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Post by gouge on May 7, 2016 16:01:52 GMT -6
How is everyone hooking up their hardware.
Do you half normal to the console channel and fill up your busses then patch if needed.
Do you keep everything standalone ready for patching
Or something in-between.
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 15,012 
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Post by ericn on May 7, 2016 16:09:31 GMT -6
Everything to the bay!
Not a fan of normaling stuff to inserts it just gets moved around to much!
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Post by wiz on May 7, 2016 17:57:28 GMT -6
I have my inserts on my console across the patch bay
the direct outs of the patch bay are normalled to the inputs of the audio interface
preamp outs go to patch bay
outboard gear go to patch bay
so with no patch cords connected I can send out of DAW to console strip and return each channel discretely post fader to daw.
cheers
Wiz
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Post by rowmat on May 7, 2016 18:37:53 GMT -6
DAW is hooked up to the patchbay but not normalled to the console.
That will probably change when the new console eventually gets installed.
Outboard gear is connected to the patchbay.
I'm right in the middle of installing new outboard racks.
I'm also building two XLR mic patch panels: 1x 24-way male from the studio plus 1x 32-way female which caters for the inputs to the outboard micpre's.
We never use the micpre's in the console so it was time to organise a microphone patching system for the outboard micpres to put an end to crawling around behind gear to hook it up.
I didn't want to risk connecting mics directly through the bantam patchbay as we have quite a few ribbon mics and I don't want phantom power appearing anywhere on the patchbay.
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Post by gouge on May 8, 2016 3:41:51 GMT -6
I'm currently a mix of wiz and rowmat.
external mic pres half normalled to console line in and daw line in so I can record direct to daw and use console for monitoring only or go via the console channel strip and hit the hardware on the channels or groups.
the channel insets have hardware half normalled with channel direct outs to daw. next the group busses have hardware half normalled to the inserts and group direct outs to the daw.
the aux busses are all half normalled to hardware with half returning via the aux returns and the other half returning on spare channels on the right side of the desk.
I always patch the pres into the groups to use as line amps during mix. u of late am starting to mix things up so the patching is getting more convoluted.
I'm wondering. do I loose a week rewiring the rig because eric's method has some merit. :-)
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Post by Randge on May 8, 2016 9:54:47 GMT -6
first 16 in's are normalled here and 16-32 aren't, so I can grab whatever outboard that is all wired into the patchbay or go directly in with no eq and compression if I desire.
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Post by noah shain on May 8, 2016 11:46:28 GMT -6
FWIW my bay is wired with as much 1/2 normaling as possible so I can use patch points as mults.
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Post by rocinante on May 8, 2016 15:04:57 GMT -6
Normal to console channel 1-16 and to converter io 1-16. Auxes are half-normalled to outboard effects and rarely do i patch anything in. Inserts are half normalled with outboard also half normalled. Channels 17-24 are back up and also returns should i need them. I sum/group instrument mics out of daw to usually have an instrument per channel unless the instrument needs more spatial processing.
I probably could route several of the outboard pieces to several channels e.g. bass is almost always channel 6, but i like giving myself access st every point of the chain.
So yeah pretty much like everyone else.
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Post by gouge on May 16, 2016 19:08:42 GMT -6
will need to keep the half normal happening.
have a new vocal chain setup that seems to be working well.
main vocal is compressed (d864) then split at the insert patch and sent to a spare channel where channel filters roll off the top and bottom before sending it onto the reverb busses.
another mult is also taken from the original vocal channel and goes to a levelor where it's distorted and then fed into the aux bus with left and right delays.
those 3 channels get mixed to busses 7/8 for group control.
that gives me the ability to control everything about the vocal as well as mix varying levels of reverb, delay and distortion under the main vocal.
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Post by drbill on May 16, 2016 20:47:08 GMT -6
FWIW my bay is wired with as much 1/2 normaling as possible so I can use patch points as mults. <<<sigh...>>> My bays used to be twice as large and 75% half normaled. This new CRM I decided to not install the console. Using a Sterling Modular mastering desk with a lot of my most used gear right in front of me. It's been life changing. Mixing is much more fun, and from my perspective,, significantly better. The downside is that there was no logical way to configure half normals. With a patch bay there's always a compromise SOME-where, and I chose to bring everything in on tie lines. Lots and lots and lots of tie lines. :-) So....everything is cool, easily reconfigurable, but my one regret is not mounting the bay INTO the front wall so that I don't have to get down on my hands and knees to re-patch stuff. Luckily I have enough i/o and patch bays to not need to re-patch unless I'm tracking something pretty large - like a rhythm section.... I need more patch cords though.... LOL Attachment Deleted |
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Post by wiz on May 16, 2016 20:59:01 GMT -6
FWIW my bay is wired with as much 1/2 normaling as possible so I can use patch points as mults. <<<sigh...>>> My bays used to be twice as large and 75% half normaled. This new CRM I decided to not install the console. Using a Sterling Modular mastering desk with a lot of my most used gear right in front of me. It's been life changing. Mixing is much more fun, and from my perspective,, significantly better. The downside is that there was no logical way to configure half normals. With a patch bay there's always a compromise SOME-where, and I chose to bring everything in on tie lines. Lots and lots and lots of tie lines. :-) So....everything is cool, easily reconfigurable, but my one regret is not mounting the bay INTO the front wall so that I don't have to get down on my hands and knees to re-patch stuff. Luckily I have enough i/o and patch bays to not need to re-patch unless I'm tracking something pretty large - like a rhythm section.... I need more patch cords though.... LOL cool... any chance to see some piccies of your setup? cheers Wiz |
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Post by noah shain on May 16, 2016 21:08:16 GMT -6
FWIW my bay is wired with as much 1/2 normaling as possible so I can use patch points as mults. <<<sigh...>>> My bays used to be twice as large and 75% half normaled. This new CRM I decided to not install the console. Using a Sterling Modular mastering desk with a lot of my most used gear right in front of me. It's been life changing. Mixing is much more fun, and from my perspective,, significantly better. The downside is that there was no logical way to configure half normals. With a patch bay there's always a compromise SOME-where, and I chose to bring everything in on tie lines. Lots and lots and lots of tie lines. :-) So....everything is cool, easily reconfigurable, but my one regret is not mounting the bay INTO the front wall so that I don't have to get down on my hands and knees to re-patch stuff. Luckily I have enough i/o and patch bays to not need to re-patch unless I'm tracking something pretty large - like a rhythm section.... I need more patch cords though.... LOL View AttachmentBetter as in sounds better? As in because your console is out of the equation? Or is it ergonomic? If it's because of sonics is it because what you want to hear has changed or just cause it sounds better? |
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Post by drbill on May 16, 2016 21:36:38 GMT -6
<<<sigh...>>> My bays used to be twice as large and 75% half normaled. This new CRM I decided to not install the console. Using a Sterling Modular mastering desk with a lot of my most used gear right in front of me. It's been life changing. Mixing is much more fun, and from my perspective,, significantly better. The downside is that there was no logical way to configure half normals. With a patch bay there's always a compromise SOME-where, and I chose to bring everything in on tie lines. Lots and lots and lots of tie lines. :-) So....everything is cool, easily reconfigurable, but my one regret is not mounting the bay INTO the front wall so that I don't have to get down on my hands and knees to re-patch stuff. Luckily I have enough i/o and patch bays to not need to re-patch unless I'm tracking something pretty large - like a rhythm section.... I need more patch cords though.... LOL Better as in sounds better? As in because your console is out of the equation? Or is it ergonomic? If it's because of sonics is it because what you want to hear has changed or just cause it sounds better? It's better for a lot of reasons. When I built this control room, I wanted the acoustics to be superb. When I moved my studio, I had a couple of weeks in it without a console, and honestly, I could barely recognize the room without the reflections off the face of the console. That set things in motion. Jeff Hedback put the final nail in the coffin when he suggested it would sonically be better without it. So yeah, it sounds better - but on a variety of fronts. First, no console. Second, new purpose built Hedback designed acoustics. And perhaps most important of all for me is the amazing work flow change-up from the console based workflow. I went from a "traditional" studio, to a Hybrid, and I mean FULLY HYBRID WITH NO COMPROMISE workflow. I'm comfortable in Pro Tools. As comfortable as on my console. I've been hybrid for years, but I took the plunge, added i/o and got my outboard to where I wanted it. I added 3 more Silver Bullets, Vari-Mu, Deurloo built LA2A's, other compressors and EQ's and mics, and "patched it all in" as you can see to meet my expectations. Using hardware is actually easier than instantiating a plug-in. Everything comes up on my PTHDX inserts and is ready to rock instantly. The result is an amazingly fun and fast mixing environment, with enough flexibility to be a superb writing environment and tracking room. Seriously thinking about putting the big 120 input automated console up for sale after tracking a few projects with the new room and setup.... I didn't give up on analog consoles completely. I have a swinging wall with two D&R Vision rack mount mixers in them.. Super cool. Check it out in the other thread. |
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Post by drbill on May 16, 2016 21:38:54 GMT -6
<<<sigh...>>> My bays used to be twice as large and 75% half normaled. This new CRM I decided to not install the console. Using a Sterling Modular mastering desk with a lot of my most used gear right in front of me. It's been life changing. Mixing is much more fun, and from my perspective,, significantly better. The downside is that there was no logical way to configure half normals. With a patch bay there's always a compromise SOME-where, and I chose to bring everything in on tie lines. Lots and lots and lots of tie lines. :-) So....everything is cool, easily reconfigurable, but my one regret is not mounting the bay INTO the front wall so that I don't have to get down on my hands and knees to re-patch stuff. Luckily I have enough i/o and patch bays to not need to re-patch unless I'm tracking something pretty large - like a rhythm section.... I need more patch cords though.... LOL cool... any chance to see some piccies of your setup? cheers Wiz LOL Arm twisted? Yeah, I can do that. I've been thinking about sharing some. Or you can just check them out in Mix Magazine this coming month (June). :-) But not to divert, I'll start another thread..... Just for you though.... :-) realgearonline.com/thread/5367/drbills-new-control-room-mindseye |
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 15,012
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Post by ericn on May 17, 2016 6:27:30 GMT -6
cool... any chance to see some piccies of your setup? cheers Wiz LOL Arm twisted? Yeah, I can do that. I've been thinking about sharing some. Or you can just check them out in Mix Magazine this coming month (June). :-) But not to divert, I'll start another thread..... Just for you though.... :-) realgearonline.com/thread/5367/drbills-new-control-room-mindseyeMagazines they still print those things? |
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Post by john on May 17, 2016 9:05:59 GMT -6
will need to keep the half normal happening. have a new vocal chain setup that seems to be working well. main vocal is compressed (d864) then split at the insert patch and sent to a spare channel where channel filters roll off the top and bottom before sending it onto the reverb busses. another mult is also taken from the original vocal channel and goes to a levelor where it's distorted and then fed into the aux bus with left and right delays. those 3 channels get mixed to busses 7/8 for group control. that gives me the ability to control everything about the vocal as well as mix varying levels of reverb, delay and distortion under the main vocal. Wow that's brilliant! Home studio here so here goes: EVERYTHING is at 3 patchbays. 1st patchbay is bus paths. 2nd patchbay is fx and aux routing. 3rd patchbay is extra mixer/recorder interfacing. I record to an Alesis HD24 typically using 8-12 mono tracks. These tracks then output to the 1st patchbay, run through the chains and return to a SSL X-Desk. I have set this up as: 1. Drums 2. Bass 3. Melody 4. Harmony 5. Percussion 6. Strings/Synth/whatever 7. Vocal Lead 8. Vocal Backing If I go over 8 tracks I do my best to record them in a "finished state" and then mix them with the cue pots on the SSL. I multitrack everything but I only do single takes with no punch ins or editing. The output of the SSL goes to an Apogee Duet and records to Reaper as a stereo track. No plug ins or processing on the computer. I'm hoping to win the Stam SSL which I will place between the X-Desk and the Duet. If I don't win I already have one on pre-order  I have done 3 projects with this set up and so far so good. I am using a bunch of Warm Audio, Dizengoff and Moog and Rupert Neve lunchbox stuff. Also some choice spring reverbs. I like a lot of color and primarily record psychedelic rock and soul music. This is all in the den of my home. I hope to have the ability to provide service to others if my "career" ever fell through but for now I'm having a blast as a one man band with great gear to work with. |
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Post by Ward on May 17, 2016 9:13:22 GMT -6
Everything in the patch bays. Always daisy-chained. in almost all cases, insert points are unbalanced and high impedance. Screw that crap!
And half-normaled for multis as much as possible too.
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