Thanks guys. Great to hear you've both had (or are having) positive experiences with Focusrite. Most of the reviews I read were very good. I can't count how many sites I went to looking for information. I set out looking for an interface that offered at least 8 inputs, is expandable, is stable, and of course has good sound. I did some pretty intensive research and found the Saffire to be a perfect fit. It should be here end of week. Waiting patiently...  

Yup, I am grateful to the folks that took the time to give me feedback on the 24 DSP I got. Dropped latencies so low it is unreal (compared to my old one), and the mixing software is very powerful (just takes a bit to get your head around). I haven't had need for the "TI FW card" that folks mentioned; but if you do get such a thing, be sure it is dedicated to FW (not a FW and USB "combo").

Yeah I expanded mine with a cheaper behringer ada8000 piggybacked in via adat so I have 16 inputs.  Works pretty darn good.

The Saffire Pro 40 arrived yesterday. A day earlier than scheduled. Took that as a good sign. This thing is built like a tank and has some weight to it. More than I thought anyway... Knobs are solid, buttons are firm and KILLER sound IMHO. Gotta say I was blown over by the experience. I downloaded the latest drivers. The entire install went without a hitch. Beautiful. In fact X3 picked up the drivers before I even knew what was happening. Lol. Seriously. It was that fast and flawless. I only had time to test the pres and run some mixes through it but I am very happy with my purchase.
 
mettelus glad to hear the latency is so good. My FW card has the TI chip set in it because I was using the Cakewalk FA66 prior to the Saffire and that's the chip everyone recommended. It also has 2 USB ports a long side, but nothing is connected to them. I'm only using the FW connection but thanks for the tip just the same.
 
I'll check out the software after awhile. I want to be ready for that ride. I still have to download the latest Focusrite plug-ins too a long with Bass Station.
 
Mostly I'm just looking forward to getting busy with this unit.
 
ChuckC, how are the preamps on the ADA8000? Heard good things about that particular mic pre. 16 inputs is something I will be going after in the near future.
 
Cool guys. Rock on!!

That is awesome! As far as the FW card, the research I did said that basically USB can interfere with the FW; so as long as you do not plug any USB device into that card while using FW, you should be fine.
 
I was similar in that once I nice signals into X3, I began recording... I will learn the rest as I have a need to learn it  The first weekend was a blast.

That's true. USB can interfere with FW when sharing the same port. I'll take no chances. It is reserved for the Saffire only. :) Speaking of USB, FW ... what do you think about Thunderbolt? Data transfers are like 10 gbps. What's that equal too? Each bit is like a 10th of a nanosecond? Amazing! 
 
How do you like the mic preamps on the 24? 

Geo524
ChuckC, how are the preamps on the ADA8000? Heard good things about that particular mic pre. 16 inputs is something I will be going after in the near future.
 

The ADA8200 is now available. Wondering if anyone here got one already ?

Behringer gets a bad rap but I actually like some of their products. The ADA8200 looks like a nice piece of hardware. Only thing is it looks like phantom power is supplied across all 8 channels? The description for it reads phantom power on all channels. 
 
I also like the ART TubeOpto 8 and of course the Focusrite OctoPre MKII for a little more money. When the time comes to add more inputs it's not going to be an easy decision. I really like ART gear too. I have the MPA Gold and love the thing. I swapped the Chinese tubes out with a matched pair of Tungsol, gold pin tubes and really have to say it sounds pretty darn good.

 

FW was totally new to me, so I did a lot of research on that before I made my order. I only saw Thunderbolt in passing, and did not research that one yet. These units are designed to be expanded and function fine on FW, so Thunderbolt may be overkill (for now anyway).
 
The mic pre-amps are wonderful on the 24. I actually bought my first-ever condenser mic at the same time, and learning to use that properly was an interesting experience unto itself. I found a neat trick that can only work well with good preamps... my voice very strong overtones that the condenser mic picks up "too well," so if I record a condenser and dynamic mic in tandem, I started using R-MIX SONAR to low pass the root notes, and doing the same on the dynamic mic to high pass the overtones. This combination made for a very smooth sound that kept the high end without the "sting" that the condenser mic was giving it.
 
One thing that is sort of "tucked away" in the Mix Control manual, that is important.... When you go into "Input FX->Router," the "Loop Back 1/Loop Back 2" are what is being sent to SONAR. When "Off" they are sending the mix, so if want just the FX they need to be set to FX(Anlg 1/2), and if you want the dry signal they need to be set to Anlg In 1/2.
 
It is easy to spend a lot of time on just the Mix Control panel initially, so once you have mixes set up to your taste, be sure to save your settings.
 

*Deleted*  double post....