| User Review | | Sound Quality | | 4 | | Ease of use | | 4 | | Features | | 4 | | Bang for buck | | 5 |
Overall:  4.25 |  Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 | | Focusrite Saffire Pro 24
For the price, you'll be hard pressed to find a better FW interface with the I/O and features that the Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 has to offer.
With 2 Speakon Jacks on the front to handle both XLR and TRS cables, and two more 1/4 inch TRS Inputs on the rear, you can record four true analog inputs simultaneously.
The rear panel has 6 TRS 1/4 inch outputs, as well as an Optical Input that can do Adat 8 Ch in, and is also switchable via the Mix Control software to Optical SPDIF. Speaking of SPDIF, the unit also has a SPDIF in and out, and offers Midi IN/Out connections as well. The unit is bus powered via FW, but also comes with a Ac Adapter.
The front panel supplies Gain control for both front Ins, a Monitor Gain knob, and Headphone Gain Knob and 1/4 Headphone Jack. The 48V Phantom power button is located directly under the Ch1-2 Gain knobs, and Focusrite has included LED meters for the Four Analog Inputs so you can monitor your input levels right from the front panel.
Included is Focusrite's Mix Control software which allows you to take full advantage of the routing capabilities of this unit. Some users may find it a bit cumbersome at first, but a quick read of Focusrite's user manual is sure to help anyone find their way. Also included is the Focusrite Excite pack which includes Focusrites own plugin pack, Ableton Live LE, some great Drum samples by "Mike the Drummer", and over a GB of loops provided by Loopmasters. They even include a FW cable which I thought was a nice touch.
My personal experience with this unit has been great. The pre's are very transparent, and I get more than enough headroom to capture great recordings. I love how small and mobile it is, so if I need to record on the go, I'm good. Customer support is a bit slow to get back to your emails in my opinion, but I have only had to email them once, over a minor issue I was having.
I purchased mine from an authorized dealer on ebay for $235 bucks. In that price range, you will be hard pressed to find something this nice, with these features. I would, and have recommended this FW Audio interface to several of my friends, and I also recommend it for anyone looking for an inexpensive, quality Interface. Enjoy!
xXx | | | | | | | Sound Quality | | 4 | | Ease of use | | 4 | | Features | | 4 | | Bang for buck | | 5 | |
Overall: 4.25 | | I had one of the older Saffires, the plasticy little white boxes, for about 4 years. It sounded good but it was a finicky unit that dropped out from time to time, it had problems dealing with different sample rates, and it had popping issues.
Yet for some reason, when it was time to replace it I went with another Saffire unit. Maybe I made that choice because the old unit did sound good when it wasn't causing me problems, maybe I was just hoping the newer products would work better. Regardless of the reason, I'm glad I made that call. The Saffire Pro 24 is a 100% improved product over its predecessor.
The box itself is better built. It's sturdier with better jacks. The display panel is simple but easy to read. The new version of the Saffire Control software is much easier to use and much more stable (though honestly I rarely even need to use Saffire Control, I can just set it and forget it). The recorded audio is crystal clear. Even the headphone amp is solid, with enough juice to power my Sennheiser HD-650 cans.
I bought mine through Sweetwater for around $300, which I believe is actually less than the inferior original Saffire cost me. Definitely a bang-for-the-buck winner and well worth checking out if you're looking for a quality Firewire interface on a tight budget. | | | | | | Sound Quality | | 4 | | Ease of use | | 4 | | Features | | 5 | | Bang for buck | | 5 | |
Overall: 4.5 | | Saffire Pro 24 DSP
I have the DSP version of this interface, but everything else is the same so I'll add a review here.
First of all, I spent many many hours researching 2-channel interfaces, and can say with certainty that this is the very best interface for the money on the cheaper-end of the scale (as far as audio gear goes). You get 2 pre-amps that are just as good if not better than anything else in the price bracket (though you start to get some noise past '9', and the gain is not linear with the knob, being that a good 25% of the gain if from 8-10 - typical of cheaper pre's...but they sound good none-the-less, nothing special, but work great). You also get a pair of line-ins in addition to the #1 and #2 inputs, great for doing keys and singing, or DI guitar, etc. What's really cool is the amount of outputs you have as well, enough for 5.1 surround sound monitoring, or feeding a stereo pair out into some outboard gear, then back in through the line in inserts - great routing flexibility for such a small box and price! Don't forget the RCA/S/PDIF I/O and the MIDI I/O either!
The LED metering in the front is really useful for setting levels, and functions great. Don't forget about the pair of headphone outputs, not all interfaces have more than one output for phones!
About the DSP. Quite frankly, it's cheap sounding and I wouldn't use the FX for anything other than a cans send to relieve the cpu while tracking - which is a valuable little feature to have, but definitely not always worth the extra $100. The reverb sounds tinny and cheap, the EQ leaves much to desire, though is workable, and same with the compressor plug. The VRM (virtual reference monitoring) I have found no use for, but I imagine if you had to mix with headphones, it could come in handy. It has certain distance and pan settings as well as speaker emulations to get that ''expensive mixing room sound'' (don't let the marketing get to you, haha). Jabs aside, it really is a good unit through and through. The GUI, or mixer interface is laid out simply and works great.
I had a real head-ache setting this thing up with the drivers and DAW routing at first, but after messing around with the OS and computer settings, it ran no problems and very stable - but be sure to have this plugged in and turned on before you start your computer (after it's installed obviously). This is a FW interface, so keep that in mind when you see all the other cheap-ish 2 channel boxes and they're only USB.
Some of the more important features are 24bit/96khz quality, which is great, and you have the ability to light-pipe 8 more channels in with another interface (such as the octopre, or digimax, etc), you can have a total of 16 inputs and 8 outputs (in 48khz mode)! Really good bang to buck.
All in all, I'd say if you're looking for a 2 channel interface with the ability for future expansion, say for recording drums or a live band, and you can only spend under a grand, look no further - I really think this is the best you'll get until you hit the $1500 or so mark to get something like a metric halo. Enjoy recording with this little box, pro results are certainly attainable with it.  | | |
By
oweng
on
22nd January 2012
| | Sound Quality | | 5 | | Ease of use | | 4 | | Features | | 4 | | Bang for buck | | 5 | |
Overall: 4.5 | | Saffire 24
conclusion - If you have a tight budget ($300 -400) this is one unit you should look at.
pros
-- good quality clean pre(s) 60db gain
-- support from Focusrite is very fast
-- vast array of input/outputs
-- loopback is a valuable, unique feature
-- front led meters
-- can be used "standalone" - FW bus powered
-- complex, versatile software interface
cons
-- software updates are iffy - the latest one works great, ( but may fix/break
features in future revisions - you never know...)
-- latest 400/800 cards not fully supported - apparently works better with a older 400 card.
-- clicks and pops may occur sporadically
-- complex, versatile software interface
----------------------------------------------------
I bought this unit ~about~ a year ago. Occasional fight with drivers not installing properly - ( seems to be a windows registry issue )
I just "stacked" the pres to drive a SM7b at lower input levels.
-- I am unable to go above 24/48.
-- I primarily stick to beta drivers ( my expensive 400/800 Ti card not fully supported.
-- Software package included is ????
Ableton Lite - useless for anything other than .... ???
Novation Bass Station - I like it and use it.
MTD samples - you may like these - although I think there is a sample set missing ( corrupted ) ..snares I think..
I feel like I made a lucky choice with this purchase.
I would pay double what I paid and be happy. | | |
By
atone2
on
25th December 2012
| | Sound Quality | | 4 | | Ease of use | | 2 | | Features | | 3 | | Bang for buck | | 4 |
Overall:  3.25 | | problem
help me! why i cant record in stereo in saffire pro 24?
i chose a chanel but y can select stereo mode. somebody can helpme?
i hace troubles whit the saffire mix but, now i can hear stereo. but a cant record. | | | |
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