[LAU] Focusrite Saffire line

[Pieter Palmers]

sevol wrote:
> Pieter Palmers wrote:
>> 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.
>>
> Excellent! This is great news & really better than hoped, even counting 
> Focurite's full support. I'll take this chance & congradulate you early 
> on these non-GMO babies, whatever the due date :) Hope the Mackie, Echo, 
> & other vendor supported stuff is working out too.

All devices that are currently vendor supported have approximately the 
same level of functionality in FFADO, which basically comes down to 
"everything from other OS's except onboard DSP and maybe some consumer 
features (most notably AC3 passthrough)".


>>>
>>> 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.
>>
> Sorry, I was thinking out loud. S/PDIF - even FFADO - is beside the 
> point re my pod. The sync light glow's blue, never changes & syncs to 
> nothing. Use to sync up every 10th or 50th power cycle & stay a while, 
> but those days are gone. As an interface it's worthless.
> 
> Perhaps it's just as well, my knowledge of linux is straight up flimzy. 
> The only thing I 1/2-way understand is the pod problem.
As far as I can tell, the firepod should work with FFADO (although not 
vendor supported). But if I remember correctly you said that it also 
doesn't work on windows. Linux is great, but don't expect miraculous 
hardware repairs from it...

Greets,

Pieter