Saffire Pro 24 DSP User Guide FA0273-01 1
Important Safety Instructions 1. Read these instructions. 2. Keep these instructions. 3. Heed all warnings. 4. Follow all instructions. 5. Do not use this apparatus near water. 6. Clean only with dry cloth. 7. Do not block any ventilation openings. Install in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. 8. Do not install near any heat sources such as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or other apparatus (including amplifiers) that produce heat. 9.
Contents Introduction................................................................................................................... 4 Basics............................................................................................................................ 4 Box Contents................................................................................................................. 4 Getting Started.................................................................................................
Introduction Thank you for purchasing Saffire PRO 24 DSP, one in a family of Focusrite professional multi-channel Firewire interfaces featuring high quality Focusrite Pre-amps. You now have a complete solution for routing high quality audio in and out of your computer. This Guide provides a detailed explanation of both the hardware and accompanying control software “Saffire MixControl” to help you achieve a thorough understanding of the product’s operational features.
Getting Started The Saffire PRO 24 DSP has a single 6 pin FireWire port on the back. This FireWire connection will work with any of the current FireWire standards and connectors; FireWire 400 (6 pin or 4 pin connection); and FireWire 800. BEFORE YOU CONNECT THE Saffire PRO 24 DSP TO YOUR COMPUTER, PLEASE RUN THE INSTALLER. This will ensure that the correct drivers are used, thus preventing any unexpected behaviour The Saffire PRO 24 DSP ships with a 6 pin FireWire cable.
Hardware Back Panel The Back Panel provides the majority of input and output connections on the Saffire PRO 24 DSP. 2 6 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 7 5 4 3 2 x TRS jack sockets Line Inputs 3 and 4 * 6 x TRS jack sockets for Line Outputs 1-6 * 1 x Optical input socket ** 1 x IEEE1394 6 pin FireWire socket 2 x Din5 MIDI Input and Output sockets 1 x Power switch 1 x 2.
Front Panel The Front Panel includes the input connectors for Mic, Line and Instrument signals, as well as the input gain controls and monitoring controls.
System Requirements Macintosh • OS: Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later • Computer: Apple Macintosh with FireWire port • CPU/Clock: PowerPC G4/1 GHz or higher (Intel/Dual 1 GHz or better recommended) • Memory (RAM): 512 MB (1 GB or more recommended) • Screen Resolution: 1024x768 (1280x1024 or more recommended) Windows • OS: Windows Vista (All Versions) or Windows XP SP2 or higher (All Versions) • Computer: Windows compatible computer with FireWire port.
Mac OS 1. Insert your installer disk into your computer’s CD-ROM drive. 2. You should see a window pop up showing the following installer icons: ‘Install Saffire MixControl.pkg’ 3. Double click on the installer icon to begin the installation process. 4. Follow on screen instructions to complete the installation process. 5. Restart your computer. 6. Connect the Saffire PRO 24 DSP to your computer.
Saffire PRO 24 DSP Architecture Saffire PRO 24 DSP offers more than just simple input and output routing to and from your computer. Saffire MixControl software also allows you to re-route audio signals to any output, and to create custom mixes to be sent to your recording artists, outboard processing equipment, or mixing console. The following diagrams give an overview of the Saffire PRO 24 DSP audio paths when set at different sample rates and Optical input configurations.
88.2kHz / 96kHz Optical as ADAT Saffire PRO 24 DSP HARDWARE IN Analog 1234 S/PDIF 1 2 MIXER ADAT 1234 ROUTER S/PDIF 1 2 HARDWARE IN DAW IN Analogue 1-4 1-4 S/PDIF 1-2 (RCA) 5-6 ADAT 1-4 (Opt) 7-10 Loop back 1-2 11-12 Music Software DAW IN 12 IN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 HARDWARE OUT Analog 123456 Saffire Mix Control DAW OUT 8 OUT 1234567 8 Loop back 88.
Saffire MixControl The Saffire MixControl software allows flexible mixing and routing of all audio signals to the physical audio outputs, as well as control of output monitor levels. All sample rate selection, digital syncing and buffer size settings (Windows only) are available from Saffire MixControl. To open Saffire MixControl. Windows Start > Programs > Focusrite > Saffire MixControl. Mac Open Finder > Applications > Saffire MixControl.
Pre-amp Section When connecting a microphone to the Saffire PRO 24 DSP, you must connect an XLR cable to the combi inputs on the front panel. When connecting either Line level signal or Instrument signal to the combi inputs, you must select either Line or Inst from the preamp section. The pre-amp settings can be accessed by selecting Router from the panel selection drop down menu.
Mixer Tab Each mix can be selected by clicking on the corresponding mixer tab. Input Channel Here is a picture of 2 mixer input channels. Below is a description of every component of a mixer channel. Audio source select When there is no input to a mixer channel, it will display “Off”. Clicking on the “Off” region brings up a list of all available inputs that can be fed to the channel. All analogue (labelled ‘Anlg’) and digital inputs, and DAW outputs are available.
Pan Slider A Pan Slider is used to position the audio signal anywhere between the left and right speakers. Moving the horizontal slider from left to right will move the audio signal from left to right within the stereo field, i.e., the signal is faded between two audio outputs such as Line out 1 and 2. Hold down the Shift’ key whilst moving the slider for fine control.
Stereo Pressing this button combines 2 mono channels into 1 stereo channel. Track Name As a default, each track is given a number as a name. Double click to rename the track to something more useful such as ‘Vocal Mic’. Mix Output Channel The output channel of the mix is where all the input channels are routed to and mixed together. The output channel gives you control of the overall level of the entire mix.
Input FX Section The Saffire PRO 24 DSP can apply digital signal processing to both analogue inputs 1 and 2. The DSP consists of a Compressor and EQ effect for each channel. Compressor The Focusrite Compressor is modelled on the legendary Focusrite hardware devices, with individually tuned optos to help create the sound of vintage 1960s compression. The plug-in can be used to squash the dynamics of a sound in varying degrees, e.g.
EQ Equalisation of sound is an essential part of the recording process, necessary to remove or boost specific sections of the audible frequency spectrum. The Focusrite EQ is 4-band, with 2 fully parametric mid bands and the option of shelving or high-pass / lowpass on bands 1 and 4, and exhibits the same curves as the classic Focusrite EQ. The two central bands have the same 3 knobs for modifying parameters: Frequency, Gain and Q.
Monitoring with or without FX Saffire MixControl allows monitoring of Inputs 1 and 2 with or without FX. When selecting an Input source in the Mixer or Routing section, the dry signal is represented by ‘Anlg In 1’ and ‘Anlg In 2’, and the wet signal as ‘FX(Anlg 1)’ and ‘FX(Anlg 2)’. Recording with or without FX The signal routing can be setup so that analogue inputs 1 and 2 can be recorded to the DAW with or without the DSP FX.
Reverb Section Reverberation is an effect that enables a sound source to be placed in an environment. It does this by adding a reverberant tail of reflected sound, the properties of which correspond to a space of varying dimensions. Click on the Reverb Send Mixer tab to access Reverb send settings and Reverb Controls. The level of the faders of each of the mixer channels determines the signal level being sent to the reverb unit.
Routing Section The routing section allows you to set up which audio sources are routed directly to which physical outputs. The routing section displays every physical output on the Saffire PRO 24 DSP and the audio stream to be sent to that output is available for selection in a drop down menu to the left of that output. Clicking on the box to the left of the output label will bring up a list of all available audio output sources.
Routing Presets Routing Presets are provided as a starting point for you to create your own routing and mixer set-ups. These will enable you to quickly set up your routing for recording (monitoring your inputs); mixing (sending signals out to outboard processors or external mixer); or internal looping (routing audio between software applications without leaving the computer). Clear This turns off all output routing.
VRM Section - Virtual Reference Monitoring Technical Information VRM is a system that simulates the acoustics of loudspeakers and listening rooms for reproduction over headphones. A correct sense of stereo image, perspective, and environment is normally absent in headphone reproduction. VRM provides these aural cues for effective reference monitoring for mixing on headphones.
Listening Environment Data Listening Environment Dimensions Volume Reverb Time Professional Studio Living room Bedroom Studio 6.10 x 6.48 x 3.53 m 5.48 x 4.66 x 2.79 m 3.28 x 3.69 x 2.47 m 139.40 m³ 71.27 m³ 29.90 m³ 0.38 s 0.36 s 0.47 s Loudspeaker Emulation Data Emulation Name Based On: Size (cm) Tweeter Woofer System German Studio ADAM S2.5A 45H, 28W, 30D Ribbon 8” Active 2-way bass reflex 38H, 22W, 24D 1” silk dome tweeter w/ ferrofluid cooling 6.
Using VRM Select VRM from the panel select drop down list Once selected, the following panel will be shown: Click on the power button to turn VRM On or Off. Click on the arrow to select the listening environment The green dot indicates the current listening position. Click in any empty circle to select a new listening position. Note that only certain listening positions are available for each listening environment (see table above) Click on the down arrow to select the monitor speaker.
Click on the ‘i’ button to display information on the listening environment, listening postion and monitor speakers. The following information will be displayed. Environment and Speaker information is the same as found in the tables on page 21 and 22. Coordinates information is described as follows: Spkr-sep: X-Offset: Y-Offset: L- Angle: R- Angle: L- Dist: R- Dist: The distance between the two speakers. The distance from the ‘Sweetspot’ listening position.
Monitor Section The output levels of the monitor outputs and line outputs are configured in the Monitor Section. You can set up your Saffire PRO 24 DSP so that the hardware ‘Monitor’ knob on front panel of the Saffire PRO 24 DSP will control the desired outputs, such as your stereo monitors, your surround sound system. Alternatively the ‘Monitor’ knob be deactivated for specific outputs e.g. when volume control is required for a pair of monitor speakers, but not for additional outputs being sent to e.g.
Monitor Presets drop-down menu These presets allow quick changing of typical monitoring set-ups. For the monitor presets to work, you must have your speakers connected to the line outputs as shown in the picture below. Surround Sound Monitoring: Quad, 2.1, or 5.1.
Monitor Presets Preset Name Output Off - no Monitor control buttons enabled, therefore no sound will come out of any analogue output. Mono - outputs only to the Centre / mono speaker (Line output 3.) All other channels are muted. Output - 3 Stereo - outputs to Stereo speakers (Monitor 1 and 2 output.) All other channels are muted. Outputs - 1,2 Quad - outputs to Monitor 1 and 2 outputs and Line 5 and 6 outputs. All other channels are muted. Outputs - 1,2,5,6 2.
Device Status section The Device Status section shows information about the sample rate, synchronisation and driver status of the Saffire PRO 24 DSP. The desired sample rate can be set as well as external synchronisation options for using the Saffire PRO 24 DSP with external digital devices. Sample rate display This displays the current Sample rate at which the Saffire PRO 24 DSP is running. To change the Sample rate, click on the red sample rate value and select 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.
Settings Menu This is a drop down menu containing all of the following items which allow you to set up different global/system configurations. This is the only part of Saffire MixControl software where there are differences between the Windows and Mac versions. Mac Windows Use Optical ADATs as S/PDIF Here you can set the format of the optical digital input socket. It can either be an ADAT stream or an S/PDIF stream. (Useful for those who have S/PDIF equipment that only has an optical connector.
ASIO Buffer Size (Windows Only) Set the buffer size of your ASIO driver here. A small buffer size will in result in lower latency at the expense of increased CPU usage. A high buffer size will result in a higher latency but with lower CPU usage. If you are using lots of virtual instruments and effects processing in your DAW project, and the CPU usage is high, then increase the buffer size to permit lower CPU usage.
Performance Specifications Microphone Inputs 1-2 • • • • • Frequency Response: 20Hz - 20kHz +/- 0.1 dB Gain Range: +13dB to +60dB THD+N: 0.001% (measured at 1kHz with a 20Hz/22kHz bandpass filter) Noise EIN: 124dB analogue to digital (measured at 60dB of gain with 150 Ohm termination (20Hz/22kHz bandpass filter) Input Impedance: 2k Ohm Line Inputs (Inputs 1-2) • • • • • Frequency Response: 20Hz - 20kHz +/- 0.1dB Gain Range: -10dB to +36dB THD+N: < 0.
Front and Rear Connectivity Analogue Channel Inputs (Inputs 1-4) • • • • • 2 Mic XLR Combo (channels 1-2) on front panel 2 Line ¼” TRS (channels 3-4) on rear panel Automatic switching between Mic / Line (channels 1-2) Switching between Line / Instrument Inputs (channels 1-2) via Saffire MixControl Application Switching between +16dBu (low) and -10dBV (high) gain on inputs 3-4 via Saffire MixControl Application Digital Channel Inputs (Inputs 9-26) 44.
