[CN]

Hello,

I want to be able to easily patch into outboard gear from my audio
interface and send it back into my DAW. Would I need anything to
accomplish this aside from a patchbay? Could someone give examples of
common ways patchbays are usually integrated into home studio setups?

Or to word the question differently:
What is the best way to incorporate outboard gear
(comps,eqs,revs,multifx) into a DAW environment?

[Laurence Payne]

On 6 Jul 2006 05:39:54 -0700, "CN" wrote:

Hello,

I want to be able to easily patch into outboard gear from my audio
interface and send it back into my DAW. Would I need anything to
accomplish this aside from a patchbay? Could someone give examples of
common ways patchbays are usually integrated into home studio setups?

Or to word the question differently:
What is the best way to incorporate outboard gear
(comps,eqs,revs,multifx) into a DAW environment?

You can integrate them directly using today's advanced sequencers
(e.g. Cubase SX) and a multi-port soundcard. In/out pairs of audio
ports can be used exactly as you would use Aux sends and returns on an
analogue board. If your sequencer doesn't have this function you
can approximate it by sending designated channels to different output
busses, feeding each to an external mixing board and using effects in
the traditional way. Feed the result back into your DAW and record to
a new track.

[Mike Rivers]

CN wrote:

I want to be able to easily patch into outboard gear from my audio
interface and send it back into my DAW. Would I need anything to
accomplish this aside from a patchbay?

Well, youll need patch cables, too, and cables to hook up another link
in the chain. Adding a patchbay is not as trivial as buying a
compressor or something. You need to think about it.

Whether you actually need it or not depends on how much I/O you
presently have. If you have an 8x8 audio interface for instance (8
inputs, 8 outputs) and just a few outboards, you might find that it
works to leave your outboards permanently connected to ports on the
interface, and then just route to and from them within your DAW. But if
you're already using most of the ports you have availabe and have to
share them with outboard gear at times, then a patchbay is the way to
go.

[CN]

Thanks for the insights, guys. I think I may have been planning for
more than I needed.


Mike Rivers wrote:
CN wrote:

I want to be able to easily patch into outboard gear from my audio
interface and send it back into my DAW. Would I need anything to
accomplish this aside from a patchbay?

Well, youll need patch cables, too, and cables to hook up another link
in the chain. Adding a patchbay is not as trivial as buying a
compressor or something. You need to think about it.

Whether you actually need it or not depends on how much I/O you
presently have. If you have an 8x8 audio interface for instance (8
inputs, 8 outputs) and just a few outboards, you might find that it
works to leave your outboards permanently connected to ports on the
interface, and then just route to and from them within your DAW. But if
you're already using most of the ports you have availabe and have to
share them with outboard gear at times, then a patchbay is the way to
go.