Focusrite Saffire 56 vs. ADA8000 report...

[Jeff Scott]

Had an opportunity to test out a Focusrite Saffire 56 before making a purchase decision...a good friend of mine got a good deal on 2 of them...needed one and is willing to pass on the 2nd unit to me.

Ive only worked with the Behringer ADA8000 for my SAC SAW endeavors so really have no basis of comparison to anything else. The ADA's sounded fine...a little sterile if anything but worked great for it's purpose. Lot's of live gigs and a handful of recordings using these units...they've always worked fine.

The Saffire 56 is simply "warmer"....has a more complex definition. The tone it creates seems to have more going on with it...if that makes any sense. By comparison...the ADA has a "sharper" "colder" tone...sounds a bit more digital as opposed to analog.

The Preamp modelling on the 2 Liquid Channels of the Saffire 56 is very cool. Not having heard any of the preamps that were modeled....I can't offer anything about the accuracy of the modelling. However....the variety of tones and responses is very musical and interesting.

My tests were done using a RME Digiface into my Laptop and the preamps connected via Appsys ADAT Extender's...my usual Live sound rig. I set the Saffire 56 up for standalone use by using an Firewire Adapter card into the Laptops PCMIA slot....and then shut everything off and rebooted the system with the Digiface and the Saffire 56 connected to the SAC Rig via ADAT.

I was also surprised that I was able to use the Focusrite unit with SAW via the Firewire adaptor. The Saffire units come with a Mix Control software that allows for very low latency monitoring, though the unit was capable to be adjusted down to 2 x 32 buffer samples. There's also a couple of VST software suites that come bundled with the unit...based on some of the Focusrite EQ's and Compressor's. Haven't tried them out yet but they come highly recommended by Sound on Sound reviews and a few of the Pro Recording forums I visit.

So...all in all...very pleased that the unit worked for both SAC and SAW applications. Thanks to mr es335 for the pointers on his experience with the Saffire 40

[mojogil]

Almost any similar style preamp sounds better than the ad8k. Ive used them for many shows and I always thought the same as you. Meh, they're ok, getting the job done. I went to Focusrite Octopre Dynamic units and had a noticeable difference. Now I'm using Midas XL48 units. They are a real treat

[Richard Rupert]

Almost any similar style preamp sounds better than the ad8k. Ive used them for many shows and I always thought the same as you. Meh, they're ok, getting the job done. I went to Focusrite Octopre Dynamic units and had a noticeable difference. Now I'm using Midas XL48 units. They are a real treat

Maybe it's been reported elsewhere, but has there been a sonic comparison (albeit subjective) between the ADA8000 and the ADA8200? Or better yet, the ADA8200 and other preamp/converters mentioned in this thread?

Hey... I hit 1000 with this post. :>)

[mojogil]

I own both. There is a noticeable improvement with the 8200.

[IraSeigel]

.... Now I'm using Midas XL48 units. They are a real treat

NICE!!

[Butch Bos]

Yes the 8200 is way better than the 8000 my personal favorite is the ART tubeopto 8
I just like tubes

Butch

[dbarrow]

All of my ART TubeOpto units died. I had 5 of them. I think ART fixed one of them. The heat build up inside these was pretty serious and they basically cooked themselves. You can't really rack them together or you will get a massive "heat synergy" that will cook them eventually. I use the Focusrite OctoPre Dynamic units now. They have worked flawlessly for years.

[dbarrow]

Do the ADA-8200 units get really hot, like the ADA-8000 units? I had lots of the older units die from heat buildup until I figured out from posts here to use a Japanese stepdown transformer to power them at 100 volts. The 8000 units had a poorly designed power supply that sloughed off extra voltage as heat that eventually cooked them. I had no further problems with them after powering them at 100 volts, but I later switched to the Focusrite OctoPre Dynamic units.

[mojogil]

The 8200 units do not suffer from the same power supply heat issue. They run cool.

[Butch Bos]

All of the newer Tubeopto8s have vented top panel now and no problems
The most faults were due to the bad adat chips
ART will fix them under warranty

Butch