HELP: connections for harware!
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Posted on Mar 16, 2008 02:25 pm
xlakejunkiex
Ryan
Member Since: Dec 28, 2007
OK if I have a computer,rackmount firewire interface, rackmount compressor/gate, preamp, 10 input mixer, 14 input mixer, 4 channel headphone amp, rackmount tuner, and monitors- can anyone come up with what i would need to/ how i would make all of those connections?? how would the rack work? with connections and power supplies and what i would need power conditioner for, etc.....
if anyone can help that would be awesome!
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Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Mar 16, 2008 07:58 pm Well everything should be plugged into the power conditioner. I'm curious why you have two mixers though and how you would like to use them.
I'll work backwards here for connections. Monitors would be plugged into the monitor outs on the firewire interface. You don't say how many inputs the interface has though, that would help with some answers.
The headphone amp should plug into either a headphone out of the interface or and aux send on one of the mixers if you are routing any outputs from the interface back into the mixer.
Do the mixers have sub mix channels out? That will also help in routing the mixers to the interface.
Mar 16, 2008 11:58 pm What does routing the outputs to the mixer do? It is a Presonus 8 input firewire interface. I will probably use one mixer but i was wondering if i could send an output from the interface into a separate mixer for listening to the whole track while recording because when I plug headphones into my mixer that goes into the interface then i only hear whats coming from the mic and nothing else and i wanted to bring the mixer by my drums so i can adjust the volume of the headphones without walkinh all the way over to the interface phones output.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Mar 17, 2008 07:33 pm That would work just fine. Its the long way around for kind of making a set of sub outputs.
Mar 17, 2008 10:19 pm What is the headphone amp for then??
Mar 17, 2008 11:57 pm If the interface has preamps, ditch the mixers. You don't need them. If however you are using an 8 i/o line level interface, you need the mixer for the preamps or you could just get yourself a decent 8 channel preamp. It wouldn't be a bad thing necessarily.
The fact is that a mixer is only good for input. Once it's in your computer, you're mixing in the box. Adding a mixer only adds another gain stage and consequently distortion. NOT GOOD!
Regarding your monitor situation: instead of adding a mixer to the equation, bring the headphone amp to next to your kit. If everyone has to plug in to the headphone mix from your kit, so be it. Keep the gain staging clean!
Mar 18, 2008 08:06 pm Ok, thanks for the help! If I had a Mckie 1402VLZ3 Mixer and a PreSonus firestudio firewire interface, then would i ditch the mixer? because that would feel like wasted money.
Mar 18, 2008 09:58 pm If you're only going to use it for monitoring, that's fine. It's gonna be a bit of a pain to set up in Cubase or whatever you are using. You'll need to either create a sub mix or send each channel to a physical output as auxiliary sends. So you will be able to send to 6 physical outputs on the Firestudio. This will give you better control over your headphone mix but make sure you save your settings as a template! You don't want to have to set these up every time you record.
