24ch laptop portable solution suggestion?

[Rokus666]

I am trying to build a portable 24 channel rig using mac book pro. I am working with logic, cubase and live.

I wanted to ask you guys if you have some experience of whats good out there.
I want to get pcimca card and interface so that I can hook up 3 digital multichannel pres. The budget is around 2000$

Right now I got the old power mac G5 dual 2.0ghz with Motu 2408 PCI
I am thinking selling the computer and motu and get me a nice 24 channel interface for laptop.

I am looking at RME but don't know which one to get. Also would need some preamps with compressor and limiter built in. I figured I ask here first and then go to consult the salesman...

[philper]

Originally Posted by Rokus666

I am trying to build a portable 24 channel rig using mac book pro. I am working with logic, cubase and live.

I wanted to ask you guys if you have some experience of whats good out there.
I want to get pcimca card and interface so that I can hook up 3 digital multichannel pres. The budget is around 2000$

Right now I got the old power mac G5 dual 2.0ghz with Motu 2408 PCI
I am thinking selling the computer and motu and get me a nice 24 channel interface for laptop.

I am looking at RME but don't know which one to get. Also would need some preamps with compressor and limiter built in. I figured I ask here first and then go to consult the salesman...

Fireface 800? Or a MOTU Traveler mk3 and two other interfaces of your choice that make ADAT out? Ditto re Presonus Firestudio? The Presonus 24.4.2? Some of this gear is avail used.

phil p

[Rokus666]

I do reeally like presonus 24.4.2 its really nice desk for what it costs...

Thats definitely something i am looking for, but in terms of latency I might want to get something with pCI...

[vintagelove]

Or go the hard disk recorder way, then dump the tracks into the daw..... I have a 24 track MDR hard disk recorder with cabling for $550 if you want it, its near mint. For 1/4 the price of setting up the daw, you could have a reliable setup, and dump it into whatever daw you want....... my 2 cents ...... ps, sorry for pimping in public.

[summer_room]

another option is two Echo AudioFire 12s for 24 tracks

-jon

[John Willett]

Personally I would ditch the laptop for recording and go with a JoeCo Black Box - 24 channels wothout a computer. Then just use the computer for editing.

If you insist on the computer way - I would use 3 x RME Micstacy and a MadiFace.

[willi1203]

Originally Posted by John Willett

I would use 3 x RME Micstacy and a MadiFace.

Mmmhh.... 2000 dollars ? tutt

[John Willett]

Originally Posted by willi1203

Mmmhh.... 2000 dollars ? tutt

No - closer to £10,000 = $15,000 or so - nowhere as cheap as you think.

The JoeCo is much cheaper and does not use a computer to record - just a USB hard drive.

[philper]

Originally Posted by John Willett

No - closer to £10,000 = $15,000 or so - nowhere as cheap as you think.

The JoeCo is much cheaper and does not use a computer to record - just a USB hard drive.

Have you used JoeCo? How did it work out? I sure love the size....

phil p

[John Willett]

Originally Posted by philper

Have you used JoeCo? How did it work out? I sure love the size....

phil p

No, but I have a couple of friends who swear by them, one having the very first one with digital inputs.

My Nagra VI is enough tracks for me at the moment - but if I did need more, JoeCo would be the way I would go.



Sent from my iPhone using Gearslutz

[philper]

Originally Posted by John Willett

No, but I have a couple of friends who swear by them, one having the very first one with digital inputs.

My Nagra VI is enough tracks for me at the moment - but if I did need more, JoeCo would be the way I would go.



Sent from my iPhone using Gearslutz

Do you know how they are clocking their JoeCos, and if they are using more than one?

thanks

phil p

[John Willett]

Originally Posted by philper

Do you know how they are clocking their JoeCos, and if they are using more than one?

thanks

phil p

No, but if you send me a PM with any questions I'll send it on to them with your contact details if you like.

Sent from my iPhone using Gearslutz

[Empiria]

Moving up from laptop to recorder on location. I'm considering Alesis HD24XR or JoeCo. The first one has good converters but is discontinued, old type of drives etc. I am wondering how JoeCo compares to HD24XR in term of converters. Any users' opinions? Anyone knows which AD/DA chips are on board?

[tnjazz]

For inexpensive, try a couple of 8 channel pres like focusrite octopre or presonus digimax, and for interfacing with a mbp I would go with either an m-audio lightbridge or a presonus firestudio lightpipe. Both are firewire but I think its the way to go for live recording (over pci or pcmcia). What does latency matter in live tracking?

[springer]

Rok,
I have the HD24XR and it is a real nice piece of work. Keep in mind that with the Alesis that above 12 tracks and you are limited on the sample rate. 96kHz is only available at 12 tracks or less.
Personally I have not used more than 8 for much of my stuff so I am looking to go for the 788t as soon as I inherit FT. <FREAKIN> KNOX!!!
I really like dedicated OS for dedicated hardware as I work with computers all day and the last thing I want is OS failures onsite.
Cheers,
patrick

[Rokus666]

Patrick,

HD24 might be the soulution. I think it will work nice paired with 3 octopres mkII
I have used alesis HD24 in one occasion. This one time recorder stopped and I lost half an hour of material. soon after I realized that it needs the "washer mod" in order for it to work properly. It might be unstable due to low freuency vibrations on stage. According to Steve remoteness, modification solves reliability issues.

[timothyclee]

I've been using (3) Motu 8 Pres for 24 tracks and they have worked out pretty good with my macbookpro.

Tim

[shaddai]

HD24 might be the soulution. I think it will work nice paired with 3 octopres....

Might look at a Mackie MDR or HDR...used..cheap...still reliable. Just a thought...

todd

[777Artin]

A simple MOTU 828MKIII + 3x Focusrite Octopre MKII. 2 Octos into 828 ADAT and the 3rd into analog inputs.

1 firewire cable and a hell of a set-up for around 2K$.

- 26 mic inputs (24 octos + 2 on the 828)
- 26 analog ouputs + s/pdif
- Direct monitoring + FXs
- MOTU drivers + mac OS = very stable
- TC / video sync

Stretch you budget just a bit and you'll be good to get all this new.

Enjoy

777artin

[vintagelove]

Originally Posted by shaddai

Might look at a Mackie MDR or HDR...used..cheap...still reliable. Just a thought...

todd

incase you missed it I have one MDR for sale $500

[63hz]

I would buy a Alesis hd24xr
And an adat interface
M-audio and presonus make them lightbridge I think there called

That will give you 24ch into your daw. AND a backup recorder so you will never have to worry about comp crashing as you would have the tracks on the hd24.

Under two grand from memory to

[BradLyons]

Many options to consider and I've designed many considerations of options....okay, I think I just confused myself! It's funny after years of using ADAT's where I still wake up in my sleep thinking of ERROR 7's...the HD24 has been an incredible recorder for location and I've used it often. It sounds really good and is very, very solid. HOWEVER that JoeCo box really is nice! Only a single rack-space, uses DSub connectors, and you have to hold the power button down for about 3-seconds to actually turn it off---NO MISTAKEN SHUTDOWN! Okay these are all well and good if you're taking direct outputs off of the console or already have your own mic-pres...but what if you need that?

Another solution using the laptop is the PRESONUS FIRESTUDIO LIGHTPIPE matched with up to (4) DIGIMAX FS pre's. These are A/D converters using ADAT Lightpipe and have a DIRECT OUTPUT allowing you to first patch into these, set your gain, and then send a feed out to the console where they can have their own control. OF course this is in a scenario where you do not have a splitter in place, which is always ideal. Pricing-wise, it's about the same less the cost of a laptop and firewire hard-drive.

[Rokus666]

We are onto something here...
Can you use analog inputs on HD24 and output through lightpipe simultaneously to lightbridge?

[PDC]

If you are going to mix the projects, the Alesis may work. Personally, I would not use them for serious work. I have seen data lost mid show because of faulty drive connections. Then there is the file transfer issue. It takes forever to transfer files using their dock and software.

As for the odd drive comment, that is not true. They have criteria, just like any device will. You can get drives anywhere. It is a bit pickier about the carriers.

[CAT5]

Also consider the Mackie SDR which does 24 tracks at 96Khz when you use the analog ins. Did it myself for a while. But if 2000 is your budget:

I run a 13" macbook pro with an M-Audio Lightbridge (4x adat in and out). I started with 4x Presonus D8 but now also use focusrite a lot. In order to get myself some distance between myself and the stage I bought this:
ADAT Multicore Extender

This gives me 32 tracks at 24/48 over a 100 metres using 1 CAT 5 cable. Audio quality is excellent as the audio is going from mic level to digital on stage. I use Logic 9 for recording. I have used it with all 32 tracks recording while having a Waves SSL channel on every channel, A Lexicon PCM Native reverb and Waves L2 on the master. Straight out of the analog outs into a CD-recorder gave the client a rough idea of what was recorder before he left the stage !!!

Love this set up. I did use Mackie SDR's as a back up for some time (analog outs of the D8's into the Mackies and ADAT out of the D8's into the CAT5 extender) but I would feel totally comfortable without them as I haven't had a single hickup or crash. I do use a nice and empty disk for every show though.

[CAT5]

PS: as for the Mackie SDR and file transfer: I use a cheap ass USB2/eSATA dock for that. IDE drives in the dock, dock to macpro using eSATA = very fast transfer

[Accurate]

You should also look at the Steinberg MR816 - decent pres and a good routing system. I believe you can daisy chain up to 3 for 24 tracks, but I only do up to 16. The other cool thing is that you can set the analog outs to pass audio directly without going through the DAW. If you send these outs to a back up recorder, you'll be fine if your computer crashes during a session.

If you want to expand your budget, I would also consider looking at Metric Halo, and using their record panel. I was doing a straight to two track recording the other day and I don't think my CPU usage ever went above 2 or 3%, whereas Pro Tools can go up to 70% without even doing anything! Metric Halo seems very stable for doing live stuff, much more than anything else I've used.