Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 - FireWire Digital Audio Interface

Comments about Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 - FireWire Digital Audio Interface:

Sounds great and great price. Still learning how to use the software it came with, but overall it is easy to use.

Comments about Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 - FireWire Digital Audio Interface:

This is a great audio interface. I use this to record multiple channels at a time and it works incredibly well for that. The pre's sound great with my mics and the features are unmatched from what I've seen in this price range. My computer is a tri core AMD running WXP sp3 that connects to this interface through the onboard 1394 chip. My DAW is Sonar X1. The connection has been solid with no issues whatsoever.

The mix control interface is a little difficult to grasp right out of the box, but after you get the hang of it it is an incredible tool that really opens up the possibilities with the Pro 40. The dual headphone outputs that can be individually assigned to different mixes is fairly intuitive and very beneficial. I can listen to the main mix while porting a different mix to the vocalist or guitarist or whomever to best suit their needs or wants.

The other features that I have really enjoyed are the two combo jacks on the front of the unit for easy access and the split phantom power controls where one button controls inputs 1-4 and the other controls 5-8. I also think that the loopback feature is very handy. This allows you to port any sounds from any other program to your DAW or insert it into any mix you create in the mix console. Until you have and use a feature like this you can't realize how beneficial it is.

The other features I've never had on my own equipment before, but that is really handy, is the mute and dim buttons for the main mix. This is really great for mixing and a standard high end feature.

The other great thing about this is being able to expand the inputs to 16 through the ADAT connection with an OctoPre MkII or Behringer ADA 8000. 16 mic inputs through this one small device! That is an incredible value and feature.

The only thing that I found that wasn't so great is that Focusrite no longer supports the Focusrite VST's that this product ships with. This wasn't really a bad thing as when I contacted Focusrite about it they were very prompt in replying and very helpful and in the end gave me an activation code for their Scarlett Plugin Suite, which is basically the same as their Focusrite Plugin Suite. So in the end, not a negative at all. Great customer service and great results.

Overall, I would highly recommend this to anyone.

Comments about Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 - FireWire Digital Audio Interface:

Nice sound preamp, Durable hardware, easy control and great idea of saffire mix control app.

Comments about Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 - FireWire Digital Audio Interface:

I use the Saffire pro 40 in my home studio and the quality of the mic pres are fantastic. There is very little recording latency and the Mix Control software affords you a great amount of flexibility when it comes to routing. The one downside to this product is it can be very picky when it comes to drivers with windows (7). There are myriad solutions for these problems but no one solid fix so it does take research time to solve these issues.

Comments about Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 - FireWire Digital Audio Interface:

buy it for youre studio !!!!

Comments about Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 - FireWire Digital Audio Interface:

Was needing an interface to do many things in a single unit; preamps- but didin't want to sacrifice quality, multiple analog inputs- recording a band, or like me being able to leave the guitar, acoustic, bass, drum pads, etc, connected HUGE benefit to working quickly. Firewire much more confidence inspiring for me over USB.

Multiple digital outputs is great fo mixing and interfacing w/ effects processors and other guitar preamps/modelers with digital i/o. Very happy.

Comments about Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 - FireWire Digital Audio Interface:

Product is good for price pre amps r boxi but good just have to eq in the box

Comments about Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 - FireWire Digital Audio Interface:

used mainly for recording stereo guitar processor
and micing vocals and acoustic guitars
Works great - highly recommend for new studio

Comments about Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 - FireWire Digital Audio Interface:

I use this interface to record live drums into ProTools 9 HD on a Macbook Pro. The 8 preamps keeps it all in one interface, and the preamps sound pretty good! It's not Avalon, but it's also not $2-3,000, right?

I also love the Dim feature on the monitor outs, rather than only Mute.

If you are looking for an all-in-one option for 8 input live tracking, this is definitely the "best in show" without going into the $1,000+ price bracket.

Beats the Presonus Firestudio hands down.

Wish it had onboard processing, but again, it's an entry level product!

Comments about Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 - FireWire Digital Audio Interface:

A nicely built audio interface. Definitely the best in it's class price wise as a matter of fact better than many of the more expensive ones out there. Pre- amps seem very good for instrument line level recording, have not recorded with mics yet. Really like the adat/lightpipe connectivity adds additional flexibility. A/D converters seem very solid as well. The mix control routing software is very well set up and easy to navigate. A decent basic DAW software package centered around Ableton Live 8 lite. Really like the fact that it has 2 headphone outs. Seems very well suited for surround mixes. Very easy to set up and install. Just wish it was Firewire 800 instead of 400.

Comments about Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 - FireWire Digital Audio Interface:

While these lower end Focusrite interfaces don't have the best mic pres out there, they have remained quiet even at high gain levels so far. With the ADAT inputs, it will also be easy to add higher mic pres/A-D converters when the time comes too.

The main plus for this interface and the previous Focusrite interface I owned is stability. I have encountered very few issues with computer connectivity and driver bugs. I didn't realize this until I used and M-Audio interface a few times and encountered system crashes and strange playback anamolies in some software. With both Focusrites I've owned, this just doesn't happen.

Comments about Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 - FireWire Digital Audio Interface:

Excellent audio interface, especially at this price range. I primarily use mine for a theatre playback interface, utilizing the outputs, but also have used it as a recording interface and often as a standalone pre, sending mic signals out over the ADAT port to expand a system for live mixing. The box sounds excellent, easy to setup, no driver issues, and a easy to use computer GUI.

Comments about Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 - FireWire Digital Audio Interface:

Works great with my mac pro with logic9 Makes it easier to keep creative and not be overwhelmed by the technical side of things.

Comments about Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 - FireWire Digital Audio Interface:

I have been looking at buying this interface for the greater part of a year now, and I do have to say that I am NOT disappointed. You get 8 of Focusrite's great preamps and the ability to add more through ADAT. There's more I/O on this interface than the price suggests. Focusrite makes great preamps and this interface is no exception. You can easily drive a dynamic moving coil mic with lots of clean gain. Interfaces well with Pro Tools 9, and you don't even need to run the proprietary software for it to work. Works great in standalone mode as a mixer/preamp.

I do wish that channels 3-8 had pads wired inline, but you really are getting more for your money with this interface.

Comments about Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 - FireWire Digital Audio Interface:

The Saffire Pro 40 Firewire Audio Interface is an excellent product, which works as advertised, is easy to set up and easy to integrate into your studio setup. The only quirk that I have found so far, is that when my computer(Macintosh) falls asleep, the Saffire Pro 40 also falls asleep, but does not wake up when the system does, requiring me to reboot the unit. However, when I put the computer to sleep, the Saffire wakes when the computer does. A minor annoyance, I suspect that I may be able to solve this by tweeking my system. Other than that, the unit is solid, contains eight decent preamps and is expandable via ADAT to 20 or more inputs. An excellent value for the money, I highly recommend this unit. I am a very happy customer--of both Focusrite and B&H. [...] Al K.

Comments about Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 - FireWire Digital Audio Interface:

used in a home studio
mic pre's are highly accurate
gain knobs are a little touchy in that the last 1/4 turn makes a large difference in gain

Comments about Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 - FireWire Digital Audio Interface:

I have used this unit with both Presonus Studio One Pro, and Reaper and absolutly love it! Has all the inputs I need and performs without flaw. The only con i have with it is that the plugins it came with, only seem to function on a 32 bit system so are useless on my 64 bit DAWs.

Comments about Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 - FireWire Digital Audio Interface:

The product installed quite smoothly. It required a lot of tweaking of parameters to run smooth on Windows 7 though. The hints on the Focusrite website helped, but this hassle seems a bit unnecessary in 2011, sorry. Once up and running the sound quality is good and the pre-amps work well on all my microphones.
I run it with Ableton Live full version, recorded tracks sound crisp & detailed. Overall quality seems trustworthy. For the price it outperforms a lot of other interfaces.

Comments about Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 - FireWire Digital Audio Interface:

This is one of my first exploits into serious recording-- previously I was using straight to USB mics. The Saffire works great in itself, but it's far from intuitive when using with Logic. I'm going to need to do some more reading to figure out it's intricacies... at which point I'm sure I'd up my rating to a 5.

Comments about Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 - FireWire Digital Audio Interface:

This is a sturdy well built audio interface. I recommend some outboard mic pres if you want some color though, because while they are acceptable, the mic pres on the Saffire are rather sterile. It is extremely easy to use. Totally plug and play.