I'm buying a Portable Recording Rig!

[AMelbye]

Hi,

I'm about to buy a portable rig for recording gigs and such

I was thinking about basing it around a laptop, a split, an RME Fireface 800, a couple focusrite octopre preamps and four high quality but small preamps for the line inputs on the fireface.

Then I happened to make more money than expeced last month, and I'm now looking for suggestions on how to improve this setup further :p

is the Fireface 800 top notch, or is there a better sound card around if I'm willing to spend more? I'm thinkig max 2U, and 24 or more inputs

How about the octopres? What other brands should I be looking into?

For the last 4 channels I was thinking about maybe building my own pres, though I'm not sure what to go for. Preferably something that gives me 4 pres in a single rack unit

Thanks
Audun

[John Willett]

Up from the Fireface - the only thing I can think of is the Prism Orpheus.

[loujudson]

You might think about an Alesis HD24XR instead of the computer. Just a thought, I stopped taking laptops to gigs three years ago and never looked back!

Lou

[AMelbye]

An alesis would've been a good option if I didn't plan to use this rig at home when it's not out on the road. Since I'm just starting out, I can't afford two separate rigs at the moment.

How about going for a lightpape interface rather than the fireface? What's available?

[Beardhead]

Originally Posted by loujudson

You might think about an Alesis HD24XR instead of the computer. Just a thought, I stopped taking laptops to gigs three years ago and never looked back!

Lou

I have a Mackie SDR along my three Octamics in my portable rack. I can either record to the SDR or use it for conversion and go through the Digiface into my laptop, which works without any problems. The RME software is great for monitoring. When recording to the SDR I put a Behringer line mixer in for monitoring. At least something for eight tracks (which are often enough).
Claus

[Joe Porto]

It may be more cost effective in the long run by using a rackmount computer instead of a laptop. Going this route, you only need to swap the motherboard, processor and memory for an upgrade. You can also use PCI-e cards and have a couple removable audio drives in caddies, and run them via RAID mirror on the SATA bus.

If you go this route, you can get an RME 96/52 for 24 lightpipe i/o at 44.1/48k, then simply get preamps with lightpipe outputs.

I had a mobile rig based aroung a rackmount computer, and was able to fit everything into a 12-space shock-mount rack on casters, which doubled as a desk for my control surface/display/keyboard/mouse.

You can get a decent rackmount case for around $250 and roll your own, or get one built at Sonica, or ADK.

[hpyle]

I'm using a Daking Mic-Pre IV with FireFace 800, and it's a really nice combination. The pres need plenty of ventilation tho.

[juniorhifikit]

How portable is "portable"?

I also had a rack'd computer and PTHD rig in a shock-mount rack. It became too big to move around without a van. Also too big for planes & trains around Europe. Budget's ain't what they used to be and cartage fees were affecting my bottom line. I now have a PT HD2 in a chassis with a MBP - fits in the overhead bin. Not qualified by Digi and not without it's little frustrations, but overall well worth it.

[tmcconnell]

In remote work, yoou will be dealing with all sorts of things that don't happen in a studio.

Consider great mic splitters - jensen transformers. You gotta deal with the house sound people - one way or the other.
Consider great dynamic mics.
Off axis performance is your best frind.
Get something like a cranesong spider - made for the job. Amazing pre's and conversion in 4 rack spaces with options out the wazoo for monitoring.

To quote a fellow slut: buy once, buy right. I would add: buy the best and you won't regret it.

[XJR]

I do a lot of mobile work with this little PT LE setup, basically a PC, Digi 001, ADA8000 and LCD monitor all in one rack. I can lift it on my own and it's proved very reliable for tracking live gigs.

You would want better converters but basically a PC, 8 channel interface and 8 channel ADAT pre plus an LCD will all fit in a manageable rack. The PC doesn't need to be anything modern for tracking, old P4 works fine.

[jmarkham]

It think the Octopres (not the LE) sound pretty good .. certainly having
8 on a 1U is nice .. and they're reasonable .. wish they had the 1/4" TRS
instead of the Tascams... but ..

jeff

[jmarkham]

Originally Posted by XJR

I do a lot of mobile work with this little PT LE setup, basically a PC, Digi 001, ADA8000 and LCD monitor all in one rack. I can lift it on my own and it's proved very reliable for tracking live gigs.

You would want better converters but basically a PC, 8 channel interface and 8 channel ADAT pre plus an LCD will all fit in a manageable rack. The PC doesn't need to be anything modern for tracking, old P4 works fine.

I use a MacBook Pro with a Digi 003 .. and an ISA 828 .. unless the place
has a Venue board .. in which case, we bring an HD system and hook
into that (assuming they have the HDx card).

The macBook pro an FW800 drive has been really stable.

jeff

[big country]

thats pretty cool

whats the deal with mointor
does it fold out?

[XJR]

Yes, I bolted a standard Vesa mount in a 19" rack drawer and the monitor folds on that, you can see it in this pic.

Jmarkham : The next one I build will be based around a 002 or 003 and a laptop mainboard for maximum lightness. I've never seen a Venue yet, the odd digital Mackie or Yamaha board. I used to rely on the boards direct outs but now I use a lot of splitters, you live and learn

[big country]

I wanted to do somthing like that but with a touch screen

and a bunch of those small monitors they for use for video Dj

Numark VM03MKII Triple Screen Video Display - Flat Panel Plasma & LCD Monitors*-* Video Projectors & TV's*-* Video (A/V)*-* PSSL.com

[headwerkn]

+1 for using a dedicated recorder ... Mackie HDR/SDR/MDR, Alesis HD24, etc. I used to do the laptop thing but a computer crashing in the middle of a 45 min set is not fun.

For my last recording job I used an SDR24, 3x lightpipe connections from the back of the Mackie TT24 live desk, which by default mult off the pre-EQ signal for each analog channel. Input signal was set on the desk, and prior to the gig I created appropriately named projects for each set. All I had to was load up each project during the break, do was make sure I was rolling before the director marked the start of filming (gig was being filmed for DVD) and watch for any digital overs. Spent most of my time enjoying the music and helping the live mixer!