Focusrite Saffire PRO 14 User Manual

Safﬁre PRO 14

User Guide

FA0415-02

Important Safety Instructions

1. Read these instructions.

2. Keep these instructions.

3. Heed all warnings.

4. Follow all instructions.

5. Do not use this apparatus near water.

6. Clean only with dry cloth.

7. Do not block any ventilation openings. Install in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

8. Do not install near any heat sources such as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or other apparatus (including ampliﬁers) that produce heat.

9. Do not defeat the safety purpose of the polarized or grounding-type plug. A polarized plug has two blades with one wider than the other. A grounding type plug has two blades and a third grounding prong. The wide blade or the third prong are provided for your safety. If the provided plug does not ﬁt into your outlet, consult an electrician for replacement of the obsolete outlet.

10. Protect the power cord from being walked on or pinched particularly at plugs, convenience receptacles, and the point where they exit from the apparatus.

11. Only use attachments/accessories speciﬁed by the manufacturer.

12. Use only with the cart, stand, tripod, bracket, or table speciﬁed by the manufacturer, or sold with the apparatus. When a cart is used, use caution when moving the cart/apparatus combination to avoid injury from tip-over.

13. Unplug this apparatus during lightning storms or when unused for long periods of time.

14. Refer all ser vicing to qualiﬁed service personnel. Servicing is required when the apparatus has been damaged in any way, such as power-supply cord or plug is damaged, liquid has been spilled or objects have fallen into the apparatus, the apparatus has been exposed to rain or moisture, does not operate normally, or has been dropped.

WARNING: To reduce the risk of ﬁre or electric shock, do not expose this apparatus to rain or moisture.

It is important that the apparatus shall not be exposed to dripping or splashing and that no objects ﬁlled with liquids, such as vases shall be placed on the apparatus.

• Do not expose this apparatus to drips or splashes.

• Do not place any objects ﬁlled with liquids, such as vases, on the apparatus.

• Do not install this apparatus in a conﬁned space such as a bookcase or similar unit.

• Slots and openings in the cabinet are provided for ventilation and to ensure reliable operation of the product and to protect it from overheating. Please ensure adequate space around the apparatus for sufﬁcient ventilation. Ventilation should not be impeded by covering the ventilation openings with items such as newspapers, tablecloths curtains etc.

• The apparatus draws nominal non-operating power from the AC outlet with its POWER switch in the off position.

• The apparatus should be located close enough to the AC outlet so that you can easily grasp the power cord plug at any time.

• An apparatus with Class 1 construction shall be connected to an AC outlet with a protective grounding connection.

• The MAINS plug or the appliance coupler is used as the disconnect device. Either device shall remain readily operable when the apparatus is installed for use.

• No naked ﬂames, such as lighted candles, should be placed on the apparatus.

WARNING: excessive sound pressure levels from earphones and headphones can cause hearing loss.

GB This equipment must be earthed by the power cord

FIN Laite on liitettävä suojamaadoituskoskettimilla varustettuun pistorasiaan

FIN

NOR Apparatet må kun tilkoples jordet stikkontakt

NOR

Important Safety Precautions

CAUTION: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT REMOVE

COVER (OR BACK). NO USER-SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE.

REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL.

The lightning ﬂash with arrowhead symbol, within equilateral triangle, is intended to alert the user to the presence of uninsulated “dangerous voltage” within the product’s enclosure that may be of sufﬁcient magnitude to constitute a risk of electric shock to persons.

The exclamation point within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the presence of important operating and maintenance (servicing) instructions in the literature accompanying the appliance.

WARNING: TO PREVENT FIRE OR SHOCK HAZARD, DO NOT EXPOSE THIS APPLICANCE

TO RAIN OR MOISTURE

Environmental Declaration

Compliance Information Statement: Declaration of Compliance procedure

Product Identiﬁcation: Focusrite Safﬁre PRO 14

Responsible party: American Music and Sound

Address: 5304 Derry Avenue #C

Agoura Hills,

CA 91301

Telephone: 800-994-4984

This device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful

interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including inter ference that may cause undesired operation.

For USA To the User:

1. Do not modify this unit! This product, when installed as indicated in the instructions contained in this manual, meets FCC requirements. Modi-

ﬁcations not expressly approved by Focusrite may void your authority, granted by the FCC, to use this product.

2. Important: This product satisﬁes FCC regulations when high quality shielded cables are used to connect with other equipment. Failure to use

high quality shielded cables or to follow the installation instructions within this manual may cause magnetic inter ference with appliances such

as radios and televisions and void your FCC authorization to use this product in the USA.

3. Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules.

These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment gener-

ates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful inter-

ference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that inter ference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment

does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is

encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.

• Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.

• Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that

• to which the receiver is connected.

• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/T V technician for help.

For Canada To the User:

This Class B digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES-003

Cet appareil numérique de la classe B est conforme à la norme NMB-003 du Canada.

RoHS Notice

Focusrite Audio Engineering Limited has conformed

and this product conforms, where applicable, to the

European Union’s Directive 2002/95/EC on Restric-

tions of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) as well as

the following sections of California law which refer

to RoHS, namely sections 25214.10, 25214.10.2, and

58012, Health and Safety Code; Section 42475.2,

Public Resources Code.

Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................. 5

Basics ........................................................................................................................... 5

Box Contents ................................................................................................................ 5

Getting Started ............................................................................................................. 6

Hardware ...................................................................................................................... 7

Back Panel ........................................................................................................... 7

Front Panel ........................................................................................................... 8

System Requirements .................................................................................................. 9

Installation ................................................................................................................... 9

Audio Set-up in your DAW ............................................................................................. 9

Safﬁre PRO 14 Architecture .........................................................................................10

Safﬁre MixControl ......................................................................................................11

Preamp section ...................................................................................................12

Mixer section .......................................................................................................12

Routing section ....................................................................................................16

Monitor section ...................................................................................................18

Device Status section ..........................................................................................21

Settings Menu .................................................................................................... 22

File Menu ............................................................................................................ 23

Dual Unit Support ....................................................................................................... 24

Getting Started - Computer Connection ..................................................................... 24

Controlling Dual Units ................................................................................................ 24

Naming Units .............................................................................................................. 24

Master Sync Device ..................................................................................................... 25

DAW input and output stream order ........................................................................... 25

DAW routing ................................................................................................................ 26

Zero latency routing ................................................................................................... 26

Dual unit look-up tables ..............................................................................................31

Safﬁre PRO 14 Speciﬁcations ...................................................................................... 44

Troubleshooting.......................................................................................................... 45

Copyright .................................................................................................................... 45

Introduction

Thank you for purchasing Safﬁre PRO 14, one in a family of Focusrite professional multi-channel FireWire interfaces featuring high quality Focusrite pre-amps. You now have a complete solution for routing high quality audio in and out of your computer.

This guide provides a detailed explanation of both the hardware and accompanying control software “Safﬁre MixControl” to help you achieve a thorough understanding of the product’s operational features. We recommend that both users who are new to computer recording, as well as more experienced users, take the time to read through the user guide so that you are fully aware of all the possibilities that both the Safﬁre PRO 14 and accompanying software have to offer.

If the main User Guide sections do not provide the information you need, be sure to consult http://www.focusrite.com/answerbase, where you’ll ﬁne a comprehensive list of common technical support queries regarding the product to date.

Basics

The Safﬁre PRO 14 hardware interface provides the means for connecting microphones, line-level signals, instrument-level signals, and digital signals to your computer, which are then routed to your audio recording software / digital audio workstation (referred to throughout this user guide as “DAW”).

All audio signals connected to the inputs, plus audio output from your computer programs are routed to the physical outputs for you to connect to an amp and speakers, powered monitors, headphones, analogue/digital mixer, and any other studio equipment that you wish to use. There are also connectors for sending and receiving MIDI.

The accompanying software application, Safﬁre MixControl provides further recording, routing and monitoring options, as well as the ability to control global hardware settings such as sample rate and synchronisation.

Safﬁre MixControl software provides mixing and routing to and from the DAW, allowing control over which signals are sent from the sequencer to each output. All inputs on the Safﬁre PRO 14 are routed directly to your DAW software for recording, but Safﬁre MixControl also allows you to route these signals to your monitors so that you can listen to the audio signals with zero latency before they arrive at your DAW.

Box Contents

Along with your Safﬁre PRO 14 you should have:

1 - 6 pin FireWire cable (also known as an IEEE1394 cable) 1 - Universal DC power supply unit (PSU). 1 - Installer CD: Contains combined installer for drivers and Safﬁre MixControl software for Mac and Windows. Scarlett VST, RTAS and AU Plug-in Suite for Mac and Windows - includes Compressor EQ Gate Reverb 4 - Self adhesive rubber feet - to be ﬁtted to the base of the Safﬁre PRO 14 1 - Registration Card 1- Xcite+ Pack - includes: Ableton Live Lite Version 8 Bass Station AU and VST synthesiser plug-in with Serial number card Over a Gigabyte of ‘Loopmasters” and “Mike the Drummer” royalty free samples 1 - Focusrite and Novation product brochure

Getting Started

The Safﬁre PRO 14 has a single 6 pin FireWire port on the back. This FireWire connection will work with any of the current FireWire standards and connectors; FireWire 400 (6 pin or 4 pin connection); and FireWire 800.

BEFORE YOU CONNECT THE Safﬁre PRO 14 TO YOUR COMPUTER, PLEASE RUN THE INSTALLER. This will ensure that the correct drivers are used, thus preventing any unexpected behaviour.

The Safﬁre PRO 14 ships with a 6 pin FireWire cable. However on Windows laptops, the FireWire connection may be 4 pin FireWire. In this case you will need to purchase a 6 pin to 4 pin cable.

You may have a FireWire 800 connector on your computer. In this case you will need to purchase a 6 pin FireWire 400 to 800 cable.

The Safﬁre PRO 14 can be powered via the FireWire connection when using 6 pin FireWire 400 or FireWire 800. When connected to a 4 pin FireWire you will need to use the supplied PSU.

Note: FireWire considerations - Most computers will generally be equipped with 1 FireWire bus. You may have multiple FireWire ports (connectors) on your computer, but these are all connected to one physical chip which controls the bus.

The FireWire bus is limited in the amount of data bandwidth it can handle. Each additional FireWire device connected to the FireWire bus demands additional bandwidth resources, thus increasing the chances of exceeding the total available bandwidth. Consequently, it is recommended that Safﬁre PRO 14 run on its own FireWire bus for best performance.

The Safﬁre PRO 14 should be able to work alongside other devices connected to the same FireWire bus. However, problems may arise depending on which FireWire devices are connected. For example, a FireWire disk used for back-up or a digital camera should not cause any problems, but when streaming audio from a FireWire hard disk or a FireWire box such as Focusrite Liquid Mix, the total FireWire bandwidth may be reached. This will result in audio drop outs, or reduced performance on either the Safﬁre PRO 14 or the other connected FireWire device.

For this reason, we would recommend that you use a separate FireWire bus for each FireWire device. This may be a PCI / PCIe card in your desktop, or a PCMCIA or Express card in your Laptop.

Note on FireWire Connection and Disconnection

All Safﬁre units adhere to the IEEE1394 (FireWire) standard, however it may be the case that the FireWire port on your computer motherboard or FireWire card does not.

Connection and Disconnection from a FireWire port that does not adhere to the IEEE1394 standard may result in permanent damage to both the Safﬁre and your computer.

To prevent permanent damage:

Connecting your unit(s)

Ensure that the computer is turned OFF Connect the Safﬁre to your computer Attach power supply if necessary Turn ON your Safﬁre Turn ON your computer Turn ON your monitor speakers

Disconnecting your unit(s)

Shut down Safﬁre MixControl Turn OFF your monitor speakers Turn OFF your computer Remove power supply if used Disconnect your Safﬁre

Hardware

Back Panel

The Back Panel provides the majority of input and output connections on the Safﬁre PRO 14 1 2 x TRS jack sockets line inputs 3 and 4 * 2 4 x TRS jack sockets for line outputs 1-4 * 3 1 x IEEE1394 6 pin FireWire socket 4 2 x DIN5 MIDI input and output sockets 5 1 x 2.0mm DC power inlet socket - use supplied power supply only 6 2 x RCA S/PDIF input and output sockets

* Either 1/4 inch TRS (balanced) or TS (unbalanced) jack connectors can be used.

Front Panel

The Front Panel includes the input connectors for mic, line and instrument signals, as well as the input gain controls and monitoring controls.

1 Channels 1 and 2 with combo XLR input sockets for mic / line / instrument 2 Channels 1 and 2 gain controls with signal and overload LEDs 3 Channels 1 and 2 instrument LEDs 4 Phantom power switch with LED for mic inputs 1-2 5 Monitor level control 6 Power LED - lit when the unit receives power from FireWire or external power supply unit 7 FW (Active) LED - lit when the unit connects to the FireWire driver 8 LKD (Locked) LED - lit when the unit locks to its internal clock, or to an external clock source 9 Headphone level control and output ¼ ” jack

6, 7, 8

System Requirements

Macintosh

• OS: Mac OS X 10.6 or later

• Computer: Apple Macintosh with FireWire 400 port

• CPU/Clock: Intel/Dual 1 GHz or better

• Memory (RAM): 1 GB or more

• Screen Resolution: 1024x768 (1280x1024 or more recommended)

Windows

• OS: Windows 7 (All versions), Windows Vista (32bit version only) or Windows XP SP2 or higher (32bit version only)

• Computer: Windows compatible computer with FireWire 400 port.

• CPU/clock: Dual 1 GHz or better recommended

• Memory (RAM): 1 GB or more recommended

• Screen resolution: 1024x768 (1280x1024 or more recommended)

Installation (Windows and Mac)

We aim to ensure that the latest installation software will be on the disk included with your Safﬁre PRO 14. However we strongly recommend that you check for the latest version of software on our website; www.focusrite.com before starting to work with your Safﬁre PRO 14 unit.

PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU RUN THE INSTALLER BEFORE CONNECTING THE SAFFIRE PRO 14 TO YOUR COMPUTER

1. Insert your installer disk into your computer’s CD-ROM drive.

2. You should see a window pop up showing the following installer icons: For Windows - Safﬁre MixControl.exe For Mac - Install Safﬁre MixControl.pkg

3. Double click on the installer icon to begin the installation process.

4. Follow on screen instructions to complete the installation process.

5. Restart your computer.

6. Connect the Safﬁre PRO 14 to your computer.

Once the installation is complete, your computer OS should automatically select the Safﬁre PRO 14 as the default audio outputs. To make sure this is the case:

On Windows 7, go to Start > Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound > Manage Audio Devices > Set Default ‘Playback’ and ‘Recording’ to ‘Safﬁre Audio’.

On Windows Vista, go to Start > Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound > Manage Audio Devices > Set Default ‘Playback’ and ‘Recording’ to ‘Safﬁre Audio’.

On Windows XP, go to Start > Control Panel > Sounds, Speech and Audio Devices > Sounds and Audio Devices > Audio tab > Set Sound playback and recording to ‘Safﬁre PRO Audio’.

On Mac OS X, go to System Preferences > Sound > Set the input and output to ‘Safﬁre’.

For more detailed setup options on a Mac, go to Applications > Utilities > Audio Midi Set-up.

Audio Set-up in your DAW

The Safﬁre PRO 14 is compatible with any DAW that uses ASIO drivers on Windows, and any DAW that uses Core Audio on Mac. Your DAW software may not automatically switch the device it uses to input and output audio. You must ensure that you select ‘Safﬁre’ as the ASIO driver (Windows) or Core Audio driver (Mac) in your DAW’s audio set-up page. Please refer to your DAW’s documentation if you are unsure where to select the ASIO / Core Audio driver.

Safﬁre PRO 14 Architecture

Safﬁre PRO 14 offers more than just simple input and output routing to and from your computer. Safﬁre MixControl software also allows you to re-route audio signals to any output, and to create custom mixes to be sent to your recording artists, outboard processing equipment, or mixing console.

The following diagrams give an overview of the Safﬁre PRO 14 audio paths at all sample rates. The hardware inputs are routed directly to the DAW inputs.

The table below the diagram shows the input routing conﬁguration.

Saffire MixControl Music Software

MIXER

ROUTER

Loop back

DAW IN

12345678

DAW OUT

12345678910 11 12

8 IN

12 OUT

6 IN

6 OUT

Saffire PRO 14

HARDWARE IN

S/PDIF

Analog

1234

1 2

HARDWARE OUT

S/PDIF

Analog

1 2

1234

HARDWARE IN DAW IN

Analogue 1-4 1-4

S/PDIF 1-2 (RCA) 5-6

Loop back 1-2 7-8

The hardware features 6 inputs and 6 outputs, whereas the music software will display 8 inputs and 12 outputs. The additional 2 inputs are in the form of Loop back 1-2; allowing the routing of any internal signal back into the DAW (see page 17). The 12 DAW outputs can be sent to the mixer in Safﬁre MixControl, where they can be mixed and sent to the 6 hardware outputs (see page 13).

Safﬁre MixControl

The Safﬁre MixControl software allows ﬂexible mixing and routing of all audio signals to the physical audio outputs as well as control of output monitor levels. All sample rate selection, digital syncing and buffer size settings (Windows only) are available from Safﬁre MixControl.

To open Safﬁre MixControl:

Windows

Start > Programs > Focusrite > Safﬁre MixControl.

Mac Open Finder > Applications > Safﬁre MixControl.

This is how the Safﬁre MixControl Graphical Interface will appear on your computer.

5 7

1. Mixer

2. Selected Mix tab

3. Mixer Input channel

4. Selected Mix Output channel

5. Routing and pre-amp section

6. Monitor section

7. Device Status section

Pre-amp section

When connecting a microphone to the Safﬁre PRO 14, you must connect an XLR cable to the combo inputs on the front panel. When connecting either line level signal or instrument signal to the combo inputs, you must select either ‘Line’ or ‘Inst’ from the pre-amp section.

Additional Line level sources can be connected to inputs 3 and 4 on the rear of the unit. The pre-amp gain for inputs 3 and 4 can be set to either Lo (low) or Hi (high) gain. The maximum input level before the signal will clip for each setting is as follows:

Low gain: 0dBFS = +16dBu High gain: 0dBFS = -10dBV (~-6dBu)

Mixer section

The Safﬁre MixControl software includes a total of 6 mixes, each with a maximum of 18 channels in the mix. Up to 6 mono mixes or 3 stereo mixes, (or any combination of mono and stereo mixes) are available, making up a total of 6 mix channels.

The Mixer Section is used to create mixes for monitoring purposes. The mixes you create do not affect how the audio inputs are routed to the DAW, nor does it affect the audio level of the recorded signal. What you set up in the mixer section of Safﬁre MixControl only affects what is heard in the outputs of the mix.

The recording levels that are sent to the DAW are therefore only affected by the input gain settings on the Safﬁre PRO 14, not the mixe r.

The mixer section is useful for creating different simultaneous mixes. For example, you may wish to provide a headphone monitor mix for the recording artist that is different to the mix heard in the monitor speakers.

For example, the artist needs to hear mainly the backing track, and a little of the recorded input signal. The engineer needs to hear mainly the recording artist’s signal and a little of the backing track.

A separate mix can be created for both artist and engineer with the exact levels desired. Each independent mix is created on a different mix tab.

Mixer tab

Each mix can be selected by clicking on the corresponding mixer tab.

Input channel

Here is a picture of 2 mixer input channels. Below is a description of every component of a mixer channel.

Audio source select

When there is no input to a mixer channel, it will display “Off”.

Clicking on the “Off” region brings up a list of all available inputs that can be fed to the channel. All analogue (labelled ‘Anlg’), digital inputs (S/PDIF), and DAW outputs are available.

When selecting a source on a stereo channel, if an odd numbered input is chosen for the left channel, the next even number input is auto selected for right, and vice versa.

Note that if an input has already been taken, it will be greyed out and cannot be selected again. The input needs to be deselected from the track where it is already taken, and then re-selected on the desired track.

To get sounds from your DAW or other computer applications into the mixer, you should select ‘DAW 1’ and ‘DAW 2’ on a stereo input track.

Pan slider

A Pan Slider is used to position the audio signal anywhere between the left and right channels.

Moving the horizontal slider from left to right will move the audio signal from left to right within the stereo ﬁeld, i.e., the signal is faded between two audio outputs such as monitor L and R.

When used with a stereo track, the slider affects the audio signal such that when fully left, only the left channel is heard, and when fully right, only the right channel is heard.

Fader

Use the fader to set the level of your audio signal for monitoring within the current mixer. Click the fader with your mouse and drag to any position. Double click on the fader to set it to 0.

Fader range is from -∞ to +6 dB with the current fader level displayed in the box below. Holding the Shift key whilst moving the fader allows for ﬁne adjustment of fader levels.

Meter

The meter shows the signal level of the source input to the channel. The recent maximum signal level is displayed in the box below.

The metering is always pre-fade, showing the level of the signal at the input. Therefore, the fader level has no effect on the metering.

Clip light If the red portion at the top of the fader lights up, then the signal level is too high. You will need to turn down the signal level by either using the gain knobs on the front panel for the analogue inputs, using the gain on the external devices connected to the digital inputs, or using the level controls in the DAW.

Once the gains are lowered, click on the red portion to reset the clip light.

Mute

Pressing this button mutes the signal. Red indicates that Mute is active.

Solo

Pressing this button solos the signal. The level of the fader will affect the level of the soloed signal. Yellow Indicates that Solo is active.

PFL (Pre-fade listen)

Pressing this button solos the signal and automatically routes it to Monitor 1 and 2. The level of the soloed signal is pre fade (i.e. it will not be affected by the level of the fader). Green indicates that PFL is active.

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