|
Avid Pro Audio CommunityHow to Join & Post • Community Terms of Use • Help Us Help YouKnowledge Base Search • Community Search • Learn & Support |
|
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread | Display Modes |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
Re: Focusrite: Saffire Pro 40 Firewire, or Scarlett 18-20 usb2 on Mac?
Quote:
So the sequence was this; download drivers, restart, open MixContol. Popup instructs to update firmware. Update firmware, restart, open Mixcontrol, open Pt 11, old session, new session-no go. Pt 10, old/new, no go. Watch a few youtube tutorials, read the manual. No luck. If I put a mic in channel 6, the meters light up in MixControl, sound comes out, but when I assign mic 6 (or any other for that matter) to a track in Pt 10 or 11, the sound never comes through. The track meters never lit up. It was quite frustrating. Scream, kick, beg. Then my wife calls down, dinner time! Ice cold beer and delicious chili with the family. My wife makes some mean chili!! Then "Aha!" Maybe a reinstall will do it. Perfect!! Works exactly as you would expect it. I tracked drums in both PT 10 and 11, 4 mics plus a midi channel and vocal channel simultaneously at a buffer setting of 32. :) Each time recording at least 5 to 15 minutes. No plugins, but still nice to go down to 32!! I'll see how many plugins I can add before the buffer setting of 32 chokes out. I'll also try the zero latency routing soon. One last thing to anyone installing the drivers. On registration, the instructions say that the registration # to be entered is not case sensitive. It is. After a few failed tries, I put the caps on, and it registered. Tim |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
Re: Focusrite: Saffire Pro 40 Firewire, or Scarlett 18-20 usb2 on Mac?
I've got two Scarlett units (18i20 & 18i8) and use them together via ADAT. Works really well.
Be careful with the 18i20 and USB 3.0. The drivers changlog is full of fixes for audio issues when run on a USB 3.0 port. I use a powered USB hub for everything other than the 18i20 and my hhd (Rig Kontrol, keyboard, ilok, lighting interface). One last thought. FireWire is on the outs. Almost all the new interface series introduced in the last couple years are USB. One more last thing. Most of the Scarlett series interfaces can be used as standalone units. My 18i20 is mostly used as an 8 channel preamp right now. Sent from my HTC 8X using Tapatalk
__________________
Dell XPS 630i (ASUS P5K Deluxe Mobo) 3.0ghz Quad Core Q9650 8 Gb RAM (GSkillz) Windows 8.1 Pro Pro Tools 10.3.8 Focusrite 18i8, 18i20 |
#13
|
||||
|
||||
Re: Focusrite: Saffire Pro 40 Firewire, or Scarlett 18-20 usb2 on Mac?
Quote:
Most of the interfaces you have seen introduced have been USB because of improvements to the USB functionality. However firewire is still better at bidirectional audio transfer and has a higher bandwidth. Many PCs are lacking Firewire ports and slow to pick up Thunderbolt, but it is arriving on PCs now. Thunderbolt is a powerful technology as it is a port that taps directly into the PCI bus. It is a PCI-e slot. So adding a Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter is exactly the same as adding a Firewire PCI-e card. Thus Apple's decision to not add any PCI-e slots on the new Mac Pro, but all Thunderbolt ports, they are one and the same. Many companies are starting to come out with hubs that connect to computers via Thunderbolt and offer a host of ports such as ethernet, thunderbolt, VGA, HDMI, even Audio. See the Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock or Sonnet Technologies Echo 15 Thunderbolt Dock. Firewire 400 fully supports the bandwidth of our Saffire line of Interfaces. Upgrading the chipsets in that line would offer no additional functionality and increase cost to the user. We are continuing to fully support and make this line of products as they work great and the port is still available and becoming more accessible as new thunderbolt enabled PCs enter the market to join the Macs.
__________________
Katherine Kaplan // Focusrite Technical Support http://www.focusrite.com/answerbase/en/ |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
Re: Focusrite: Saffire Pro 40 Firewire, or Scarlett 18-20 usb2 on Mac?
Apples & Oranges and just a discussion...not really trying to slam any product.
With a Mac Pro 10.6.8 I used a MOTU 8Pre(Firewire) with PT HD9 and it worked pretty flawlessly...I could track with low buffer settings(with not too many plugs) and I could mix plug loaded sessions. I was pretty impressed how solid it performed & I thought it sounded decent even though I know there's not much love for their pres and conversion etc, but really no issues here. Then I tried a Focusrite 2i2(USB) and it sounded okay also but man, their is a clock/sample rate lock up bug that does not go away. The work around is to change the Playback Engine buffer setting. That works but I mean that's kind of a PITA and their is no magic beta buffer that's the fix My concern here is strictly USB vs. Firewire even though their different companies and way different units. I dunno...I want to try a Firewire Saffire but I'm concerned about the drivers with PT HD9 and 10.6.8. Anybody? Like I say, a MOTU 8Pre was really solid but I want to love some Focusrite Firewire. Again I'm not discussing which company blows away the other in the perceived quality of their AD/DA & or Mic pres. I just want something that works with my rig. Thankin ya! |
#15
|
||||
|
||||
Re: Focusrite: Saffire Pro 40 Firewire, or Scarlett 18-20 usb2 on Mac?
Quote:
__________________
Desktop build: PT 2020.5 / Win 11 / i9-11900K @ 5.1GHz / 64GB / 4TB NVMe PCIe 4 / Gigabyte Z590 Vision D / PreSonus 2626 Laptop: PT 2020.5 / Win 11 / i5-12500H / 16GB / 1TB NVMe / Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Pro / U-PHORIA UMC1820 Ancient/Legacy (still works!): PT 5 & 6 / OS9 & OSX / Mac G4 / DIGI 001 Click for audio/video demo Click for resume |
#16
|
|||
|
|||
Re: Focusrite: Saffire Pro 40 Firewire, or Scarlett 18-20 usb2 on Mac?
Well I tried a 2i2 and had not too much success with it and PT HD9, unstable at best with my rig(Mac Pro 1,1 10.6.8) for whatever reason & troubleshooted it as best as I could so I was pretty skeptical about another Focusrite interface but other MOTU Firewire stuff has worked well with my rig so I still wanted to try Focusrite's offering…
anyway, really this Pro 40 thing is decent. Honeymoon period obviously but it sounds good & at a 32 sample buffer I can arm/record 8 channels with a couple of plugs on them and let it rip for 5 minutes and it feels good and does not stutter. Headphone Outs sound good, clear. Inputs 1 & 2 sound really nice with my acoustic plugged straight in which is what it is I understand, but I've done a bunch with my acoustic guitar rig direct and I think I'll be as happy using these two channels like that if it's a situation where I can't mic it up. I'm not going to be using the Mix Software, faders are down on that. I'm coming from a Lynx Aurora & I know those are higher up the food chain & really a different animal since it's just AD/DA & it's not here to A/B but ya know when you stop A/Bing stuff you just get on with things and use what you have & I think this is pretty nice so far. Since the advent of PT9 and 3rd Party Hardware & after losing the PCIe cards, I just want something that is stable & sounds good. So far so good. |
#17
|
||||
|
||||
Re: Focusrite: Saffire Pro 40 Firewire, or Scarlett 18-20 usb2 on Mac?
Quote:
Thank you for your comment. On a very theoretical level the Firewire Protocol can run bidirectional transfer better. This comes down to how the packets are sent. While USB 2 has a higher max speed, 480Mbit/s this is not as easily sustained at all times, especially if going in two directions, ie many channels in and out, as compared to firewire. See this Wiki on USB: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usb#USB_2.0 Quote:
Quote:
Still you will see that we will not make a unit that cannot support it's own Channel Count fully. Note that the Saffire Interfaces have a Dual Unit Mode, where the USB devices do not. So while the 18i20 and Pro 40 have the same Channel Count you can connect two Pro 40s together with a firewire cable and use their full channel counts, 40in 40 out. However you cannot connect two LS56s or an LS56 and Pro 40 with official support. Also Dual Unit Mode is only supported up to 48k. Note that "not supported" doesn't mean I have not tried this and had minimal success. I have a Pro 40 and LS56 hooked up right now on my desk in 88.2 and they are passing audio. However as things reach the bandwidth maximum I will likely notice crackles, pops, or drop outs on the firewire bus. This will probably be a lot worse if I am also sending Outputs, rather than just using inputs, due to the bi-directional transfer, and use of much more bandwidth. Remember also that high Sample Rates are doubling your bandwidth, so going from 48k to 88.2 is HUGE difference in transfer. This is why there is a "Supported up to two Pro 40s at 48k." We will make sure the units can actually 100% perform whatever max channel count we say they have. Above that we cannot support it or say it will actually function properly. So rest assured, if you see it on the box it works for sure!
__________________
Katherine Kaplan // Focusrite Technical Support http://www.focusrite.com/answerbase/en/ |
#18
|
||||
|
||||
Re: Focusrite: Saffire Pro 40 Firewire, or Scarlett 18-20 usb2 on Mac?
Hi Katherine: are the preamps on both the Sapphire 40 and the Scarlett 18i20 the same?, can you daisy chain via ADAT 2 Scarletts?
I'm looking to add 8 preamps to my setup and both options looks very attractive so I want to know if they will sound different, because the price is the same for both units.
__________________
Felipe Gonzalez A. Avid ACSR Elite Dante Certified http://felipousismix.wix.com/felipousismix Open Core Mac Pro OSX Ventura | ProTools HD 2023.x | Merging HAPI ADA8 | UAD Quad PCIe | Kali IN-8 | Presonus Temblor 10 | Softube, SSL, Universal Audio, Slate Digital, McDSP, Fabfilter, Plugin Alliance among other plugins |
#19
|
||||
|
||||
Re: Focusrite: Saffire Pro 40 Firewire, or Scarlett 18-20 usb2 on Mac?
Quote:
The Scarlett Series is beneficial for those PC users who do not have access to a Firewire port, but made to be very identical to the Saffire line other than connection. Quote:
Please let me know if I can assist you further. Kat
__________________
Katherine Kaplan // Focusrite Technical Support http://www.focusrite.com/answerbase/en/ |
#20
|
||||
|
||||
Re: Focusrite: Saffire Pro 40 Firewire, or Scarlett 18-20 usb2 on Mac?
Thanks Kat!
__________________
Felipe Gonzalez A. Avid ACSR Elite Dante Certified http://felipousismix.wix.com/felipousismix Open Core Mac Pro OSX Ventura | ProTools HD 2023.x | Merging HAPI ADA8 | UAD Quad PCIe | Kali IN-8 | Presonus Temblor 10 | Softube, SSL, Universal Audio, Slate Digital, McDSP, Fabfilter, Plugin Alliance among other plugins |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 | kyluigi | Third Party Interfaces | 6 | 10-17-2013 08:14 AM |
Focusrite Saffire/Scarlett & PT9 Question... | acmost | Third Party Interfaces | 5 | 07-06-2013 11:37 AM |
Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56 FIREWIRE RECORDING Interface | peterreal | 003, Mbox 2, Digi 002, original Mbox, Digi 001 (Mac) | 1 | 01-18-2012 09:51 PM |
Focusrite Scarlett - A Steal! | RussUK | General Discussion | 45 | 05-12-2010 03:29 PM |
Focusrite Scarlett | justus1900 | Virtual Instruments | 1 | 12-18-2009 08:43 PM |