And please do share any more observations you’ve got on the Saffire - despite what seems to be a lot of anticipation about it, I’ve been struggling for ages to find any concrete information on t’internet (or in print) about it other than the myriad press release copies.

And thanks Chris too - sounds like you’re not best pleased with the Saffire, are you at the point of returning it, or do you think there may yet be light at the end of the tunnel?

Cheers

I got it and used it on the day it came out, updated the firmware, but it really sucks. if you the to load the Focusrite plugins that came with the Saffire, it crashes nuendo, pointless to have a dsp chip inside if you cant use it,
Plus the mixer control on the PC sucks as well, hard to use. changing the buffer size and sample rate, you have to open to different exe.
cant put in the the icon bar, bottom of the screen, a lot more work needed to be used.

this is the conclusion I draw,
I used Mbox, Fireface, digi 001 002 etc.
The point is that the interface should be a easy to use and sound good thing, on the Saffire control, it has a good mixer, however hard to use,
why do you have to load 2 different exe to change the sample rate and the buffersize. and you can put it on float put cant really bring it to the top of the screen, while using a DAW,
Maybe it may be good for some users, and good for them, but even for a mobile studio it is not good yet, Im not saying its history. It need alot of update on the firmware, if the software crashes do to loading of a plugin from focusrite, it is the problem of the interface, I can say that becauses i tried loading different plugins on the DAW( I use CUBASE and NUENDO)
the only cause for the crash is the FF plugins, from the interface. Before calling people a lyer try to run real tests, again everybody is free to think,
how ever at this moment in time, it is NOT a reccommended gear YET

So… i came home and unpacked it…ok so its made out of plasic big deal
yeah it would have been nice if it had better quality knobs etc.. but it isent
drastic and as for it being made in china if you were to take out everything in your house right now that was made in china it would be pretty bare believe me, just cos its got a sony badge stuck on it etc. doesent mean it was made in america.. besides the mic im running through the saffirre is also made in china so there well suited (SE electronics se2200 and that mic kicks ass in my opinion.)

Got a .dll error message on install and rung focusrite up from the number on the box and was put straight throught to a helpful man called mick who told me what to do. which was ignore it and skip to the next step. so drivers get installed niceley.

when I open up my sequencer host i am prompted
to obtain a license code by sending off a small file by email
to focusrite along with serial number and registration code
did that they emailed me back the small registration file within 5 minutes
which then unlocked the plugins ( I Think).

that was it I was up and running I couldent find a manual anywhere
which was a bit of a shame thought they might be at least a pdf file somewhere but havent found it yet maybe im looking in the wrong place. would have helped to enable you to get familiar with the saffirre control software a litle quicker which is reasonably self explanatory as im sure some have you have probably seen. so i just started playin around pressing buttons etc till I had a grasp of it. I was so tired at this point
(id been up all night) but desperatly wanted to play more with it I dident have any instruments handy barr a cheap toy guitar lol so I strummed a few chords and recorded it tried a bit of vocal too and I have to say I was very impressed I will have a little more of a play about with it and post back a more in depth description of the audio quality and nuances soon.
but for now lets just say it sounded great, I was happy, tweaked with the plug-ins which were equally great, I realise im just being very general
in the description but I only got this thing a few hours ago and need to have a play with it I will post back something with more substance
in a short while. but just thought Id let you know on first impressions
I am very pleased

Please contact me directly if you have questions.

Thanks.
Lars
lars@focusrite.com

http://studio-central.com/phpbb/index.php

According to Lars.. DONT LISTEN TO CHRIS HE IS LYING.. So wait untill more reviews come out on the Saffire..

Is anyone using one?

lars@focusrite.com

Hi guys. I’ve been following this thread. The statement above is not true. The license files are only for the host powered VST & AU plugins. You can authorise up to 4 different machines.

Lars Henning
Focusrite Audio Engineering

Matt

Thanks very much for the information, please keep us informed with any more findings. I’m with you regarding ‘music toys’. While the Saffire sounds excellent on paper, I really hope it’s not let down by corners cut in materials/assembly etc. And I’d be interested to hear what you think of the quality of the preamps and the DSP effects it has to offer. I hadn’t heard about the use of the unit as a dongle for licencing, I’d assumed that I’d be able to switch it’s use between my desktop DAW and laptop. In fact I kind of thought that flexibility was part of the design of the Saffire. Thanks again for the info and please keep it coming!