Recording a Concert help?

[trock]

Hi Guys

I am very new to this but a friend does sound for a large church. they have a young adults service saturday nights where they have an inhouse "rock" band. He has been running the sound off a A&H GL2400 and he would now like to feed his MAC laptop, soon to have logic 8 on it, with the tracks coming out of the GL2400

he asked me to help out since i do recording here at home

what i saw on the GL2400 is there are outs, pre fader it seems for ever track

right now they have 17 tracks total so i need somehow to run those outs into ins on something that then connects via firewire to his laptop and into Logic 8 with the 17 tracks coming in on a seperate tracks in logic

they do about 6-10 songs total so i would say there will be 30-45 minutes worth of a concert to feed

then when we get them into logic we would take it home and mix it and master it to be burned to CD's for people

i have never done anything like this and am not sure how to get 17 tracks into logic. i have heard everything from stacking behringers ada8000's?? to apogee ensemble's??

I am not sure what the budget is but if i could figure out a range of products that would work that would help.

and hopefully any and all would work well with logic

thanks for any help on this

[Recording David]

An Ensemble would get your 17 channels into Logic, but you'd also need 9 channels of AD conversion (the Ensemble has 8 analogue ins and 10 digital ins via ADAT/SPDIF). A MOTU 896 would also do this, but not quite as well as the Apogee.

You also don't say what your budget is - there are various options depending on what the money situation is!

[trock]

Hi David

I asked about budget but they basically said give us a range of options, so possibly a high end and a low end and maybe the middle??

I was thinking the Behringer ADA8000's on the low end, the apogee on the high end, especially since they are supposed to integrate nicels with logic correct?

then possibly the MOTU in the middle?

thanks for also reminding me i need the AD conversion also for each track

sheesh

[travisgarrison]

Most Firewire audio interfaces will only have 8 analog inputs, so you're looking at purchasing at least one external A/D converter in addition to the interface. Remember that the Behringer ADA8000 is just a converter, while the other products mentioned thus far are Firewire audio interfaces.

If this is a permanent setup to accompany the A&H board, all you really need is a bunch of line inputs. (no preamps) What about a few nice A/D converters and an M-Audio Lightbridge to get the digital signals straight into the computer?

It would also be easier if you could get the inputs down to 16, since things tend to run in groups of 8.

[trock]

What do you guys think of the Alesis HD24 or the MAckie MDR stuff?? then getting a FW interface to transfer the files??

these give me my 24 tracks?

i am not sure though how when you transfer the file from them to logic on the mac how you get them onto separate tracks in logic??

[bradley]

Hi,

I do quite a lot of live recording using Logic Studio 8 with a firewire interfaced plugged into my Macbook.

The Behringer ADA8000 is an ADAT unit designed to be plugged into a suitable device such as a firewire audio interface. Many interfaces will work with the ADA8000. For example, Motu 828 mkIII, Focusrite Saffire Pro 26, Apogee Ensemble.

So, to get all 17 tracks into Logic you could use a Motu 828 mkIII (or the mkII) with a Behringer ADA8000 plugged into the ADAT socket at the back. You then connect the direct outputs to each each Line in on the Motu and on the Behringer unit and off you go! This setup would give 18 inputs on the Motu if I recall correctly.

Hope this is useful info!

[trock]

thanks bradley

how stable is the MOTU with logic?? and you thought the behringer and motu played well together??

could you add another ada8000 to the mix if they ended up with 24 inputs from the GL2400??

[trock]

actually do you know if you can stack 3 motu mk3's?? 2 via adat the thrid FW to the mac??

[travisgarrison]

Seems like you have a lot of options here. I will say that so far the Alesis HD24 idea is the most idiot-proof. I have one of my own, and helped install one in a performance venue a while back. It's dead simple to just switch it on, make a new project, arm the tracks, and hit record. The conversion is great, and stability is rock-solid. Personally, I prefer not to have to trouble-shoot computer problems during a live performance.

With the purchase of a Fireport accessory, you can easily transfer the tracks over to Logic for editing. Each track will appear as a mono WAV file - just load them up on different tracks in the software.

[travisgarrison]

Originally Posted by trock

actually do you know if you can stack 3 motu mk3's?? 2 via adat the thrid FW to the mac??

Seems like that might be needlessly expensive. One MOTU 828 mk3 will give you 28 inputs. You just need to get things into the proper digital formats. Seems like the $750 spent on additional 828s could be better spent on decent digital conversion.

[trock]

gotta tell ya, since i am so new to this the idiot proof idea is working for me. the alesis with FW adapter looks like its the ticket.

thanks a ton for the help, i will talk to the guy their and see what he can spend and what he wants to do.

just so i have it, we record 17 tracks into the alesis, it stores them as 17 seperate wav file in a folder we create (do the tracks keep their names like KICK, BASS etc or can you name them this way to easily know which wav file is which?

then we FW the Alesis to the mac, open logic and transfer the wav files one at a time, per track and bang, done?

[travisgarrison]

Originally Posted by trock

just so i have it, we record 17 tracks into the alesis, it stores them as 17 seperate wav file in a folder we create (do the tracks keep their names like KICK, BASS etc or can you name them this way to easily know which wav file is which?

then we FW the Alesis to the mac, open logic and transfer the wav files one at a time, per track and bang, done?

Pretty much. The files are stored within a project folder on the Alesis hard drive. Unfortunately, the HD24 only stores them as track01, track02, etc. You will have to keep a list of track assignments elsewhere.

The Fireport allows you to connect the HD24's hard drive directly to a computer via Firewire. The Alesis software will read the information from the hard drive and copy it to your computer. You can choose at this point whether you want WAV or AIFF files. Once the files are on your hard drive, it's easy to import them into Logic. I don't use Logic, but many DAWs give you the option to import audio to a new track. Just select all 17 files and you magically have a Logic project.

[trock]

amazing

thanks a ton travis, this really helps me. i am sending the info off to my partner now on the HD24

by the way what is the diff between the HD24 and the HD24XL i think it is?

i was trying to read between them at sweetwater but couldn't figure it out and the 500 dollar diff

now i have to figure out the GL2400 mixer and how to get a good sound INTO the HD24

whew

and this is all before finally just mixing and mastering the project for the band!

thanks again!

[travisgarrison]

The only difference between the HD24 and the HD24XR is the converters. The stock model will only give you 44.1k or 48k on the analog inputs, but the XR will give you up to 96k analog, limited to 12 tracks. I think they will both do 96k digital.

Most people (including Alesis) will tell you that even at 44.1 or 48, the XR converters sound better. I have the XR model and think it sounds fantastic, but haven't compared it to the other model.

[trock]

got it, thanks travis.

it looks like the outs ont he GL2400 are pre everything which is good as long as i get a good signal into the HD24 then.

i understand the FW attachment allows me to pick WAV or some format and also set up a directory where to put the files on the laptop then

gotta see if logic has an import feature where i can choose all 17 tracks and have them imported at one time onto seperate tracks

then its time to test all this out

thanks!

[tnjazz]

Yes, the converters on the HD24XR are going to be better than the converters in the stock HD24.

They also sell the "XR" board separately (it's called the EC-2 upgrade kit), so you can always buy a stock HD24 and then buy the upgrade later to convert it. It's as simple as popping the top and swapping the I/O cards.

That being said, the stock HD24 converters aren't bad and I've made many good live recordings with mine in the past.

If you're in the market for a stock HD24, there's one on Homerecording.com now for $750 from a very reputable member (who is also a member here, I believe). I'm not affiliated with him in any way, just saw that he's trying to sell his unit and it sounds like you may be looking to buy one...

[trock]

wow, thanks for the tip and info, i will check out his sale and see if my partner wants to pursue that

thanks!