All sounds out of Focusrite Saffire 6 USB

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jasontam

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hi I am totally new to this forum.

My equipment:

Focusrite Saffire 6 USB
Line 6 POD HD500
M-Audio AV40 speakers
Alesis Q49 midi keyboard
Shure SM57

My computer has a Sound Blaster 5.1 Live in it.

It's the best I could afford. In fact I just got the Saffire and AV40 and the midi keyboard all within this week!

My question is, what's the best way to set up so that all sounds would come out of the Saffire 6 USB audio interface alone? Including midi like VST etc

As you may know both the Saffire and POD HD act as a sound card once connected.

I bought the Saffire coz after countless research on the internet it's got a nice preamp for mic.

Or, should all sounds come out of the POD HD500 since it has USB2.0 whereas the Saffire only has 1.1 USB? Or it just doesn't matter?

I just want all sounds to come out of the Saffire USB that's connected to the AV40 through a pair of balanced cables.

Will I need a mixer?

(man I just got into this home recording audio thing and it seems like endless! Like when you got one thing and feel really satisfied but then later on you see another and it's like "wow I must get it!"...)

Thanks everyone in advance for the inputs!

I actually have some questions for the Saffire too! But I'd wait until someone gives me some setup advices first.

Thanks a lot!
 
I would either connect the AV40's to the two 1/4 inch ports on the back of the Saffire or to the two RCA ports labled "1" and "2." To control the volume on the AV40's you may want to use either the volume knob on the speakers or the "MONITOR" control on the interface (or a combination of both). You can choose to connect the MIDI keyboard via USB to your computer or via the MIDI IN port on the Saffire. I would probably go through the MIDI IN port since it would use less USB ports on your computer. I wouldn't use the POD as an interface. I'd instead plug the POD into one of the 1/4 inch inputs on the front of the Saffire. You can also plug the SM57 into an XLR port on the front of the Saffire. I wouldn't use the Sound Blaster anymore either, unless you wanted to use it for surround sound or something.

To answer your question about USB 1.1 vs USB 2.0, the USB speed doesn't really matter here since you're dealing with an interface that has a small amount of connections (I/O). Also, you don't need to buy a mixer.
 
hi thanks for the reply. Your suggestion works great. But the problem is, when both units are connected via USB, Sonar seems only to recognize the POD, not the Saffire. And with the POD USB connected somehow, I could still use the mic (sounds will still come out of speakers), but when I hit record, SONAR just doesn't record anything.

If I unplug the USB from the POD, it will be fine because only sounds will go into the Saffire. But I want to keep the USB connected to my computer so that I could edit sound using software for the POD instead of tweaking buttons on the POD itself.

What can I do now?

Cheers.
 
c7sus said:
Did you run the Sonar WAV Profiler?
Click to expand...

that solved it all!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks!!!!!!

Another question about the Saffire: I use a SM57 that's plugged into input 1 and I have to turn the gain to at least 8 (max 10) to get to a decent volume level, which is not even loud. Is there anything wrong with the unit?

Cheers
 
I read somewhere else that the chain can be "MIC -> PREAMP -> INTERFACE"

Does it make sense? Because the Saffire itself already has a preamp. I am kind of new to all these recording stuff...

SM57 -> ART Studio V3 (coz it's what I can afford atm) -> Saffire 6 USB?

"On high end preamps it is often desirable to have the gain turned most of the way up."

"sm57 needs a lot of gain to be used for recording"

Are the two statements true?
 
How high is the mic peaking your meters in Sonar?

There's no need to record much hotter than -12dB in the digital world. You want headroom for mixing/mastering. You certainly don't need to be peaking at -.1dB.

With any preamp the idea is to get sufficient signal to the medium you are recording in. Higher levels usually mean higher noise, either from the room/environment or the amp itself. The final amount of gain is determined by the medium (hotter for tape than for digital) as well as mic placement and the source you are micing. That's a really simplified explanation but it captures the gist.

If you insert the ART into the picture patch the output from the ART into the LINE INPUT on the Saffire and bypass the preamps in that unit.

Proper Audio Recording Levels | Rants, Articles | MASSIVE Mastering
 
jasontam said:
that solved it all!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks!!!!!!

Another question about the Saffire: I use a SM57 that's plugged into input 1 and I have to turn the gain to at least 8 (max 10) to get to a decent volume level, which is not even loud. Is there anything wrong with the unit?

Cheers
Click to expand...

No, that is completely normal. I have the Saffire 6 and it has a great signal-to-noise ratio, so turning up the gain shouldn't cause any problems. I can easily clip on this interface with an SM57 when the gain is up to 10, even when I'm a foot away from the mic. This shows that there is plenty of gain when using an SM57 with this interface, and that the signal really seems to increase between 8 and 10.

Of course, c7sus is right -- there is no need to track super loud (it's actually better to leave lots of headroom), so you shouldn't have any problems using your SM57.
 
thanks guys!!!

guitarplayr82 said:
it's actually better to leave lots of headroom
Click to expand...

what does "it's actually better to leave lots of headroom" mean? i googled 'headroom' but still I don't really get it...

guitarplayr82 said:
You can choose to connect the MIDI keyboard via USB to your computer or via the MIDI IN port on the Saffire. I would probably go through the MIDI IN port since it would use less USB ports on your computer.
Click to expand...

Is midi faster than or the same as USB or it doesn't really matter? With my setup now there is no latency at all (or too low that I can't tell). By pluggin into the midi port of the Saffire instead of using a USB port on the computer, will it decrease the CPU load? But my keyboard needs either USB power or an power adaptor...
 
jasontam said:
thanks guys!!!
what does "it's actually better to leave lots of headroom" mean? i googled 'headroom' but still I don't really get it...
Click to expand...

"Leaving headroom" means tracking low enough so you still have room to use all your desired inserts without clipping. In other words, you don't want your waveforms to be too big. Unless you have a lousy interface (which you don't), you should always be able to track below -12dB and compress and bring up the track gain afterwards without getting too much noise. Ideally, you probably want to be tracking at around -18dB.

jasontam said:
Is midi faster than or the same as USB or it doesn't really matter? With my setup now there is no latency at all (or too low that I can't tell). By pluggin into the midi port of the Saffire instead of using a USB port on the computer, will it decrease the CPU load? But my keyboard needs either USB power or an power adaptor...
Click to expand...

If the setup you have now works then I'd just stick with it. There's no need to buy an external power adapter just so you can use the MIDI out port on the keyboard. Using a MIDI cable isn't necessarily faster than a USB cable, especially since the same MIDI information ends up going down both lines. The Saffire ends up connecting to the computer via USB anyway, so I just thought it might save you a USB port on your computer by plugging the keyboard in via MIDI cable to the Saffire.
 
thanks!

ok, here is another problem with the POD HD and the input of the Saffire

I plugged the POD into the input 2 and I pressed Inst. However, when I turn the gain to 0, it's still loud! As if the volume isn't turned down at all. Pressing Pad doesn't help too much. When turned to 1 to 2, it's fine. But when turned to above 2, it clips like crazy in Sonar.

Is it another normal phenomena that's supposed to happen?

Thanks again and again.
 
jasontam said:
thanks!

ok, here is another problem with the POD HD and the input of the Saffire

I plugged the POD into the input 2 and I pressed Inst. However, when I turn the gain to 0, it's still loud! As if the volume isn't turned down at all. Pressing Pad doesn't help too much. When turned to 1 to 2, it's fine. But when turned to above 2, it clips like crazy in Sonar.

Is it another normal phenomena that's supposed to happen?

Thanks again and again.
Click to expand...

You don't always have to push the "Inst." button when you are using the 1/4 inch input. If pushing "Inst." makes the signal too loud, then just don't engage it and everything will still be fine. A lot of times when I'm recording DI guitar I end up not pushing "Inst." simply because it makes the signal too loud.
 
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