Focusrite SaffireControl LE responsiveness fix for Mac OS X and macOS

I’ve recently bought used Firewire Focusrite Saffire LE audio interface to connect an electric guitar. Despite it’s old age, it works perfectly on OS X, however on Yosemite and El Capitan SaffireControl LE software that is used for metering and to configure the internal mixer behaved really slugish. I soon discovered that the reason was the UI not being redrawn on updates – this happened only when app window got focus or tooltip appeared. Unfortuanetly, the device and software are no longer supported by the vendor and that means – no updates. Accidentally, I found the solution to unblock the UI.

Workaround: After you open SaffireControl LE, click Save and cancel the file chooser dialog. The interface will unblock and work properly.

Update #1: Focusrite Saffire LE works fihe with macOS Sierra.

Update #2 (2017-08-28): This works fine with late 2016 MacBook Pro with USB-C ports with OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock as Firewire adapter. Dock provides more stable power than old 2011 MacBook, so I don’t have to use external power supply for interface.

Update #3 (2018-10-11): Confirmed to work with macOS Mojave. Note that SaffireControl LE app is 32-bit and next major macOS release will drop support for those. Luckily, I’ve managed to reverse-engineer how to control internal mixer of the Saffire programatically. We should be able to control the device, unless Apple drops support for Firewire audio.

Update #4 (2019-12-09): As expected SaffireControl LE does not work on macOS Catalina, but the device drivers work fine. I developed a replacement mixer application.