[LAU] Focusrite Saffire line

[Pieter Palmers]

sevol wrote:
> Pieter Palmers wrote:
>> sevol wrote:
>>> Hi People,
>>>
>>> I'm thinking of getting one of the Saffire audio interfaces from 
>>> Focusrite.  Anyone on the list using these units & happy with the 
>>> results? This, a little off-topic & subjective: happy with the pres & 
>>> conversion?
>>>
>>> The SaffireLE,
>>>
>>> http://www.focusrite.com/products/saffire/saffire_le/
>>>
>>> , is the one I'm eyeing. As far as I can tell it's very similar to the 
>>> Saffire,
>>>
>>>   http://www.focusrite.com/products/saffire/saffire/
>>>
>>> , only with 6 in/8 out compared to 4 in/10 out, & minus the 
>>> hardwar-powered plug-ins. I like having 2 more ins, & wont miss 2 less 
>>> outs. & I imagined the plug-ins, ahreware-powered or software woulkd 
>>> be useless under Linux. But the recent thread on the M-Audio Profire 
>>> 2626 leads me to believe, maybe the times are changing.
>> I personally think times are changing, but change is slow...
>>
>>> I'm curious whether the DSP plugins might work in linux with FFADO. 
>>> Actually, true functionality of any of these models seem to require 
>>> software to adjust settings, so, what limitations are people noticing 
>>> right now running these in Linux? & will the pending beta release of 
>>> FFADO address the Saffire plug-in Suite hardware-powered use & 
>>> whatever other issues there are, if there are? Or is this a Wine 
>>> solution?
>> As things stand now, there are no plans to support the saffire's 
>> internal plugins. And if I do support for any (hardware or software) 
>> plugins related to these devices, I'll do whatever I can to make them 
>> native instead of WINE.
> 
> I'm not really disappointed - hadn't given the DSP stuff much chance of 
> use atm. If/When the time comes, native has got to be better.
> 
> Somehow the plugins thing hijacked my thoughts. In fact, certain other 
> issues seem more critical & pressing. Like, the front on the LE has 4 
> nice knobs: 2 level controls for frontside inputs 1 & 2; 1 for levels of 
> backside Main outs 1 & 2; & 1 for headphone levels. That seems to leave 
> a lot of input & output control unaccounted for, except via the Saffire 
> Control LE software GUI.
> 
> & this would be a no-show in Linux, right? I guess the 2 analogue 
> line/instrument-in levels on back can be controllrd by, if existant, 
> volume knobs on whatever devices are connecting to them. So, maybe 
> that's covered. & sample rates will probably be handled by JACK/JACKCTRL.
> 
> Then though, the MIDI Through is activated by a software switch. & the 
> High Gain switches for Instrument level sources is software controlled. 
> The S/PDIF external sync switch, likewise, & the same situation as the 
> nonworking S/PDIF input of the Firepod. A lot of the output & mixing 
> capabilities are based in software too. Is there going to be a way to 
> manage these? Full details not necessary, but could you reveal the gist 
> of what'll be lost?

All input/output gain controls and configuration switches that are 
provided by the saffire control panel on other OS'es are supported in 
the FFADO codebase. We have control panels for all of the Saffire 
devices, and they are fully featured (except for the DSP stuff on the 
saffire white). There might be some bugs in them, but we have all info 
to fix them. The only thing you shouldn't expect is a fancy GUI... it's 
all very basic PyQT rapid prototyping stuff, but it works. If someone 
wants to tackle the GUI side of things, please do. The current prototype 
gui's illustrate how to use the control interface.

>>> Last, is anyone working on a clone of Pieter Palmers? That'd be pretty 
>>> useful...
>> I am. Still have about 30years of tweaking ahead though :).
> 
> Ahh, then the rumors ARE true... had to ask, but 30yrs wait time  ;)
Technically I guess it's not really a clone though... I'm afraid it's 
going to be only a 50% genetic match. And as you might know that can 
make a huge difference :).

>> Pieter
> 
> Thanks for the info,
> 
> sevol
> 
> p.s.  Just read Andrew's message on the Freebob-devel list & see that 
> the S/PDIF capabilities are looking better, at least with FFADO testing 
> on the firepod. Hmmm...

S/PDIF on the firepod should work when using FFADO. You can even install 
FFADO only for it's device control capabilities (clock source, mixer 
settings) and then run jack with the freebob backend for stable streaming.

Greets,

Pieter