Focusrite Saffire LE Reviews

[brandondrury]

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Focusrite Saffire LE Description
The Saffire LE has six inputs and eight outputs (including stereo digital I/O) with comprehensive monitoring and i/o control options ensure the recording musician has plenty of options for tracking and monitoring high-quality audio. Focusrite build and sound quality, intelligent front-end design and a one-click GUI solution combine to guarantee an intuitive and trouble-free professional recording experience.

Although only the original Saffire has onboard DSP, the Saffire LE comes complete with the entire Saffire plug-in suite, offering highly acclaimed Compression, Reverb, Amp modeling and EQ in VST and AU formats. Furthermore, Saffire LE is bundled with a host of other software titles and audio samples, all included on the accompanying resources dvd.

As with the original Saffire, input and output levels and latency-free monitoring solutions can all be controlled via the accompanying SaffireControl LE software. This stylish application floats comfortably over any recording software, and can shrink in size to suit a number of different recording scenarios. Together with expertly designed analogue inputs and unrivalled digital conversion, Saffire LE is the perfect solution for discerning recording musicians on a budget.

[richiebee]

I picked up my Saffire LE today. Anyone who knows me, probably knows that I use some pretty nice gear at work, but pretty low budget stuff at home. I'm upgrading to the Saffire LE from an old style Tascam US-122 which, to be honest, has done great service. Since I never have bands in, and do pretty much everything in the box using samples, a sequencer and a keyboard, my needs in an audio interface are pretty small. It just needs to have a decent output. Ever since I got a real pair of monitors, I've thought the US-122 as pretty noisy (line noise), and have considered a replacement for a while, but other things have always taken precedence. Well, the day finally came when it was the turn of the interface.

Installation went very straight forward, which is more than I can say for when I tried it at work earlier today... maybe it doesn't like sharing itself with another audio interface - I hadn't unplugged the existing one I have there... anyway, without another external interface plugged in, installation went very easy. When I did it at work, I started with the driver that came on the DVD with the thing. I was very nervous with the second instruction of installation which is to hotplug the Saffire. I've heard of horror stories hotplugging Firewire devices, so I was nervous about it, but I guess they built it to do that. At home, I bypassed the installation DVD and downloaded the latest driver from the internet. This did not ask to plug in the device at all leaving me to wonder when the hell I am supposed ot plug it in. I hotplugged and nothing exploded.

I've heard the software sucks, so I wasn't expecting much here. It's basic sure, but its very clear too. My only issue was it being too quiet - it has a "dim" button that was pushed in by default when started up. As soon as I found it, I nearly blew my ears out.

So, what about sound? That's the all important thing. Well, it's very early days of course, but I can't believe it. I can't believe changing one budget audio interface with another budget interface makes so much difference. It's silent when there's nothing going through, and airy but well defined with a wonderful stereo image. Damn, why didn't I make this upgrade before? It's a serious revelation people.

This is the first time I've actually been excited by a relatively minor system upgrade.

The Saffire comes with Focusrite's "Plugin Suite" - a compressor, EQ, amp sim and reverb. I'm haven't tried the amp sim or reverb yet, but I did give the compressor and EQ a try. I'm very pleasantly surprised by both. I've been gutted since really coming to terms with the fact that the Antress plugins are unstable on my system and wondering what will replace the Modern Compressor which I love. Well, this is it. The compressor might not be world class - it does come free with the saffire afterall, but it is good, has presets to get you started (not so sure about them), and fine control if you want it (and I do). The EQ has more useful presets - it has a selection of instrument types which then gives you four or so dials with common attributes that you might want to tweak for that type of section. For example the strings have dials for "more or less" fullness, harshness, bow and air. These might not be definitive answers to your EQing problem, but they're a nice place to start for the beginner. Of course, there's full manual control of 4 bands of EQ if you prefer to go that way.

You'll hear as soon as I have a problem with it - I'm English - we like to complain! But for now, I'm amazed, astounded and very happy with my new purchase.