Also interested in this....

My Firestudio has been giving me fits lately, and am looking at this unit or an RME FF800. Not anytime soon, but I like to do lots of homework first.

i've read some good stuff about it.
according to some reviews (the few i could find) the converters and micpre's are really good, especially for it's price range. it's routing capabilities are very flexible and the drivers seem very stable.

since nobody here could tell me anything about it i will have to do the testing. just ordered one...
i'll let you know how i like it, when i'll have some time to mess around with it.

so i've finally had the time to test my new focusrite saffire pro 24 dsp.
the unit seems very solid and the potis and switches have a good quality.
the routing in the mixer software can be quite tricky and i had to consult the manual, but after some time i got used to it and could record and playback tracks into logic.
the integrated dsp fx like the compressor and eq are a nice feature for recording vocals. you can either record the signal with the fx or without while giving the singer a compressed and eq'ed signal to his headphones. there's also a reverb you can apply to the signal but is not recorded. it's not high quality but enough as a comfort reverb. all the fx are without any noticeable latency.
i haven't used the preamps yet. if i do i will post my thoughts about it.

another nice thing is the "virtual reference monitoring". it's supposed to simulate speakers in a room and can be only applied to the headphone outs.
there are different kinds of speakers in three different rooms and different placings.
it does seem that the sound is moved out of my head and more in front of me, but it's still not a real "speaker-in-front-of-me" feeling but sometimes i thought i could hear my real monitors bleeding through the headphones although the monitors were off.
i think it's not exactly like listening to monitors but when i compared a mix with reference songs it seemed quite helpful in finding problems with levels and frequencies to switch between the different simulations. it did feel kind of like listening on different systems in different environments.
though i probably won't use it while mixing it does a good job when it comes to comparing the mix to other material.

so that are my first thoughts on this unit.

I have not been able to install and use Focusrite Saffire 24 DSP It does not like any firewire connections on three different computers. Vista and XP. I do not know, maybe I got a bad one but how will I ever find out? :( :(

Onboard firewire or addon card? XP SP2? Vista SP1 or SP2? Have you been over to Focusrite and checked out their troubleshooting [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.focusrit…"]FAQ[/]="http://www.focusrit…"]FAQ[/]?

How do you know it isn't installed correctly? What are the symptoms?

And-you should have started your own post instead of hijacking someone elses.

Okay sorry if anyone was offended by my honest response to the post asking if anybody had any experience with Focusrite Sapphire Pro 24 DSP. Although I am new to this particular forum, I have over 40 years of musical experience that has directly involved the use of every imaginable electronic device, good, bad and useless. I personally spent my own money on this unit. After researching everything I could find about it. I was very excited to experiment with the VRM. What I can say based on years of experience in the music and computer world is that this unit is far from user friendly. I regret to have to make a statement like that, because I truly would like to use the VRM feature of this unit. Perhaps, if you are using something other than Windows. You could sing a different song. But, like millions of musicians, who would really like to buy something, plug it in, and make music with it. This is not it. In the real world of price point engineering, to not have a USB 2 output that adheres to plug-and-play standards sings a real sour note for profits. That's how I feel about the FOCUSRITE SAFFIRE PRO 24 DSP. :!:

I don't know about the Focusrite but there are many interfaces that don't play well with cheap firewire chips especially those built in to a motherboard. Many of these units require a Texas Instrument chip to operate though it should say that in the specs (many do.) I can certainly understand why when dealing with high end audio equipment the manufacturer requires a high quality transmission device. I understand this may or may not be the problem.

I've spent too many years on all of this stuff too...old school and new school...Don't fool around....just get an RME anything you'll never regret it....you'll love the sound you will get out of it....it works, it's works flawlessly and relentlessly, it's high quality electronics, well designed, well thought out, flexible and if you buy one and make the investment you'll probably never get rid of it!
I've been using the RME FF800 for a couple years now and can't say enough good things about it!

Ok. I get you have a beef with the Saffire Pro. But your post asked questions about how to get it working. To have any chance at helping you I need more information. Reread my post and answer the questions and any other computer/Saffire related things you might think are relevant. Enough people have working units that either you do have a bad unit or there is an issue with your pc/interface connection.

Limited choice on a budget

djmukilteo wrote: I've spent too many years on all of this stuff too...old school and new school...Don't fool around....just get an RME anything you'll never regret it....you'll love the sound you will get out of it....it works, it's works flawlessly and relentlessly, it's high quality electronics, well designed, well thought out, flexible and if you buy one and make the investment you'll probably never get rid of it!
I've been using the RME FF800 for a couple years now and can't say enough good things about it!

I to am looking at the Focusrite pro 24 and have seen a lot of pretty good reviews, so it's looking like an option. I'm afraid as much as I would like to opt for something better like the RME FF800 I haven't got a thousand pounds burning a hole in my back pocket... oh I wish! so I guess it has to be on a budget for me.
Maybe next christmas, if santas kind and I've been a good boy ;-)

If you want a comparable product (not equal to) the FF800 look at the Konnekt 48 by TC Electronics.

Hi

I made a video on VRM. Just a quick run through the presets, monitors, listening environments, switching VRM on/off etc

Before I bought the unit I was looking for such a test but could not find anything.

So I made one and here it is:

[[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.youtube…"]YouTube - Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP VRM test[/]="http://www.youtube…"]YouTube - Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP VRM test[/]

Also, have a look at the Steinberg MR816. I got one last week and the pre-amps are simply amazing. The one drawback is that the drivers are a little picky. I made the mistake of buying a new Dell when I upgraded my DAW (just to save money) and I'm having compatibility issues with the MR. I have a new motherboard on the way though, and that should take care of it. But I hooked the MR up to my old PC, and...wow! The difference in the quality of the pres compared to my Tascam FW1884 (which has decent pres) really surprised me. I believe it also has the same d/a conversion that RME uses.
Anyway, look into it. If the drivers don't work for you, you can just get your money back and go with something else.

sigmundklaus, post: 345763 wrote: Hi

I made a video on VRM. Just a quick run through the presets, monitors, listening environments, switching VRM on/off etc

Before I bought the unit I was looking for such a test but could not find anything.

So I made one and here it is:

[[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.youtube…"]YouTube - Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP VRM test[/]="http://www.youtube…"]YouTube - Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP VRM test[/]

I find this virtual room/monitor emulator idea hard to swallow if not totally useless. Roland M1s will never sound like Genelec's, no need to mention Urei. It's just not possible. The idea is bunk and nothing more than a gimmick IMHO. You can't emulate a room. Not while your own room has issues of it's own. It's just a ridiculous concept. Now, if the Saffire has a DSP chip that has other value than that VRM, great but the VRM on it's own is kind of a joke.

hueseph, post: 345822 wrote: I find this virtual room/monitor emulator idea hard to swallow if not totally useless. Roland M1s will never sound like Genelec's, no need to mention Urei. It's just not possible. The idea is bunk and nothing more than a gimmick IMHO. You can't emulate a room. Not while your own room has issues of it's own. It's just a ridiculous concept. Now, if the Saffire has a DSP chip that has other value than that VRM, great but the VRM on it's own is kind of a joke.

the emulation works only on the headphone outputs. and here it does a pretty good job in simulating a speaker setup. does it sound like genelecs or any other brand? probably not, but it provides a few reference options for those, who don't have different speakers or rooms.
i wouldn't mix with the simulation turned on, but i check my mixes with it.

anyway, the dsp effects, like compressor, eq and reverb are quite handy while recording.

but as mentioned above, it takes some time to grasp the signal flow and workflow of the software interface.

With all due respect, how much can you rely upon those emulations?

Consider this parallel. When working with photography, in order to ensure that what you see is what you get when you go from Photoshop to print, you need two things. First you need a profile of your printer which, if your printer is of any quality, will have included as a file or preferably instructions on how to create a profile. Second you need to calibrate your monitor so that it represents the profile of your printer.

Does VRM allow you to profile your monitors? Does VRM allow you to profile your room? This is half of the equation. Fine. You have the emulations. Maybe they are accurate emulations of rooms and monitors. The problem is that your own room and monitors are going to color that by nature.

Forgive me. I'm not trying to be argumentative here. You find value in the software and that's great. I just think it's good to consider all the factors.

hueseph, post: 345886 wrote: With all due respect, how much can you rely upon those emulations?
The problem is that your own room and monitors are going to color that by nature.

as i said, the emulation/simulation is only applied on the headphone outputs, so your own room doesn't affect it.
i have also said that i wouldn't mix with it turned on. but it can show you frequency problems in your mix. it's more like an additional reference like listening to it on a kitchen radio or in your car.

This is how Focusrite is advertising VRM:

VRM let’s you choose your mixing environment from a living room, a bedroom studio, or a professional studio. You then simply choose where you are positioned in that room and what speakers you listen through.

VRM overcomes the major obstacle for mixing with headphones by giving you multiple perspectives on your mix, as if you were listening through speakers.

I don't think I need to point out that listening with headphones is even more prone to color the sound of your mix.

Here's the promo from Focusrite:

It will help you mix with headphones.

At 3:00

I'm not trying to discredit the SaFFire Pro 24 DSP. I'm sure it's a fine interface.

hueseph, post: 345921 wrote: This is how Focusrite is advertising VRM:

I don't think I need to point out that listening with headphones is even more prone to color the sound of your mix.

Here's the promo from Focusrite:

[[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.youtube…"]YouTube - Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP With VRM[/]="http://www.youtube…"]YouTube - Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP With VRM[/]

At 3:00

I'm not trying to discredit the SaFFire Pro 24 DSP. I'm sure it's a fine interface.

i know what you mean. it sure is no substitute for a good room and good speakers. but if you have no good room or/and no good speakers it can give you another perspective on your mix.
btw, when you have to mix through headphone due to noise/neighbor problems it's quite useful, because it will sound more like speakers in a room. you don't have that inside-your-head sound.

anyway, one has to decide for himself if he wants to use it. the dsp is really handy while tracking and the preamps are really nice too.

I recently bought Saffire Pro 24 DSP. When recording guitar directly, the sound is a far better than with my old Mindprint Trio. I haven't got money for RME or any of the high end audio interfaces. I mix with my Sennheiser HD595 headphones and Wharfedale 8.2 active monitors. With the lowest latency setting I get some dropouts in playback maybe a couple of times/20hours working time, OS X 10.5.8 and Logic 9 Studio being my setup. My main problem is that the pres are not hot enough for my Rode NT2-A, that is why I am borrowing that mic to my vocalist, she has better use for it. With my AKG C1000S I have no problems.

I don't feel I can rely on Pro 24 DSP for planned live gigs with Ableton Live 7, that is why I try to find a solution with usb-interface with my HP-laptop with Windows 7. For the price I think Pro 24 DSP is a good choice, I will record vocals with my other project in the summer using it. I do not think I have an excellent perspective on mixing or mastering, I am more of a composer, still looking for my way through great sound.

I find it hard to believe that you cannot get enough output from an NT2-A; it's a relatively high-output microphone. Have you checked that you do not have the pad switched in? The NT2-A is sonically superior to the C1000S.

My settings are -80 low cut, cardioid and -0dB pad. With the interface's gain full I get some signal, but not strong. Anyway, I will borrow the mic to my vocalist and then maybe try record vocals in my other project with the AKG. For the future purposes I will buy another decent large diagram condenser mic, any suggestios on the 100-200€ range (ok, I will check the threads :D)?

There is no such thing as a -0dB pad. That would be a switch that does nothing. It's probably -10dB. Turn the pad off. That is what is keeping your gain so low.

Correction: -0dB is the pad in the off position. The options are -0, -5 or -10dB. I don't know why they mark it like that. Still very surprised you can't get enough gain out of it.

There are 3 settings on pad, -5dB, -10dB and 0dB, I have it on 0dB. I will check the 8 and omni figures, I have used the cardioid with my previous interface with no problems. Now I am planning to purchase (no hurry, I will see) Studio Projects B1 for my local project, I hope it is sensitive enough. The output of NT2-A is no longer a problem, I have promised it to my n:o 1 vocalist and it should work well with the mixer she has. There is no fault with the mic, I have checked with my Mindprint Trio USB.

I am really thankful for your feedback, now I think I have really found a community where to address my problems and visions on my music, I am really on the way to greater sound.

I've used this unit as a sort of a hybrid Studio Central Control unit. I can monitor the stereo output buses of 2 separate daw machines, i can create several different monitor mixes and output routing schemes, and the preamps sound really nice with most mics i've used as well as being a great sounding DI for acoustic guitars or a front end preamp for my Amplitube input with electric guitar. I had used several earlier focusrite products, and the graphical interface was absolutley nightmarish to try to comprehend and configure, especially when under the pressure of tryng to keep a session moving along. The new driver/monitor/routing interface is extremely usable. It also has worked great as a mobile 4 channel analog input 4-track with my laptop, I hook the 4 subgroup outputs on our analog church mixer to the saffire, and i get great sounding recordings of the band. caveat - not related to the quality of the saffire - my 4-pin firewire interface on the laptop is VERY finicky and i have to tape or otherwise engineer a method to keep it reliably connected. nothing sucks worse than looking back at the screen and seeing all recording channels in the Nuendo software flatlining, and the saffire software reporting no hardware connected...
yeah, good unit. I don't own this device, I am renting, but I plan on buying it. and if it broke or disappeared, i would want another one just like it.

a few questions

hannuxela, post: 347553 wrote:
I don't feel I can rely on Pro 24 DSP for planned live gigs with Ableton Live 7

1: care to elaborate on that?
I am currently looking for a nice and reliable audiointerface (hopefully budget friendly if possible) for using both for live performance and work in my home studio (both ableton Live 8 atm)
I am at a loss to figure out if the saffire 24 pro will live up to my demands.
It will ofc outperform my ESI Julia (studio) and my Behringer FCA 202 (live) hands down but I am still looking for flaws that I may have overlooked..
I have also been looking at RME Fireface 2 as well as RME babyface, Apogee Duet and MOTU ULTRALITE MKIII HYBRID
Whereas the fireface is probably superior in all aspects I am trying to avoid its hefty cost as I think the money would be better spend on a Neuman Mic or a CPU upgrade.
So, the fireface is a tad to pricey, the babyface and the duet both have a very limited I/O (to few for surround and drum recording. Ofc babyface can be "upgraded" via the ADAT bit is this really a viable solution given that its a USB interface?)
So, in the end the Saffire Pro comes off as one of the only interfaces I can find that has enough channels for Surround and studio use(enough for drums with an ADAT extension), has a very attractive price, has "almost-professional" Preamps (I think) and decent converters for my use. Seeing as the Motu places somewhere similar to the saffire 24 and the Fireface 2 featurewise and somewhere in between prisewise it could also be a previous overlooked candidate?
2: So I guess the remaining questions for me are around stability and buildquality as well as latency comparing the Focusrite, MOTU and RME?

(( I also have issues with my firewire 4 pin. As it is situated (god knows why) on the front of my laptop just below my left wrist when typing, I constantly unplug it unless I tape it or support it from below with a beercap ;))

3: Should the fw interfaces work equally well on the build-in fw port of my t61 as well as on a PCMCIA to fw card?

I am open to suggestions for other cards. I will be buying from [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.thomann…"]Hjertelig velkommen - Dansk International Cyberstore[/]="http://www.thomann…"]Hjertelig velkommen - Dansk International Cyberstore[/] or any other shop outside DK while inside EU As I am buying excl. VAT
ANy help is much obliged

EDIT: DSP effects and VRM is not really a concern to me

I've had the Saffire Pro 24 DSP for a couple months, now and its am very satisfied with it's performance.
I'm using a recent iMac, and latency is under 6ms in Logic 9. No software or interfacing issues at all.

This is a great unit for the project or portable studio. The pres are clean and neutral.
Sure, I often run colored tube pres through the line ins, but that 's a matter of taste.
The DI is quite good, though I have others I prefer.

Some other outstanding features:

1. Tthe output routing is extensive and versatile: you can do stereo, 5.1 or 2.1 surround, quad, stereo plus extra monitor sends, whatever you need.
2. The VRM is very handy for previewing different audio environments. Rough out a surround mix with headphones:
Sure, you'll need to listen to it on a real system eventually, but you can actually do useful work with isolation headphones and a laptop outside the studio.

I rout in the Tascam FW1804 I used to use as a main unit via toslink ADAT, so I can track 12 channels at once if I need to.

Heck of a lot of utility in a little box.

eyeland, post: 351448 wrote: 1: care to elaborate on that?
3: Should the fw interfaces work equally well on the build-in fw port of my t61 as well as on a PCMCIA to fw card?

You will need a Texas Instruments based FireWire Card. That is a must. Anything else will likely lead to a whole lot of headaches.