Hi

I'm helping set up my friends Focusrite Saffire for him. It's a bit of a nightmare, and i recommended him the unit, so i am feeling a little silly as we've had nothing but problems. I'll cut to the chase...

Problem 1
Reverb - the comfort reverb doesn't work - sometimes. 50/50 - no discernable pattern here, it just won't turn on. In channel 2 you don't even appear to have option? It never works when i go round to his studio, but he said it was working earlier on.

Problem 2 - The MAJOR problem
Recording Delay!!! We are using direct monitoring, software monitoring is disabled in Cubase LE (which comes with the saffire). The monitoring is fine - but there appears to be a delay when recording audio. And i don't mean with monitoring - i mean with the actual writing of the file. We noticed things weren't quite right, so i tried recording the Cubase metronome through the mic, then playing back this audio with the original metronome playing. There should be no delay the recorded metronome and sequencers metronome should play back in sync... but they don't. There is a constant delay of around 3075-3500 samples. We tried to change loads of stuff, including:

- Tempo
- ASIO buffer size (and all other sorts of other cubase settings)
- Turning the EQ/compression effects on/off in SaffireControl application
- Turning the reverb on/off
- Having the SaffireControl app open/closed
- Turning the SaffireControl off/on
- Restarting the computer
- Repairing permissions

Also tried installing Cubase LE on my mac (i have a motu 828 mk2) and recording the metronome etc, and it was perfectly in sync, every time, no delay. So the problem isn't Cubase LE.

The was always pretty much the same delay (3075 samples was the minimum i got, about 3550 was the max, that i recorded) which is VERY noticable. The strange thing is that a few days back, we recorded some vocals and they were fine. Also, ONCE when we unplugged the Saffire, plugged it back in, the delay wasn't there. We thought it was fixed, but it came back when we restarted the computer/cubase. Sigh.

Problem 3
Bit of a strange one - in Cubase LE, when inserting new audio track the Saffire EQ insert will momentarily popping up. Weird. There are a couple of other quirks, like 'problem 3', but that will do for now. We are using:

G4 PowerMac G4 867Mhz, 896MB Ram, OSX 10.4.3, and Saffire Latest Firmware 2.0 (delay was there with the beta drivers, also).

Any info, advice, etc would be appreciated as there was supposed to be a recording session on Friday, which if we could NOT have to cancel, would be amazing. I'll send a technical support request to Focusrite too, obviously.

Thanks

Edd

The first thing I'd try is uninstalling/deleting every single Focusrite driver, File and preference... perhaps use spotlight to make sure....


then Restart the machine without the Device connected. reset the PRAM / NVRAM then repair permissions and shut it down.


then start up again and follow the installation instructions for the Saffire Control and rivers. latest driver / control version.


then hook up and see how you get on....


I've now used the Saffire a couple of times.,. (with clients that own one) and experienced none of these issues.,... but I was using it with Garage band and Logic.

Although I like the Saffire for a number of reasons, i personally find the hardware control system a bit counter intuitive, and awkward...

but I don't often need to use it....

Max

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if you don't know who i am, i aint gonna tell you.

The Beatsmith,
The same problem is happen to me, i even notice the monitoring level drop when playback music with itune or logic pro 7.1.1...and the vst saffire plugin in V2 'cause my peak 4.14 crash...
I try to used Saffire as a main audio i/o cause i notice the convertor in Saffire is sightly better than my Tascam FW1884, the stereo image is more wider and more focus from Event ASP8..And let the FW1884 became just a controller and midi i/o for Logic and DP..
But i am not able to used both Saffire and Tascam Fw1884 in the same time, clicks and pops will happen once i connect both unit to firewire port, then both unit lost the firewire signal became no sound at all...My system just became so f@£$ing unstable now..this is nightmare since logic pro 7.1.1 is so stable...
I have spoke to engineer in focusrite, they told me they will solve the problem fast, and also part of the problem from the core audio is difference from OS 10.3...i hope this problem really can solve soon...

Ken

Thanks for your reply max. Found the root of the problem - but couldn't resolve it. Here's an email i just sent back to tech support:

Hi there,

Thanks for your response. I've spent a lot of time trouble-shooting issues with the Saffire, and appear to have found the reason for the trouble. As I mentioned, I am indeed using the new V2 firmware and software.

After many, many hours of troubleshooting, it seems the issue lies when the Saffire Control software is installed. In order to get to this problem, we've tried completely exhaustive testing, as documented in my original email and the following options:

- Tried changing clock source
- Tried uninstalling everything
- Tried the Saffire on my G4 PowerMac 1.42ghz
- Compared it to my Motu 828 Mk2, which always works perfectly
- We've even gone as far as testing such extreme variables such as fire wire cables!!!

Basically, when I plugged the Saffire into MY G4 PowerMac (*WITHOUT* downloading and installing the software) it worked perfectly. There was no (well, negligible) delay when recording the metronome, and I was happy.

I then installed the Saffire V2 software, and re-recorded the metronome, and there was a delay of around 300 samples. This was the case on my computer however on my friends' computer, the delay was more like 3500 samples, which is very noticeable, and quite unusable.

So, removing all traces of SaffireControl, the preferences, the plugins, everything works pretty much ok. When you install the software to get the control over inputs/monitoring etc, then there is a noticeable delay when recording. My computer showed this to a lesser extent, however there was still a delay there.

The Saffire is a perfect product for my friends needs in terms of functionality so he is reluctant to return it but unfortunately with no seeming answer to the problem he is going to have no choice but to return the product.

As one last shot before he did this I was wondering if this was a documented issue and also if there are any plans in the future to fix it? Are you likely to resolve this soon and working on it, or is this a seeming one off?

Many thanks!

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Dunno what to do. He's thinking sell it and get a Mackie 400F. It's overkill for what he wants, but he's getting fed up with stuff not working.

The focusrite has been nothing but trouble, it's a joke. It's obviously a 'software' issue, and they just aren't cutting it.

Focusrite should pay you a fee for such extensive testing man. Pfff.

Best,
Merlin.

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http://www.soulretriever.com