What does the back of your rack look like?

[scanner]

Originally Posted by noamraz

Nice looking rig scanner!

Which kind of optical splitter/repeater will you be using?

Thanks very much !

I originally tried out the passive splitters but they reduced the light by half going to the HD 24.. which was just on the edge of acceptability for one of the inputs resulting in crackles and dropouts etc.

Soooo.... I went with 3 x CYP AU-D12s in the end. They're working great ,have a very small foot print and are light enough to be velcro'd securely to the inside of the flight case.

Nice : )

[recordinghopkins]

Here's mine.

The wall wart you see to the right is a 12v supply wired to two led fog lights I found at the auto parts store. They are each a single row of 12 leds, and attach to the right side of the rack with the included 3M double sided tape. I didn't take the time to wire a switch, so the 12v supply lead is just long enough to for the wart to lay in the bottom of the rack when I unplug it.

The leads you see disappearing upwards are firewire for the macbook pro and a firewire and power cable (the other wall wart) for my lacie rugged hard drive.

The HD24xr's analog outputs are snaked to a mixer when live to two is required, and the Pro VLA and Rev7 are patched as needed.

The two tubefires' mic inputs are extended to the front of the rack with a 16 XLR patch panel, and overflow is handled with the profire's mic inputs on the rear to achieve a total of 24 channels to DAW and HD24 simultaneously.

[Remoteness]

Here are two pictures (taken with my smart phone) for your review:
The first one is the back of two of our (24 channel) True System Precision8 preamp sets.
Notice that there are two ELCO90 connectors wired to the DSUB25s.
Those are built in 24 channel Wye cords.

The second is a rear shot of one of our Dual X48 rigs...

I trust the Gearslutz Photo Police will except the quality of these photos and allow them to stay.
I mean, they're here only for review; no evaluation for award presentation was intended.

[rprecording]

Some pic's of my reworked system. I'm generally a 1 man operation so size , weight and setup time are critical considerations for me.

My rig is a 17" ADK laptop DAW, RME Digiface. Backup recorder is an Alesis HD24XR. I/O is via 2 Focusrite Octopre II's and a Steinberg MR816.

Designed the system to break out into 2 racks (again size/weight) that I can easily handle alone. The 6 space houses the system power conditioner (for all the gear), the Digiface (mounted on a shelf) and the Octopre's and MR816.

The second rack is a 4 space that houses the HD24 and an 8 chan mic splitter (that I generally pull out of the rack and place where ever I need it).

The mic pre's feed the Digiface>laptop via ADAT connections, the analog out's of the mic pre's run, via 24 chan balanced Mogami snake over to the HD24 rack.

I built the snake with 1/4 TRS on both ends and a 90 pin ELCO connector in the middle (screw together so they cant be knocked loose at a job). Makes the rig easy to move and quick to setup. Only 5 cable to hook up everything.

I put heavy velcro wire ties on the rear covers of each rack so the interconnect cables can be coiled and secured there. Just roll the racks in, drop the rear covers, remove/connect a few cables and it's ready to roll.

[SaraLs]

I know, I know! It's not as tidy as most, but there's a reason for that. No, it's not indicative of how my house looks! Or my hair.

I have to patch and repatch constantly, and I don't want to add patch bays to my racks. I like being able to remove the gear from them easily, and besides, they're already heavy enough as it is (I'm 5'4", 130 pounds and WEAK). I work by myself, and trying to keep things compact and easy to set up (I usually have LESS than an hour) means that things have to be kept light enough to manage, but with enough equipment quickly and easily accessible to be able to set up quickly. This rat's nest has worked nicely for me for a long time.

Now - no laughing, no head shaking, no judgments concerning my sanity - please!

[recordinghopkins]

You can see the before picture just a couple of posts up from here...

Now when the rig comes home to mix through the desk, I only have a handful of dsubs to connect, rather than the bouquet of trs connectors. Thanks to slut Kevin Ramsey for putting together the rack panel for me. After hours of soldering, I was left wishing I had paid him to do the whole thing.

But it's done, and I am a happy man! Note the addition of a presonus firestudio lightpipe...
Now, in the field, it operates as a 24 track rig as I described in my earlier post, except now all 24 channels of conversion are done by the HD24xr, and the presonus handles DAW input duties. I maintained firewire connectivity to the profire just for the sake of versatility and the ability to make changes to it's i/o as necessary, and all clock sync is done via lighpipes, slaved to the presonus when in studio mode, slaved to the HD24 in the field.
Via the dsubs in the studio, it's 16in x32out. I can get another 8 inputs if I want to patch to the m-audio with TRS, and I do, for foldback and 2mix.

I eventually plan to go multipin of some kind on my preamp inputs in parallel with the XLR patch points on the front, and convert one end of my input snakes as well, ultimately doing the same to the transformer rack's outputs, not pictured.

[Torea]

Originally Posted by cymatics

I'm a little embarrassed to show this...

There is a bunch more gear stacked precariously on top of this rack. If any of you 'compulsive organizing' types have some free time, let me know when you wanna stop by.

- jon

Attachment 226659

[jude]

Originally Posted by Torea

Attachment 226659

yep, id cry, or find a new job

[talbe1019]

I don't post all that often here, but after getting some direction on ELCO connectors from Steve Remote (thanks for taking the time Steve!) I promised him I would post pics. Anyway, it's time to get serious about doing some recording (since I lost the job that made me be able to afford recording). So here are some work in progress pics and finshed pics. The rig is now 40 channels of ATI preamps, 4 HD24XR's (2 for back up) and even though the splitters say Horizon - the only thing left from Horizon is the chassis. The transformers are replaced, and decided to route the ISO and DIR out the back and use ELCO connectors. Still have a few things to clean up, but all the major work is done. Now if I can only get some work...

[Remoteness]

Nice going Tony; the racks look fabulous!

Originally Posted by talbe1019

I don't post all that often here, but after getting some direction on ELCO connectors from Steve Remote (thanks for taking the time Steve!) I promised him I would post pics. Anyway, it's time to get serious about doing some recording (since I lost the job that made me be able to afford recording). So here are some work in progress pics and finshed pics. The rig is now 40 channels of ATI preamps, 4 HD24XR's (2 for back up) and even though the splitters say Horizon - the only thing left from Horizon is the chassis. The transformers are replaced, and decided to route the ISO and DIR out the back and use ELCO connectors. Still have a few things to clean up, but all the major work is done. Now if I can only get some work...

[hbphotoav]

Originally Posted by Remoteness

Nice going Tony; the racks look fabulous!

Is it wrong to think of equipment racks as sexy...?

[Remoteness]

I don't think so, but I may not be the right person to ask;-)

Originally Posted by hbphotoav

Is it wrong to think of equipment racks as sexy...?

[talbe1019]

Originally Posted by Remoteness

Nice going Tony; the racks look fabulous!

Thanks Steve! It was a little time consuming, but I would rather take my time and do it correct the 1st time. The preamp rack is a 12 space, and I will have 4 or 5 spaces open at the bottom, but I prefer not to have a little space to do wiring and for the 2 WYE Elco's for redundancy. To save a little time and money I had a bunch of 8, 12 and 16 channel snakes I re-used into the male Elco's (which has TRS plugs on the other end that stay in the HD24's). The splitter didn't come out as good as I hoped, but it will be fine. I ended up a little short on wire and couldn't route it the way I wanted, but it still works fine. Thanks again for taking the time to point me in the right direction!

[Remoteness]

Time well spent.

Did you make sure the rear of the gear is supported properly?
One good drop and you could have a twisted mess.

I also use or purchase fan to fan (TRS or XLR) 8 to 24 pair snakes and cut them in half to create ELCO or DSSUB harnesses.

Like you mentioned, it's a great way to save time and a bit of cash.

It was my pleasure to help you out; more power to you my GS friend!

Originally Posted by talbe1019

Thanks Steve! It was a little time consuming, but I would rather take my time and do it correct the 1st time. The preamp rack is a 12 space, and I will have 4 or 5 spaces open at the bottom, but I prefer not to have a little space to do wiring and for the 2 WYE Elco's for redundancy. To save a little time and money I had a bunch of 8, 12 and 16 channel snakes I re-used into the male Elco's (which has TRS plugs on the other end that stay in the HD24's). The splitter didn't come out as good as I hoped, but it will be fine. I ended up a little short on wire and couldn't route it the way I wanted, but it still works fine. Thanks again for taking the time to point me in the right direction!

[recordinghopkins]

Originally Posted by Remoteness

Time well spent.

Did you make sure the rear of the gear is supported properly?
One good drop and you could have a twisted mess.

Steve,
That's something I hadn't thought of, a drop twisting up the front rack ears.
How would you recommend supporting the rear rack ears on the preamps in my rack? Photos above. Note they're standard two holed ears, but parallel to the side, not the back. I thought about bending them at one point, but decided against it and left them unsupported. I haven't had any problems yet, but I always check rack screws before transport.

[talbe1019]

Originally Posted by Remoteness

Time well spent.

Did you make sure the rear of the gear is supported properly?
One good drop and you could have a twisted mess.

I also use or purchase fan to fan (TRS or XLR) 8 to 24 pair snakes and cut them in half to create ELCO or DSSUB harnesses.

Like you mentioned, it's a great way to save time and a bit of cash.

It was my pleasure to help you out; more power to you my GS friend!

Actually, I thought about it, but wasn't sure how to achieve it. Any suggestions?

[Remoteness]

There are a couple of ways to do it.

We have used threaded rod covered with foam and heat shrink.
We drill two hole, one on each side of the rack line up just under the bottom of the last or bottom piece of gear, then we feed the rod through the holes and bolt the rod from both sides of the rack, meaning inside and out.

The second way is to align some heavy duty angle irons just under the last piece of gear, then bolt them to the rack sides. Add the same sort of foam and heat shrink and you're done.

The other gear needs to have over sized foam in between each piece of gear.

The final step is to do the same thing to the top piece.
The gear will ride perfectly and take the hit a lot better than without the support.

I hope this helped.

Originally Posted by talbe1019

Actually, I thought about it, but wasn't sure how to achieve it. Any suggestions?

[mpdonahue]

One more option is to use THESE server support rails that are both front and rear mounted. We use one on top and one on the bottom and the gear in between is locked in place. They cost about $40 a set.

All the best,
-mark

[talbe1019]

Originally Posted by mpdonahue

One more option is to use THESE server support rails that are both front and rear mounted. We use one on top and one on the bottom and the gear in between is locked in place. They cost about $40 a set.

All the best,
-mark

Thanks Mark!! That may be the option I use...

[Remoteness]

Here's a few close up shots of my (under) five dollar USD solution...

Originally Posted by Remoteness

There are a couple of ways to do it.

We have used threaded rod covered with foam and heat shrink.
We drill two hole, one on each side of the rack line up just under the bottom of the last or bottom piece of gear, then we feed the rod through the holes and bolt the rod from both sides of the rack, meaning inside and out.

The second way is to align some heavy duty angle irons just under the last piece of gear, then bolt them to the rack sides. Add the same sort of foam and heat shrink and you're done.

The other gear needs to have over sized foam in between each piece of gear.

The final step is to do the same thing to the top piece.
The gear will ride perfectly and take the hit a lot better than without the support.

I hope this helped.

[recordinghopkins]

Thanks Steve!

[Remoteness]

We have a great community here.
It's my pleasure to help each and every Remotester in my forum!

Originally Posted by recordinghopkins

Thanks Steve!

[philper]

Originally Posted by talbe1019

I don't post all that often here, but after getting some direction on ELCO connectors from Steve Remote (thanks for taking the time Steve!) I promised him I would post pics. Anyway, it's time to get serious about doing some recording (since I lost the job that made me be able to afford recording). So here are some work in progress pics and finshed pics. The rig is now 40 channels of ATI preamps, 4 HD24XR's (2 for back up) and even though the splitters say Horizon - the only thing left from Horizon is the chassis. The transformers are replaced, and decided to route the ISO and DIR out the back and use ELCO connectors. Still have a few things to clean up, but all the major work is done. Now if I can only get some work...

Sorry for the digression, but can you tell us what you did to the Horizon (Rapco) splitters? I have a rack of them too--which transformers did you sub in?

phil p

[talbe1019]

Originally Posted by philper

Sorry for the digression, but can you tell us what you did to the Horizon (Rapco) splitters? I have a rack of them too--which transformers did you sub in?

phil p

Sure.
I replaced the transformers with Crimson Audio transformers. If you ever look inside you will see some pretty cheesy transformers siliconed to the bottom. I wanted something that sounded a bit better and was able to be riveted to the bottom, so I chose the Crimson CT-1000a. It has a mu-metal housing and can be easily attached to the chassis. I left the ground switch, but removed the pad. I replaced the input connectors with some locking Neutrik's (I didn't like the ones without the latch), and I decided to route the DIR and ISO out of the back instead of 1 in the front and one in the back. I replaced the mic input XLR on the back with a male XLR and made it the ISO out. It took a little time and effort, but I like how it is set up now. I hope that answers your question...if not feel free to PM me.

[talbe1019]

Originally Posted by Remoteness

We have a great community here.
It's my pleasure to help each and every Remotester in my forum!

Thanks for showing the $5 option.

[hbphotoav]

Originally Posted by talbe1019

Thanks for showing the $5 option.

Not very slutty... but effective! As my friend Chad would say...

"Me likey."

[Plush]

Originally Posted by Remoteness

Here's a few close up shots of my (under) five dollar USD solution...

TOTAL PRO solution!

thankyasomuch!

[drbob1]

Mine is just a project studio with more gear than is healthy. I just redid the racks because the old ones were too small. After fighting with trying to rewire a patch bay every time I put something new in, I think I'm just going to patch the stuff directly in the back. The racks are open sided and it's easy to get back there when I need to.

Now I just have the problem of trying to group stuff by function without getting some 3" deep by single rack space between two 15" deep monsters...

[LMCASES]

Just stumbled on this thread, neat rack wiring could be my biggest pet peeve ever! I like to spec Penn Elcom computer combination rail as mid mounted rack rail for OCD people like me. Its cool because its square holes allow you to zip tie easily and the center flange keeps everything really neat. I posted a link below, any case company can get this for you. Not trying to sell anything, just my $.02! -Billy

Penn Elcom

[Sam Walker]

Here's one I took today after fitting some braces at the back of the pres.