Mobile Digi-002 rigs

JayCrouch · 3rd October 2003

anyone out there rockin a 002 or 002rack on location?

I am working on a custom case for an 002, and plan to post my progress here eventually along with pictures.

If you have an 002 or 002 rack in the field, do you just throw in on your front seat or in a bag, just curious to see what folks are doing

Heath · 3rd October 2003

did somebody buy a 002?--how do you like it? nice addition to your rig, i assume...

Heath

JayCrouch · 3rd October 2003

yeah man, picked up an 002 in the attempt to build a one box mobile production/recording rig. I have been doing ALOT of live sound lately, and having a control surface is really a must, when I have nothing to touch I get a bit fidgety with the mouse

anyways, my plan was to make a case that could hold everything you needed:

Digi-002
Laptop
Firewire Drive
small pair of monitors
storage compartments for mics/cables/DIs/etc
multed patchbay (half of the case can be connected to the other half housing the 002 via ELCO/EDACs

anyways, I'm workin on it - and will post progess when time comes.

Heath - don't you rock a 001 in the field?

Move up to 6 yet, OSX is just, well, good.

Sofa King · 4th October 2003

Quote:

Originally posted by JayCrouch
anyone out there rockin a 002 or 002rack on location?

Ive put together about 4 or 5 systems for bands, more for playback of suplimental tracks during the performance, but it also doubles as a mobile recording rig on the bus.

The rigs all use a 15"power book, blue tooth keyboard and mouse, glyph firewire drive, ups, and rear rail mounted patch panel.

Apart from the wiring harness issue with the 002s and 002rs, its a very stable system.

take care

JayCrouch · 4th October 2003

Quote:

Originally posted by Sofa King

The rigs all use a 15"power book, blue tooth keyboard and mouse, glyph firewire drive, ups, and rear rail mounted patch panel.

Apart from the wiring harness issue with the 002s and 002rs, its a very stable system.

take care

Bluetooth will be part of this system too, the ability to free up a few cables when possible is cool.

kudos to the rear rail patch panel, that's the way to think and similiar to what I am doing.

I will post updates w/ pictures of what I am doing with my 002 case. I am pretty sure it will include a remote patchbay as well as parallel splits for incoming/outgoing snakes.

posts some pictures of the stuff you've built if you can!

Sofa King · 5th October 2003

Quote:

Originally posted by JayCrouch

posts some pictures of the stuff you've built if you can!

Will do,
Ive got a rig going out in a week or so.

take care.

JayCrouch · 5th October 2003

There are alot of Mac only guys here, yet have any of you readers built a rackmount PC mobile rig?

I was pretty much given two broken PCs, and was able to build a Pentium 3 - 733mHz machine, I just need to buy a firewire and 802.11 card for it (cheap finds on ebay are high and plenty).

I know too many independant level bands that have PC based DAWs at their "home studio", that are for some reason scared of Macintosh compatibility. I am just going to throw this P3 box into a 2U rackmount with it's CD-R, have a firewire card and make it available for use with the 002 optional, or I may pick up a few cheap ebay MOTU 828s and wire them up to a multi-pin, basically try to make it as idiot proof as possible.

Nobody in CT does anything of the sort, I figured I would try it out to test market waters. Basically I need to figure out an insurance plan for the gear, and have a contract written up by my lawer that involves a deposit and rental/insurance policy. Eh, I got into recording so I wouldn't have to do work!

I'm sure someon else lurking out there builds racks for others, or has built a really cool one for themselves...

Rab · 5th October 2003

Quote:

Originally posted by JayCrouch
I was pretty much given two broken PCs, and was able to build a Pentium 3 - 733mHz machine, I just need to buy a firewire and 802.11 card for it (cheap finds on ebay are high and plenty).

You'll almost certainly have a problem with that. Digi specs are fairly specific for PC support, especially regarding chipsets and OS. You should check this out on:

http://www.digidesign.com/compato/xp/002/

I've found these are a genuine requirement rather than a "over-specify to make sure it works" thing.

Good luck!

Sofa King · 5th October 2003

Quote:

Originally posted by Rab
You'll almost certainly have a problem with that. Digi specs are fairly specific for PC support, especially regarding chipsets and OS. You should check this out on:

http://www.digidesign.com/compato/xp/002/

I've found these are a genuine requirement rather than a "over-specify to make sure it works" thing.

Good luck!

Im in total agreement.

My experience with PCs has been like this, the little money saved the customer going PC vs Apple, was offset by me / them trouble shooting issues.
The apple rigs Ive put out have been bullet proof.

take care

JayCrouch · 5th October 2003

eh, it was a "free" PC

I am a mac guy all the way home..

perhaps it will be a nice shiny XP office box that burns CDs sometimes dfegad

bjornson · 17th October 2003

"Nobody in CT does anything of the sort, I figured I would try it out to test market waters."
What about Fred Bashour? He's done lots of cool remote stuff with computer based setups! High end mics, pres and converters. Based in New Haven.

joeq · 17th October 2003

I did a location job over the summer with an 002 and a 12" powerbook. It was the maiden voyage for both units. I had a little stress getting the OS and PT versions updated the week before the gig. (brand new mac, but the 002 had been sitting in the box for a few months) but once everything was loaded it all worked as it was supposed to. Honestly - I expected at least a few glitches somewhere in the setup but it was smooth sailing all the way.

I wonder if I am getting smarter at using this computer stuff or if the companies are getting better at making it.

the recording came out great, sound-wise.

Too bad the artist showed up drunk.

JayCrouch · 18th October 2003

Quote:

Originally posted by bjornson

What about Fred Bashour? He's done lots of cool remote stuff with computer based setups! High end mics, pres and converters. Based in New Haven.

I am located about 20 minutes south of New Haven, do some work out of there, yet have never heard of Fred.

The whole network of things in CT is a bit scrambled, alot of people lay low - myself included.

thanks for the info

ExistanceMusic · 19th October 2003

What sort of track counts are you guys running? I'm setting up my rig in the next 6 months or so, and I'm going to try and max out the 002 with an ADAT based AD/DA as well as the S/PDIF I/O, so should be around 18-20 tracks.
Has anyone tried this succesfully, and if so, what sort of system were you using?

Paul Turpin · 19th October 2003

I was thinking of getting an OO2R - but now I'm thinking of getting a MOTU 896HD. More mic pre's and much better metering. Same price. Sure it doesn't record straight to ProTools - but I'll just be recording long unedited files. Transfer will be a snap.

Anyone got any comparison opinions?

Mic Pre Comparisons?

Pros for the 896HD :
10 XLR outs !
AES/EBU in/out
Word Clock in/out
metering
196kHz
96 over optical
internal no latency monitor mixer

Cons :
no coaxial spdif
no ProTools Software
no midi

Pros for the 002r:
ProTools software
Midi
rca inputs
guitar input

Cons for the 002R :
name is too close to O2R
not enought XLR
no 96k over optical
no word clock
no metering!!!
there's more

Price - the same?

p.s. I am not a "MOTU guy" I'm a big ProTools fan. But I need something this size & the OO2R doesn't seem to cut it. Whatever I get will double in the studio as a laptop soft synth I/O.

Nathanael · 19th October 2003

You might be interested in this thread for some other commentary about remote recording into PC/MAC based laptops.

http://gearslutz.com/board/showthrea...&threadid=7682

ExistanceMusic · 21st October 2003

Cheers for the link, but it doesn't really discuss what I really want to know, and that is "how so notebooks, specifically G4 Powerbooks, cope with tracking huge amounts of data?"

Oh, and I've also noticed that the new G4 PBs have a Firewire 400 AND an 800.....What are the practical advantages of this?

Nathanael · 21st October 2003

I don't know what you consider massive amounts of data... I can track 8 channels of 24/96 for as long as I have HD space without problems. I can store data on either a F/W drive or the internal drive without loosing data. Above 8 inputs, I can't tell you.

My observation is that just recording audio is not a very CPU intensive task. I suspect that you'll be HD transfer rate limited long before the CPU is agitated. The CPU meter hardly blips when recording into Logic. Tell it go off and dither a one hour track down to 16 bit, and that will peg the CPU, as you'd expect.

The Firewire 800 spec is faster... obviously... and requires compatible hardware. Not having had any throughput issues with my FW 400 based Powerbook, I've got no complaints, but for what I do (classical & acoustic recording) 8 channels is a wealth of capacity. YMMV.

ExistanceMusic · 22nd October 2003

cheers nate, that's more or less what I wanted to know. I'll be tracking just over twice what you are, but not necessarily in as high quality all of the time- I guess I'll just have to experiment a bit and see what works best, but it looks like it'll be cool.

JayCrouch · 28th October 2003

hey all

will post some piictures soon of the mobile rig we have in the works.

Decided to keep the CPU seperate from the 002 in the even one would like to use a laptop to save space.

The G4 is racked up in a SKB ATA style case. Right now it's in a 6U, yet getting moved to a 10 or 12U so that the Apple 15" studio display can be mounted in the case's rear cover. The cases's front cover serves as a "tray" for the keyboard and mouse.

also working on turning a shallow 3U SKB "effects rack" case into a handy all in one case for a MBOX and drives...

Pictures to come soon....

3rd October 2003	#1
JayCrouch Gear maniac Joined: Jun 2002 Location: CT Posts: 292 Thread Starter	Mobile Digi-002 rigs anyone out there rockin a 002 or 002rack on location? I am working on a custom case for an 002, and plan to post my progress here eventually along with pictures. If you have an 002 or 002 rack in the field, do you just throw in on your front seat or in a bag, just curious to see what folks are doing __________________ Jay Crouch Crouch@optonline.net 203-521-9520

19th October 2003	#14
ExistanceMusic Gear addict Joined: Mar 2003 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 478	What sort of track counts are you guys running? I'm setting up my rig in the next 6 months or so, and I'm going to try and max out the 002 with an ADAT based AD/DA as well as the S/PDIF I/O, so should be around 18-20 tracks. Has anyone tried this succesfully, and if so, what sort of system were you using? __________________ Jesse Mahoney ExistanceMusic :at: hotmail dot com

19th October 2003	#15
Paul Turpin Gear addict Joined: Jul 2002 Location: Bellingham, WA, USA Posts: 319	I was thinking of getting an OO2R - but now I'm thinking of getting a MOTU 896HD. More mic pre's and much better metering. Same price. Sure it doesn't record straight to ProTools - but I'll just be recording long unedited files. Transfer will be a snap. Anyone got any comparison opinions? Mic Pre Comparisons? Pros for the 896HD : 10 XLR outs ! AES/EBU in/out Word Clock in/out metering 196kHz 96 over optical internal no latency monitor mixer Cons : no coaxial spdif no ProTools Software no midi Pros for the 002r: ProTools software Midi rca inputs guitar input Cons for the 002R : name is too close to O2R not enought XLR no 96k over optical no word clock no metering!!! there's more Price - the same? p.s. I am not a "MOTU guy" I'm a big ProTools fan. But I need something this size & the OO2R doesn't seem to cut it. Whatever I get will double in the studio as a laptop soft synth I/O. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Paul Turpin Bayside Digital Services bayside web page Clickpop Records clickpop web page

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3rd October 2003	#2
Heath Gear interested Joined: Oct 2002 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 27	did somebody buy a 002?--how do you like it? nice addition to your rig, i assume... Heath

5th October 2003	#7
JayCrouch Gear maniac Joined: Jun 2002 Location: CT Posts: 292 Thread Starter	There are alot of Mac only guys here, yet have any of you readers built a rackmount PC mobile rig? I was pretty much given two broken PCs, and was able to build a Pentium 3 - 733mHz machine, I just need to buy a firewire and 802.11 card for it (cheap finds on ebay are high and plenty). I know too many independant level bands that have PC based DAWs at their "home studio", that are for some reason scared of Macintosh compatibility. I am just going to throw this P3 box into a 2U rackmount with it's CD-R, have a firewire card and make it available for use with the 002 optional, or I may pick up a few cheap ebay MOTU 828s and wire them up to a multi-pin, basically try to make it as idiot proof as possible. Nobody in CT does anything of the sort, I figured I would try it out to test market waters. Basically I need to figure out an insurance plan for the gear, and have a contract written up by my lawer that involves a deposit and rental/insurance policy. Eh, I got into recording so I wouldn't have to do work! I'm sure someon else lurking out there builds racks for others, or has built a really cool one for themselves...

17th October 2003	#11
bjornson Lives for gear Joined: Nov 2002 Location: Pittsburgh Pa Posts: 562	"Nobody in CT does anything of the sort, I figured I would try it out to test market waters." What about Fred Bashour? He's done lots of cool remote stuff with computer based setups! High end mics, pres and converters. Based in New Haven.

17th October 2003	#12
joeq Lives for gear Joined: Jun 2002 Location: New York Posts: 9,921	I did a location job over the summer with an 002 and a 12" powerbook. It was the maiden voyage for both units. I had a little stress getting the OS and PT versions updated the week before the gig. (brand new mac, but the 002 had been sitting in the box for a few months) but once everything was loaded it all worked as it was supposed to. Honestly - I expected at least a few glitches somewhere in the setup but it was smooth sailing all the way. I wonder if I am getting smarter at using this computer stuff or if the companies are getting better at making it. the recording came out great, sound-wise. Too bad the artist showed up drunk.

19th October 2003	#16
Nathanael Gear maniac Joined: Oct 2003 Posts: 151	You might be interested in this thread for some other commentary about remote recording into PC/MAC based laptops. http://gearslutz.com/board/showthrea...&threadid=7682

21st October 2003	#17
ExistanceMusic Gear addict Joined: Mar 2003 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 478	Cheers for the link, but it doesn't really discuss what I really want to know, and that is "how so notebooks, specifically G4 Powerbooks, cope with tracking huge amounts of data?" Oh, and I've also noticed that the new G4 PBs have a Firewire 400 AND an 800.....What are the practical advantages of this?

22nd October 2003	#19
ExistanceMusic Gear addict Joined: Mar 2003 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 478	cheers nate, that's more or less what I wanted to know. I'll be tracking just over twice what you are, but not necessarily in as high quality all of the time- I guess I'll just have to experiment a bit and see what works best, but it looks like it'll be cool.

28th October 2003	#20
JayCrouch Gear maniac Joined: Jun 2002 Location: CT Posts: 292 Thread Starter	hey all will post some piictures soon of the mobile rig we have in the works. Decided to keep the CPU seperate from the 002 in the even one would like to use a laptop to save space. The G4 is racked up in a SKB ATA style case. Right now it's in a 6U, yet getting moved to a 10 or 12U so that the Apple 15" studio display can be mounted in the case's rear cover. The cases's front cover serves as a "tray" for the keyboard and mouse. also working on turning a shallow 3U SKB "effects rack" case into a handy all in one case for a MBOX and drives... Pictures to come soon....