Liquid Saffire 56 User Guide 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 Liquid Saffire 56, the latest Focusrite professional multi-channel Firewire interface. 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 Liquid Saffire 56 has 2 x 6 pin Firewire ports on the back. You can connect your computer to either Firewire port, and this will work with any of the current Firewire standards and connections; Firewire 400 (6 pin or 4 pin connection); and Firewire 800. BEFORE YOU CONNNECT THE LIQUID SAFFIRE 56 TO YOUR COMPUTER, PLEASE RUN THE INSTALLER.
Hardware Back Panel The Back Panel provides the majority of input and output connections on the Liquid Saffire 56. 1, 2 3, 4 12 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 11 10 9 8 7 2 x XLR input sockets for the Liquid Mic Pre-amps (Analogue Mic Inputs 1 & 2). 2 x Jack input sockets for Line level signals (Analogue Line Inputs 1 & 2). * 6 x XLR input sockets for Mic level signals (Analogue Mic Inputs 3 - 8). 6 x Jack input sockets for Line level signals (Analogue Line Inputs 3 - 8).
Front Panel The Front Panel includes the input connectors for instrument jacks, as well as all the input gain controls and monitoring controls. 8 11 12 1 7 2 5 3, 4 14 13 18 10 9 15 16 20 17 21 19 6 22 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. Liquid Pre-amps Mic / Line input indication LEDS. Liquid Pre-amps Gain control knobs – use these to set the level of your input signal Liquid Pre-amps +48V phantom power buttons with LEDs.
Installation (Windows and Mac) We aim to ensure that the latest installation software will be on the disk included with your Liquid Saffire 56. However we strongly recommend that you check for the latest version of software on our website; www.focusrite.com before starting to work with your Liquid Saffire 56 unit. 1. Insert your installer disk into your computer’s CD-ROM drive. 2. You should see a window pop up showing the Liquid Saffire 56 installer icon. 3.
Liquid Saffire 56 Architecture Liquid Saffire 56 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 Liquid Saffire 56 audio paths when set at different sample rates and S/PDIF configurations.
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176.4kHz / 192kHz Optical as ADAT Liquid Saffire 56 HARDWARE IN Analog S/PDIF 1 1 23 45 6 7 8 2 ADAT 1 1 2 ADAT 2 S/PDIF 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 MIXER 1 2 ADAT 1 1 2 ADAT 2 ROUTER 1 2 HARDWARE IN DAW IN Analogue 1-8 1-8 S/PDIF 1-2 9-10 ADAT 1 1-4 11-12 ADAT 2 1-4 13-14 Loop back 1-2 15-16 Music Software DAW IN 16 IN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 HARDWARE OUT Analog Saffire Mix Control DAW OUT 16 OUT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Loop back 176.
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.
Switching between Pre-amp and Routing Sections The Routing and Pre-amp sections occupy the same space within the Saffire MixControl software interface. Click on this box to switch between each view to access the respective controls Pre-amp Section This section is divided into two parts, the left hand side for the 2 Liquid Pre-amps and the right hand side for Pre-amps 3-8. The Liquid Pre-amps feature high quality Focusrite Analogue microphone pre-amps.
Pre-amp Emulation Select To select the pre-amp emulation, click on the field to open a drop down list. The following table shows the original units that were used for each pre-amp emulation. The available pre-amp cover a range or vintage and modern, desk and channel strip pre-amps.
Mixer The Saffire MixControl software includes a total of 16 mixes, each with a maximum of 18 channels in the mix. Up to 16 mono mixes or 8 stereo mixes, (or any combination of mono and stereo mixes,) are available, making up a total of 16 mix channels. Note that at sample rates of 176.4kHz and 192kHz the number of mixes is reduced to 4 Mono (or 2 Stereo). Each Mix can contain up to 18 of the possible 40 inputs signals, and each mix can be sent to any number of outputs.
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 ‘Line’) and digital inputs, and DAW outputs are available.
Fader Use the fader to set the level of your audio signal for monitoring within the current mixer. Click the fader with your mouse and drag to any position. Double click on the fader to set it to 0. Fader range is from -∞ to +6 dB with the current fader level displayed in the box below. Meter The meter shows the signal level of the source input to the channel. The maximum reached signal level is displayed in the box below.
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.
Routing Section The routing section allows you to set up which audio sources are to be routed directly to which physical outputs. The routing section displays every physical output on the Liquid Saffire 56 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.
Monitor Section The output levels of the monitor outputs and line outputs are configured in the Monitor Section. You can set up your Liquid Saffire 56 so that the hardware ‘Monitor’ knob on front panel of the Liquid Saffire 56 will control the desired outputs, such as your stereo monitors, your surround sound system. Alternatively the hardware ‘Monitor’ knob be deactivated for specific outputs e.g.
Monitor Presets dropdown 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, 5.1 or 7.
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 - 1,2,7,8 2.
Dim switch Attenuates the output level by 18dB. Mute switch Mutes the output. Left Mute switch Mutes the left output. Right Mute switch Mutes the right output. Mono switch Sums (combines) the left and right signals. The combined signal is then sent out of both Left and Right outputs. Remember that these dim, mute and mono buttons only affect the outputs selected for control (i.e. Blue) in the monitor control section.
Sample rate display This displays the current Sample rate at which the Liquid Saffire 56 is running. To change the Sample rate, click on the red sample rate value and select 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, or 192kHz.
Use Optical ADATs as S/PDIF Here you can set the format of the optical digital input/output 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.) Note that the audio sent to the optical S/PDIF output is always exactly the same as the audio sent to the RCA output. S/PDIF AC3 Allows the user to stream AC3 directly via the S/PDIF outputs. (AC3 is encoded 5.1 audio, e.g.
Hardware Meter Source Set the LEDs on the Liquid Saffire 56 Front Panel to monitor either the Analouge, ADAT 1, ADAT 2, or S/PDIF inputs. File Menu Mac Windows Open - opens a File open dialog allowing selection of any pre-saved Saffire MixControl set-ups. Save - opens a File save dialog allowing selection of a location into which your Saffire MixControl set-up can be saved. Subsequent saves overwrite the original file.
Performance Specifications Microphone Inputs 1-2 • • • • • • • Frequency Response: 20Hz - 20kHz +/- 0.1 dB Gain Range: +13dB to +60dB THD+N: 0.
Digital Performance A/D Dynamic Range = 110dB (A-weighted), all inputs D/A Dynamic Range = 110dB (A-weighted), all outputs Clock Sources: • Internal Clock • Sync to Word Clock on SPDIF Input (RCA) • Sync to Word Clock on optical SPDIF Input (when enabled) • Sync to Word Clock on ADAT input 1 or 2 • Sync to Word Clock on BNC Word Clock Input JetPLLTM PLL technology providing superb jitter reduction for class leading converter performance. Clock jitter:250 picoseconds Supported Sample Rates 44.
Front Panel Indicators • • • • • • • • 8 x 5 segment input meters (switch-able source via Saffire MixControl), -42, -18, -6, -3 and 0dBFS “Lock” Indicator “Host Connected” Indicator MUTE Switch and LED DIM Switch and LED MIDI In data activity LED ADAT1, ADAT2 and SPDIF LED to indicate meter sources Input source selection LED for each channel (Mic / Line / Instrument) Weight and Dimensions • • 2U Rack Mount unit: approx.
