Is this latest addition to the Saffire line a gem of an audio interface or just lacklustre?Buying a new audio interface might not be the most exciting way to splosh your dosh, but pick the right one and you'll certainly feel like you've got your money's worth.
The Saffire Pro 40 is a rackmountable FireWire unit powered via an IEC cable. There are eight analogue ins on combo connectors (mic or line, XLR or balanced/unbalanced jack) with LED meters and gain pots. Phantom power is switchable in banks of four, and two ins have buttons for instrument input and -9dB pad.
As for outs, there are ten of 'em, all line level on 1/4" jacks, balanced or unbalanced. The twin headphone sockets mirror the signals at outputs 7/8 and 9/10 and have separate volume knobs. On the digital side, there's S/PDIF in/out via RCA plugs, and eight channels of ADAT in/out on optical connectors. There's MIDI in/out, too.
The front panel monitor section has a master volume knob, plus Dim and Mute buttons. The software control panel, Saffire MixControl, offers further flexibility - see boxout for more info.
Putting the Saffire Pro 40 into action, the sound quality is immediately impressive. Like a number of other companies' interfaces, this one uses the JetPLL jitter-reduction technology, which we've praised before. The Pro 40 has tight bass and snappy dynamics, and it's free of the graininess that interfaces at the more affordable end of the market can exhibit. The headphone outs sound great and are plenty loud enough.
Crystal clear
The mic pres are clean and clear, as you'd expect from Focusrite. As for stability, as long as we launched the MixControl app before our DAW, it was all plain sailing. We made an eight-channel multitrack recording with all outputs and 16 mixes active, at 96kHz and 128 samples latency, and operation was glitch-free.
More than one application can use the Pro 40's ASIO drivers at once, with their outputs mixed automatically. There's a useful feature called Loop Back, too, whereby the output from one app can be internally routed to the input of another. We used this to pipe our media player into Cubase, so that we could listen to it through IK Multimedia's ARC System room correction. Nice.
There are a fair few interfaces like this on the market, but you still have to pick wisely. The Saffire Pro 40 is definitely one of the best around, and it has an attractive price, too. The inclusion of the Focusrite Plug-in Suite (worth £50) adds further value to the package.
Contact: Focusrite, +441494 462246
Web: www.focusrite.com
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Channel tunnelling
Using the Saffire MixControl app, you can create 16 mono mixes (or eight stereo/ combination thereof). Each has 18 mono channels (or up to 9 stereo) that can come from a hardware input or an out from your DAW. This is ideal for making monitor mixes for musicians, and you can name channels and mixes, then save the lot for total recall. In the routing area, you determine which signal appears at which physical output: it could be a DAW output, a mix, or an input signal (ie, for zero-latency direct monitoring). There are preset routings, but annoyingly, you can't save your own.
The monitoring section lets you designate the outputs that are controlled by the volume control, which can be the knob on the unit or the one in MixControl - this is handy for controlling multiple monitor levels - when using surround sound, for example. Similarly, there are presets, but you can't define your own.
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System requirements
(PC) 900MHz CPU, 512MB_RAM,
Windows XP/Vista 32/64
(MAC) 1Ghz CPU, 512MB RAM, OS X 10.4
Test system
(PC) Core i7 920 3GHz, 3GB RAM,
Windows Vista 64
Alternatively
PreSonus FireStudio Project cm130» 9/10 » £489
Broadly similar but has two analogue TRS inserts, only one 'phones out and simpler routing
M-Audio ProFire 2626 cm127» 9/10 » £479
Another solid FireWire rack interface, this one can operate in standalone mode, too
Verdict
FOR
- Quality sound and clean mic pres Flexible routing software
- Good value
- Drivers work with multiple apps
- Dual headphone outs
AGAINST
- Software may baffle some
- No standalone preamp operation
- Can't define routing/monitoring presets
- No way to use multiple units
The Saffire Pro 40 boasts a fine sound and solid features, and the keen price point gives it an edge on the competition
MARK: 9/10
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