Just this June, Focusrite had began shipping the much acclaimed Saffire PRO 24 Firewire interface worldwide. It is indeed very exciting to hear that such a space-saving interface with a multitude of I/O ports is now available, but if this release isn't enough to excite you then wait till you read what I have ins store for you next. Proclaiming to the world that the Firewire interface is still alive, these Englishmen have now announced the arrival of the Focusrite Saffire PRO 24 DSP.

You might be saying, "Lad, are you really out of your bloody mind? There certainly is nothing new in this." Well, if this is your argument did you forget the term "DSP"? It is to be expected of course that the Saffire PRO 24 DSP all has the features and specifications of the Saffire PRO 24 PLUS an additional second headphone output that takes advantage of Focusrite's new Virtual Reference Monitoring (VRM) Technology. The next question would be, "What is it that so special about VRM technology anyway?" The answer to that is VRM simulates conditions you experience in expensive and carefully designed studio environments to allow for accurate monitoring. Face this fact: Not all musicians and sound engineers have the adequate budget to create that sterile monitoring environment and rely heavily on inexpensive headphone monitoring for dealing with their mixes. VRM puts that sterile environment you encounter in the most expensive studios into your headphones. VRM is the inexpensive alternative to an expensive world-class studio environment that cash-strapped blokes could only dream of having. Add to that the recent economic recession, only those radio-friendly chart-toppers can afford those environments. VRM is the best alternative you've got with Saffire PRO 24 DSP.

As said a while ago, you get all of the same features as that of the Saffire PRO 24 such as 16 inputs and 8 output ports, high-quality 24-bit/96 kHz recording resolution, two microphone preamps, onboard DSP-powered latency-free tracking and mixing tools, the Xcite+ Software Bundle, Focusrite VST/AU Plugin Suite, Bus power via Firewire or its own independent power supply, front panel 5-LED monitoring, and TWO dedicated headphone front-panel headphone buses aon with the new VRM Technology. The Saffire PRO 24 DSP is something new that you'd have to pause and reconsider what else would you want in an audio interface.