Category Archives: Rack Gear

Taking Stock and Racking Up

Rack Gear

It’s been a while since I’ve had the opportunity to spend any time thinking about the studio. Things have been busy, and while I’ve been doing a lot of work in sound, I’ve not had the time or space to get the studio setup in any meaningful way. Over the past several years, while I’m waiting for a space to be available, I’ve been looking for good deals on equipment and searching out equipment I’d like to add to my tool set but not spending too much time with the equipment. Depending on the live sound event I’m working on, I’ll assemble a small rack of gear for specific event and then rebuild that rack in a couple weeks time when my needs change. The end result is little piles of gear all over the place without any organization and it’s become much too difficult to quickly find a piece of equipment I need.

That, combined with a good sized rack I was given a couple of weeks ago, has finally push me to rack up all of my equipment and take stock of what I have. It’s been a lot of fun and has reminded me of many pieces of gear that have been loaned out but not returned.

I have four rack units of various types. Two are 8U SKB road cases. They are fine for carting gear around in my car but not the sort of thing you see on tour. These are the cases that have seen nearly all of my equipment loaded up at one point or another for various events. Right now, one is setup as a minimal PA system with 4 channels of amplification and a 12 input mixer. The other case has all of my effects plus a Kurzweil 1000PX sound module. Not ideal, perhaps, but it’s equipment that doesnt’ logically fit into one of the other cases.

The third rack I have is an old, slightly rusty freestanding unit that I would never bring to a gig. It holds equipment I would not likely want to use for an outside event. I’ve been putting in things like mixing console power supplies and studio utilities like level matchers and the like.

The forth rack, a 27U rolling rack from Middle Atlantic, I was given a few weeks ago. It’s in basically new condition and I’ve been loading in all of my dynamics processors and my growing collection of older recorders. It’s a fairly deep unit and I may be able to rack up equipment on both sides, at least for storage. I have lots of equipment that I don’t need right now, without the studio running, and I think it’ll be safer racked up instead of stacked on shelves.

It’s been fun to look over all the equipment at the same time and I’m also pouring over each item looking for faults I can repair. I’ve ordered a few cleaning products to help remedy and scratchy pots and faders I can find too. Hopefully I’ll have the Tascam M3700 fully cleaned and reliable by the end of winter. I’m still just amazing at the power and functionality of the console.

Robert

Problem Solvers in the Studio and On the Road

Gear Choices, Mixers, Problem Solvers, Rack Gear, Shure Mixers, Studio Workflow, , , , , ,

Being ready to solve problems at the last minute is a crucial skill for anyone working in the studio or in live productions. There will always be that one last thing you get asked to do on short notice or a last minute equipment failure that needs to be worked around. For many of those situations I find the solution is some kind of strange mixer that has some uncommon feature you’d otherwise never expect to need.

I was recently working on a musical production and during dress rehearsal the night before the show opened the director came to me and asked for four wired handheld microphones to be setup and left back stage for a scene in the production. The scene involved four ladies on a platform singing background vocals. They would need to grab their mics, in the dark, and climb up onto a raised platform. Because of the set design the closest place I had to plug microphones in was about 50 feet away and I had nothing but a pile of questionable 20′ cables to work with. When that scene happened, two mics worked, one was totally dead and the other just crackled. No amount of cable swapping or poking and prodding would get all four mics working at the same time.

I had the good fortune of having a friend of mine there with a lot of experience in radio broadcasting at the show the next night and I asked him for a hand in getting things working. I thought if we tried to run the cables nice and high where no one could bump them we might get all four working at once for the scene. I explained the issue to him, he thought for a moment and then said ‘I have just the thing, in my car.’

Moments later he returned with a Shure M267 mixer.

We taped the very small unit to the inside wall of the set, plugged four mics into it, plus one line back to the snake and everything worked great. Since we had only one long cable run to deal with we could easily get it out of the way where it couldn’t be disturbed and we could then run short cables from the singers to the mixer. Better still the mixer could be powered by a few 9V batteries so we didn’t need to search for power and make more tripping hazards in the dark back stage.

This little mixer, which Shure no longer makes, is not something I would ever expect to find in the arsenal of a live production. It, and it’s many siblings, were made for field use by broadcast pros doing interviews or other similar duties. After the production finished I did some research on the unit and I discovered a whole host of other similar mixers that Shure made.

Another common problem I find is never being able to get enough headphone mixes out to musicians. Usually your main mixing board has 4-8 aux feeds that need to be used to do the work of dozens. In larger productions you’ll find all kinds of expensive gear to increase the number of headphone and monitoring mixes that can be made. Those are great solutions but money is not always as free flowing as it could be and I often find myself looking for a way to do more with less money. My current goto mixer for this is the aged Tascam M-1b, or the even more aged, though nearly identical, Teac M-1.

These are simple 8 input stereo mixers with two headphone outs and the ability to be chained together to form a larger mixer. The manual lists no hard maximum so you could, if you really wanted to, chain 4 or 8 of these together to get up to 32 or 64 inputs. By that point I suspect the self noise and limited feature set would get in the way. These mixers have no EQs, no insert points and only peak lights for metering. Don’t be put off though, they are magic for one simple reason. In addition to those features the mixer has one ace up its sleeve. Each input is half-normalled to a matching output. That is to say that when you plug something into channel one, that signal is passed through to an output as well as to the mix bus of the M-1b and any change made to the incoming signal on the mixer does not effect that output. You can take one signal from your main mixing board and connect it to the input of 1 Tascam M-1b and then, without changing the source signal, connect it to the next M-1b on down the line until you’ve built as many additional outputs as you need.

I use these in the studio, 5 of them, all connected together to take one set of 8 outputs from my main console and use them to create 5 additional, custom headphone mixes. When the singer needs more reverb I can turn it up for them without also adding more reverb to everyone else’s mix. Additionally, once the recording process is complete and it’s time to mix you can use them to create custom mixes to and from your effect boxes without taking up a lot of space on the main console.

The offer a lot of versatility for short money. When I started buying them on Ebay they would sell for $20-30, though they now seem to only be listed for much higher prices and don’t sell as often. Keep your eyes peeled for them and other similar mixers, like the Fostex 2050 and you’ll be surprised how much these dinosaurs have left to offer.

 

Robert

Choosing a New Digital Front End

Gear Choices, Rack Gear, Reverb, Studio Design, Studio Workflow, Tascam M3700

From the very early days of my fascination with audio recording, I’ve been drawn to the Protools DAW software. I’ve used lots of other applications and am always checking out new releases of other software but it’s Protools that I like the best. It’s interface makes sense to me and it works the way I like to work. I have on occasion coveted a feature or two from competing software but it’s just never been enough to make me want to leave. The biggest draw back it’s always had was that I was locked into a very small selection of choices for the audio interface.

For many years Avid (Formerly Digidesign) made a small number of interfaces that were supported. The interfaces are the gateway between the analog world and the digital one. You plug your signal into the interface and it converts it to digital 1s and 0s that Protools would capture. As a drummer I always picked the interface they offered the highest amount of simultaneous inputs and outputs and went on my merry way. I started out with a Digi 001 which I used for many years and then upgraded to a Digi 002 when the need arose.

Recently though Avid has begun allowing many more third party interfaces to be able to talk to Protools. This happened with the release of Protools 9. Protools 9 comprised a huge multitude of changes and updates but that small part of their announcement opened up a world of interface options to me.

As I was in the process of re-thinking what I wanted my studio to be it really allowed me to broaden what I thought feasible. Starting in Protools 9, I will be able to record 32 simultaneously tracks and I could play back up to 96, which is a huge change having been only able to record 16 before and playback a total of 32.

The first real hurdle though is, what interface or interfaces do I turn to? My current setup with my Digi 002 Rack is working fine but is not ideal. The interface can easily handle a total of 18 inputs and outputs but to do that I would need a series of extra converts and cables. Additionally, many of those inputs unavoidably have gain stages which I do not need or want.

What I want is a large number of inputs and outputs that I can use to feed my Tascam M3700. The M3700 already has all of the Mic Pres I’ll need and even if I don’t want to use them, I don’t want to be bound by using the ones on the digital interface either. It’s options and flexibility that I’m in search of and to get that, my interface needs to be a vanilla as possible.

Unfortunately for me, the market is saturated with dozens of interfaces featuring Mic Pres and digital I/O that will only complicate my setup. Very few people make interfaces that are as simple as just offering jacks for audio in and audio out plus an interfacing cable to the computer. The few that do offer that minimal functionality are usually the most expensive, if that makes any sense.

The only option I’ve found so far that meets my needs is the Echo AudioFire 12. It is a simple firewire interface with 12 inputs, 12 outputs, Midi I/O and digital sync via word clock. The face of the unit features a power button and metering for the Audio I/O. This unit looks great and gets good reviews both generally and in concert with Protools. Add to the mix that the unit is $600 here in the US and it’s likely the interface I will choose. The only demerit it earns, if you can call it that, is that it’s not easy to end up with the 32 inputs and outputs that would ideally compliment my M3700’s 32 channels. I at first considered buying three units and just not using the final 4 ins and outs on one unit but I have since decided that buying two units and wiring only the first 24 channels of my console will be ideal.

Many of the more famous mix engineers actually take the massive sessions they receive, that often have well more than 100 tracks, and whittle them down to between 16 and 40 tracks for mixing on their SSL or Neve desks. I’m not likely to ever work on a session that has anywhere near that number of tracks so I don’t expect I’d have any trouble getting things down to 24 tracks and, as is often the case in art, putting up logical limitations often enhances the final product. I can still use Protools to manage and play back a nearly limitless number of tracks but likewise, I can use it to sub-mix logical groups into one or two faders on the console. I don’t need to lay my hands on 30 tracks of backing vocals, I can process and sub-mix the backing vocals down to a stereo pair and then have just two faders on the console. Even if I need to do a lot of work on those backing vocals, I can use us the Protools automation system to make that happen and still get the benefits of working on a console.

Working with only 24 channels of digital I/O on the board also opens up the final 8 channels for other uses. During mix down I can always be sure to have channels available to use for reverb and delay returns with EQs inline. I can use a couple of those channels for monitoring the playback from the 2 track recorder or to have a couple of keyboards or sound modules wired up for easy access. Perhaps more importantly, it means that even if channel on the console fails I don’t have to stop everything and get it fixed. I can just move that audio to another free spare channel. Not a bad thing to have on a 20+ year old console.

I’ll keep an eye on the market as I wait for the right time to buy the interfaces but so far, I think the Echo AudioFire 12 represent a very solid option for people looking for a simple, not too expensive audio interface.

Robert

Find the Right Reverb…

Rack Gear, Reverb, Studio Design, Studio Workflow, Tascam M3700

One of the things I love in big studios is the amazing reverb units they have. When you get into the big leagues they are all running high end units like Lexicon’s 480s and 960s, or more recently, the units coming out of Bricasti. Without question these units are chosen for their sound quality; The sounds they produce are amazing. That level of sound quality comes at a price though. Back when Lexicon was selling it’s 960L reverb unit you could expect to pay around $20k for the privilege of owning one. TC Electronics makes a unit called ‘System 6000’ which was informally called ‘The Poor Man’s 960’ but it’s selling price was, and still is, $14k! I can’t imagine spending that kind of money on my whole studio build out though, so I have to look a little farther down market for a reverb to fit my needs.

In addition to ultimate sound quality, the ultra high-end reverbs tend to share another feature that is very rare in the lower end reverbs: They can all be run via a remote. The flagship reverbs from Lexicon and TC Electronics are run exclusively via remote and Bricasti makes two version of their reverb, one with front panel controls and one with out.

The granularity of the settings offered in these high end units makes a dedicated remote a must. So many parameters can be changed and edited that doing so via a small screen on a unit mounted in a gear rack would make it nearly impossible, not to mention uncomfortable, to get the setting you want perfect. Who wants to spend 10 or 15 minutes hunched over or on their knees trying to tweak a setting or audition sounds? The greater issue to my mind though is that you find yourself making important mix decisions well away from you usual mix position. You’re listening for subtle changes in the sounds coming from you speakers, while across the room and with your back turned. Surely a better solution must be out there.

Finding a reverb unit that could be used via a remote while also being affordable has proved to be a difficult task. Obviously, one option is to use a reverb plugin within your computer. You could then use the reverb and tweak settings via your mouse and keyboard. This will be a great options for many people and many of the reverb plugins sound wonderful. For me though, while I will use some computer based reverbs, having a couple reverb units in the rack is really the best way to accomplish certain tasks. With the Tascam M3700 and tape machines I have it’s quite possible that I will have a mix to do without the need for a computer and even if I do use the computer for a project the easiest and least complicated way to add reverb to a singer’s headphone mix is to use an outboard unit. Considering I’ll be building my studio around the Tascam M3700, having at least a few rack mounted reverbs is a must.

The search then for a unit that I could both afford and use via a remote was on! I started my search by looking up the names of the classic high end units from the late 70s and 80s that I’ve always lusted after on places like Ebay.com. Before Lexicon made the 480L, they made the 300L and their very first truly flagship unit, the 224. Even the 224 though, a unit released in 1978 is selling for upwards of $2000, which is more than I am willing to spend, especially on computer based gear in excess of 30 years old. Klark-Teknik’s DN-780, which was released around the same time, is down to ~$1200 but again, it’s too old for me to be investing in it.

In today’s market, if you’re looking for a solid unit built in the current century with a great reputation, the only option I see is Kurzweil’s KSP-8. Couple it with the RSP-8 remote and you’re good to go. It was discontinued a few years back but pops up on Ebay from time to time and sells for something around $1500. It’s new enough to be worth the investment but for me, still too much money. I’ll own one someday, but today isn’t that day.

Right now,  I need a unit around $100, which is an unbelievably small amount of money for this kind of gear. I thought I was going to have to just bite the bullet and get something without a remote, at least for now, but instead I stumbled across a piece of gear that will suit me perfectly.

Lexicon, in the early 1990s released a line of gear to bridge the gap between the entry level reverbs and the high end gear with the prefix of ‘LXP’. They released three units, the LXP-1, basically a reverb, the LXP-5, basically a delay, and the LXP-15, which featured good algorithms for both reverbs and delays. The LXP-1 and LXP-5 are 1/2 rack units that could be setup side by side and the LXP-15 is a 1U item. What makes them interesting though is the another piece of gear called the Lexicon MRC. This unit, which is essentially a MIDI remote controller, has MIDI inputs and is programed to interface with the reverbs. Initially it was able to send commands to the LXP-1, LXP-5 and PCM-70 but with a firmware upgrade they added two way communication to the LXP-15.

Basically, you can setup the MRC to control up to 16 LXP-1, LXP-5 or PCM-70 reverb units with one way communication, from the MRC to the reverb. This would allow you to make changes and tweak settings from the remote but if you then changed a setting directly on the reverb unit the remote would be out of sync. With the firmware upgrade they removed the ability to interface with the PCM-70, left the one way communication with the LXP-1 and LXP-5 and added two way communication for the LXP-15. Since the MRC has only two sets of MIDI ports though you are able to control only 2 LXP-15s.

Since the LXP-15 was released at a time really predating the pervasive internet we are used to now, it’s pretty tough to find solid reviews of the unit. A few reviews are out there for the LXP-15 II but that unit is not compatible  with the MRC. A few anecdotal reviews can be found on some audio forums though and tend to be favorable. Favorable enough for me to start looking around for some bargains at least.

A quick search on Ebay will turn up dozens of the LXP-15 units as well as the MRC controllers. I was able to pickup an MRC for less than $25 shipped and I’ve bought one LXP-15 so far for less then $70 shipped. Assuming it sounds good and interfaces well with the MRC, I’ll add a second unit when another good deal comes around. Most of the LXP-15s I’ve seen on Ebay have an ending price of closer to $150 but for the patient they can be had for less.

I’ll post about the sound and interfacing when I’m able to get things working.