DREW KRAG: So this is the digital interface for the Saffire Control Pro. Right off the bat, right at the top, we have our eight input channels. These are the XLRs coming in. Now, you can link them together to stereo channels if you’re recording a stereo source. You also have a solo and a mute for each channel. If you’re using some of the ADAT inputs or SPDIF, you can click on these tabs to access them but they’re not accessible unless you have something plugged in and it’ll read it and then you can access that information. So that’s pretty straightforward.

Over on the right hand, we have our outputs. They’re assigned 1 and 2, which is your monitor outs, and each output has these various controls. You have a dim which will reduce the levels a significant amount. Dim is kind of like an extreme pad so to speak. A mute and a solo for each one, and then you also have an H, which is hardware control. When you click the H, the knob on the actual hardware will control the knob in the software, which is very convenient for mixing and monitoring, and, you know, if you need to boost the level or something like that, you can do that for any one of these output channels. Five and six and seven and eight are designated for the two headphone outputs, so you can make your own levels there also using the hardware just by clicking the H, and then if we move over here to the left, lower left side, we have our phantom power options. You can store and load presets that you make like if you set up a session with, say, 16 channels or something and you get everything tweaked to just the right levels, you can actually store that information so that you can bring it up later anytime you are tracking a session. That’ll save you a lot of time and money in the long run. MIDI thru options, pretty standard. Over here we have S-card and Track; these are two presets. One, S-card basically lines up all your inputs and outputs as 1 through 10 -- or 1 through 8 inputs, 1 through 8 outputs real straight ahead, and then track automatically selects your outputs from your computer to your outputs on the Saffire so you can quickly access that routing.

And that’s pretty much it. There’s some other options around here; obviously, your sampling rate, and, you know, how you can sync up the various -- your word clock and stuff like that. All those options are around here, and I’ve used some of Focusrite’s other products like the Saffire LE and its interface, and I actually find this interface a lot easier to use than that one. It’s a little bit more intuitive. And so far, it works really good. The only thing you got to keep in mind is if you’re going to use these H or hardware controls, you have to keep this window open. If you close the window, the hardware options are not going to run, but that’s the interface and thanks for watching.