What do you turn off/shut down at the end of a session?

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Music Afficionado
Member Since: Aug 12, 2008

I got in the good habit of always putting microphones away after each session and covering synths, etc. However, I've noticed that I dont do as good of a job of turning everything off. Is this necessary? Meaning, when you are done recording do you always shut down your computer, turn your monitors off, your mixer off, your outbeard gear off etc?

I had a marathon session this past weekend and it got me wondering if its bad to leave my monitors on all the time, for example.

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MASSIVE Mastering, LLC
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2008


Jan 31, 2011 02:18 pm

It's a rough one...

Powered monitors & class D amps you can probably just leave on (unless you know you're not going to be working on anything for a while or whatever). Class A circuits are a big draw (my amplifier alone draws over 3 amps at idle) and pretty much everything in the racks are class A circuits. I wouldn't mind leaving them on, but I can't imagine the electric bill with a bunch of gear pulling 6-8A or more 24/7... Not to mention the heat, which pretty much goes out-of-control after a while (again with the amplifier - that one unit by itself is cranking out over 3,000 BTU's per hour).

Long story short -- There isn't an issue with turning it off. But if you're just running to the store, leave it on. And if it's off, turn it all on 15-30 minutes before you need it so it can all stabilize - especially with class A and tube circuits (doesn't really apply to "toob" circuits, but it's good practice).

www.TheLondonProject.ca
Member
Since: Feb 07, 2005


Jan 31, 2011 04:15 pm

I leave everything on unless I know I won't be using it for awhile or they are a huge power draw. I find that with electronics, turning them on an off causes the most wear and is the time when they will fail. My "belief" is that the more often the circuit boards heat up (expand) cool down (shrink) the more likely they are to fail.

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