Zoom R24 and the Mackie 1604 wiring up

B

BadgerSoup

New member
Hi people

This may seem a dumb question, but it's been a while and I don't want to risk anything. I am planning to take outputs from my 1604 mackie desk (all balanced stereo jacks) into the XLR-1/4''Phone Combo Jack inputs on the R24, (also balanced as far as I know) line in's via a fully balanced 18" loom.

What I wanted to know was is there any danger to the Mackie if I left the R24 phantom power switch on accidentally. As far as I remember I don't think phantom power affects balanced jack lines and shouldn't affect the mackie at all, but I wanted to be sure so I don't have to get the soldering iron out and fix the desk, which I love.

My gratitude in advance :)
Badger
 
Why do you need a mixer at all? Isn't the Zoom unit totally self-contained with its own preamps etc? I can see connecting the Zoom's output to your mixer for monitoring, but that's about it.

--Ethan
 
Hi Ethan.
I just love the sound of the 1604s mic preamps. The r24 preamps are good but lack sweetness imho. I also like hands on basic eq so preamping suits me. Using the 1604 also allows me to mix 16 chanels down to 8 if needed.
I plan to use the r24 as a digital recorder as well as part of a daw and a stand alone tool.
Cheers
Badger
 
BadgerSoup said:
The r24 preamps are good but lack sweetness imho.
Click to expand...

Have you ever done a proper comparison of the preamps in both units? I have no experience with the Zoom unit so I have no opinion in its preamps. But I do know that it's common to believe one preamp sounds better than another when in fact both sound exactly the same. If you test this properly, you might save yourself a lot of hassle.

--Ethan
 
Not all the inputs have phantom power ability on the R24, without hunting the manual I can't remember which don't, I never use it on mine as I two mixers hooked up because I have a rack full of kit which I have set up on individual mixer channels with the levels set for a range of applications. Although I use two R24's I have one in my vocal room linked to the other and would have run out of inputs long ago if I didn't have the mixers.

Hope that helps

Tim
 
Thanks Phrasemaker, yer no phantom power on inputs 1 and 2 but seen as I will be using the balanced line in's it doesn't look like it will be an issue. I actually metered the balanced jack inputs off the R24 out of curiosity last night just to be sure there was no voltage there and all is well as I thought but couldn't remember.

The Mackie has direct outputs on the first 8 channels I plan to feed the R24 with, though I might use the 4 subgroup out for some mixing purposes depending on the situation.

I checked out the excellent info on your site Ethan as well and will be returning there for more help I'm sure. The sound reflection and absorption info was most helpful, planning on building some of those panels into my studio/office. I have only done by-ear comparisons with the inputs on the Mackie and the R24 but I might do some waveform comparisons if I get the time. They do seem warmer to me and the added bonus of making small tone adjustments with old fashioned knobs suits my old fashioned ways. lol

I do have a M-Audio 1010LT card in the desktop which I will attached to the mackie insert outs into in the office/studio and use the R24/mackie combo else where. I can see I'll end up using the 1010Lt just for connecting synths and other electronic audio devices into the desktop though and using the R24/1604 combination exclusively for acoustic/vocal application. maybe the 101LT is becoming redundant though and just using the R24 as my DAW input proc.

Cheers for all the help
Badger
 
I was told that the R24 acts as a stand alone recorder. That it doesn't want to record directly into Cubease LE which I have! Can anyone address this issue?
 
Rocknguitarman said:
I was told that the R24 acts as a stand alone recorder. That it doesn't want to record directly into Cubease LE which I have! Can anyone address this issue?
Click to expand...

I have an R24 that I use as an interface for Cubase........Everything works just fine. You have to put it into "Interface Mode" via the USB button and Executing.
 
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