I began the search for a new audio interface tonight and started with things that come up often, but found many were not in stock, so putzed around some more and stumbled across the Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 (and DSP model) which have high reviews.
 
First, to make sure I understand correctly... I have never used firewire, and my computer has one IEEE 1394 port on it. Is it correct to assume this is a Firewire 400 connection?
 
Second is more to get feedback from folks who own/use the Focusrite Saffire Pro 24. The reviews are high for this, and one reviewer even said he was up in 15 minutes using it with SONAR X2 (very nice review for a product that says "PT ready" ). I plan on sticking with Win 7 64 for a while, so assume drivers are stable. Are folks who use this satisfied with it? Is the DSP model a more preferred choice to have?
 
Thanks in advance!
Michael

I have a Saffire Pro 40.. same interface but with more I/O. It is a very stable interface and driver.. I went from Win 7 x64 to Win8 x64 and the interface didn't skip a beat. The drivers are even more mature now as they have seen an update or two since...
 
The MixControl software CAN be confusing UNTIL you get your head around it.. once you do it's very easy.. and offers a ton of flexibility. I use it with X2 x64 and now with X3 and it's been rock solid.
 
Hope this helps!!

Other than to say that your question should have been posted in the Hardware forum, I own and use a Focusrite Pro 24 DSP.  It is an excellent piece of hardware and has been rock solid for me.  I bought the DSP version for the second headphone out.  It has excellent mix controls.  The only quibs I have about it is that the phones are duplicates of outs 3/4 and 5/6 respectively and there is a dedicated reverb send which will double your output even if the reverb is disabled.  So you have to either mute or bring the fader all the way down (unless, of course, you want reverb in your output) to avoid the duplicating the output.  I don't use the reverb channel so I have not configured a mix with sends to the reverb strip.  Sans those two minor things, you will not be disappointed with the 24 DSP.  And, yes, it is FW 400.
 
I am confident I will continue to use my 24 since I use it via thunderbolt. I don't have to be concerned about toasting my FW controller or 24 this way.  The Apple FW to TB adapter works like a charm.
 
I will look for you on the Hardware forum should you have any more questions about the subject.
 
Kind regards,
 
Living Room Rocker

The  Saffire 40  and Sonar X2 / X3 here , running stable as a rock,
 
Basicly I would recommend a firewire -port with
a TI (Texas Instruments )chip. There have been many users with issues 
with onboard via chipsets aso. If there is no Ti chipset onboard, I
recommend to buy one.
The DSP feature would spare  to buy the VRM box, which could be a little help 
 in mixing by creating different monitor scenes. It depends on your room (treatment aso), if this makes sense to you .
Some guys here recommend instead of that bying the IK´s Arc  .
Room treatment is imo the pricier but for sure the more important "act" , if done right.
The pre amps of the saffire´s are  neutral and  good . 
 
Have fun
Pragi
 

I own and use a Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP. I have had this sound card since X1 without any problems whatsoever. I find that the only problem is the different configurations users would like in the Mix Control panel.
If you only use one firewire connection you should have no problems since Texas Instruments are the main chipmakers for firewire.
I bought an on board firewire print with three connections because I wanted another 8 microphones on board through the ADAT. I bought a Behringer Ultragain Pro 8 preamp that connects straight to my Focusrite. Also not a problem to find here.
 
Have fun with your decission.
 
Danny 

Pro 24 here for 2 years. It is stable and sounds great! Have to agree with previous poster
about the Mix Control software though. For me it was very confusing to learn.
Even for a simple home studio setup like mine. Those Brit's just think a little differently
 than us Yanks. Be sure to check Mix Control and driver updates periodically.

Most FW ports are 400.  800 came out but so did USB 2/3, which are more common, and has replaced FW capabilities.  400 should be compatible w/ 800.  You can go in through the Win control panel and find out the drivers for the fw port so you can at least know where you are.
 
With my TCK 48 I use a Via FW chip instead of a TI, which works fine.  But there are more likely to be problems w/ "other" chipsets like VIA.  On Win 7 I had to roll back the drivers - MS is always breaking something w/ FW it seems.
 
And if you think the Focusrite soft mixer is confusing, try wrapping your head around the TC.  Those Danes ...
 
@ 

I own the Pro 24.  Love it.  great interface.  Not to keen on the mix console software but it's not that much of a biggy - set it up and move on, least for me.  If the price is right I would go for the Pro 24 DSP - as it has DSP and that is a nice feature.  I don't so don't really know much about what I am missing but for my small setup it's not a deal breaker at all.
 
the Pro 24 comes with a Firewire 400 cable.  my Fiirewire card is 400/800 and I couldn't find a 800 cable to save my life that worked with the Pro 24 - I'm not sure the 800 cable the Pro 24 requires is standard or not.  I just use 400 and have not had any problems at all.  If you use 400 then you have to use the Pro 24 A/C  power cable, the 800 cable allows for the Pro 24 to be powered through the Firewire.
 
the preamps are really great, latency is very low, drivers stable, works very well with Ableton Live, Reason, and Sonar X1d Producer and X3 Producer that I have in my setup.

The VRM is most effective when monitoring through headphones (not so with monitors).  As for the powered FW cable, it is not whether it is a FW400 or 800 cable.  Power is sent over the six pin (400) cable whereas the four pin (400) does not supply power.

I have the DSP version and love it.  However, I did find it worked much better with a TI firewire card (about $15 from newegg) as my asus motherboard had a via chipset and I struggled with periodic dropouts till I upgraded to a TI card.