Foccustire Saffire 6 not loud enough to Gig with?

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
1

Foccustire Saffire 6 not loud enough to Gig with?

so I tried gigging with Reason, Ableton, Papens Sub Boom Bass and had great success with the software but my focusrite saffire was cranked all the way up into the mixer and it wasn’t loud enough compared to my compatriots S4 or NI AUdio 2. Could it be because the unit is USB powered? Similar to the Novation twiitch not being loud enough because it is USB powered?

Anybody else have good loud sound card recommendations?

Anybody else have a similar issue with the foccusrite saffire 6?

2

Did you use the TRS balanced ouputs?

Here’s the specs;

Analogue Audio Outputs 1-2 (¼" TRS)

Electronically Balanced Outputs
Maximum Output Level (0dBFS): +9 dBu
THD+N: 0.0025% (0 dBFS input, 20Hz/22kHz bandpass filter)

Analogue Audio Outputs 1-4 (RCA phono)

Unbalanced Outputs
Maximum output level (0dBFS): -3.5 dBu
THD+N: 0.03% (0 dBFS input, 20Hz/20kHz bandpass filter)

3

If the mixer has XLR or TRS inputs you could be bangin’

4
  1. I was using the TRS 1/4"
  2. i was running into this Allen and Heathah.jpg, the line input. Its not my mixer so I was relying on my compadre to make sure I was loud enough. I am thinking his gain work was shit.

I will not go an sell my Foccusrite then. I will keep it. Thank you for your advice.

5

Those Allen & Heaths (Xone:62, right?) are wank; we’ve got one at the club I play Mondays and the gain on all channels practically has to be on max before you get an acceptable level out of them with normal line inputs. I’m quite lucky in that the output from my RMX-40 (and my Contours, for that matter) are pretty high, but my mate who uses an American Audio VMS4 really struggles with his levels.

Also, be aware that there’s no balanced input on the 62; you’ll have to go into Channels 3-6 using unbalanced RCAs.

6

Utter WANK !

Input Connections Type Impedance Sensitivity
CH1,2 IN (Mic) Balanced XLR female 2k ohm -45 to –15dBu
(Stereo Line) Unbalanced TRS jack >10k ohm -15 to +15dBu
CH3,4,5,6 (Phono) RCA phono RIAA 47kohm/330pF 2 to 100mV
(Stereo Line) RCA phono >10k ohm -10 to +10dBu

7

I know, right?

Not to mention channels 1 & 2 can’t be cue monitored, AND they don’t route to the booth monitors either.

Considering how it’s a £900 mixer, you’d expect it to at least have ONE pair of balanced inputs, right?

8

Xone 62s are anything but utter wank lol they are slightly outdated now but thats about it

What are you classing as a normal line input Mdcdesign? An average cd through a cdj just about peaks with the gain at 12 o’clock.

I think you can cue monitor channels 1 and 2, not 100% tho will try tomorrow when i’m at work.

Also i’m half asleep here but which other DJ mixers have balanced inputs?? I can’t think of any

9

Hmmm good point, I can only think of a couple off the top of my head… the Korg Zero4/Zero8 and the Behringer NOX series, although I’m sure there’s a few more out there.

10

Depending on the circuitry of the mixer, connecting a balanced signal to an unbalanced input can give you a 6dB drop in level as you are only using half of the output signal.
DJ mixers tend not to have balanced inputs since the devices connected to them are usually within arms length, so signal balancing has no benefit.

The RCA unbalanced outputs of your Saffire should work better with the A+H mixer and give you a louder signal.

11

What? Why? A decent mixer gets its ground from the RCA output. In a normal setting, those XLRs go into a mixing desk or something else with a clean ground.

The mixer is basically a DI box with added bells and whistles for your DJ apparatuses. Giving it a balanced input would be useless.

12

So it seems the ladies and gentlemen of the jury conclude RCA’s should do the trick just fine, above and beyond the 1/4" in this particular set up.

13

If you’re gigging at clubs you should just ask the sound-tech guy to turn the volume up at his mixer… That worked for me when I used my Twitch ^^

14

Yes, the RCAs should give you plenty of volume and are the best way to connect to a DJ mixer.