(Another) Question for Focusrite Users

Disclaimer:I don't own any Focusrite products.
Install them. Try them out. Discard if appropriate.
At least you won't have to wonder if you missed something.
Sleep well.

Fedex dropped a Saffire Pro 40 here yesterday, so I came here to ask a q about the plugs...and what do I find?
 
I had the plugs installed when I had to return an 8i6 that kept falling off USB, and they worked, but I never got a chance to really test them.
 
I want to know if I can put them on a computer besides the one hosting the interface. That's an ancilliary tracking room PC, and I'd like to put the plugs on the main DAW in the control room.
 
One way or another, I'll have em up by early week, Bit, and will report back when I do. FWIW, I haven't noticed much in the way of junk floating around stamped "Focusrite".
 
(What MOTU and how did you break it?)

I got the Focusrite Midnight Suite with my Forte...they are based on the Forte Console...
 
They're ok....not the best, but ok...

Holy Synchronicity, Nigel and Jay! 
 
I did a lot of research before selecting the Saffire. Its predecessor was an 828 Mk2, which left big shoes to fill because it was my mixer as well as my interface. I had to have comparable inputs and routing capabilities. Unfortunately, the overriding criterion was price because, as I have whined about so often, I haven't been this broke since college days. I scored this unit on ebay for $339, less than half the price of an 828.
 
The Saffire was a near-perfect replacement. I didn't even have to cut any zip-ties from my neatly bundled cables; everything plugged right in. Installation was a breeze, just a little weird when I had to answer the "found new hardware" dialog three times (Windows sees analog, MIDI and S/PDIF as three separate devices).
 
I hear a tiny bit more hiss in the speakers than I did with the MOTU, and it sometimes makes popping noises when I change settings. But it does do one thing better: it remembers what volume I left it at. The 828 had the annoying habit of defaulting to full volume every time it was turned on, which more than once made me fear for both my speakers and my ears! (The real problem is with the ADAMs, whose gain is too high even at the minimum setting. That also accounts somewhat for the hiss, I think.)
 
I've only had a couple hours with it so far, and haven't done any recording with it yet. But I can't tell you how overjoyed I am to hear music coming out of my computer again! It's been 2 long months!
 
One of the deciding factors in choosing this manufacturer was the general consensus that Focusrite customer support was good. I tested that even before the unit had arrived, emailing a question to them about the Mix Control software. They answered promptly, gave me the information I needed, and followed up a few days later with a satisfaction survey. With any luck, that'll be the last time I'll need their help, but it's good to know they're on top of it.
 
Time will tell. Over the years I've saved all my SONAR crash dumps and kept track of why the crashes occurred. Far too often, it was the MOTU driver that was the instigator.
 
I did manage to crash SONAR last night, but it was SONAR that croaked, not a driver nor a plugin. I had removed all references to the MOTU in AUD.INI, editing it from within SONAR and then reloading. Apparently, SONAR was unhappy about that. Everything was fine after restoring the original AUD.INI.
 
I still have one mystery to solve: every time I start SONAR I get a warning saying "No MOTU device found". Well, duh. It ain't there, so give up already. But that's a mystery for another day - for now, I'm enjoying the return of sound.
 

aspenleaf
I find the plugins useful at times, especially the compressor.  I haven't used the Novation stuff yet.

Thanks, Dan. It does seem to be the compressor that's mentioned most often. I'll eventually give it a try, although I'm pretty well covered for compressors already.
 
At the moment, I'm reveling in the compressor goodness that is FabFilter Pro-MB. I love this plugin! It is a dangerous beast, though, always teetering on the edge of making things worse rather than better. I am determined, however, to "make it my b*tch" - to quote Mixerman.
 
Even while my interface was an empty slot in the rack, I was working on some articles for SoundBytes magazine, and beta-testing a new software instrument. Very challenging without a working DAW! (See how I worked in a plug there, dmbaer?) Toward that end I'll be spending some quality time with Timeless2 today. Don't tell my boss.
 

scook
TTSSEQ.ini?

Good suggestion, but I've already tried that. The only reference to MOTU in there was 
    [AliasInput]
    828mk2=828mkII
which I took out. 
 
This morning I went back in and again edited out all the MOTU references from AUD.INI, but this time SONAR did not crash as a result. Either I'd made a mistake last night by taking out something I shouldn't have, or the mistake was reloading while SONAR was running.
 
I also checked the registry to make sure there were no MOTU refererences under Cakewalk Music Software. I am tentatively concluding that the mystery link to MOTU is in some Windows setting, since I know of no other Cakewalk-persisted data beyond INI files and the registry.
 
UPDATE: For future reference if anyone comes looking...
Good ol' Process Monitor helped my find the problem key - HKLM\SOFTWARE\ASIO\MOTU Audio ASIO
Deleted this key and the warnings stopped. The ASIO key is apparently an enumeration of available ASIO devices.
 

I decided to give the Bass Station a go. Just because of your endorsement, Kenny.
 
Not that I needed any more frickin' basses! But I figured it might be different enough to at least earn a spot on the second-string roster. And I do appreciate the CPU-friendliness of older plugins.
 
So I went to the Novation website, and was immediately put off by the product description: "...defined countless dance and electronic hits of the 1990s". Ugh. The only thing I hate more than current EDM is EDM from before they called it that. But I am nothing if not open-minded!
 
I dropped it into an existing project, cycled through a bunch of presets (that all sounded remarkably similar), and my initial thought was "note to self: don't listen to Kenny any more". 
 
But on a hunch I layered it with a sampled-bass track and was not displeased with the result. So I'm gonna keep it, at least for a while. And Kenny's back on the good list.
 
 

bitflipper
I decided to give the Bass Station a go. Just because of your endorsement, Kenny.
 
Not that I needed any more frickin' basses! But I figured it might be different enough to at least earn a spot on the second-string roster. And I do appreciate the CPU-friendliness of older plugins.
 
So I went to the Novation website, and was immediately put off by the product description: "...defined countless dance and electronic hits of the 1990s". Ugh. The only thing I hate more than current EDM is EDM from before they called it that. But I am nothing if not open-minded!
 
I dropped it into an existing project, cycled through a bunch of presets (that all sounded remarkably similar), and my initial thought was "note to self: don't listen to Kenny any more". 
 
But on a hunch I layered it with a sampled-bass track and was not displeased with the result. So I'm gonna keep it, at least for a while. And Kenny's back on the good list.
 
 

 
Kenny

+ 1 for the Plug-in Suite.   I have a Scarlett 18i6 and like the plugins that came with it.  The Compressor and Reverb are decent and good to have as part of your plugin arsenal.

Hi Bit
The only hardware problem I've ever had with my Saffire 26 in about 9 years, was a few years back when the power supply went dead - but before it went dead I noticed a similar, though not exactly, type of problem (I'm desperately trying to remember exactly how the problem manifested itself, but advancing years and all that........but pretty sure one Chanel did drop in and out) - as it turned out the power supply was actually ok - a studio friend of mine, took it apart (replacements are difficult to get here in Africa) and found a thermal cut off (I think that's the correct description) that had gone faulty - we couldn't get anything like it, so we took it out! All has worked perfectly ever since.
I hope its something simple like this for you if its not a brand new system, but if its brand new I suppose it will have to go back - what a bummer.
Anyway just ordered my Saffire pro 40 from Sweetwater - these units are seriously good value, especially when I think about the problems I have had with RME and Motu units in the past!!
Cheers
Nigel
 
 

No, I was never able to make any headway on the MOTU. There isn't much in there that can be replaced; aside from power supplies it's all LSI. All I could do was verify that all the power supplies were working (there are 5 of them!) and replaced the three largest filter capacitors. Never could get it to boot.
 
Aside from the current problem, the Saffire so far looks to be a decent replacement. I especially appreciate the speaker-protection circuit (eliminates the pop when you turn it on), which the MOTU inexplicably lacked.
 
 

Thanks for the license info on the Focusrite plugs, Kenny!
 
Bit, I was wanting another Profire 2626 for that machine, why learn a second DSP mixer, right? Paid bout a thou for the first one, almost immediately saw it on sale for less than half that, now it's discontinued and I'd have to go grey market to make it happen.
 
I also wanted 2 ADAT ports, to widen the pipe between tracking and control rooms, but all told, the Sapphire Pro 40 fit the bill best in terms of budget, preamp diversity, and capability, and really, outside extra of extra I/O for full time repatching avoidance, 8 ins can't justify more than 8 ADAT out channels, so all in all, the Pro 40 looks like a whole lot of interface at the price point.
 
Its replacing an M-Audio FTU, so I gain the ADAT port, 4 ins and two outs, sorta, since the FTU has 2 inserts insteada straight I/O.
 
I'm very much hoping for your kind of luck in swapping the units, there's about ten 8 channel snakes bundled behind that rack, with a nasty looking but highly effective climbing carabiner rig to allow slack for rear access involved, to the point I'll probably give up the last two I/O (ten versus 8) just to avoid taking apart that cable bundle.
 
One guaranteed plus! I know the Focusrite DSP mixer is going to look WAY kewler than the DOS era M-Audio white box from the FTU. Think the Pro 40 has more gain too, got a couple wireless mics into the PC and I've been having to push several downstream gain envelopes to get a decent signal out of them. I know, I know...wireless mics in the studio, right?
 
But for jamming, which has led to a lot of good riff ideas, they're a lot less restrictive, and...I can work out vocal inflection regimes, WHILE WEARING A HEADSET MIC AND DOING DISHES, reclaiming inordinate quantities of otherwise WASTED studio time!
 
Speaking of which...daughter is due in at 7:30 pm tonight, I'm using quantum mechanic close packing and construction cantilevering techniques to keep the current to-be-washed pile in the sink, and I has to motor...time for a little dishsuds and vocal work!
 
Hope that Saffire is filling your airwaves with long awaited ear candy!

So far, I'm still partial to the 2626 DSP. Click the drop down button to pick any of 8 analog, 16 ADAT, 2 SPDIF, or 26 software returns for that channel's input, times 18 ins, then route it to any of 7 stereo sends or the master fader, all on one page. I do have to use one other page to set outputs fir the master and sends, but only once, as it lets you save and load setups from the main mix page.
 
To accomplish that w MOTU requires 8 pages of mixers, but one tradeoff is a LOT more than 18 inputs total per mix. I don't have near the outboard in control as tracking, so probably won't use as many sends. One significant concern is that each MOTU mixer (send) is limited to one software return from the DAW, and I have zero control over it from CueMix, only from Sonar.
 
The Saffire goes on an ancilliary PC, used for less frequent hardware inputs and software outs, like Youtube, esoteric synth modules and Media Player, so once its set up to unity, I won't have to  tweak it unless I use the front  XLRs for extra mics.
 
I like having two front XLRs, but not 8 like the Behr ADA-8000s, or 4 like the FTU. The cables block sightlines, interfere with pad knob  control, and are a pain to get out front of the racks from the rear loomed cable harness.
 
Last Focusrite interface I had,  the 8i6, I picked up on short notice. Met my bro n sis in Fla for Christmas, got him him a Traveller Speedster, (and one for me, LOVE THAT GUITAR!), and hoped to record onto my laptop. It kept dropping off the USB buss, and BSODing the lappy, but even so I sussed the DSP mixer out in a day or two, and was able to focus on music, not knobs, most of the trip. Swapped it for an MAudio C600 on return, support couldn't resolve the USB issue either. 
 
The FTU will replace the C600 on the lappy, for the SPDIF pipe across to tracking, and I hope the Pro40 proves as easy to divine as the 8i6 was. I know for a fact I won't have any USB probs with it!!
 
Quick Q...things been crazy here this week...I have the sticker for the Pro-40 that tells how to DL the software, but I'm not seeing a manual. Is that onlinetoo, or did your Saffire come w one in the box?

bitflipper
 
 
All that said, if I'd had a grand in my pocket instead of pocket lint, it'd be an RME in the rack.
 
 

What RME unit can you put in your rack for a grand?  The Babyface is $750 and I think rack ears bolted on would make it look like the Flying Nun... remember her?

I've got to replace my Layla 3G (PCI) in my new build and trying to decide if I just want a low cost Steinberg...or give blood and get an RME myself.  What you've got looks nice as well for that price bracket.

I spent all day Saturday listening to the hiss and hum coming out of my right speaker and it was driving me nuts. It's definitely coming out of the interface (stops when I unplug the speaker cable) and is independent of the master volume setting. The right side is also lower in volume than the left, forcing me to turn the speaker up and further exacerbating the noise.
 
I just don't know if it's worth battling the vendor for a replacement, perhaps only to get one with a different problem. Or worse, to find out that these noise levels are normal for Focusrite interfaces.