE MAC

Operating System
OSX (10.4 and 10.5)

CPU/Clock
PowerPC G4/Dual 1 GHZ or faster or any Intel-based Mac

Memory (RAM)
512 MB (more recommended)


PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS

Microphone Inputs
??? Frequency Response: 20Hz - 20kHz +/- 0.1 dB
??? THD+N: 0.001% (measured at 1kHz with a 20Hz/22kHz bandpass filter)
??? Noise: EIN > 125dB (128dB analogue to digital) (measured at 60dB of gain with 150 Ohm termination (20Hz/22kHz bandpass filter)

Line Inputs
??? Frequency Response: 20Hz - 20kHz +/- 0.1dB
??? THD+N: < 0.001% (measured with 0dBFS input and 22Hz/22kHz bandpass filter)
??? Noise: -90dBu (22Hz/22kHz bandpass filter)

Instrument Inputs
??? Frequency Response: 20Hz - 20kHz +/- 0.1dB
??? THD+N: 0.004% (measured with 0dBu input and 20Hz/22kHz bandpass filter)
??? Noise: -87dBu (20Hz/22kHz bandpass filter)

Conversion performance
??? Dynamic Range = 110dB (A-wieghted)
??? Clock jitter < 250 picoseconds
??? THD+N AMPL = -109dBFS 'A' weighted

Front and Rear Connectivity

Analogue Channel Inputs (Inputs 1-8)
??? 2 Mic/Line/Inst Combo XLR (Inputs 1 and 2)
??? 6 Mic/Line Combo XLR (Inputs 3-8)
??? Automatic switching of Mic / Line (e.g. inserting a jack switches from Mic to either Line or Instrument)

Digital Channel Inputs (Inputs 9-18) 44.1-96kHz
??? Stereo S/PDIF input on RCA
??? 8 ADAT inputs on Optical Connector, reduces to 4 inputs at 88.2/96kHz ??? Optical input can be switched to S/PDIF 3/4 in software preferences (ADATs disabled)

Analogue Audio Outputs (Outputs 1-10)
??? 8 ????? TRS Jack (Outputs 3-10)
??? 2 monitor mix outputs on ????? TRS Jack (Outputs 1 and 2)
??? Stereo headphones mix 1 on ????? TRS (also routed to outputs 7 & 8)
??? Stereo Headphones mix 2 on ????? TRS (also routed to outputs 9 & 10)

Digital Channel Outputs (Outputs 11-20) 44.1-96kHz
??? Stereo S/PDIF output on RCA
??? 8 ADAT outputs on Optical Connector, reduces to 4 outputs at 88.2/96kHz ??? Optical output can be switched to S/PDIF 3/4 in software preferences (ADATs disabled)

The unit comes with Pro 40 Control software but an upgrade is available thru the Focusrite site. The update replace the Pro 40 Control with the new MixControll software which supports the Saffire Pro 40 i/o and the Saffire Liquid 56 i/o.

It also comes withe X-Cite pack which includes the Arturia Analog Factory LE, Novation Bassstation (which will not load in a 64bit environment), Waldorf VSTi (also will not load in a 64 bit environment) and some trial ware and samples. It also comes with Ableton Live LE for Focusrite version 6 with a free upgrade to version 7.

Would I recommend it to others.? Yes. With a caution about you better know what you're doing with your DAW before you add anything of this complexity. If not enlist the help of someone who does.

If this unit was destroyed would I replace it with a like unit. Probably not. I would step up to an RME ADAT interface in my DAW system and go to using Focusrite Octopres instead. This is because my needs are changing and I can see this is where I'll be in a year.

Support? Support has been great for me. I have used the email support and have received answers to 64 bit driver support as well as presales questions within 24 hours. I am not sure why others have had problems with Focusrite support. As for finding a phone number it's published on the Focusrite website support page for the US based support through their exclusive US distributor.

Note that Focusrite is a UK based company.

Purchase the Saffire PRO 40 which only comes in a reackmount, but has covers for the mounts so can be used as a desktop. Looks well built and has a nice front and rear panel.

Connects by Firewire and has a second firewire port for daisy-chaining.

8 in/out can connect MIDI, SPDIF, ADAT, 1/4 inch. The I/O was one of the main reasons I purchased.

AC powered came with cord. Has phantom power for mics.

Didn't come with any recording software but could download some fre effects.

Really couldn't tell you much about how it works BECAUSE IT NEVER HAS. The support is a joke. I read a couple reviews of their other products and saw that was a complaint. I guess I was foolish to think that they may have fixed the products and their support of them. I was wrong. Their "Getting Started" half-page sheet was no help at all. I went on-line to call support but there are no numbers to contact them. I used their "Answerbase" was was a joke. I sent two e-mails to their supplied support connection and didn't get a response. I even sent an e-mail to their sales group and they didn't answer either.

I'm packing it up today and sending it back. I wonder how long these people will stay in business with bad product, service, and support. Stay away from Focusrite.

This is a fantastic unit - super-solid, very well built and has a ton of appointments that would come in handy for anyone. I/O metering is decent, and has just about any kind of front panel control you need. Software/Hardware control is very nice, and the included bus software is easy to use and extremely powerful - it helps you get the most from the unit. Very, very good in my opinion.

Connectivity to PC is FW400. No other options for that, but it does have digital I/O. I only rate it a 9 as it can not be used stand-alone at all.

All balanced analog, 8 Focusrite preamps (based on the Platinum range), tons of digital connectivity, MIDI I/O. More than enough for a project studio - limitless routing options. Two front-panel channels that can handle mic/line/instrument levels.

AC powered with a line cable - phantom power on all 8 inputs and is controlled in groups of 4 channels.

Up to 96KHz, latency-free monitoring that really works (the mix software included is absolutely fantastic), ASIO support, includes free VST plugs.

Again - the mix software is wonderful, and not a processor hog. Live Lite included...among a few other things. Can not operate stand-alone.

As a recording interface in my home studio, it exceeded all expectations I had for it. A super value. Driver installation was astoundingly easy - I had it up and running in less than 5 minutes - on a PC! Works with ACID Pro 6 without a hitch - I have been using it well over a month and have had no crashes, slow performance, or anything else of the kind. I would absolutely buy another unit. Well worth the money and highly recommended.