What do you think of the Focusrite Saffire PRO 14?

[bell222]

Just wondering what you guys thought of the Focusrite Saffire PRO 14 and will it work with Digital Performer 7? My Firewire interface failed two weeks or so ago and I've been managing with a FastLane but I need audio inputs firewire style and saw the Saffire Pro. I think it just came out in August. I've heard Focusrite has a good reputation so I wanted to see what you guys thought. I do allot of live stuff as well so it would be coming with me.

[bell222]

anyone know about Focusrite interfaces?

[markwayne]

I purchased a Saffire LE roughly three years ago as a cheap, portable interface to test the waters on remote recording (my first non-PCI-based system) and have found it to be reliable and surprisingly nice sounding. I would place it squarely between my good, old MOTU 1224s and my Mytek convertors in terms of audio quality. (That's a pretty large gap BTW so don't construe that as equating the Focusrite and Mytek in any way.)

However, I was impressed enough with Focusrite that, when the time came to upgrade my remote recording rig this year, I found a good deal on a Saffire Pro 40 and purchased it sight unseen. I've been a little less pleased with the Saffire "Pro". I've had some unexplained drop-outs (only on playback - I've never lost a take) and a lot of issues with extreme, low-latency settings (esp. in Logic) that never occurred with my "cheap" LE interface. The Saffire Pro still sounds very good, although scarcely any better than the LE (which, as I stated, is a very nice sounding box). The preamps are okay although the taper on the gain knobs is pretty strange making it very tough to get levels set with low output mics. None of this makes the interface unusable, but I was expecting better after being so impressed by the LE box.

[jlaudon]

I used to use a Saffire 26 i/o, which had decent preamps, but I found the software to be buggy. Sold it, and got a MOTU 828mk3 - super stable software, and the key thing is there is direct monitoring within DP (obviously not within Logic though).

I think interfaces at this level are pretty close in terms of price and sound quality - now I check out the software as well for stability working with DAWs.

[Phil O]

Slightly off topic, but does anyone know how the Focusrite stuff compares to Presonus?

Phil

[bell222]

Slightly off topic, but does anyone know how the Focusrite stuff compares to Presonus?

Phil

I owned a Presonus Firebox which was pretty good and pretty reliable. I'm now more in tune with the Saffire Pro 14 now. The only complaint is that the headphone volume never really gets loud enough for me.

[mhschmieder]

I've been watching this topic myself, because I'm still thinking a Focusrite box as ADAT-based expander might be a good and affordable stop-gap measure, considering that starting over from scratch with a quality PCIe based solution for 16 simultaneous channels in one box, is going to cost a bundle and is not without its own pitfalls.

I may need to buy one today, for an upcoming session, so I have enough channels for the 12 drum tracks alongside some recording vs. monitoring-only of ghost guitar and bass tracks (really I just need 14 channels total).

Thus, the four-channel Focusrite unit on Black Friday Special may just be the ticket.

Most of what I've read indicates the latest Focusrite models have way superior mic pre-amps (if those are needed) but that the interfaces themselves may not be as stable as the previous models (yet).

As for PreSonus, I steer clear of everything from that company due to reliability problems., Granted, this is second-hand info, but I've heard it from enough pros over the years who have first-hand experience, and have heard nothing contrary, that I consider them right there with B**er.

On the other hand, I see their interfaces as amongst the few that are recommended by some vendors as tested with their VI's (the others being RME, Echo, and MOTU).

Certainly the pre-amps on the PreSonus interfaces are sub-standard, if those matter. In that price range, the newer stuff from A.R.T. is a better bet in that regard, but my recollection is that signal routing and equipment integration is quite limited with their FW device.

[mhschmieder]

I just ordered a refurbished OctoPre mk II, after researching all of the Focusrite models and determining this one seemed to have the best bang-for-buck quality with non-redundant features.

Others on this thread may find some of the other models more suitable to their needs.

I believe this model has the same converters as the others, but simply doesn't include a computer interface (i.e. Firewire or USB), headphone monitoring, or DSP.

The mic pre-amps are said to be idealized for drums, which is when I would most often need more than 8-12 channels. These are better pre-amps than in most of the other models.

I believe this is the only model to include a word clock BNC input. This may not help me as the Fireface and Mytek AD96 units both have a single word clock connection, but as I'm driving the FF800 with the Mytek's clock, maybe the FF800's word clock output could daisy chain that to the Focusrite unit? I'm inexperienced in this area. Or maybe with ADAT it's unnecessary to send clock on a wired cable with BNC terminator.

At any rate, hopefully my experience with this unit will prove useful to those considering some of the other units in the latest series from Focusrite.

Now though, I feel trapped into going the ADAT route vs. the AES/EBU route, once I switch from Firewire to a PCIe interface. I suspect this Focusrite unit will carry forward.

[mandobilly64]

I have a Focusrite 26 i/o and an Octopre. I didn't like the Focusrite control software, their monitoring options basically sucked, you could send like 5 different stereo headphone mixes but they were all the basic same mix with the only variable of how much DAW is mixed with the live mix. So I got the 828 mk3 and now my Saffire Pro 26 i/o is just being used for the 8 mic pres and running out into the 8 analog inputs of the Motu. The Octopre is being sent via ADAT and that is how I run my clock. I am eventually wanting to add another Octopre MkII to the system as well as a time clock but for now no problem running the time clock via adat from the Octopre. Oh, and BTW all three of my interfaces have Wordclock in.

Peace,
Billy

[mhschmieder]

How about the "direct through" monitoring? I'll know when my unit arrives and I try it out, but my understanding is that no software is required for that feature. I'm thinking of taking advantage of this during ghost tracking of rhythm guitar and bass in initial drum sessions, maybe combining with other signals via my Yamaha MG-16 mixer.

[eitonin]

I have a Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP. I bought it because I needed portability, I couldn't yet afford a MOTU Ultralite, and Focusrite are renowned for their killer preamps so they must make good interfaces too, right? WRONG.

Their drivers are so unstable, they drop out at the drop of a hat. The preamps aren't that great, and the converters (which is the most important part of any interface, if you ask me) sound like the audio is trapped inside a cardboard box with no room to breathe. Then there are little annoyances like ADAT in... but not out (What the heck???), and like markwayne mentioned, the gain knobs are weird. The DSP is just useless marketing fluff.

The 24 is simply a bigger 14, so it's relevant to the original post. My suggestion, if you're looking for something of that size, do yourself and your sound a favor, save up just a little more dough and get an Ultralite MK3. Or save up twice as much and get a RME FireFace 400. If you want to stay in the current price range, Echo Audio might be a good solution. I have no experience with Presonus interfaces but I hear people are happy with them.

[mhschmieder]

Echo Audio is a great solution for people just starting out.

Not such a good solution for expansion as most of their interfaces are missing key expansion protocols and thus would require using on a parallel Firewire connection.

I am just about to plug in my new Focusrite unit to give it a quick run-through and go-ahead for today's session. But I only have time to plug it in, make sure the ADAT clocking works when hooked up to my RME FF800, and do a quick voice check on all eight channels.

[Phil O]

...I am just about to plug in my new Focusrite unit to give it a quick run-through and go-ahead for today's session...

I thought you were going with the Octopre, or did you get both? Let us know how you like it (them?).

Phil

[mhschmieder]

Bloody awful pre-amps, but a reliable unit and an easy and affordable way to expand past the 8-12 channels of a standard Firewire interface.

Very grainy and distorted, but at least all eight channels are consistent, and the analog outputs do not colour the sound beyond what the pre-amps already did.

In comparing to the pre-amps on board the FF800 -- which are not very good but are serviceable -- the OctoPre mk II is more detailed, but very cold and harsh (which is strange as it almost sounds like a distorted low-end tube mic pre).

The instrument pre-amps fared better than the mic pre-amps. I only tried vocals (unusable) and bass guitar (better than the FF800, but I would never do this except for ghost tracking anyway).

I'm not sure yet whether I'll consider this OK for adding four more drum channels at my next sessions. It's really my only option via ADAT expansion at the moment though. But this is leaning me more towards the SSL AlphaLink or upgrading to the new Fireface UFX.

At least these Focusrite pre-amps are more detailed than the ones on the B**er ADDA8000 that I sold a few years ago. Based on the results I got by driving the signal a little lower and then re-amping it through the RME analog inputs, these pre-amps MIGHT be OK for less important drum fill mics, but I wouldn't trust it on kick, snare, or OH duty.

The noise floor is outrageous, but I didn't try routing it through a passive DI box first. I've never had to do that with XLR based stuff before, and I imagine the noise is internal and that nothing can be done about it. Compromises were clearly made in order to reach a point of affordability.

[Phil O]

Ouch, that's three bad reports on Focusrite now in the same thread, and I thought they had a good name. What I'd really like to get is a True Precision 8, but it's out of my reach right now. Oh well, start savin' my pennies.

Phil