5 replies to this topic

[Spectrum]

Continuing on from What's in ya rack?...

Curious to know how you guys have rigged up your racks, ie. how you've configured your interfaces to work with the rest of your gear? Are you running all your gear direct into it? Off a mixing desk? Effects loops? Anything else?

[rhythmboy]

Mine's very stripped back compared to the old days of hardware

But one point to note re my m-audio FW solo - got a great deal on it with my PT M-powered but frankly the a2d/d2a side of things is not so hot. Very brittle converters with limited freq response etc.

So I have it wired s/pdif in/out of my trusty old Tascam DA-30 MkII DAT. Don't use it for tapes much any more but it has good converters.

By going s/pdif I get access to fully balanced analog i/o with XLR plugs, plus simultaneous unbalanced and headphone output. The converters are 18 or 20 bit but their freq response is excellent. Also the DA-30's headphone amp is a bit louder than the M-Audio. Finally the level meters on the DA-30 are really helpful for double-checking against any software metering.

From the DA-30 I have it wired balanced in and out to a Mackie 1202.

Balanced out from Mackie to the Tannoy monitors, and unbalanced out from the DA-30 to my desktop speakers.

Hot tip folks - if your interface is lacking fidelity, consider getting s/h 'obsolete' hardware and use them for converters!
- S/h good DAT for stereo s/pdif and aes/ebu
- S/h ADAT XT for toslink/optical - gives you 8 level meters and 8 channels unbal or bal (with elco loom) i/o

[Jester_Fu]

I guess the heart of my rack is a Deadringer patch bay. I've got 4 sets of inserts set up on it with 8 direct desk channels. The other 20 pairs are used up for patching channels of effects units and compressors. The Novation Bass Station is also used as a filter effect so it's into the bay. I guess i still run a fair bit of outboard compared to most home setups these days... but that's because's there's a 32 channel desk in there and i need an excuse to use it

The Motu 828MkII is directly patched into the group outputs on the desk which allows me an easy way to patch parts through solo and effectively record mroe than 8 parts of audio over multiple takes. TBH, with the amount of midi i have, there's not a lot bounced down to audio - maybe a full 8 channels at once. I can just route the dedicated midi parts to the master output and then record the bussed parts into audio to 'free up' hardware to be re-used.

I guess the other 'heart' of the rack is the Motu Midi Express 128. I use all of the midi paths from it and have them dedicated to synth families - most get there own, but where i have multiples of one family like the DX/TX's, i just chain them off one port on seperate channels.

I guess the only 'tricky' thing i've done to make life easy for me is rig the sidechain on both compressors to have it's own patch port. The deadringer has the function to 'close' the path when no lead is plugged in removing the sidechain. It doesn't add any noise, but makes for quick and easy sidechain action when desired.

[dizzy]

I have all my shit plugged into a mackie 1202, which goes into an edirol fa-66. On the 2nd bus of the mackie i have a frostwave resonator hooked up, and my virus has its ins and a pair of outs set up as a send on the mackie. I have a pair of outs on the fa-66 also going into the mackie, so i can run softsynths through the virus and/or resonator with the push of a button.

it looks a bit like this



to the right of the virus is a dsi evolver, i have a nord 3 there as well thats not in that pic. To the left of the virus is the resonator and a line6 pod i run my guitar through, both of which go into the mackie. I'd love to have the pod set up on an aux bus as well, but the 1202 doesnt have enough busses.

Midi is a fucking mess. The whole space is too cluttered and a mess of cables and phone books and it shits me.

I've been thinking of getting one of these http://www.djwarehou...oduct_id=696787 then i could rack the nord and virus and tuck the evolver away somewhere tidy. Get a novation remote as the edirol pcr is slowly flaking out, mmmm .... idle dreams.

[em]

Quote

But one point to note re my m-audio FW solo - got a great deal on it with my PT M-powered but frankly the a2d/d2a side of things is not so hot. Very brittle converters with limited freq response etc.

I'm sorry to hear that, but sort of relieved too as I just bought a 003 rack to be on the safe side, but it certainly was a smack to my bank balance (although i got it for an exceptionally good price). I was considering M-Audio but decided not to risk it. I was hesitant when I saw things like the Keystudio 49i - intuitively, it seems crap, like the parts are cheap, and it made me doubt their other products. I have heard good things about their interfaces, but those comments usually come from musicians with dubious technical knowledge, so I couldn't feel at ease with it. I don't really know how to suss out a worthy purchase, particular when the specs sound all snazzy and there are minimal independant reviews available. I suppose that when they offer additional info about things like having a low noise floor that it's a good sign. I'm really happy that I got the 003 tho because i know the preamps are good and its features will help sessions run smoothly, but I'm trying to figure out how to avoid the crap trap for my next purchase. It would be really nice to find that dream deal!

[dylab]

MOTU ultralite mk1 all gear goes via neutrik patch bay into it
though i'd like a little pre amp  - maybe like a kit one to give me signals a bit of a boost
might see if I can track down a valve kit or something