Pics from recent recording using two PT systems

[Barnabas]

I recently recorded a 32 input live event. Two house mics, and 30 inputs from the musicians.

I recorded using a Digi HD2 system ganged to a Digi 003R system.

My main recording system is 16 channels of PREs, 192 I/O, and Mac G4. I can bump this to 24 channels by adding my old 882/20 I/O. This of course limits me to 24-bit recording at 44.1, with an additional limit of 20-bit on the 882/20 channels.

My smaller system is a Digi 003R and G4 PowerBook. I use the four built-in preamps and four channels of dbx preamps.

In order to sync the two together, I route the kick and snare drum channels on the big system to the SPDIF output, which I send to the SPDIF input on the 003R. I tell the 003R to sync to that digital input. This puts the two systems on the same clock.

I start the two recordings at approximately the same time. When I get back to the studio, I take the 10 tracks (8 analog inputs plus the digital copy of the kick and snare) from the external drive that was connected to the 003R system, and import them into the HD2 system. I then group the new 10 tracks together and move them along the timeline to line up the new kick and snare tracks with the other kick and snare tracks. Once lined up, I delete the extra set of kick and snare tracks, and I’m ready to mix all 32 tracks.

From top to bottom in the pictures:
Digi 882/20 connected to the legacy port on the Digi 192.
PreSonus M80 8-ch preamp connected to the inputs on the 882/20.
Furman PL-Plus power conditioner.
two dbx 760x dual channel preamps connected to channels 5-8 on the 003R.
Digi 003R controlled by the PowerBook.
Furman PL-Plus power conditioner.
two Digi PRE preamps connected to the 192.
Digi 192 I/O with extra analog input card.
Apple G4 in a Marathon case. I made the purple rack brackets to get the computer farther forward in the rack so I could get the back cover on.
APS UPS mounted on an old rack shelf with a 1x2 piece of wood holding it in place.
All racks are SKB.

I modified the plastic walls inside the SKB rack that has the two PREs and the 192 I/O. This is because the fans are mounted on the sides of the Digi units, and the stock SKB rack blocks both the inlet and the outlet for air circulation. You can also see that I left a half space between the equipment to increase airflow, yet keep the system compact. That’s the heaviest rack, and my old body keeps telling me it’s time to split it into two racks.

on the table:
PowerBook that controls the 003R.
Monitor and keyboard for the Marathon G4.
OtherWorldComputing Seagate Barracuda external hard drive connected to the PowerBook to capture the 003 tracks.
Furman HA6 headphone amplifier (behind the laptop) connected to the output of the 192.

The other picture is my splitter snake in the foreground. The two Wireworks snakes are the house snakes. Everything goes to my splitter first, which splits it to my rack and the house snakes. I let the house sound have the direct out, and I took the transformered split. That means that the house soundboard is supplying the phantom power.

The event was the Chapin Family concert in Fletcher Hall in Raleigh, NC. The house crew was great to work with and interface with. I was setup just off stage on house right.