How would you suggest I hook up the RNC in that case?
Pretty simple, though I guess it depends on where you're trying to record the master. If you're going to record it back to the computer:
interface line outs (two of them) -> RNC ins -> interface line ins
Some DAW software has settings that are specifically intended to facilitate such an arrangement, which would do things like automatically figure out the appropriate latency compensation. If not, you can work it out. If what you're winding up with is a final stereo master, you don't really need to worry about compensating for any latency anyway, as your master will stand by itself, and doesn't need to be in sync with the old tracks.
-XLR to TRS from the pre to the compressor...
Hmm. This got me suddenly to remember something: the RNC inputs (unbalanced) are set up so they can be directly connected with a single cable to an insert, that is: the RNC takes its input signal from the tip contact of its jacks
and it also connects its output to the ring contact (as well as the tip of its output jacks). If you use a typical XLR-TRS cable, you'd be connecting the cold output from the mic pre (pin 3) to the
output from the RNC (ring). That's a bad idea. What you want is an XLR-TS cable. Pin 3 on the XLR should (I think) be connected to the shield.
The right way to do this is to buy a cable that's wired that way, or make one. To make one easily, you could take an XLR connector and an ordinary TS cable, cut off the one end of the TS cable, and solder the XLR connector to the wires, with line to pin 2, and shield to both pins 1 and 3.
then I run TRS to TRS from the compressor to the interface?
That would work: the ring connection from the interface (cold input) would just be left floating. I think there's might be some theoretical advantage to grounding it at the far end (
i.e. at the RNC end), but not worth the trouble.
The pre only has one out but the RNC has two ins...is there a cable I can use to take advantage of that?
You wouldn't really get any advantage. You'd just get two copies of exactly the same signal.
The RNC has two outs and the interface has two ins...should I be using two TRS to TRS cables for that? I'm assuming this would give me a stereo signal as opposed to mono?
As implied by the prior answer, there'd be no advantage. If you used a Y cable to connect your mic pre to the RNC, then connected both RNC outputs, you'd just get two identical signals, which I suppose you could call "stereo," but not of a very useful sort. If you connected the mic pre to one input on the RNC, the other output would have no signal at all.
Slight expansion on the subject of the RNC's two in/outs: These are really only useful if you're starting out with a "real stereo" signal that you want to compress. By "real stereo," I mean two signals that are (i) not identical but (ii) related, as in the left and right sides of a stereo mix, or the signals from two separate mics that are picking up the same source. There's no point to running identical signals through it: there's only one set of controls, so they'll be processed exactly the same, and you'll just get two identical outputs. You generally don't want to run unrelated signals through it at the same time, because it's not "dual mono," or in other words there's only one detector, or in still other words, both signals will be compressed in response to their combined level.
EDITED to circle back to the first part and answer in more detail:
Interface outs to RNC ins (assuming interface outs are TRS ... if they're TS the cable doesn't matter): use a TS cable, not a TRS.
