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Focusrite Saffire Pro 14
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All user reviews of 4/5 for the Focusrite Saffire Pro 14

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  • NonstopbeatsNonstopbeats

    Review of the Focusrite Saffire PRO 14

    Focusrite Saffire Pro 14Published on 12/10/14 at 08:25
    The Focusrite Saffire PRO 14 is an audio interface which has been designed to work with a modern home studio so that the engineer can record sounds into a computer effectively and of a high quality. One of the reasons why this audio interface has gotten so much attention is because of the preamps that it has built inside of it. These are award-winning preamps which give a high level of sonic performance. The Focusrite Saffire PRO 14 audio interface also features analogue and digital combination of I/O inputs and this can communicate with the mix control software that comes with the sound card which can be installed within the computer with which you can choose to use. This software promises…
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    The Focusrite Saffire PRO 14 is an audio interface which has been designed to work with a modern home studio so that the engineer can record sounds into a computer effectively and of a high quality. One of the reasons why this audio interface has gotten so much attention is because of the preamps that it has built inside of it. These are award-winning preamps which give a high level of sonic performance. The Focusrite Saffire PRO 14 audio interface also features analogue and digital combination of I/O inputs and this can communicate with the mix control software that comes with the sound card which can be installed within the computer with which you can choose to use. This software promises good performance and stability. I wanted to see if the award winning pre amps would be helpful when listen to mixes.

    Utilization

    The audio device connects with the computer via a high speed FireWire connection via the latest interface technology. This means that the device can easily be connected to computers that have this connection and will begin communicating with software quickly and effectively. The Focusrite Saffire PRO 14 audio interface has also been designed to be incredibly stable and will not let you down during those important recording sessions. If you have a Mac that uses a thunderbolt port you can use this on the latest version of the Focusrite Saffire PRO 14 interface. You simply need a FireWire 800 adapter and a thunderbolt to FireWire adapter and you can make the connection. Luckily I had this connector for my Mac and was able to easily connect the devices together.

    Key features

    The interface contains 2 analogue inputs, 4 outputs that are also analogue, 2 mic preamps that are of a high quality, as well as MIDI and S/PDIF which offers a selection of abilities when carrying out multi track recording tasks.

    In addition to this the audio interface has two instrument inputs which allow you the ability to plug-in instruments so that they can be recorded and played back on digital devices. There are also inputs which have loopback capabilities and allow you to root audio that is digital between different software applications. The sound quality is of a high level and has little to noise when recording intruments. The qulaity is also perfect for mixing donw and gives the user a great sense of clarity within the mix. I instantly noticed problems witihin some of my mixes when I started using the device.

    Comparison

    The Focusrite Saffire PRO 14 interface is fairly similar to the Focusrite Scarlett 18i20. However, this device features eight preamps that have won awards because of their high-quality 24 bit/96 kHz sound ability. This device runs USB instead of Firewire and is compatible with a number of different operating systems, including Mac, Windows as well as the iOS platforms and mobile devices such as the iPad.

    The key features of the Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 is that it comes with very low noise mic preamps which create the minimal amount of distortion and offer a dynamic range which is extremely wide. However, because of the exclusive USB interface, this may only suit those who are happy to use this means of communication between devices.

    Pros and Cons

    This is a solid sound card that will work well in the studio, just as much as it will work well when taken to gigs, and used whilst recording on the road. The mic preamps really do offer a sense of clarity to the sound and one is able to hear the low end and the higher end of the track clearly and effectively. This is incredibly useful for when an individual is mixing down the track and needs to hear these frequencies, as they are the most important frequencies within the track and sometimes the most complex. Many sound cards find these frequencies difficult to process. However, the Saffire does the job incredibly well.

    The only real problem with this unit is that it can be slightly confusing to set up at first. However, there are some helpful tutorials on YouTube which can get you on your way. I was able to set up the sound card relatively quickly with out the need for instructions. Once you have set up the device you will begin to notice the clarity of sound straight away.



    Summary

    If you're happy with a simple audio interface that comes with two high-quality preamps that are designed with the famous focusrite name on them, then you can do well to go with this device. This device uses the high-quality preamps that focusrite have developed and allow the individual to create sound which has no noise and low distortion qualities. The ability to connect via FireWire insures that the individual will be able to communicate with digital devices and software quickly and effectively so the recording sessions can be completed smoothly and without any problems.Focusrite Saffire PRO 14
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  • sw80sw80

    Had minor issues with my system not recognizing it

    Focusrite Saffire Pro 14Published on 03/03/13 at 22:05
    The Focusrite Saffire Pro 14 is a 8 in and 6 out firewire audio interface that is perfect for a home studio musician who wants to get rid of the USB interfaces. This interface comes with MixControl which is basically a 18 x 6 DSP style mixer that will let the user make up to 6 different mixes without any latency issues. This interface has very flexible routing via the DSP mixer. You can also use the included VST/AU suite to mix with or use as a sequencer if you do not have a DAW but I never used the sequencer that came with it. There are also effects that come with the interface as well like compression, gating, reverb, and a few different EQ plug ins and you get Ableton Live Lite with all …
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    The Focusrite Saffire Pro 14 is a 8 in and 6 out firewire audio interface that is perfect for a home studio musician who wants to get rid of the USB interfaces. This interface comes with MixControl which is basically a 18 x 6 DSP style mixer that will let the user make up to 6 different mixes without any latency issues. This interface has very flexible routing via the DSP mixer. You can also use the included VST/AU suite to mix with or use as a sequencer if you do not have a DAW but I never used the sequencer that came with it. There are also effects that come with the interface as well like compression, gating, reverb, and a few different EQ plug ins and you get Ableton Live Lite with all of its standard plug ins.

    UTILIZATION

    Installing all of these plug ins and included software does take some time, so getting the interface running will take a few moments for all of that software to load. Having the proper drivers installed and loaded is very important because I have had many issues in the past with Focusrite drivers and updating. I was running this interface on a Windows Vista 32 bit machine with firewire 400 ports. I had 2 GB of RAM and a fast processor and never had any issues with the Pro 14 but sometimes I have to restart my computer for the interface to read. I am not sure why but sometimes the interface just isn’t recognized by my computer and restarting it is the only way. This interface can also be used on a Mac computer as well if you are running 10.5.8 or higher.

    GETTING STARTED

    The manual was very easy to read and work through. I had to refer to the manual many times during the set up process.

    OVERALL OPINION

    I do love this interface and I was using it for months but soon found out that there are many other interfaces that are just as good and if not better for the same price range. The sound quality was good and the value of t was great for this price.
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  • yoTrakkzyoTrakkz

    Focusrite Pro 14 is for winners

    Focusrite Saffire Pro 14Published on 10/11/11 at 21:42
    The device has an excellent build quality and is cleanly laid out. Three green status LEDs indicate connection status. I would have liked to see an LED for midi activity, but this is very minor. The first thing I noticed when I hooked it up was that there was no noise when the gain is turned all the way up. Even with a pair of headphones on the monitor out cranked all the way up there is almost nothing to be heard. Very impressive.


    UTILIZATION

    I did have some initial trouble with noise coming from the Firewire line. This was digital noise originating from my old music computer that coupled to the outputs on the Focusrite. I tried a stand-alone sound card but that didn't help. Whe…
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    The device has an excellent build quality and is cleanly laid out. Three green status LEDs indicate connection status. I would have liked to see an LED for midi activity, but this is very minor. The first thing I noticed when I hooked it up was that there was no noise when the gain is turned all the way up. Even with a pair of headphones on the monitor out cranked all the way up there is almost nothing to be heard. Very impressive.


    UTILIZATION

    I did have some initial trouble with noise coming from the Firewire line. This was digital noise originating from my old music computer that coupled to the outputs on the Focusrite. I tried a stand-alone sound card but that didn't help. When I installed it the focusrite in my newer office machine, however the noise was gone. I wound up replacing the old music computer (I was going to do it anyway) and replaced it with a modern Gigabit/Intel IC5 machine; no noise and it works great.


    GETTING STARTED

    I run it at the fastest latency settings (about 3 ms in and 5 ms out) in Sonar on the new machine and it doesn't hiccup, even with all four analog inputs AND the SPDIF being captured. The fidelity on this thing is phenomenal. Again, I don't spend my days in a recording studio, but this device sounds far and away better than anything else I have ever owned.


    OVERALL OPINION

    The construction of the Saffire Pro 14 is high quality. Everything from the knobs to the input jacks seem to be well constructed. It’s important to me to have rigid construction because it can withstand the rigors of clumsy users and the hazardous mess that a home studio can quickly turn into. This has been a great piece of gear and has brought my sound production to a new level.
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