Focusrite Pro 26 i/o and Pro 10 i/o Multi-Channel Firewire Audio Interfaces
Mike Rivers September 2007
Windows and ASIO are strange bedfellows. The nature of the ASIO device driver model is that a program that uses that driver can talk to only one unit at a time. The Macintosh OSX is able to consolidate multiple ASIO devices so that, to a program, they appear as a single device with the total number of inputs and outputs on the various connected devices. Windows has no such capability, with the exception of the short-lived CEntrance Universal ASIO Driver and some device-specific drivers. I was pleased to hear, when chatting at the Focusrite booth at the Summer NAMM show, that up to three interfaces in this series could be stacked up (for a whopping 78 possible inputs and outputs) and accessed by a DAW, When EM review editor Geary Yelton invited me to review the Pro10, I said Lets get two so I can test out the multi-device capability and here we are. The Focusrite Saffire Pro 26 i/o and Pro 10 i/o (Pro26 and Pro10 for short) are close cousins. Theyre multi-channel Firewire audio interfaces, differing in the number of I/O ports and a few other goodies. The Pro10 supports sample rates from 44.1 kHz to 96 kHz, with the Pro26 offering its full complement of analog I/O at 196 kHz as well. Power is supplied by the Firewire bus or a line lump power supply with a sturdy locking connector. The 1 rack-space high chassis is at home in a rack or on a tabletop (though my desk would have appreciated nonscratching feet on the bottom), with rack ears supplied but not installed. Drivers and the Control PRO control panel and mixing console are provided for Windows XP-SP2, 64-bit XP, Media Centre, and 32- and 64-bit Vista. On the Mac side, minimum requirement is Mac OS 10.3.3, though the manual says may require updates. As one who flies on the trailing edge of technology, I tested the Pros using Windows XP. An important feature of the Saffire Pro series is its DSP mixer. When tracking, you can monitor all of the inputs plus a stereo mix of recorded tracks with substantially less latency than you get when the input source must take a detour through the computer before getting to the headphones. The mixer retains its current settings when disconnected from the computer so, while controls are limited, it can serve, for example, as a keyboard mixer on a gig. Normally, when using the Saffires for tracking, youll want to take advantage of the mixer. However theres a mode called Hardware Monitoring where the analog inputs are routed nearly directly (they go through A/D and D/A conversion) to the analog outputs without going through the Control PRO mixer. This is useful if you prefer to use a hardware mixer for monitoring or for making
mixing live to a 2-track recorder with more control than you have with the Control PRO mixer. Gozintas and Gozoutas Both models offer eight mic preamps with gain controls and clip LEDs on the front panel XLR connectors on the rear panel. 48V phantom power is switchable in banks of four channels with a pair of hardware buttons on the Pro10. Phantom power for the Pro26 inputs is normally engaged via the ControlPRO console, but when off-line, the Dim and Mute buttons become phantom power switches. The eight front panel line input jacks override their corresponding mic inputs when a plug is inserted. This may disappoint users with a lot of gear who want to keep everything connected all the time, but it means you can leave your mics connected and patch in a synth when you need it. Line inputs 1 and 2 can be switched to become high impedance instrument DI inputs. Digitally, theres a stereo IEC-958 (S/PDIF coaxial) input, MIDI In and MIDI Out, and two Firewire 400 jacks. The Pro26 offers some extra goodies; a switchable high pass filter on each mic/line input, a low impedance (300 ) switch for Mic inputs 1 and 2, and polarity (phase) reverse on Channel 1. A button on the software console converts Line Inputs 5 and 6 to Insert jacks for channels 1 and 2. Two ADAT inputs provide sixteen additional channels at 44.1/48 kHz or eight channels using the S-Mux protocol at 88.2/96 kHz. Finally, theres word clock input and output. Each input has a corresponding output. Typically analog outputs 1 and 2 feed the control room monitors. ADAT outputs could be used to feed a backup recorder for live sessions or to feed a multi-channel headphone monitor system. A software button links the mixers analog output level controls to the front panel Monitor volume knob. Youd normally link the control room monitor outputs (1 and 2) to the Monitor knob, but you can selectively link the other output pairs to it as well. This almost works when feeding a surround monitor system, but not quite. While you can adjust the volume of multiple outputs with the single knob, the Mute and Dim buttons associated with the Monitor volume control dont follow the linking and only work on outputs 1-2. If youre monitoring in surround, youd like all the speakers, not just one pair, to mute when you press the button. Another small annoyance is that when outputs are linked, you cant have them set to different relative levels with a single master control. This is what you want for calibrated surround monitoring (Im sure this was what was on Focusrites mind) but you want to experiment with changing a single channels level, youll need to either unlink it or go into the mix.

The Monitor volume control is digital with 1 dB steps, causing zipper noise when you spin it. Also, theres quite a bit of hash on the outputs while the Saffire is in the process of starting up, so youll want to power up your monitors last. Thats always a good policy, but not everyone does it. Apparently in an earlier version of the firmware, the units came up with the monitor output muted, which, although its one more thing to remember to do, was probably a good idea. Maybe Focusrite will bring it back in an update, or even better, mute for the first 15 seconds or so and then unmute automatically. Two front panel headphone jacks, each with its own volume control, can be fed either the control room or a semi-custom mix consisting of the input mix and an alternate mix from the DAW. Since each headphone output can take its DAW part of the mix from output pairs 1-2 or 5-6 and 7-8, you have some flexibility for the two different headphone mixes if you know your DAW well enough to set this up. Generally youll want to construct stereo auxiliary sends for the recorded tracks, assign those to outputs 5-6 and 7-8, and use those in your headphone mixes. While this offers some monitor mix flexibility when tracking, since theres only one input mix, everyone has to live with that in their headphones. Say youre tracking the rhythm section live in the studio. The bass player wants to hear the keyboard louder than the rhythm guitar, the guitarist doesnt want to hear the keyboard, and the drummer cant hear himself. Youll need to negotiate diplomatically. I/O operating levels are in the professional range. Maximum output level is +20 dBu. At maximum input gain, -45 dBu into the mic preamp corresponds to full scale record level (0 dBFS) which is about 5 dB more sensitive than many other mic preamps in its class. Quiescent noise at full gain is 75 dBFS, which, considering that its relative to +20 dBu analog output level, is pretty good. All inputs except the Inserts (Pro26 only) are differential and all the outputs with exception of the headphones and Insert outputs are electronically balanced. Balanced outputs use a cross-coupled circuit topology which, unlike the impedance-only balancing more common on low cost units today, has a true differential output. The nature of the circuit allows connecting the output to either a balanced or unbalanced input without compromising signal level or headroom. Recording is 24-bit at sample rates from 44.1 to 192 kHz on the Pro26 or 96 kHz on the Pro10. The Saffire Pros retain all their analog I/O at all sample rates, but at higher rates, functionality and I/O is reduced. At 88.2/96 kHz, you lose one pair of ADAT I/O ports to the S-Mux protocol. At 176.4/192 kHZ, all ADATs and the mixer go away, so you also lose direct input monitoring.

Controls In addition to the previously mentioned controls, theres a very British power switch (ON is down) with a multi-function LED indicator green when AC powered, red when bus powered, blinking slowly green when first powered up without a Firewire connection (it eventually decides it isnt going to find one and turns solid green), blinking rapidly while its connecting to a Firewire port, or amber to indicate a fault (which I never experienced). The main act in the Control PRO software console is the input mixer - eight faders and pans with tabs to select which group of inputs (analog, ADAT1, ADAT2, or S/PDIF) they control. Each of the four stereo outputs has a slider to adjust balance between the input mix and DAW playback, a volume control (linkable to the hardware Monitor knob), Mute, Solo, and Dim buttons, and a switchable 12 dB output pad to fix the pesky My outputs are too hot for my speakers problem. The S/PDIF output has only an input/DAW balance slider. The control panel section is where you select the sample rate and sync source, save or recall setups (mixer level and pan settings, sample rate, and sync source), and in a multi-unit setup, selecting which Saffire Pro the console is controlling. Other buttons found here switch MIDI Out to MIDI Thru, keep the console display on top of other open windows, and reduce the size of the screen display by eliminating the input mixer section while retaining all of the control buttons. Personally, I think that shrinking it the other way removing the less often used configuration buttons and leaving the mixer would be more useful. A curious switch labeled H/ROOM drops the maximum analog output level by 6 dB to avoid running out of headroom when bus-powered (the AC power supply runs the unit at higher rail voltages than the Firewire bus provides). Sample rate must be set from this control panel; it doesnt follow the rate set in the DAW program. ASIO and Firewire buffer size are adjusted from a separate control panel which is not conveniently accessible from the Control PRO, but must be opened as a separate program. ASIO buffer size can be adjusted on the fly, but the Firewire buffer size cannot be changed with the Control PRO active. In Use The audio quality is very good. Mic preamps are of the transparent sort (no euphoric distortion to get in the way when you dont want it) and theyre reasonably quiet. Since I most often record acoustic music that isnt very loud, I appreciated the extra 5 dB of gain over some other preamps that I have. Its usable gain, too. Sure, you can hear hiss when you turn the knob up all the way but the signal-to-noise ratio is what counts, and thats quite acceptable. The Pro26s low cut filters are 3 dB down at 100 Hz, 10 dB down at 60 Hz, and 23 dB down at 30 Hz, so they should do a good job of keeping rumble out of your
mics. I usually dont bother measuring frequency response of a digital device because its typically dead flat from just under half the sample rate to lower than you need, but Focusrite went a bit overboard on the low end here. Its only down a couple of dB at 2 Hz! I didnt find any mics that sounded better with the Pro26s Low Z switch engaged, but to be honest, Ive only found one mic, one that I had in for review, that was improved with a low impedance load. Net rumors notwithstanding, most classic and classic style ribbon mics sound best into a high impedance input (10 k or greater). An SM57 seems to prefer being loaded with about 600 , but the Focusrites 300 is a little heavy for it and the mic loses some brightness. This could be effective with a hardware modification on Focusrites part (I wouldnt recommend it as a DIY project without further documentation than what I have!) should they choose to make the functionality of this switch more effective with a very common mic. Theres no metering other than the clip LED. This comes on at a mere 0.2 dB below the onset of both analog and digital clipping, so its important to set the gain conservatively and watch your DAW meters. It took a while to get the hang of using the input mixer. Its functional, but with more than one bank of inputs, it can get pretty confusing. Focusrite calls the mixer low latency rather than no latency, and reasonably low it is. A trip from mic in to headphone out takes 2.3 ms at 44.1 kHz and 1.6 ms at 96 kHz sample rates respectively, considerably faster than the typical 5-10 ms latency that can be achieved running through a well tweaked computer. See the sidebar for more detail on why even this small amount of delay may be significant. I dont have enough hardware to fill up all the available inputs and outputs, but I checked out the ADAT connections using a Mackie Onyx 800R 8-channel mic preamp. In addition to verifying the ADAT inputs functionality, it also offered the opportunity to comparie the Saffire Pro preamps with those of the 800R, of which Im quite fond. It was really a tossup. They sounded a little different but it was hard to put a finger on the difference, and I never had a clear preference for one or the other regardless of the mic or program source. This isnt a totally fair comparison of the analog path, however, since each chain passed through its own A/D converters which almost certainly contributed to the small difference in sound. Initially I was too lazy to un-rack the 800R, and the only free TOSLink cable I had, a 2-footer, wouldnt to reach between the Mackie and Focusrite units. Figuring that I should have a longer cable around, I picked up a 6 foot one at my local music store, hooked up the 800R, and was greeted by clicks on the Saffire ADAT channels. I removed the 800R from the rack so I could use the shorter cable, and it worked fine. I dont know if the 6 foot cable that I bought for this experiment was too long or too crummy Im hoping the latter.

The time offset between the analog and ADAT inputs with this setup is around 10 samples at 44.1 kHz (this is getting down to the resolution of my eyeball). Its not possible to determine what part of that time difference is attributed to the ADAT port and whats actually a difference in the A/D conversion times, but what really matters is the time coherence of the inputs, and, at least with the Mackie 800R, theyre pretty close. Its even possible that the signal from the outboard preamp could arrive at the Saffire output earlier than through the internal path if the external preamp has a really fast A/D converter. Theres no polite way to say this, but I found working with the Control PRO console to be downright clumsy. Tiny screen fonts make legends difficult to read, and its difficult to tell at a glance whether a button was pressed or not. The sliding pink band around the pan knob to indicate its position makes little sense to me. Why not just make the practically invisible scribe line on the pan knob big enough to see easily? With no way to label the faders, I often grabbed the wrong one, or the right one in the wrong bank. Moving any mixer knob produces zipper noise, which got annoying after a while. Given the versatility of the Saffire Pro, I dreamt of a dual-monitor tracking setup that emulated a split recording console, with the DAW mixer on one screen and the Control PRO on another. While I was able to set this up, it just didnt work well in practice. With more than 8 active inputs, I wanted to run screaming back to the security of my real hardware console. The Hardware Monitor mode (which disconnects the inputs from the mixer) is selected from a pull-down menu, but there is nothing on the control panel indicating that youre in that mode. More than once I forgot that I had Hardware Monitoring set and wondered why the mixer faders didnt work.
Perhaps it would make sense to switch to the no mixer (192 kHz) display when in this mode. There are a lot of ways to not get sound out of this gadget, and I think I found most of them. A clearer user interface would be very welcome. With a few extraneous buttons left over from a previous firmware version the Control PRO display is due for a makeover so maybe there will be some improvements. Poor readability isnt just limited to the software console. The gold channel numbers on the silver front panel were also hard to read. Fortunately its not difficult to count to eight. One final operating note - the Saffire Pros run hot enough so that if nobody tells you that, youll be asking is this normal?. I had them AC powered continuously for about two weeks with no smoke or flames so, yes, warm is normal. Double Trouble As I mentioned in the intro, I was eager to see how two interfaces worked together. After fumbling through the adding another interface instructions in the manual (which actually referred to an earlier version of the drivers) I discovered that after installing the first Saffire Pro, all I had to do was unplug it, connect the second one, let Windows find it (the Pro10 and Pro26 use the same driver and console software), and then re-connect the first one. Simple, and it worked the first time. The Control PRO looks for the presence of ADAT channels to determine how many input mixers to display When talking to a Pro10 or to a Pro26 with the ADAT inputs disabled, the mixer input tabs for ADAT1 and ADAT2 inputs disappear. You can name the interfaces, and thats a particularly good idea when you have more than one in a system. A button lets you select which one the Control PRO is controlling; assigning descriptive names will reduce the chance that youll try to adjust the wrong one. In case you get confused, an ID button blinks the power LED of the currently active Saffire. Using two Saffire Pros together is only a little different than using a single interface with more channels. Its a bit awkward in that, to the DAW program, the two interfaces

Update Focusrites current I/O interface in this family, the Saffire Pro 40, has a much cleaner and more intuitive software control panel, as well as more informative metering and a more readable color scheme.
dont have separate identities. When selecting the source for a track, youll see two Line1/2 inputs, one from BigSaffire and one from LittleSaffire. It appears that whichever interface connects first is the one that appears first on the list. In my test setup with a Pro26 and a Pro10, the Pro26 channels always seemed to be listed first, but Im not sure how Id tell them apart if I had two Pro26s other than by selecting one and seeing which input makes the meters move. Since each Saffires mixer has its own set of outputs, in order to be able to monitor the inputs from both through a common control room output, its necessary to connect the output of one mixer to an input of the other. The S/PDIF input and output are handy for this. If your monitors are connected to Saffire #1, setting the S/PDIF Saffire #2s output to all input (no DAW mix) and connecting it to the S/PDIF input of Saffire #1 does the trick. The Kitchen Sync In addition to its internal clock, the Pro10 and Pro26 can synchronize to the S/PDIF stream. In addition, the Pro26 can also sync to an external word clock through its BNC input, or can derive word clock from either of the two ADAT inputs. The Saffires can be a bit fussy about external synchronization. The external sync signal must be present before you select it as the word clock source. Also, if you were using ADAT sync when shutting down the Saffire, it remembers that. If, when you next fire it up, you dont have the ADAT input connected, it wont sync up until you switch back to internal sync, at which point the Saffire Pro disconnects and goes searching for the Firewire connection again. More than once, this apparently hung up the Firewire bus and I had to restart the computer in order to get things going again. I found that I got frequent pops (even with my short TOSLink cable) when synching the Pro26 to the 800R ADAT output. With this configuration, I also had occasional Firewire sync dropouts, resulting in having to restart the whole kit and caboodle. (I had written a whole paragraph grumbling about instability before I discovered that this was the source of the problem.) Switching the Saffire to Internal clock and synching the 800R to the Saffires word clock output worked fine. If you have two ADAT input sources connected, theyll need their word clocks synchronized, so things could get complicated without a master clock generator or distribution amplifier. Im an advocate of using a separate word clock connection for synchronization when its possible to do so. The BNC word clock input is internally terminated, but the termination appears to be capacitive (word clock inputs are more commonly terminated with a 75 resistor), resulting in a poor-looking square wave. Daisy chained word clock inputs may not be happy with that shabby looking waveform.

Plug-Ins The Saffire Pro doesnt come with a bundled DAW program, but theres a nice bonus of four Focusrite plug-ins, which almost deserve a review of their own. The reverb is likely no better than the reverb bundled with your DAW software, nor is the amp simulator particularly exciting. The equalizer and compressor are quite nice, however. In addition to a full complement of controls, both have a useful template mode. Select the program source (voice, guitar, etc.) and it pops up an extra set of controls labeled in musical terms. The initial settings are a good starting point for tweaking. The grayed-out standard controls follow adjustment of the template controls, and at any time you can switch back to the standard mode for fine tweaking. These templates are a good answer to the question: Whats the right EQ for a female singer?
Computer Glitches Every computer is different, and its easy for a piece of software to encounter something on a particular system that the designer never anticipated or tested, therefore Im reluctant to criticize a product based on computer glitches unless I find a clearly repeatable and annoying bug. Im happy to report that this wasnt the case with the Saffire Pro, however, Id by lying if I said that it was smooth sailing all the way. You may have fair seas, or you may spend more time hanging over the rail than I did. My experience was with Windows XP. The Mac version is totally uncharted waters here. The first glitch I encountered was with the driver installation. With both the version on the CD packed with my review units and the latest version that I downloaded from Focusrites web site, the first couple of steps went as expected and then the screen went blank not the Blue Screen of Death, but black. This didnt instill a great feeling of confidence. There were occasional bright flashes that looked like a dialog box attempting to display, but nothing remained on the screen long enough to read. After a couple of aborts and retires, I restarted the installation and, applying the Watched pot never boils theory, went off to eat lunch. I came back half an hour later to find a real Windows screen with a real dialog box telling me that the installer had timed out waiting for a Firewire connection, and requested that I plug in the Firewire cable. The installation instructions state that the Firewire cable can be connected at any time, but when I connected the Firewire cable after starting the installer, a message popped up telling me that I had made the Firewire connection before the program was ready and to please disconnect it. So I figured Id wait until, like with most hardware installer programs, it asked for a connection. and sure enough, when it was ready, it did.

After re-connecting the Firewire cable, Windows brought up its usual Found New Hardware box, located the Focusrite driver, associated it with the hardware, and reported that it was ready to use. By gosh and by golly it was, and I was off and running. I tried the installation on another computer and had the same blank screen experience. Focusrite Tech Support had never heard of this and suspected that there might be another ASIO driver installed on the computer which was confusing things. Indeed there are several other ASIO drivers installed on both of these computers, but I didnt want to un-install what I use on a regular basis in order to test the theory. One disturbing problem was that the Firewire connection would drop out at random. Ultimately I traced this to using ADAT as the clock sync source. I just happened to be looking in the right place at the right time, and discovering that the unit was intermittently losing clock sync. The Pro26 doesnt take loss of sync (whatever the source after this experience, I tried them all) very gracefully and it doesnt recover on its own, but rather, requires a shutdown and restart. The number of tracks that can successfully be recorded and played back simultaneously without glitching is largely dependent on the computer and how well its tuned. I didnt attempt to run that race and stopped at a very modest eight tracks (which worked fine) when I ran out of talent. Any such limit that I found on my system would likely not be relevant to your system anyway. There have been issues (primarily unreasonably large latency from what Ive read) with Apples Firewire Core Audio driver, which, rather than a custom driver, the Saffire Pro uses. The upside is that when Apple upgrades the OS, Focusrite wont have to chase after it with a new driver. The downside is that the Core Audio driver in a new Mac OS version might need fixing, and thats out of Focusrites hands. Every new release carries risk of a new problem, so be careful about updating too early and too often once you find something that works.
From The Complaint Department My gripe list is rather long, but upon reviewing it, I recognized that most of the problems I encountered were related to constantly switching things around to evaluate as many configurations as I could. In typical studio operation, once you establish a working setup, there will be few changes, so there will likely be few surprises. My biggest gripe is with the documentation. When I get a new device, I like to sit on the couch and read through the manual before putting it to work, but in this case, the only manual is a PDF on the installation CD. The Focusrite web site contains additional information in the form of an addendum to the Pro26 manual (the Pro10 manual was more current), an answer base with useful supplemental information, and release notes for the current drivers, but you have to know its

there and then hunt for it. The Saffire Pro is a many-faceted interface and it deserves a complete and well written reference manual. Focusrite assured me that theyre working on pulling the pieces together, and there should be an updated manual by the time you read this. From the Department of Complaint Mitigation, Im happy to report that Focusrites tech support has been helpful; and relatively easy to access. I can be pretty grumpy when Im frustrated and they took my frustration in stride. Primary support is out of the headquarters in Great Britain, so my interaction with them was only via e-mail. Generally I received a complete and helpful response within 24 hours. I also contacted the US support by phone and they were on the ball as well. While they didnt have all the answers to the tough questions, their explanations of things that were cloudy in the documentation, or of things for which I simply hadnt found the missing pieces of documentation, were clear and helpful. Summing It Up These are an impressive pair of units with a lot of bang for not many bucks. Low price aside, theyre hardly entry level products. You need some experience in order to put them to full use. If I had been working with a stereo sound card and a small mixer for a while, Id be tickled to get a box as inexpensive as the Pro10 with eight excellent preamps, enough outputs for surround mixing, two good instrument Dis, and a convenient way of monitoring while tracking. It would take a while to grow into it however, and I wouldnt sell my mixer in order to pay for it. There will be times even with the Saffire Pro when that mixer will still come in handy. The Pro26 is an even better deal although it costs a couple of hundred bucks more, but you need to have expansion in the direction of more inputs on your horizon in order for it to be worth while. To me, the Pro26s greatest potential is as remote recording interface which can be expanded as needed. Honestly, though, if needed to mix that many mics for a room full of fussy musicians with headphones, Id prefer to do it on a real mixer with real hardware controls. Overall, these are impressive boxes, hard to beat at the price.

---------------------------------------------Sidebar The 2 ms Latency Conspiracy Theres a potential problem with latency in this ball park. When listening to your own voice on headphones, there are two paths from your vocal cords to your eardrum the natural one through your throat and another through the phones. Youre probably aware of the golden rule of mic placement: Avoid picking up a sound source with two mics at unequal distances. When those mics are mixed, the arrival time difference becomes a 180 degree phase shift, and therefore cancellation, at a family of frequencies directly related to the time difference. This is called comb filtering because the frequency response of the system looks (sort of) like the teeth of a comb. The same thing happens when your natural voice and the latency-delayed headphone sound combine at your eardrum. Your voice will sound odd to you to you because its being comb-filtered. Youll sound normal to yourself on playback, and to anyone else listening to the same headphone mix or the control room speakers since only you are hearing your voice through two paths. When your singer questions the sound of his voice in the phones, he just might not be nuts. Some people are really sensitive about this, some dont notice, and some run the headphone volume so loud that the acoustic sound is swamped out and the comb teeth are negligible. Sensitive folky divas almost always give a better performance when not worried about how their voice sounds, and a good performance trumps technology any time. The monitoring latency through the Saffire Pro is in the range where, at its worst, can notch out frequencies that give a voice a lot of its character, around 430, 860, 1290, 1720 Hz and so on. Try it yourself and try to hear the change in character as you adjust the headphone volume.

User Guide

FA0110-01 E & OE

Contents

Introduction to Saffire PRO 26 i/o... 3 Getting connected and setting up the hardware/software.. 4 Front Panel Features.... 5 Rear Panel Features.... 6 SaffireControl PRO software Features... 7 Recording analogue signals with Saffire PRO26 i/o.. 8 Microphone recording... 8 Line-level recording.... 8 Instrument recording.... 9 Recording stereo pairs.... 9 Recording digitally with Saffire PRO... 9 Recording via ADAT Input.... 9 Recording via S/PDIF Input... 9 Output settings/Monitoring options.... 10 Analogue output settings... 10 Additional options on Outputs 3-10... 11 Creating an Input Mix.... 12 Setting up a Headphones Mix... 13 S/CARD and TRACK modes... 13 AC3 Thru mode.... 13 Linking Output controls CTRL LINK.. 14 DIM and Active Monitor Pad switches.. 14 Setting different sample rates... 15 Synchronising Saffire PRO 26 i/o.... 16 Using Inserts.... 17 Saving/Recalling settings.... 17 Changing the SaffireControl PRO GUI window FLOAT and SHRINK.. 18 Using MIDI.... 18 Controlling multiple Saffire PROs to SaffireControl PRO.. 19 Standalone Mode.... 20 Changes to SaffireControl PRO 26 i/o at higher sample rates Disabling ADATs. 21 Troubleshooting.... 23 Specifications.... 24

Saffire PRO 26 i/o

Introduction to Saffire PRO
Thankyou for purchasing SaffireControl PRO, Focusrites professional multi-channel Firewire interface. This Guide provides a detailed explanation of both the hardware and accompanying control software, to help you achieve a thorough understanding of the products operational features. If the main User Guide sections do not provide the information you need, be sure to consult the Troubleshooting at the end of the Manual or the online information at www.focusrite.com/answerbase, which contains all technical support queries regarding the product to date. Basics The Saffire PRO hardware interface provides the means for connecting microphones, line-level signals and/or instrument-level signals to the computer, as well as supplying playback audio directly to an amp, headphones or powered speakers. There are also digital audio options (S/PDIF and ADAT), plus connectors for sending and receiving MIDI and Word clock. Additionally, the hardware can function in standalone mode (powered by external PSU) for tracking or mixing without using a computer. The accompanying software application, SaffireControl PRO, provides further recording and monitoring options, as well as the ability to control global hardware settings such as sample rate and synchronisation. In terms of audio path, the SaffireControl PRO software sits between the interface and the sequencer, allowing control over what signals are sent from the sequencer to each output (e.g. the sequencer settings route through SaffireControl PRO not directly to the hardware). Input recording levels are not set in SaffireControl PRO, however, as the incoming signals pass directly to the sequencer. The input levels in SaffireControl PRO are for monitoring purposes only.
Getting connected and setting up the hardware/software
Before Saffire PRO can be used, the accompanying SaffireControl PRO software must be installed. This is done by inserting the Resources disk and running the Saffire PRO Installer for either Mac or PC. Once installed, the SaffireControl PRO icon will appear in your Program (PC) or Application (Mac) list, from where it can be launched. Before launching SaffireControl PRO, connect your hardware to the computer using the supplied Firewire cable. Either of the Saffire PROs two Firewire ports can be used, leaving one free to connect additional Saffire PROs or other Firewire devices such as hard disks to the computer. At this stage, you may wish to connect your Monitors to the Saffire PROs analogue outputs. Outputs 1 and 2 are the Main Monitor outputs (left and right). Alternatively/In addition, you can connect Headphones to either of the headphones outputs on the right side of the front panel. Headphones Outputs 1 and 2 receive the same signal as that sent to Outputs 5/6 and 7/8 respectively (as indicated by the Headphones icons in the output section on the right side of the SaffireControl PRO GUI.) Please make sure that your monitors are turned OFF when connecting to Saffire. Although SaffireControl PROs default setting will enable all inputs to be heard, make sure that the crossfader for the relevant output pair is sufficiently over to the left if you wish to listen to the sources being recorded. If you are still not hearing the relevant input, the fader for that input may not be high enough in the Input Mix section (check the Creating an Input Mix section for details). However, if attempting to monitor a main mix playback from the sequencer (any audio routed to outputs 1 and 2), you will need to make sure that Saffire PRO has been set up as the input/output audio device within that sequencer, then ensure that the corresponding output (whatever your speakers or headphones are connected to) has 1/2 selected as its S/W track within the output section of the SaffireControl PRO software (always the case for the Main Monitors.) Also the relevant crossfader must be set to monitor the S/W playback (set middle or right) as shown in the diagram below. Read the relevant monitoring sections of this User Guide for details.

Controls for Outputs 1 and 2
Crossfader must be in a central position for Inputs and Playback tracks to be heard. If this is set totally right, only Playback (S/W) tracks 1/2 will be heard
Controls for Outputs 3 and 4 and Headphones 1 (same signal)
On Outputs 3-8, there is the option of routing Playback (S/W) tracks 1/2 or the corresponding tracks (in this case 5/6) from the sequencer to the output. (5/6 relates to Saffire PRO Outputs 5/6 within the sequencer.)
The colour of the power LED will channge depending on wether or not the external power supply is connected. Whilst using the PSU, the LED will be green. Whilst powering the unit via a firewire buss, the LED will be red.

Front Panel Features

The front panel features level controls for all 8 analogue inputs (inserted at rear or on front panel), as well as a level control for the Monitors (signal sent to Outputs 1 and 2) and both Headphones. Each analogue input has a High Pass Filter for removing low frequencies (proximity effect or rumble from microphone recording). Super channels 1 and 2 also have buttons for lowering the impedance (to account for different microphone specification) and to reverse the phase (to eliminate phase cancellation when recording with a stereo pair). In addition, on the front panel there are 8 1/4 TRS (balanced) jack inputs for recording line-level signals (Inputs 1-8). These automatically override the XLR inputs on the rear panel if both sets are connected. If you wish to record a guitar, inputs 1 and 2 can be used to route a signal directly from the instrument (DI) to the sequencer. Instrument select buttons are included for these inputs to allow matching of gain and impedance.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
8 1/4 jack line/instrument inputs Instrument select button Overload LED Input gain control Monitor level control Headphones level controls Monitor mute button/Standalone button 1 Monitor dim button/Standalone button 2 High-pass filter button Low Impedance button Phase reverse button Phantom power LEDs

Rear Panel Features

The rear panel has 8 XLR Inputs for recording signals from microphones (mic inputs 1-8), as well as 8 1/4 TRS (balanced) jack analogue outputs 1-8. There are also four ADAT lightpipe ports for receiving and sending ADAT signals (ADAT In 1-8 and 9-16, ADAT Out 1-8 and 9-16), plus two coaxial connectors for S/PDIF In and Out. The digital inputs/outputs relate to Saffire PRO inputs/outputs 9 and 10 (S/PDIF) and 11-26 (ADAT). Two BNC connectors offer Word Clock In and Out for synchronising to external equipment, with two standard 5-pin MIDI sockets allowing MIDI data to be received and transmitted. A 3-pin locking power socket allows the provided power supply to be connected, should Firewire-bus power not be preferred (if preserving computer battery or using the hardware in standalone mode without a computer, or if wishing to use the extra headroom feature). Finally, two Firewire ports are provided for interfacing with the computer and daisy-chaining multiple units.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Power connector for external PSU S/PDIF (coaxial) In and Out MIDI In and Out Word Clock (BNC) In and Out ADAT (optical/lightpipe) In and Out Analogue Outputs 1-8 (TRS jack) Mic Inputs 1-8 (XLR) Firewire ports
SaffireControl PRO Features
The SaffireControl PRO software allows comprehensive control of the type and level of signal routed to Saffire PRO Outputs 1-10, including the ability to set individual levels of Inputs 1-8*. In addition, software controls allow setting of the sample rate, synchronisation, and the size and function of the GUI window. Preset buttons are also provided to change the overall hardware function. The latest version of SaffireControl PROs software is always available at www.focusrite.com *Note: Limitations apply at high sample rates 88.2- 192 kHz, see page 21
1. Input mix group fader select switches; choose the signals to be controlled by the eight faders alongside (Analogue/SPDIF/ADAT1/ADAT2 Input(s)) for creating an Input Mix 2. Input mix level control ; sets the fader which controls the input level 3. Input mix pan dial; controls the position of the signal in the stereo field 4. Stereo link switch; links levels of Inputs either side of the switch (and auto-pans hard left and right) 5. Input/Playback Balance crossfader; sets the balance of the Input Mix and tracks playing back from the sequencer for one pair of analogue outputs 6. Stereo output gain dial 7. Dim switch; sets a digital cut of 18dB 8. Hardware control switch (makes the dial follow the Monitor dial on the hardware, allowing hardware control over output levels) 9. Active Monitor pad switch; reduces the analogue output level by 18dB 10. Solo output switch; solos the output 11. Mute output switch; mutes the output 12. Playback (S/W) 1/2 or 3/4 to Outputs 3/4 switch; allows a main mix to be sent to outputs 3 and 4 13. Select Unit switch; selects which Saffire PRO will be controlled when multiple interfaces are in use 14. Digital Input Enable switches; activate the corresponding digital inputs 15. Identify Unit switch; identifies the SaffireControl currently being controlled (power LED on active hardware will rapidly flash) 16. Select Sync Source; selects the source to which Saffire PRO is to be synchronised 17. Select sample rate switches; set the sample rate 18. Enable MIDI Thru switch; converts the MIDI Out port to a MIDI Thru 19. Allow AC3 pass through switch; allows the S/PDIF Out to transmit an AC3 or DTS signal directly from DVD playing software to a home surround setup. Note: With AC3 pass through active, software input mixing is disabled 20. Shrink mode switch; shrinks the software window to a smaller size 21. Link Output level controls switch; links the controls for Outputs 1-8 22. Soundcard/Track mode switches; preset buttons allowing instant recording and mixdown modes 23. Load/Save switches; allow recalling and saving of software settings 24. Float window mode switch; floats the software window permanently over other software 25. H/room switch; uses PSU to create extra headroom for analogue Inputs 26. Insert 1 and 2 switches; convert Inputs 5 and 6 into Inserts for Inputs 1 and 2, respectively 27. Phantom Power switches; activate phantom power across XLR Inputs 1-4 and 5-8 28. Solo and Mute switches; solo and mute the correlative input channel signal

Recording analogue signals with Saffire PRO
Saffire PRO can be used to record up to 8 analogue signals and 18 digital signals simultaneously. These analogue signals can be any combination of microphone or line-level sources. Instrument-level sources, can also be directly connected on Input channels 1 and 2.

Microphone recording

To record a microphone signal, connect a microphone to one of the rear panel XLR Inputs, ensuring that nothing is plugged into the corresponding Line Input on the front panel (as this will override the XLR Input). If using a condenser mic or any other mic that requires phantom power then two switches in the software can be used to apply it to that XLR input, as follows:
Switch activates Phantom Power for Inputs 5-8
Switch activates Phantom Power for Inputs 1-4
Dont worry if youre using a dynamic mic on an input within that group that doesnt need phantom power, as it will not affect the signal. However, be aware that if using a ribbon mic, phantom power must not be used as the 48V will damage the microphone. Check the microphones manual if unsure about phantom powering. For this reason, phantom power is not saved with Saffire PRO 26 i/o settings. It always defaults to off. Once connected, the microphone gain can be set by turning the corresponding gain pot on Saffire PROs front panel. Turn the dial clockwise to increase the input gain, ensuring that the Overload LED does not light. If you are experiencing any low frequency problems such as proximity effect or rumble, engage the high pass filter button on the hardware, which will reduce any signal below 120Hz. If using either Input 1 or 2, a lower input impedance (150 ) may be set by pressing the Lo Z button. This provides additional sonic options that can be useful to achieve an improved sound with different microphones (helping to better match the impedances). Furthermore, if you wish to record a stereo pair with these inputs, then a phase reverse switch is provided on Input 1 to eliminate any phase cancellation problems that may occur. If using Input 1, this will show up as Saffire PRO Input 1 within the sequencer and you can now begin recording.

Output settings/Monitoring options - Continued
Additional options on Outputs 3-10
To provide extra flexibility, Outputs 3-10 have a switch that selects which tracks from the sequencer will appear on the right side of the crossfader (in the S/W position), as follows:
Switch selects Outputs 3/4 or 1/2 from the sequencer to appear on the right (Playback - S/W) side of the crossfader Set to 1/2 to send the master mix from the sequencer to S/PDIF Out (make sure the crossfader below is over to the right)
This is so that a Monitor mix of backing tracks (normally Master Outputs 1/2 within the sequencer) and Inputs can be created on any pair of analogue outputs, for use during a recording session. For example, if you wish to send a mix of Inputs and playback tracks to analogue outputs 3 and 4, the switch should be set to 1/2 so that the main mix (anything set to outputs 1 and 2 in the sequencer) will appear at the S/W end of the crossfader. The crossfader should be set in a central position. However, if mixing down or laying back audio with more than two channels and therefore wanting to send different signals to each of the Saffire PRO outputs, the switch should be set to 3/4, whereby anything set to Outputs 3 and 4 within the sequencer will appear on the right side of the crossfader. For an instant way of setting up Saffire PRO for multi-channel mixdown or layback, check out the S/CARD button in the bottom half of the software window. See the S/CARD and TRACK modes section below for details, page 13. This switch also means that a master backup from the sequencer can be sent digitally to an external device via the S/PDIF Out. If you wish to do this, make sure the switch in the bottom section (for outputs 9/10) is set to 1/2 as shown in the diagram above.

Creating an Input Mix

On the left hand side of the software window are faders and switches that allow an Input Mix to be created for Monitoring purposes. This Mix will appear on the left side of the crossfader for each pair of analogue outputs (on the right hand side of the software window). If you wish to set up this mix using Monitors connected to Outputs 1 and 2, simply set the crossfader for this pair of outputs over to the left so that just the Inputs are heard. Note that at higher sample rates, input mixing may be disabled, see page 21. Input levels are adjusted as follows: 3. Input Panning Dial 2. Input Level Control fader 4. Stereo Link Button
1. Input Mix Group fader select switches 5. Solo and Mute Switches
1. Input mix group fader select switches choose the signals to be controlled by the eight faders alongside (Analogue + S/PDIF or ADAT1 or ADAT2 Input(s)) for creating an Input Mix 2. Input level control fader this sets the level of each input. 3. Input panning dial this pans the input from left to right within the stereo field. 4. Stereo link button this links the levels of the inputs either side of the switch and auto-pans them hard left and right. 5. Solo and Mute switches these solo and mute Inputs 1-8 The Input mix group fader select switches choose which signal group (of all the inputs) is controlled by the eight Input Mix faders. For example, if you wish to increase the levels of the S/PDIF Input, click the S/PDIF switch. This activates the S/PDIF Input across the faders; as there are only two channels, only the first two faders are active with the rest greyed out. Now use the two active faders to set levels, using the stereo link switch if a left/right pair is in use. Note that the S/PDIF Input must be enabled using the switch in the SYNC section below for Input Mix levels to be set. (See the Synchronising Saffire PRO section for details, page 16.) To then return to the default mode, where the analogue inputs are active across all eight faders, click the Analogue switch to the left of the faders.

Setting up a Headphones Mix
Headphones 1 and 2 relate to Saffire PRO Outputs 5/6 and 7/8, respectively, as shown by the Headphones icons in the software window:
Controls for Headphones 1
Controls for Headphones 2
Having two different Headphones outputs allows two artists to be recorded simultaneously, with both having independent monitor mixes. For example, an artist on Headphones 1 could require the main mix from the sequencer whilst the artist on Headphones 2 just needs a click or perhaps one instrument in the mix to play to. In this case, Headphones 1 could have the S/W switch set to 1/2 as above, with Headphones 2 set to 7/8. The sequencer session would then need to have the relevant track for the artist on Headphones 2 routed to Saffire PRO Outputs 7 and 8, perhaps using sends. The balance of these pre-recorded tracks versus the level of the Inputs being recorded can of course be set using the crossfader for each pair of Headphones.

S/CARD and TRACK modes

Saffire PROs flexible monitoring capability means that you can stream sequencer tracks 1-10 directly to the interface outputs 1-10, or blend a master mix of backing tracks with a mix of inputs. Two preset switches have been included to instantly activate these two modes. This does away with the need to manually configure each output pair if you wish to quickly change from recording to mixing down, or playing back in surround sound. S/CARD (soundcard) mode is activated by the S/CARD switch. This makes Saffire PRO behave like a standard 10-output soundcard, where Saffire PRO Outputs 1-10 from the sequencer route directly to the Saffire PRO hardware Outputs. (Note that, regardless of the SaffireControl PRO settings, Outputs 11-26 within the sequencer will always route to Outputs 11-26 of the hardware.) As such, each output pairs crossfader is set in the extreme right position (no input signals) and outputs 3-10 are set to the corresponding S/W tracks. Pressing the TRACK switch activates tracking (or recording) mode, where the Saffire PRO Outputs can be used to monitor a mix of Inputs. This is the default mode when SaffireControl PRO boots up; all crossfaders will be in a central position and outputs set to S/W tracks 1/2.

Synchronising Saffire PRO
The SYNC window within Saffire PRO is the means by which to synchronise the hardware to an external source input on the rear panel: Switch activates the S/PDIF Input
Click on the LED next to a source to select it as the clock source - the LED will light to indicate selection and SYNC LOCK will light when a lock has been achieved. Note that the top three sources will only be available when the corresponding ENABLE switch is active
Switch activates the ADAT 1-8 Input
Switch activates the ADAT 9-16 Input
The options are as follows: S/PDIF synchronises the hardware to the S/PDIF In ADAT 1 synchronises the hardware to ADAT In 1-8 ADAT 2 synchronises the hardware to ADAT In 9-16 W/CLK synchronises the hardware to BNC Word Clock Input INT synchronises the hardware to Saffire PROs Internal clock Simply click the small LED alongside the desired source to attempt to lock to it. If you wish to lock to any of the digital audio inputs, they must first be activated by clicking the ENABLE buttons to the right. Once enabled, they will appear as clickable options in the SYNC list. After selecting a source with which to synchronise, (the small LED will illuminate to indicate selection), the words SYNC LOCK will illuminate to inform you that Saffire PRO is successfully locked to the incoming signal. It is often a good idea to synchronise to a digital signal when it is being input to ensure the most successful conversion. The clock is embedded within its digital audio data stream and will ensure that no unwanted artefacts (normally clicks or dropouts) occur. When two or more devices are both transmitting digital audio streams to the inputs of the Saffire PRO, they must be synchronised with each other by 'locking' to an external device's clock. This can come from a separate word clock generator or the word clock output of one of the digital devices (eg, DAT machine or digital mixing console). The master Word Clock must be connected to the Word Clock input of all slaved devices using BNC cable. With the Saffire PRO, in addition to connecting a cable to the EXT WCLK INPUT, the W/CLK SYNC button on SaffireControl PRO must be selected in order to establish Word Clock sync. All devices which share a master clock should be set to identical sample rates and bit depths.

Using Inserts

There are two available Inserts on Saffire PRO, for Inputs 1 and 2, activated by the corresponding INSERT switches within SaffireControl PRO: Click switch to activate Insert 1 (uses Line Input 5)
Click switch to activate Insert 2 (uses Line Input 6)
These inserts are routed using the Line Inputs on the front panel, Input 6 becoming Insert 1 (for Input 1) and Input 5 becoming Insert 2 (for Input 2). When both Inserts are active, the XLR Inputs (for Inputs 5 and 6) can still be used to record and wont be inactive unless the Insert switches are disengaged. In Insert mode, Input 5/6 becomes a send and return for the corresponding Input. As such, a splitter cable is required (one TRS Jack going to two TS Jacks). For anyone wishing to make their own cables, the Tip of the TRS Jack (plugged into the Line Input) is the send signal and the Ring is the return.
Saving/Recalling settings
The SAVE switch within SaffireControl PRO allows the software settings to be saved as a file to the computers hard disk for instant recall at a later date: Click to recall SaffireControl PRO settings
Click to save SaffireControl PRO settings
Clicking the switch brings up a standard browser window where the file can be named and placed in any desired location. The file will appear with the extension.sfpro. To recall the settings, simply click the LOAD button and then navigate to the desired file on your computer.
Changing the SaffireControl PRO GUI window FLOAT and SHRINK
The SaffireControl PRO GUI window can be modified to suit your needs in a number of ways. It can be shrunk down to a smaller size where the Input Mix section will disappear, and it can be made to float permanently over other software so that the GUI is permanently in view even when another application is active. This is done using the SHRINK and FLOAT switches within SaffireControl PRO, as follows:
Click to make SaffireControl PRO float permanently over other software. Click again to deactivate
Click to reduce the software window size. An EXPAND switch will then appear to restore the window to normal size. (Click expand to return to the full size GUI window.
Once the window has been reduced, the SHRINK switch becomes an EXPAND switch to allow the window to be returned to its default state.

Using MIDI

Saffire PRO can be used to send MIDI data to and from a sequencer, via its Firewire interfacing. To send MIDI data to the sequencer, simply connect a standard MIDI cable from the MIDI Out of your MIDI keyboard or control surface to the MIDI In on the rear panel of Saffire PRO. Similarly, if wanting to send MIDI data to an external device, connect a MIDI cable from Saffire PROs MIDI Out to the MIDI input of the device. Make sure that Saffire PRO is first selected as an interface within the sequencers MIDI preferences before attempting to send and receive data. A MIDI Thru switch is also provided within SaffireControl PRO:

Click to convert the MIDI Out port into a MIDI Thru for routing of MIDI data without using a sequencer
This converts the MIDI Out port into a MIDI Thru, meaning that MIDI data will route straight from the MIDI In to the MIDI Out, regardless of whether SaffireControl PRO is currently in use with the computer. This saves having to reconnect wires when you wish to use MIDI kit away from the computer, allowing Saffire PRO to act as a standalone MIDI device. Make sure that this switch is not active if wanting to route MIDI data through the sequencer; otherwise the MIDI Out port will transmit two sets of MIDI data (from the MIDI In and from the sequencer) if incorrectly configured.
Controlling multiple interfaces from SaffireControl PRO
If daisy-chaining multiple Saffire PROs together, the section labelled UNIT within SaffireControl PRO software allows the hardware being controlled to be selected, identified and renamed: The currently active interface is displayed in this window. Click the window to rename the active device
Click ID to identify the Saffire PRO being controlled (the power LED on the active unit will flash) Click to select a different Saffire PRO to control
Clicking ID will make the power LED of the hardware currently being controlled flash rapidly. To rename the currently selected unit, simply click the display box that shows the name of the active device. This opens up a separate window where the device can be renamed. To switch to controlling another device, click the switch on the right, which brings up a drop down list from which another Saffire PRO can be selected. Note: We do not recommend diasy-chaining more than 3 Saffire PRO hardware units.

Standalone Mode

Saffire PRO will automatically function in standalone mode when not connected to a computer. Since Firewire bus powering is not available in this mode, the supplied PSU must be connected to the rear panel so that Saffire PRO powers up. There are two separate standalone modes, one for tracking (recording) and one for mixing. The Standalone mode must be set whilst the hardware is still connected to the computer. These modes are set using the Hardware menu in SaffireControl PRO as shown below.
The power LED will blink green to indicate when the unit is operating in Standalone mode.

STANDALONE TRACKING MODE

When in Standalone mode, the dim and mute buttons operate as S1 and S2 as described below: S1 Normal press turns on phantom power for Inputs 1-4. Pressing and holding for 1 second activates ADAT/SMUX Input 1-8 and routes the signal to analogue outputs 1-8 (when using ADAT) or 1-4 (when using SMUX). This will automatically synchronise Saffire PRO to that lightpipe input. However, the optical input will turn off if there is not a valid input after 5 seconds. S2 Normal press turns on phantom power for Inputs 5-8. Pressing and holding holding for 1 second activates ADAT/SMUX Input 9-16 and routes the signal to analogue outputs 1-8 (when using ADAT) or 5-8 (when using SMUX). The power LED on the front panel will turn off indicating successful setup. This will automatically synchronise Saffire PRO to that lightpipe input. The optical input will turn off, however, if there is not a valid input after 5 seconds.

STANDALONE MIXING MODE

In Mixing mode, the Standalone switches (S1 and S2) function as mute and dim for the Main Monitors. The digital inputs will only be active if they were in that state when Saffire PRO was last connected to SaffireControl PRO; if the S/PDIF Input is inactive, you will need to reconnect to a computer and click the S/PDIF enable switch in SaffireControl PRO. ADAT Inputs can be turned on and off using the Standalone buttons (S1 and S2) as follows: Pressing and holding S1 (Analogue Inputs 1-4) or S2 (Analogue Inputs 5-8) on power up will turn the phantom power on for that group of inputs. The power LED will start to flash to indicate successful activation. Pressing and holding S1 (ADAT 1) or S2 (ADAT 2) will turn the relevant ADAT/SMUX Input on or off (as in tracking mode). Unlike in Tracking mode, there is no input timeout, so if a signal is not received the input will not function.
Changes to SaffireControl PRO at higher sample rates Disabling ADATs
At higher sample rates, SaffireControl PROs functionality and i/o is limited. This can be optimised by disabling the ADAT ports, if they are not in use. ADAT ports are disabled in the Hardware menu of SaffireControl PRO as follows:
ADAT ports enabled/disabled switch
The following outlines the changes to SaffireControl PRO and i/o at different sample rates by detailing 6 modes described below. Note: The Audio MIDI setup cannot be used to switch to higher sample rates. This must be done using SaffireControl PRO. Mode 1: 44.1/48kHz Default mode I/O 8 Analogue, 2 S/PDIF, 16 ADAT (Total 52)
SaffireControl PRO Full control Mode 2: 44.1/48kHz ADAT I/O disabled I/O 8 Analogue, 2 S/PDIF (Total 20) SaffireControl PRO Full control but no ADATs The control panel will look exactly the same as for mode No. 1 except the fader bank selector tabs will be greyed out for the ADAT inputs as they do not operate in this mode.
Mode 3: 88.2/96kHz Default mode I/O 8 Analogue, 2 S/PDIF, 8 ADAT (4 channels per socket in S/MUX mode) (Total 36) SaffireControl PRO No Input Mix capabilities
Mode 4: 88.2/96kHz ADAT I/O disabled I/O 8 Analogue, 2 S/PDIF (Total 20) SaffireControl PRO Full control but no ADATs The control panel is the same as the panel described in Mode 2. Mode 5: 176.4/192kHz Default mode I/O 8 Analogue, 2 S/PDIF (Total 20) SaffireControl PRO No Input Mix capabilities The control panel is the same as the panel described in Mode 3.
Mode 6: AC3 pass thru I/O 8 Analogue, 2 S/PDIF (Total 20) SaffireControl PRO No Input Mix capabilities
This looks similar to the control panel in Mode 3. However this control panel retains the output crossfaders.

Troubleshooting

LEDs on the Saffire PRO hardware arent working Does the unit have power? This is supplied by the Firewire cable, is one connected? If connecting to a 4-pin Firewire port, is the external PSU connected? Saffire PRO is not recognised as a valid audio interface by the recording software in use Is the hardware connected to the computer over Firewire? Have the drivers been correctly installed from the accompanying CD-ROM? No signal when using mic inputs Is the unit powered correctly? See above Is the gain dial of the corresponding input on the hardware set sufficiently high? Rotate clockwise to increase the level Is something connected to the corresponding line input on the hardware? This will deactivate the mic input For microphones that require phantom power (e.g. condenser mics), is the relevant 48V switch in the SaffireControl PRO software engaged? (If you are unsure about whether your microphone requires phantom power, check your microphones user guide.) Is the slider for the monitoring pair of outputs far enough to the left (towards the INPUT MIX position)? If over to the right (in the S/W position), only the tracks from the sequencer will be heard No signal when using line inputs Is the unit powered correctly? See above Is the gain dial of the corresponding input on the hardware set sufficiently high? Rotate clockwise to increase the level Is the Line/Inst switch on the hardware set correctly? The LINE LED must be active Is the slider for the monitoring pair of outputs far enough to the left (towards the INPUT MIX position)? If over to the right (in the S/W position), only the tracks playing back from the sequencer will be heard No signal when plugging an instrument into the line inputs Is the unit powered correctly? See above Is the instrument plugged into Input 1 or 2? Only these inputs will accept an instrument-level signal Is the gain dial of the corresponding input on the hardware set sufficiently high? Rotate clockwise to increase the level Is the Line/Inst switch on the hardware set correctly? The INST LED must be active Is the slider for the monitoring pair of outputs far enough to the left (towards the INPUT MIX position)? If over to the right (in the S/W position), only the tracks from the sequencer will be heard No signal heard at one of the outputs Is the level of the corresponding pair of outputs set high enough (either within SaffireControl PRO or on the hardware)? Is the Mute button for the corresponding pair of outputs activated (either within SaffireControl PRO or on the hardware)? Is the Dim switch activated within SaffireControl PRO? Are the 'mix' controls for that pair of outputs correctly configured for the signal being monitored? Each pair of outputs has its own set of controls used to determine what audio is heard (a mix of inputs and/or sequencer tracks), located on the right side of the SaffireControl PRO software panel No tracks heard from the sequencer Is the slider for the monitoring pair of outputs far enough to the right (towards the S/W MIX position)? If over to the left (in the INPUT MIX position), only the tracks being recorded will be heard Are the tracks in the sequencer being sent to the relevant S/W (playback) tracks routed to the monitoring pair of outputs? Switches on outputs 3-8 allow the playback tracks for that pair of outputs to be outputs 1/2 from the sequencer or the corresponding output values (3/4, 5/6 or 7/8). Cannot set a sample rate Is the Saffire being used to record audio? Whilst audio is being recorded, IN USE will show and the sample rate cannot be selected. Stop the recording to change the sample rate. Cannot lock to an external device using S/PDIF or ADAT Is a valid digital (S/PDIF or ADAT) source connected to the relevant digital input on the rear panel? Is the relevant digital input enabled and selected as the sync source? There are enable switches (1 for S/PDIF and 2 for ADAT) allowing the inputs to be activated, and sync switches alongside to select them as the clock source Is the Saffire hardware set to the same sample rate as the digital audio received at the S/PDIF or ADAT In? If not, a Lock cannot be achieved

For more comprehensive technical support, consult the online answerbase at www.focusrite.com

Specifications

MIC Frequency Response: 20Hz - 20kHz +/- 0.1 dB THD+N: 0.001% (measured at 1kHz with a 20Hz/22kHz bandpass filter) Noise: EIN > 120dB (measured at 60dB of gain with 150 Ohm termination (20Hz/22kHz bandpass filter) High Pass Filter - Roll off 12dB per octave 2 pole filter Cut off frequency - 3dB at 120Hz - 6dB at 85Hz - 12 B at 56Hz Input Impedance - 2.5k / 150 (lo Z switch in) LINE 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 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) DIGITAL PERFORMANCE Clock Sources: - Internal clock - Sync to word clock on S/PDIF - Sync to word clock on BNC word clock input - Sync to word clock on ADAT1 or ADAT2 inputs A/D Dynamic Range 110dB 'A-weighted' (all inputs) D/A Dynamic Range 110dB A-weighted' (all outputs) Clock Jitter < 250 pico seconds Sample rate 44.1 to 192kHz WEIGHT and DIMS 3kg - 35cm x 4.5cm x 23.5cm ANALOGUE INPUTS Mic: 8 x XLR on front panel Mic Gain: +13dB to + 60dB Line 1-8: 2 x 1/4 TRS Jack (front panel) Line 1-8 Gain: -10dB to +36dB Instrument: As above, switched to Instrument (inputs 1 & 2 only) Instrument Gain: +13dB to +60dB ANALOGUE OUTPUTS Line level 8 x 1/4 TRS Jack Nominal output level 0dBFS = 16dBu, balanced, +22dBu globally switched with external PSU connected across all outputs Frequency Response: 20Hz 20kHz +/- 0.2dB THD+N <0.0010% (-100dB) (measured with 0dBFS input 22Hz/22kHz bandpass filter, un-weighted) Software switched hardware DIM 12dB in output pairs 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 Software Digital Volume control for all outputs All outputs are useable as monitoring outputs
DIGITAL I/O 2 x S/PDIF (RCA phono) on rear panel (24-bit, 192kHz) Output transformer isolated 2 x ADAT In / Out (44.1 / 48kHz), 16 channels 1 x ADAT In / Out (88.2 / 96kHz), 8 channels S-MUX Word clock input on BNC Word clock output on BNC

MIDI I/O 1 in / 1 out thru on rear panel FIREWIRE Sports POWER Either via FIREWIRE or external PSU (included) HEADPHONE MONITORING 2 x 1/4 TRS Jack on front panel (mirrors outputs 5-6 and 7-8) High power headphone drivers

E & OE