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#1
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need portable front end for Alesis hard disk recorder - or do I?
Howdy,
This question is for a friend of mine in the Netherlands... He has one of those Alesis hard disk recorders, and he wishes to record a live show by taking 24 individual signals from a FOH console and bring them into the Alesis. He feels he needs some type of 24 channel pre-amp / line-in gain control unit. He mentioned he was looking at maybe buying three Presonus DigiMax units...? I know nothing about these units specifically. I felt that perhaps he may not even need any "front end" at all, and that perhaps he could feed the signals straight from the FOH console into the Alesis directly, that maybe the Alesis has some type of variable input adjustment... or? If he DOES need a "front end", is there a good portable unit that could be recommended? This guy would probably prefer something on the inexpensive side, and is not worried too much about pristine sonic quality. Any help would be appreciated... this guy is a good friend, he looks to me for audio advise, I hope to be able to help him out. It's just that I know very little about what he is trying to do specifically. Thanks! -wg |
#2
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need portable front end for Alesis hard disk recorder - or do I?
WideGlide wrote:
He has one of those Alesis hard disk recorders, and he wishes to record a live show by taking 24 individual signals from a FOH console and bring them into the Alesis. He feels he needs some type of 24 channel pre-amp / line-in gain control unit. He mentioned he was looking at maybe buying three Presonus DigiMax units...? I know nothing about these units specifically. I felt that perhaps he may not even need any "front end" at all, and that perhaps he could feed the signals straight from the FOH console into the Alesis directly, that maybe the Alesis has some type of variable input adjustment... or? If he DOES need a "front end", is there a good portable unit that could be recommended? This guy would probably prefer something on the inexpensive side, and is not worried too much about pristine sonic quality. Any help would be appreciated... this guy is a good friend, he looks to me for audio advise, I hope to be able to help him out. It's just that I know very little about what he is trying to do specifically. Thanks! -wg It sounds to me like your friend is talking about microphones plugged into the preamps on the FOH console and using some kind of direct output from each channel to go to the Alesis. If this is the case, then there's no need for a level control at all, neither on the Alesis itself nor inline between the console and the recorder. The point of the FOH console's input trim (gain control) is to bring each signal up to a nominal line level for use inside the console. Spit this signal out the direct outputs and it'll be at line level there as well. If the levels hitting the Alesis are too hot or too quiet, then they're too hot or too quiet inside the console as well and should be adjusted at the input gain control. All of the signals can be recorded at nonimal line level on the Alesis. The time for adjusting those individual track levels comes later, when he's mixing the recording in a controlled environment through another mixing console of some kind. Does that make sense to you? Of course the possibility exists that somebody other than your friend is operating the FOH console and that person could be incompetent and/or have peculiar notions regarding gain structure and might refuse to cooperate with this recording process. In that case your friend may find himself looking for some means to correct for inappropriate gain settings coming out of the FOH console. He would be dealing with poor gain structuring that will result in excessive noise and/or high distortion. A situation like that is fundamentally opposed to producing worthwhile recordings and your friend shouldn't waste his time. Long story short, the gain controls your friend seeks are already located on the console and he needs to access those rather than buy an outboard box. ulysses |
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need portable front end for Alesis hard disk recorder - or do I?
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#4
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need portable front end for Alesis hard disk recorder - or do I?
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. According to him, 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. Thanks |
#5
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need portable front end for Alesis hard disk recorder - or do I?
"WideGlide" wrote in message .net...
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. According to him, 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. Thanks Hey WG, He might want to consider using mic splitters if his budget will allow it. Here is some info on splitters: http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e... rec.audio.pro Take care, Peter |
#6
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need portable front end for Alesis hard disk recorder - or do I?
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#7
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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. If the FOH has any spare channels you can input the "hot" channels in the FOH at an acceptable level. Take the direct out into a separate channel, stay off the house buss, take the direct out of the second channel to your HD24. You're gonna be getting the FOH's EQ of course. I also have split the 1st direct out and let the FOH use the second channel. That way I didn't have to wrestle with any of his settings. I've also taken a feed off of a spare AUX out on a pre fader. That way the FOH can do what he wants as long as he doesn't change the input trim. YMMV Wayne |
#8
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need portable front end for Alesis hard disk recorder - or do I?
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#9
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need portable front end for Alesis hard disk recorder - or do I?
If something's too loud in the house, it's going to be too loud on the
recording, so you might as well turn it down. If it can't be heard in the house, it'll requre a lot of boost when mixing the recording so you might as well turn it up. Yep, that's the facts. I used to work live sound. In most clubs with an electric band there were often faders that weren't even in the mix or were down 20 dB. Such as bass or guitars. In that case the noise floor was a mess on the recorder end out of the direct. The only way it ever worked for me was to use the inserts and patch the recoder into the insert chain before any effects. A wiring PITA but doable. However if you're plugging into someone else's rig then you'll have to play by their rules or hope they're both willing and able to hook you up. Another trick is to use subgroups if they're available. Set the input channel to unity gain and use the channel direct out to the recorder, buss it to a sub and use the sub fader for the house mix. |
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