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need portable front end for Alesis hard disk recorder - or do I?
In article t writes:
Guys, thanks for the responses so far. One thing I forgot to mention... my
friend recording from the FOH console is NOT the FOH console engineer. My
friend has no control over what goes on with the FOH console.
This is as it should be. The FOH engineer is the one that everyone's
going to stare at if something goes wrong. If he knows what he's
doing, he'll set the console so that it works with the PA system and
the recording is secondary. Live with it.
he is taking the direct outs of the FOH into his HD24, whatever levels
should happen to exist... he cannot control it at the console. Thus he
needs some type of "gain-control" between the FOH and his recorder.
The levels are going to be in the ballpark if the FOH engineer knows
what he's doing. That doesn't mean that he won't have to make
adjustments when he mixes the recording - that's the same thing the
FOH engineer is doing when he mixes for the house, only with the
recording you get the opportunity to try it again if you don't like
the mix. If he's hoping to make a multitrack recording at levels that
he can just sum equally and get a balanced mix, he's dreaming.
Does he have a problem when he's mixing his recording, or is he just
fretting because all the meters aren't hitting full scale all the time
and he thinks he's "losing resolution?" I record live with my Mackie
hard disk recorder and the meters generally read between -20 and -10,
rarely getting close to full scale on anything but an occasional
overly enthusiastic drum hit or an uncontrolled vocal scream (which
usually gets clipped by the console preamps anyway because the FOH
engineer didn't anticipate it). I have no trouble getting a good
mix from those tracks, and even a clipped scream now and then is
acceptable in a live recording, because that's what really happened
(though I'd rather it didn't).
If he really wants to optimize the levels he's recording, the best way
to do that is to split the mic outputs and run through his own
preamps, that that will be very expensive.
--
I'm really Mike Rivers - )
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