DAW power-up/off sequence

D

dogn4u

New member
Good morning. A couple of questions: What is the best power-up sequence for my DAW? The heart and brains of the system is a Sweetwater desktop creation station and Alesis firewire MasterControl. My instinct is to power up, in order: peripherals (Langevin DVC preamp; ART TPS preamp; V-drums; Rode NTK mike power supply; BBS MaxCom compressor/enhancer (which is set up as inserts on the MasterControl ch 1&2) monitor; speakers (powered KRKs)...then the board, and finally the computer. For years I struggled with the glitchy, crappy, overpriced POS Tascam FW-1884 (Gawd, I'm glad to be shut of that doorstop), and when I was able to get it to work (maybe 1/2 the time at best), it seemed to cooperate a little better if I turned it on first and let it "warm up" for at least 10 minutes. (As a side note, Tascam has the dubious honor of the absolute worst Tech support I've ever had the extreme dissatisfaction of working with.

Here's the secret to contacting Tascam: Get a pillow for the floor. Make sure your cordless speakerphone is fully charged, as it will be 3-4 hours before anyone answers...if they do at all. Wash down 10 mg Valium and 20 mg oxycodone with a stiff drink, then lie back and drift around until if and when some 12 year old punk with a foul attitude (only eclipsed by his complete lack of knowledge) actually answers. The drugs will hopefully keep you from threatening him grievous bodily harm when you realize he is a useless hump, and you would have been better off with the notorious Tascam manual, which is written by dyslexic Martians at the tail end of a three day crack bender.

Wow. Guess I had a little resentment going there. Anyway, does that power-up order seem right? Shutting down, I would go: Computer, board, peripherals.
Thanks
Rudi
 
I make no attempt at shutting anything down in any particular order.

As I posted in another thread, I've had 100% bad experience with Tascam, for me they are in a tie with Peavey for the top music company of all time to avoid.

I understand that others have had great experiences with Tascam. In the end it doesn't matter if the song works.
 
hmm.

in order, i turn on

DIGI 003
Mac pro
Mackie speakers
amp for ns10s
preamps (if i'm usin em)
phantom power once mics are plugged in.



in order i turn off
phantom power
preamps
unplug mics
mackie speakers
mac pro
digi 003


lastly, i turn off the yamaha amp at the mains.....because for some reason the power switch on the front sends a huge POP to the ns10s.


i'd love to know if this order is even almost correct! lol...
 
My PC and interface stay on 24/7. I turn on the rest of my components in the following order:

1 - Power strip that powers my preamps, rack gear, monitors.
:D




However, if I was to power everything down and start it all back up, id do it:

1 - interface, midi controller, USB keyboard, anything conencted to the PC on (so it's up when the PC boots)
2 - PC on
3 - rack gear / pre's, all audio gear that isn't connected to PC on
4 - monitors on

and turn it all off in reverse order.
 
The traditional order was something like:

Power up:
outboard gear
DAW gear
mixer
amps
monitor speakers

Power down:
In reverse order.

That is the only way not to get power spikes/pops downstream hitting your speakers.
 
My homemade mixer doohicky has a master kill switch on it that takes all input away from the monitor amp, so if I hit that there's no spikes going to my speakers no matter when I turn things off or on. Great for when people phone or when there's a loud buzz or feedback.

I used to be careful about all of this stuff, plus I left my gear on for the first 20 years. I turn stuff off now to save electricity, but have given up all my old habits of powering everything off and on in a particular order. I used to be religious about it.
 
dintymoore said:
...have given up all my old habits of powering everything off and on in a particular order. I used to be religious about it.
Click to expand...

:D

For me…following the order of things out of habit allows me not to have to think about potential issues. I’m not really being "religious" about it...but yeah, sometimes I may NOT remember to remove the input to the monitors....or even just the amps will cause a power pop to the monitors regardless of the input, if their volume is up...etc...etc.
So it's actually easier for me to just "follow the order" and never worry about it. :)

I use to get pissed off when there was a brief power outage/spike and the entire studio would go out/on...sometimes out/on/out/on in like a 3 second span :mad: ....so I got a lot of pops throughout the gear.
I placed a power relay box on the main AC coming to my studio that stays OFF if the electric even blinks off for half a second. That way I can flip all the gear switches to off and power it back up in proper order.

It may all be just a bit anal...but then, it's not much effort to follow the power on/off order. ;)
Knock on wood...most of my gear has lasted a very long time without any issues. I also run a pair of large Furman 20amp regulated voltage boxes w/power conditioning...I think that's helped keep the gear safe.
 
I think there is a general rule that goes along the lines of:

Power up from input to output, and power down from output to input.

However:

a) I leave everything on anyway, and

b) If I do need to turn everything off, I flick one switch when turns all off at once.
 
My order is:

1. Computer
2. External drive (if using one)
3. Interface
4. Start up Cubase
5. Hit the RED BUTTON. :D


I'm not saying that it's right. It could be completely backwards, but it works. :)
 
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