adding analog outboard to slutty synth rig (with pic!)

[joshuag]

hi all - hope someone here can help me figure out how to integrate some analog outboard in my rig. i'm thinking about picking up some thermionic gear (rooster, phoenix) for tracking and mixing.

my current rig:

DAW: powerbook running ableton live
DAW interface: rme cardbus/multiface
AD/DA: crane song hedd
x-sum (32x4) line mixer for hardware outputs/monitoring.

i monitor DAW using the "A" bus of my x-sum as a monitor control, which is being fed like this:

DAW-->multiface spdif out-->hedd spdif in-->hedd DA out-->x-sum bus A-->monitors

the other bus "B" of the x-sum has all my hardware summed to a stereo out feeding the hedd AD and sent to DAW via spdif:

hardware-->x-sum "B" bus-->hedd AD-->hedd spdif out-->multiface spdif in-->DAW

i have this set up this way so i can track all my hardware through the hedd AD, and monitor my DAW though the hedd DA.

so if i want to integrate analog outboard for tracking and mixing, how would i do this? And now knowing the difference between ok (rme) and high quality (hedd) conversion, i prefer bypassing the multiface converters.

looking for advice as to how i can make it work with my current set up, or how i need to change my rig to accommodate analog outboard. thanks much! oh and for the synth sluts, here's a pic of my studio (sorry for the crappy pic)

all the best,

JG

[rids]

I'm guessing you would run the Phoenix after the X Sum so you can choose what you want compressed or have the whole mix comped... And then back into your DAW the way you have it set up. Hopefully someone else will point you straight also.

Nice synth rig! Just about all the desirables. No Jp8, but that's basically the biggest 3 I can think of. How are you liking that SEM?

[joshuag]

hey rids - thanks for the reply nothing like the sound of a SEM! doing band pass filter sweeps on a SEM is probably one of my favorite synth tones ever.

[rids]

That's exactly the reason why I've wanted one

[soundsubs]

hey rids. i am in a similar situation, not sure what to do. will likely "solve" it with an Xtramix when the $$$ comes in.

anyway, you could change the setup a bit by running it into a patchbay.

1.) keep your buss A as is, synths into Hedd into Daw.
2.) run buss B through the Thermionic Culture XXX and back into the x-sum only to buss A.

[bluemoon]

Originally Posted by joshuag

And now knowing the difference between ok (rme) and high quality (hedd) conversion, i prefer bypassing the multiface converters.

curius to hear your opinion about this. is it really a big difference?

can you post some examples of it?

what about recording drums like the speckie or the 999, do you also record them as a mix or you rec one track at a time?

[danasti]

Originally Posted by joshuag

so if i want to integrate analog outboard for tracking and mixing, how would i do this? And now knowing the difference between ok (rme) and high quality (hedd) conversion, i prefer bypassing the multiface converters.

For tracking you can add outboard right now and integrate it to a certain degree with just a patchbay (or two).

However, to mix OTB you need multichannel converters and a patchbay (or a few). Does your interface have ADAT (2 in / 2 out - 8 channels each)? - you could get a 16 channel Lynx Aurora and buss 8 stereo stems out of your DAW to and select the outboard processing used for that mix on the patchbay. Then back through your X-Sum and off to the hedd or into a stereo pair on the Aurora...

Good Luck!